Julie Castro-Cardenas, is an educated-progressive and culturally connected 'Santanera'. Born and raised in the City of Santa Ana, Julie is a proud alumni of SAUSD schools, Santa Ana College, Chapman University, and most recently earned a Master's degree in Education with a concentration in Trauma-Informed Care Counseling from San Diego State University. Julie and her entrepreneur husband, Juan Cardenas, CEO of Ultimate Sheet Metal, LLC are parents to two daughters and two sons. 

Julie  serves as an Economic Development Specialist II for the City of Santa Ana with a primary focus in Downtown Santa Ana (DTSA). Prior to the current position, Julie served as the Mayor & CIty Council Liaison and staffed the Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board/Youth Council Board which focused on providing youth work experience funds for underserved youth in the City of Santa Ana. Throughout her 16-year career at the City, Julie has also formerly held part-time positions (in different years) with the Santa Ana Unified School District, Orange County Department of Education, Santa Ana College, and the OC Small Business Development Center.  The compilation of experience and strong professional relationships provided Julie with the insight of business, community, and politics. 

In her spare time, Julie serves as the CEO for Elevated Ambition Enterprise and takes pride in guiding entrepreneurs with business start-ups, offers professional business consulting services, strategic planning consultations, and life-coach/mentoring services. 

Julie appreciates the intricacies of organizations and as Secretary for the National Hispanic Business Women Association, her goal is to become familiar with the fine details and progress in the organization from the bottom-up. Empowering the community, particularly Hispanic women.