Griselda Gonzalez: From El Salvador to Chair of the Board.

by Sergio Domeyko May 05, 2026

She came to this country as a teenager with nothing guaranteed. She built a company, earned her degree, and is about to make history as the first immigrant Latina to chair one of California's oldest transportation industry associations. This is what persistence looks like.

Most people in the moving industry move things. Griselda Gonzalez moves industries.

She has been doing it quietly for over two decades — through financial crises, through systems that weren't built with her in mind, through a college education that had to be earned twice. Building. Leading. Returning the ladder to anyone willing to climb it.

Griselda is the co-owner of CG Moving Company, a Bay Area institution she has helped grow since 2008 into a trusted provider of moving and storage services for families, commercial clients, nonprofits, biotech firms, and government agencies across Northern California and Silicon Valley.

She is also a member of the California Moving and Storage Association — and in May 2026, she becomes its Chair of the Board. The sixth woman in the association's more than 100-year history. The first immigrant Latina. Ever.

One hundred years. Six women. First. Immigrant. Latina.

That is not a footnote. That is the headline.

Griselda's path runs through El Salvador, Daly City, a Bay Area credit union, the 2008 financial crisis, San Francisco State University, Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, Stanford GSB, and the boardrooms of one of California's most established industry associations. It runs through family — through three kids at softball and baseball fields — and through Women On The Move, the working group she co-founded with her sister six years ago to create real mentorship and community for women across the moving and storage industry.

She built every step with intention. She built it to last. And she has been intentional about something else too: making leadership and ownership visible — so that the next Latina who enters this industry can see that the path exists.

We are proud to welcome Griselda Gonzalez to Silicon Valley Latino as a Cultura Ambassador. Her story is our story. Her excellence is our north star. And her commitment to lifting others as she rises is exactly what SVL was built to amplify.

Juntos Adelante.

Get inspired by her story below.

IN HER OWN WORDS

Griselda Gonzalez was born in El Salvador, the daughter of an elementary school teacher and a homemaker. As a teenager, she emigrated to the United States to reunite with her mother, settling in Daly City, California — where sacrifice, resilience, and the pursuit of opportunity were not abstract values, but the daily rhythm of life.

After high school, she enrolled at San Francisco State University. But in the late 1990s, as an out-of-status student without access to financial aid, she had to make a hard choice. She left school and entered the workforce — beginning a career in financial services that would span more than a decade and teach her things no classroom could.

She worked at a community bank and later at a Bay Area credit union, focused on home equity line of credit (HELOC) operations and collections. In that role, she sat with clients navigating some of the most complex financial moments of their lives. When the mortgage-backed securities crisis arrived, she didn't look away. That experience sharpened her understanding of systems, accountability, and risk in ways that still shape how she leads today.

In 2005, her husband Charlie founded CG Moving Company. Griselda, deep in a booming home equity market, encouraged him to stay focused on residential clients. He had a different vision — commercial, nonprofit, biotech, and government work — and he followed it. That decision would quietly shape the entire trajectory of their business.

When the 2008 financial crisis cost Griselda her job, she joined the company. What started as a pivot became a calling. Since then, she has helped build CG Moving Company into a trusted name across the Bay Area and Northern California — serving families and individuals, commercial clients, and government agencies, with specialties in complex office, laboratory, and healthcare relocations. The company, based in South San Francisco, handles local, long-distance, and international moves throughout the region, including Silicon Valley.

As an owner with hands-on experience in federal, state, municipal, and corporate procurement, Griselda has carved a distinct path in a heavily regulated industry where workforce diversity has historically not extended to its leadership. She is deliberate about that visibility — not just for herself, but for every person coming up behind her who needs to see that ownership and leadership are within reach.

She also finished what she started. Determined to complete her education, Griselda returned to San Francisco State University as an adult and earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and a minor in Raza Studies. She went on to complete the Digital Excellence Program for Minority Entrepreneurs through Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and Google, and the Stanford GSB / Latino Business Action Network Scaling Program. Each credential earned on purpose, on her own terms.

Her commitment to the industry runs deeper than her company. Griselda joined the California Moving and Storage Association in 2012 and grew steadily into a recognized leader — serving as Northern Region Co-President and Vice Chair of the Board. In May 2026, she becomes Chair of the Board, making history as only the sixth woman and the first immigrant Latina to hold the position in the association's more than 100-year history. She has also contributed nationally through the American Trucking Associations Moving and Storage Conference and the Moving and Storage Institute, advancing conversations about leadership, workforce development, and industry standards.

Six years ago, alongside her sister, she co-founded Women On The Move — a working group within the California Moving and Storage Association that has grown into something real: a community built on mentorship, education, and professional development, bringing together women and allies from across the moving and storage industry. Not a committee. A movement.

At the center of everything is family. Griselda is a proud mother of three, and much of her joy lives at softball fields and baseball diamonds — watching her children build the confidence, teamwork, and resilience she has carried her whole life. A former long-distance runner in high school track and cross country, she knows what it costs to stay the course when the finish line isn't in sight yet. She ran anyway. She always has.

Her story is one of persistence, adaptability, and an unshakable commitment to showing others that leadership and ownership are within reach — because she made sure they could see her getting there.

Connect with Griselda: LinkedIn | Instagram: @cg. moving.company | Facebook: CG Moving Company

Griselda didn't ask for permission. Neither should you.

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