Sid Voorakkara

Sid Voorakkara was sworn in to the Board of Port Commissioners on February 20, 2024 as an appointee of the City of San Diego. Commissioner Voorakkara is a senior partner with ArroyoWest, LLC, a minority-owned small business, providing communications, public affairs, and strategic planning for public, private, and nonprofit clients. His portfolio includes nonprofits, government, education, and private businesses looking for creative collaboration to address their unique challenges.

Commissioner Voorakkara also serves as a commissioner on California’s Commission on Health, Safety and Workers' Compensation and is a board member at Jewish Family Service of San Diego. He also recently chaired the San Diego City Ethics Commission and was a member of the San Diego Community College Trustees Advisory Council.

Prior to consulting, Commissioner Voorakkara served as the deputy director for external affairs at the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development under Governor Jerry Brown's administration. There, he was responsible for promoting California business investment resources with businesses, economic development stakeholders, local communities, and trade associations. He co-led the state’s initiative to bolster California's defense supply chain cybersecurity resilience, and to help grow and sustain California's cybersecurity workforce and the state’s eight ‘Innovation Hubs’ to promote public private partnerships in new and emerging industries.

Previously, Commissioner Voorakkara was a program manager at The California Endowment, the state’s largest private foundation. He worked closely with nonprofits, other philanthropic organizations, and workforce investment boards to build pathways into high-wage, high-growth jobs for Californians. In his early career, Commissioner Voorakkara served as the field director at the United Nations Foundation, as a communications advisor for the Democratic Leader in the United States House of Representatives, and worked on numerous political campaigns across the country.

Commissioner Voorakkara has served on numerous community boards and associations, including the San Diego City College Foundation Board of Directors, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the San Diego LGBTQ Center, the San Diego Museum of Us, and Business for Good.