Many of those who leave Stockton know the irresistible pull to return.
Just ask Edith Sumaquial.
“Someone called me a boomerang, and I was like, ‘I didn’t know there was a term.’ But I do like that because now it makes me feel like I saw the world and now I’m back home.”
Home is Stockton. It’s where Sumaquial grew up and started this week as the new general manager of Stocktonia, the nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization founded in 2022 by local journalists.
In this new role — Stocktonia’s first — she will handle business affairs, strategy, fundraising and community outreach for San Joaquin County’s digital-native local news site. She’s excited.
“There’s so much opportunity now to come into the space for news in Stockton because there’s this big void of information,” she said.
To fill that void, Sumaquial (pronounced sooma-KEY-yall) wants more content to attract a younger audience and highlight local culture — both of which she has experience doing as a local business owner.
Sumaquial already knows Stockton well. She is a second-generation Filipino American. Her parents were both pediatricians, moving from Staten Island, New York, to Stockton in the early 1980s. She also has extended family here.
Sumaquial attended Saint Mary’s High School in Stockton and the University of Oregon, where she earned a journalism degree.
Along the way, she did stints in London, Philadelphia and New York. She worked in radio for iHeartMedia in Los Angeles, mingling with celebrities like Ryan Seacrest, and in digital media marketing in Sacramento for Gannett, which has since been renamed USA Today Co. For nine years, she worked in various capacities for wine company Gallo in Modesto.
Eventually, Sumaquial, 46, and her husband decided Stockton was where they wanted to put down roots. They arrived in 2011 soon after the birth of their second daughter.
At first, returning to her hometown required a little readjustment, Sumaquial said.
“There’s such a huge culture shock coming back to your hometown, where people just remember you from high school and you’re like, ‘I’m not the same person from back then,’ ” she said. “I’m much more now.”
She soon found her way, both in business and in delving back into one of her lifelong pursuits: the world of dance.
Sumaquial grew up around dance — first ballet and later jazz and hip-hop. At times, she put dance on hiatus, but she never really left it. Once back in Stockton, she fully embraced dance again.
“It is self-expression that doesn’t need words,” she explained. “I was able to share love, passion, frustration, anything and communicate through dance.”
Though dance was her first love, Sumaquial hit barriers when she recognized the industry did not reflect those who looked like her.
“There weren’t any roles for Asians, and so it was really daunting to me,” she said. “I hated that about the dance industry.”
So, she set out to change that. While raising two daughters, Sumaquial opened a studio in Stockton, the Elevate Dance Co. It caters to everyone without regard to race, body shape or cultural background.
There are about 125 students — 87% of them people of color. Most are younger than 16.
Sumaquial also created conservatory apprenticeship trainings to nurture backstage talent, such as artistic directors, choreographers and arts entrepreneurship. She even launched an Elevate Dance Apparel line.
Her nonprofit, Elevate Artists Foundation, offers scholarships to promising young dancers. She hopes to broaden it to include other artistic endeavors.
While running her dance company, she developed a strategic planning and digital marketing firm as well. Kulay Collective — “kulay” is Tagalog for color — brings a team of experts together to optimize businesses opportunities and growth.
Sumaquial said she views being general manager of Stocktonia as a new form of storytelling — work where she’s already succeeded, both personally and professionally.
“I’ve always just been about sharing voices and the story behind people,” she said. “I’ve always been curious about that and always will be.”