Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Soyla Fernandez

86. Soyla Fernandez

In 2004, Soyla Fernández founded what’s believed to be California’s first Latina-owned lobbying firm. Now known as Fernández Jensen Kimmelshue Government Affairs, the firm ranks among most successful in the state, with five staff lobbyists and a roster of clients that includes such big names as Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Southern California Edison and Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram). Fernández is a true American success story, the daughter of migrant workers from Mexico who spent part of her childhood working in the same fields as her parents. Today, she’s married to fellow lobbyist Kelly Jensen, whose own firm, Sloat Higgins Jensen & Associates, is older and larger, although Fernández and company have been closing the gap aggressively. During this session, they’ve generally occupied the same strata of lobbying firms, according to quarterly receipts. That too is an American success story.

Updated Aug. 11, 2026