Jessie J. Knight Jr.

Jessie J. Knight is executive vice president of external affairs for Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy services holding company whose subsidiaries provide electricity, natural gas and value-added products and services. The Sempra Energy companies' 13,500 employees serve 29 million consumers worldwide.

Before joining Sempra Energy in 2006, Knight served for seven years as president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, which represents 2,800 companies with more than 400,000 employees. The Chamber is the largest business organization in California and the third largest chamber of commerce in the western United States.
 

From 1993 to 1999, Knight served as commissioner for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), after being appointed by then-Governor Pete Wilson. The agency has regulatory oversight for California’s energy, telecommunications, railroad, transportation and water industries.

Prior to his appointment as CPUC Commissioner, Knight was employed as executive vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, responsible for international operations, economic development and business development for the Chamber’s 2,100 businesses.

Knight began his corporate career in 1975 with Dole Food Company Inc., where he worked 10 years in both domestic and international operations, but spent most of his time as director of marketing for the U.S. and Canadian pineapple business, Dole's largest subsidiary.

From 1985 and until 1992, Knight was vice president of marketing for the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner newspapers, overseeing business-to-business and circulation marketing, research and strategic planning. While there, he won five coveted national Clio Awards for television, radio, and print advertising and a Cannes Film Festival Golden Lion Award for business marketing.

Knight is a board member of the Seattle-based Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) and the San Diego Padres Baseball Club and serves as a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Knight holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University, was a fellow of the University of Madrid, and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin.