Candidate for
Council Member; City of Folsom

Rosemary Younts Biography

Rosemary Younts has 30 years of business experience in the private and nonprofit sectors, where she has served in various management and leadership capacities. As chief development officer for Mercy Foundation for the past five years, she heads all fund development for Mercy Hospital of Folsom and its associate programs within the region it serves. She oversees a 15-member community council, responsible for strategic planning, development and implementation of major capital campaigns, as well as community relations. Most recently, she completed a $5 million capital campaign to support construction of a new state-of-the-art emergency department, and partnered with the City of Folsom on the Senior and Arts Center.

Previously, Rosemary was senior vice president of corporate communication for GenCorp, heading internal and external communication for the corporation and its more than 20 manufacturing facilities and field offices in the US and Europe. She managed financial, employee and shareholder communication, community, investor and media relations, and government and environmental affairs. Key accomplishments while with GenCorp included the development of a nation-wide communication strategy that led to the successful formation of a new company. Working with federal and state regulatory agencies, she developed a communication program that led to government and public approval to remove over 1,000 acres of clean land along the US HW 50 corridor from the company's Superfund site. She also served as president of the GenCorp Foundation, managing assets of $50 million and overseeing the foundation's board of trustees.

Rosemary joined GenCorp in 1983 as manager of communication for the company's Aerojet division in Rancho Cordova, CA. She was promoted in 1990 to director of public affairs, a position that took her to Mississippi for three years to work on the Space Shuttle program with NASA. While there, she established a public affairs department from ground up covering a six county region. She also created an aerospace educational program for regional school districts, taught by visiting astronauts, and produced a weekly radio talk show about the Space Shuttle program. She was later promoted to director of media relations for GenCorp, relocating to Ohio for 7 years before returning home in 1999.

Raised in the local area, Rosemary began her career at age 17 as a reporter for the Folsom Telegraph, and later served the newspaper as editor. Active in the community for many years, she is currently the second vice chair for the Folsom Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She served an earlier term as a director with the Folsom Chamber while she was with GenCorp. She is a member of the Folsom Advisory Committee for Seniors, a past board member of the Folsom Lake College Foundation, past chair of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Energy Committee, and past member of the National Business Roundtable Education Task Force.

Rosemary is also a part time faculty member within the Business and Communication Departments at Folsom Lake College. Working with the chamber, she helped develop the new Folsom Leadership Academy in partnership with the college in 2007. She now serves as the instructor for the program, which brings participants together with community leaders to gain an in-depth knowledge of Folsom and the region, and further develop their leadership skills and potential.

Rosemary received her BA degree from California State University, Sacramento, and is completing her MA degree in communication studies and organizational leadership at Gonzaga University. She was named the California State University, Sacramento Distinguished Service Award Recipient in 2005, and was listed in Who's Who in American Women in 2001. Her favorite pastimes include spending time with her son and daughter and singing with the local band, On Call.