INNOVATE San Diego

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SAN DIEGO

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INNOVATION IS A CHALLENGE I EMBRACE AND STRIVE TO DELIVER EVERY DAY.

DAPHNE FLETCHER, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, INNOVATE SAN DIEGO®

County Supervisor Kristen Gasper meets with Daphne in planning INNOVATE® San Diego Now more than ever before, a company must be focused, nimble and versatile enough to handle a customer’s every need, day after day. Innovation is a challenge I embrace and strive to deliver every day.

But, it’s much more than that. To be successful in any facet of life, you sometimes have to step out on a limb or, in my case, a ledge. You have to take the occasional risk. We’re all too familiar with the adage: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

During this project, I have met and interviewed many of the remarkable people who appear in this book. “Wow!” was a word that I expressed on a daily basis. As San Diegans, we are indeed fortunate to be in the presence of a group of extraordinary entrepreneurs and companies that are genuinely committed to making a difference.

And, as a woman-owned business myself, I have been repeatedly inspired after meeting so many incredible women in nontraditional fields – women who are making headlines in countless areas.

And, that to me, is what is so appealing and exciting about being part of the San Diego landscape. This community is filled with people willing to take risks to do something special.

People often ask me how I arrived at the name of my company, Ledge Media. Instinctively, I reply that it is “where the leading meets the edge.”

We continue to grow and innovate, blending new forms of technology with print media—augmented reality.

Years of experience in the publishing industry has certainly provided me with plenty of perspective.

So much so that I can categorically say this book comprises the most interesting and amazing group of individuals I’ve ever met, representing some of the finest and most innovative companies around.

I was thrilled to collaborate on this book with Kyle Thomas, project manager and photographer for INNOVATE® San Diego. Kyle, who has deep roots in the community as a fourth-generation San Diegan and photojournalist for Encinitas magazine, interviewed and photographed many of the leaders who appear in this book. Like me, he was fascinated by their stories and it clearly shows in the finished product.

A technology hub, San Diego has emerged as the life sciences and biomedical research capital of the world. As such, we are perched at the forefront to finding cures for many diseases and illnesses, including COVID-19. In fact, our closing chapter spotlights some of these amazing companies and their stories.

San Diego is so much more than beautiful beaches, a wonderful climate, and home to a world-famous zoo. Its people, resources and companies are truly changing the world.

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INNOVATEÂŽ San Diego project manager Kyle Thomas interviewing County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher

County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher with Jim Filanc and Daphne Fletcher

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The “INNOVATE® San Diego” Team would like to give a special thanks to all the participants and the following companies for their support and assistance in making this project a reality.

Meet the people who are building a better San Diego for tomorrow

KyleThomasPhotography.com

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INNOVATE® SAN DIEGO: A MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE AND MORE.

SVEN BOERMEESTER, FOUNDER/CEO, INTERNATIONAL GROUP PUBLISHER

L-R: Sven Boermeester, Founder/CEO, International Group Publisher with Callie Van Graan, Global Village COO

INNOVATE® San Diego showcases the best of San Diego’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Embedded in its pages, you will find augmented reality videos that accompany select features, and when you use the free GLOBAL VILLAGE AR app, the world of the future will open up before your very eyes.

recently transpired in the San Diego ecosystem, and who play or want to play an active role in its growth and development.

This inaugural edition of INNOVATE® San Diego is just part of a global series. We are currently launching volumes in cities throughout the GlobalVillage.world publishing partnership network.

But “INNOVATE® San Diego” is far more than a tech-enabled publication; it is a multimedia experience centered around the deluxe hardcover coffee-table book you are now holding, which includes AR videos, an online web platform, and multilevel social media networking. Online, the full e-book will be viewed in the millions through the InnovationsoftheWorld.com online library.

By experiencing INNOVATE® San Diego, you are part of our Global Village network, and we are happy to have you. I trust you will join us as we continue the journey of the INNOVATE® series.

Sven Boermeester Founder/CEO International Group Publisher

This publication aims to celebrate those involved in the San Diego ecosystem, but it is also meant for all business leaders and decision-makers who can effect change in their industries throughout San Diego and ultimately the world. We publish INNOVATE® San Diego for the openminded folk who want to know more about the exciting changes that have

Belinda Van Graan

Meghan Tear Percy

Gia Bischofberger

Susan Heiman

Fahmida Seitz

Sarah Nieman

JR Griggs

CMO

Managing Editor

Project Manager

Art & Design

Web Editor

Copy Editor

Web Development

Partner

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26 42 60 68 CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

FUTURE CITIES & COMMUNITY BLUE ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER FOUR

CREATIVE ENTERTAINMENT TECH

CHAPTER FIVE

ASSOCIATIONS & COUNCILS

128 138 148 160 184 CHAPTER ELEVEN

TECHNOLOGY & SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER TWELVE

DIGITAL PRODUCT DESIGN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING

236 246 254 CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EDUCATION, UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES

Art Direction & Design Susan Heiman

Global Village COO Callie Van Graan

Research & Selection Daphne Fletcher Kyle Thomas

Global Village CMO Belinda Van Graan Publishing Partner, Ledge Media CEO: Daphne Fletcher COO: Rafael Ramirez

Project Manager Gia Bischofberger

SOCIAL INNOVATION

COVID-19 INNOVATION

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AGRIBUSINESS, GREEN TECH & SUSTAINABILITY

Global Village CEO Sven Boermeester

Managing Editor Meghan Tear Percy

PRODUCT INNOVATION

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Photojournalist Kyle Thomas info@globalvillage.world www.InnovationsoftheWorld.com www.GlobalVillage.world www.LedgeMedia.net © Global Village Ventures LLC 978-1-949677-16-4

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74 80 94 114 122 CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

BIO RESEARCH

CHAPTER EIGHT

HEALTHCARE & HEALTH TECH

CHAPTER NINE

INNOVATION ENABLERS

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DEFENSE

192 200 210 218 228 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CULTURAL INNOVATION

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ADVERTISING, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

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EVENTS, MEDIA & NETWORKING

CHAPTER NINETEEN

PUBLIC WORKS, LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN

CHAPTER TWENTY

ACCELERATORS, INCUBATORS & MENTORS

IT’S A KIND OF MAGIC...

DOWNLOAD THE GLOBAL VILLAGE AR APP TO VIEW 100 AUGMENTED REALITY VIDEOS IN THIS BOOK!

To experience the future of print, download the Global Village AR App from the IOS or Android App stores. Open the App and hold it about 30cm above any page that contains an image with the “play” Icon.

Make sure your back camera is pointing at the page. Click the Play button that appears onscreen and immerse yourself in the latest updated content with reference to that page.

Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in The “INNOVATE® San Diego” vol 1. Neither “INNOVATE® San Diego” nor Global Village assume any responsibility for errors, omissions, nor submissions by participators. All rights reserved: No part of this publication shall be reproduced, copied, transmitted, adapted, or modified in any form or by any means. This publication shall not be stored in whole or in part in any form in any retrieval system.

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“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

–JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

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CHAPTER 1

THOUGHT LEADERS

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AS AN ELECTED LEADER IN THE COUNTRY’S FIFTH LARGEST COUNTY, MY FOCUS IS ON PREVENTION AND INNOVATION. KRISTIN GASPAR, COUNTY SUPERVISOR, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, 3RD DISTRICT The government is famous for operating under the philosophy – “If it ain’t broke, fix it till it is”. That may be why we throw millions, even billions of dollars at the same problem every year and get the same results.

After being elected to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 2017, I visited hundreds of local organizations, many of them non-profits. I wanted to know where our tax dollars were being invested and what was working and what wasn’t.

I was pleased to see models where people take responsibility for themselves and take an active role in their journey to becoming whole again.

Unfortunately, I also found too many band-aid approaches. This is a flawed approach I’m working to change by challenging my colleagues to be bold with County investments in the human potential of the people we serve.

As Board Chair in 2018, I chose “Innov18” as the theme for my State of the County address and posed the question, what if government could clear the path and unleash the free market to fund innovative programs that empower people to transform their own lives? My mission being to help our most vulnerable populations, I highlighted several community-based solutions I saw during my visits.

One involved re-creating a model in San Diego that assists the formerly incarcerated, drug addicted and homeless called “The Other Side Academy”.

I’m also working with federal officials on a demonstration project using an innovative payfor-results model to move people from dependency to self-sufficiency. I have led the County to invest in partnerships with local non-profits to add additional transitional youth housing, recuperative housing, and temporary housing for sex trafficking victims. After a disturbing trend of deaths linked to fentanyl coming across our border, I helped launch an unprecedented educational and door-to-door campaign about the importance of removing old or unused opioids from our homes.

I believe we must be transformational not transactional. We cannot abandon accountability from the very people who need us to believe they’re valuable, capable, and have a purpose in life. From our leaders making decisions about how our taxpayer dollars are invested, we also need accountability. We must redefine compassion, raising the bar for what’s possible for people, not lower it.

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WE CAN INNOVATE CHANGE IN OUR INSTITUTIONS, AND IN OUR LIVES, BY LEADING WITH A COMPASSION-FOCUSED APPROACH. NATHAN FLETCHER, COUNTY SUPERVISOR, COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO, 4TH DISTRICT

elected officials to create a better future in which everyone has a seat at the decision-making table.

I chose to lead in the County government because a brighter future for our region and collective communities was not a given.

In a short amount of time, we have forged partnerships with public health institutions like UC San Diego Health to build national models for behavioral health services, including delivering patient-centered care using an innovative care coordination model and a regional behavioral health hub concept. Also, we are collaborating with the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless to implement new solutions to the housing crisis.

We envisioned and created a public-private partnership with the University of San Diego and The Brink to grow our local entrepreneurial pipeline in underserved communities through Innovate-Up! And, through our Neighborhood Reinvestment and Community Enhancement programs, nonprofits that never received a County grant before, have access to funding.

Not many people understand the role of County government, let alone a County Supervisor, in delivering vital services to our communities and region. Yet, the San Diego County government is responsible for more than six billion dollars in annual revenue and expenditures. Things like behavioral health services, child welfare services, senior services, public health, housing and community development, homelessness, public safety, and land use, fall under the County’s governance.

At its core, the government is or should aspire to be, an institution of good. I wanted to become a County Supervisor to ensure that these services and resources work for everyone. I believe equality, fairness, access, and transparency should be the cornerstones of public service and civic resource allocation.

A year into my term as a County Supervisor, I better understand that change can be difficult for those burdened with the memory and experiences of a County government system that was not

necessarily working for them or reflective of their values. Institutional progress, when leadership is stagnant for decades, is slow at best. I believe, as public servants, we must constantly bring new ideas, voices, and insights into governance. Cultural competence, innovation, and equity all depend on our willingness and resolve to open our institutions to change. Only then can we collectively address the region’s most pressing problems.

The County population continues to grow, affordable housing is difficult to obtain, more children and seniors are living in poverty, and increasing numbers of families are sleeping on the street. Issues of mental health and substance abuse are prevalent and, for years, virtually unaddressed.

Poor air quality is causing massive disparities in life expectancy from one part of the County to another.

The life expectancy of children born in our poorest communities is ten years less than their peers in our wealthiest communities. We must do better.

As stewards of the County government, it is incumbent on County Supervisors and other

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By leading with compassion and an equity-focused approach, I believe we can fundamentally improve our institutions and lives. We must consider the lived experiences of people who are impacted by the decisions we make and use every resource available to understand the issues and their effects before acting. Our job is to make lives better. I hope that as we make changes to our policy-making process, more people—especially young people and those who were previously unheard —are inspired to join the ranks of public service. Together we can continue to apply compassion, innovation, and informed solutions to the next big challenges.

Office of Supervisor Nathan Fletcher County of San Diego 1600 Pacific Hwy, Room 335 San Diego, CA 92101 +1-619-531-5544 SupervisorFletcherSD SupFletcher nathan_fletcher fletchernathan

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IN SAN DIEGO, INNOVATION IS NOT JUST A BUZZWORD, IT IS A WAY OF LIFE. KEVIN L. FAULCONER, MAYOR, CITY OF SAN DIEGO

The region’s world-class universities, research institutions, and life sciences industry have a long history of groundbreaking discoveries that have saved lives across the globe, including several companies working around the clock right now in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

installed smart streetlights that are collecting data to help fight climate change.

And we launched the “Get It Done” application so residents can report issues— from graffiti to a pothole—that needs to be addressed.

In San Diego, we pride ourselves in asking “Why?” when we are told that something has always been done a certain way. We are constantly looking for new solutions to more efficiently and effectively deliver the neighborhood services our 1.4 million residents rely on every day. In doing so, we are making our city, our nation, and our world a better place for all.

As Mayor, I have pushed to make the City of San Diego as innovative as the people we serve. Now San Diego proudly leads the way when it comes to creating a more inclusive, transparent, and open government.

We started by overhauling the City’s website with an award-winning redesign that makes it easier for the public to navigate. We opened our books by putting the entire budget and City data sets online for anyone to access. We bolstered transparency by creating an online portal that makes requesting public records simple and straightforward—and allows everyone to see the documents provided, not just the person asking.

CityofSanDiego TheCityofSanDiego

Then we looked at ways to make City Hall run more like a business by bringing services online to cut red tape. San Diego is now one of the largest cities in the nation to accept and approve construction permits completely online. We have

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BIG IDEAS ARE OFTEN MET WITH SKEPTICISM, BUT THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS ALL AROUND US. HASAN IKHRATA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANDAG We are living in the midst of a transportation revolution. There have been fundamental changes in how people move around cities and towns across the world. In the San Diego region, you can feel it every day.

Everywhere you look, people are driving electric cars, which reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, which didn’t exist a decade ago, are now wildly popular. Urban landscapes are changing before our eyes as private companies offer fleets of electric scooters, bikes, and other vehicles to people who want quick and easy solutions for short trips. New neighborhoods that weave walking, biking, public transit, and electrified mobility into the fabric of everyday life are popping up.

Technology is at the heart of many of these changes, enabling innovation like never before. Nevertheless, there is no substitute for creative and visionary thinking, and the dedicated professionals at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) are thinking big. In times of uncertainty, this outlook is all the more important.

As the new Executive Director at SANDAG, I have set an ambitious course for us because I truly believe the San Diego region can lead the nation and the world in reinventing transportation. I was honored to be named the 2019 Voice of the Year by Voice of San Diego, and it is because of the dedication and ambition of my staff that my voice can be heard. By marshaling the tremendous talent that we have at the agency, we are moving forward deliberately and boldly.

That’s what our 5 Big Moves are all about. Complete Corridors will redefine how highways and roads are used and managed to increase safety, capacity, and efficiency. Transit Leap will build a network of high-capacity, high-speed, and high-frequency transit services. Mobility Hubs will transform the heart of communities, where a variety of travel options will come together in a single place. Flexible Fleets will provide on-demand and shared electric vehicles that connect to transit. The Next Operating System will be the new brain of the entire regional transportation system.

These 5 Big Moves are guiding our work as we develop the 2021 Regional Plan, which will shape the way people and goods move throughout our region for years to come. Our overarching goal is simple: to help improve the quality of life for everyone in our region and grow a robust economy.

transportation planning before coming to SANDAG, there was great doubt in the 1990s that a rail system could be built. Now, there are hundreds of miles of passenger rail connecting people throughout Los Angeles and beyond.

One of my first priorities is to build a world-class transit hub that connects people to the San Diego International Airport. This collaborative effort has joined leaders from the Navy, the Airport Authority, the Port of San Diego, the City of San Diego, and both of the region’s transit agencies. We have identified a 71-acre Navy property one mile north of the airport as a leading candidate. This large-scale, multimodal mobility hub would connect every corner of our county to the airport and provide opportunities for affordable housing and commercial development.

When I reflect on past accomplishments and future ambitions, I often turn to an inspiring quote from President John F. Kennedy: “The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not.”

Big ideas are often met with skepticism, but there are examples of success all around us. In Los Angeles, where I spent decades in engineering and

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THE SAN DIEGO REGION HAS TAKEN A GLOBAL LEADERSHIP ROLE IN ADVANCING THE ‘SMART CITY’ FROM IDEA TO REALITY. JAMES FILANC, PRESIDENT, INTELLIGENT CITIES ASSOCIATES, LLC

Back in 2012, I wrote a White Paper entitled EnLighten San Diego when I had an insight into the strategic value of “power and perch,” two unique characteristics of streetlights. Streetlights are everywhere in most cities, but in San Diego, we envisioned attaching Small Cells to streetlights before there were Small Cells.

We imagined Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) as a method to connect Smart Meters to Streetlights at a time when no meter manufacturer offered it. We even thought of using EV Charging along streets to support regional Climate Action Plans.

Today, other cities have caught up to us, but many challenges remain. At the top of the list is a growing regional awareness of the emerging impact of 5G and its nexus with autonomous vehicles. A developing consensus is that there may eventually be mobile radios attached to nearly 100% of streetlights within a given city, the majority of which may require additional fiberoptic cabling. To minimize negative impact on the public, we’ll need a new regional planning effort. We’ll need to take a hard look at the best and greatest use of the streetlight and its ability to support high-speed networks within the framework of a Neutral Host strategy. Under this policy framework, every streetlight can and should become a gateway to any Mobile Network Operator (MNO) to its network, thus conserving limited space, improving aesthetic appeal, while eliminating meter pedestals cluttering our sidewalks and roadways. I encourage the region’s agencies and municipalities to take a closer look at their strategies to maximize fair access everywhere. This might be accomplished through colocation agreements among the MNOs and agencies, or through the innovative use of technology to provide a single gateway to the Internet through each streetlight.

These are exciting times. In 2020 we will see the emergence of truly high-speed network technology atop streetlights utilizing a host of wireless technologies.

Each will have its own challenges, so careful planning and thought will be needed to determine which technologies will best support a given agency’s plans. Ubiquitous deployment of 5G, autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles are just around the corner. The IoT market is expected to grow much faster than any other segment impacting global data traffic. And this new Smart City market is being played out in public rights of ways, meaning public agencies should and will have a huge voice in planning our future. So let’s get busy and solve these challenges together!

And as Smart City designs evolve, we will see the use of more cameras and microphones for public safety, traffic mobility, and vehicle parking. This is inevitable. Cameras are everywhere, raising public concerns about privacy rights. When the public is brought along and made part of the policy debate, outcomes improve. These community conversations need to occur early so as not to create unnecessary confusion and fear.

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WITHOUT SAN DIEGO, SEQSTER WOULDN’T EXIST. ARDY ARIANPOUR, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, SEQSTER

It is no coincidence that Seqster was born in San Diego, a city with an underdog culture where small startups transform into large enterprises that address giant markets. Perfect weather drives innovation—always sunny, 72 degrees, and 70 miles of beaches. Perhaps the combination of unique culture and weather has drawn innovators from Dr. Jonas Salk to Dr. Seuss to do extraordinary things for the future of humanity.

discoveries such as the polio vaccine as well as becoming the genomics mecca.

Half of the innovation in Boston and San Francisco, particularly within the life sciences, would not be possible without the genomic technologies founded in San Diego. San Diego taught me that you don’t need to be a scientist to change science and you don’t need to be a doctor to change medicine. Seqster brings together everything that is San Diego for me—health, genetics, lifestyle—so that everyone can seek health data. Without San Diego, Seqster wouldn’t exist.

I moved to San Diego in 1986 when I was 6 years old and even then my family knew how special of a place it was. Out of all of the great American cities, we chose to come to San Diego when others were choosing to go elsewhere. I recall how I was inspired, while walking down Prospect Street in La Jolla and overlooking the Pacific Ocean, by the abundance of opportunity that existed. As I grew older, that feeling was amplified exponentially. San Diego provides the setting for complete work-life balance like no other place, even for Southern California. While tremendous work happens here, it is accompanied by a sense of calm and relaxation that lets you zen out in your own way.

7310 Miramar Rd., #430 San Diego, CA 92126 seqster

Most people think of San Diego as a tourist destination, but I see San Diego as a biotechnology hub. In recent years, we have led the world with groundbreaking

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SMART CITIES SAN DIEGO: SMARTER TOGETHER JASON ANDERSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CLEANTECH SAN DIEGO As urban populations continue to grow and digital tools expand at warp speed, cities and public agencies around the globe are looking to new technologies to help manage resources in more sustainable and cost-effective ways. The San Diego region is no exception, where public leaders and organizations have made a priority of connecting the unconnected and incorporating smart cities technologies into planning and operations in order to become more efficient and meet climate action goals.

In response to this global trend, regional business association Cleantech San Diego launched Smart Cities San Diego in 2011 to connect and support public, private, and academic partners in the San Diego region who are making bold moves with smart cities technologies. Driven by progressive initiatives that benefit both the economy and the environment, a number of cities and public agencies across the San Diego region are rapidly emerging as some of the “smartest cities” in North America.

From adopting ambitious climate action plans to deploying IoT technologies to making shifts toward advanced energy and transportation and leveraging data in new ways, our region is on the leading edge of making communities more livable and connected.

So, what’s the next step? Working together – across jurisdictional boundaries – to ensure the San Diego region enhances connectively, ensures equality and inclusivity, advances climate action plans, and makes data-driven decisions to accelerate new economic development while creating open, secure, accountable, and transparent processes.

For the San Diego region, this collaborative approach has been key to cementing our region’s position as a leader in the smart cites movement. It has not only attracted exciting new energy-, water-, and cost-saving technologies from global companies to landmark locations across the region, but has also helped build the San Diego region’s reputation as a vibrant test bed for smart cities solutions.

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WITH OVER 20 YEARS LEADING STRATEGY TEAMS IN THE WIRELESS INDUSTRY, I’VE HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT TO THE CREATION OF TRANSFORMATIVE TECHNOLOGY ALL MADE POSSIBLE BY THE TRANSITION FROM 2G TO 5G. LIZ GASSER, BOARD CHAIR | ATHENA EVP, CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY | TANDEM DIABETES CARE

its leadership. The data is well understood, but female representation in STEM professions remains at around 25% in the US today. In high-tech, the number is closer to 20%.

Here’s where we need innovative thinking. Over the years, I’ve participated in female-oriented leadership programs designed to equip us to advocate for and navigate our career advancement. I’ve sat in numerous unconscious bias workshops that tell us we need to recognize and overcome our tendencies to hire and promote “people like us”. Both have their place, but neither do a good job starting a conversation with male colleagues about how we will only achieve diversity when it becomes a shared cause.

I’ve yet to encounter a male executive who doesn’t support the idea of greater gender equality in their organization. Many have appointed Chief Diversity Officers and are tracking and reporting on diversity metrics. Far fewer, however, have made a deep personal commitment to taking small, daily actions that make a sustained difference.

This personal commitment starts with a simple question, “what am I going to do about this today”?

Dr. Francis Collins, Head of the National Institutes of Health, announced his refusal to speak at conferences without diversity on their panels. David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, announced his company won’t take companies public without at least one diverse Board member. For the rest of us, the answer could be as simple as asking a soft-spoken female colleague for her opinion in a meeting or amplifying a point she made when summarizing next steps. It could be choosing to promote a woman who is capable of stepping up but who might not have been as vocal as her colleagues in asking for that next role. Perhaps you could ask HR to remove names from resumes when you do a first pass through job applications.

Yet I can’t help but wonder if industry could have done more. Economics teaches that innovation occurs when inventions bring about economic and social transformation. In this context, it becomes clear that innovation ultimately demands diversity. Diversity of thought, of perspective and of experience. Yet, I’ve often been the lone female voice in the room. This is the norm for women in STEM industries.

This may not feel like much, but behavioral change only comes about through the accumulation of small, daily actions that break down established practices and policies, and it will take us all working together.

Harvard Business Review published research indicates that organizations who embrace gender diversity as a fundamental, cultural value, and not a regulatory checkbox, secure higher market values and revenue growth than those who do not. Why? Greater diversity means better representation of end-user markets, a broader spectrum of ideas, and better products. For job seekers it indicates the vibrancy of a company’s talent pipeline and for investors, the competence of

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INNOVATION COMES FROM NATURAL COMMUNICATION AND EXAMINING IDEAS IN A COLLABORATIVE, UNTHREATENING ENVIRONMENT. MITCHELL KRONENBERG, PHD, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER, LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY As a top-ranked research institute, innovation is at the heart of what we do.

Naturally, I think a lot about how to create an environment where ideas flow freely and scientists can do their best work. For most of us, novel and useful ideas don’t just spontaneously spring to life, fully fledged and ready to be tested in the real world, while reading scientific literature or thinking deep thoughts. More often than not, after the first inklings of a novel idea are born, the initial thoughts are expanded, refined, and polished as they are examined in conversation with others.

the immune system work side by side. We have a lot of conference rooms and the atrium is rimmed with lounge chairs that prompt informal conversation. It makes me very happy when I walk around the institute and see people from different labs deep in conversation, especially when they are in the atrium in those chairs I described.

We also provide more formalized ways to discuss science and encourage communication within the organization. Every week, one of our young postdoctoral fellows presents their latest work as part of our internal “Research in Progress” series. Twice a month, faculty members get together for their own internal science meeting. During each meeting, one faculty member presents something that maybe is a little bit out of the box, a new direction they are going into or a brand-new idea they are exploring. It’s a great opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other and hear a different perspective. Once a year, we all retreat to Lake Arrowhead for three days of intense scientific discussion, socializing, and fun.

Above all, innovation for me is about providing physical and intellectual spaces where communication happens naturally and ideas can be examined in a collaborative and unthreatening environment.

Creating community starts with the physical environment. When we built the building we are currently in, I wanted an open-concept layout, where one lab’s space seamlessly flows into the next and people studying different aspects of

Getting people to talk is not enough, though. Scientists need to be able to act on their ideas. One of my goals is to give faculty members as much room as possible to take risks. Part of it is creating a culture, where it is okay to break away from the herd, explore outside the beaten path and take the long view. But if anything, government funding in science and technology is afraid of investing in avant-garde projects that come with a high risk of failure. Naturally, I wish we could do more but, unlike many independent research organizations, we provide our faculty with a significant amount of discretionary money. That allows people to step out of their comfort zone and embrace the unknown. That all creates, I hope, an atmosphere in which people feel rewarded and will want to be innovative.

Being in San Diego is a tremendous advantage. The Torrey Pines Mesa is home to a well-known research cluster, where biotech companies, the pharmaceutical industry, incubators, a number of world-renowned research institutes and UC San Diego, the largest organization in this research powerhouse, are all in close geographical proximity making it easy to collaborate across organizations and benefit from each other’s expertise.

And who wouldn’t want to live here? Compared to some other leading hub cities, San Diego has it all: entrepreneurial spirit, cosmopolitan culture, and an unbeatable climate.

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THIS IS MY STORY OF HOW ADVERSITY BECAME MY LEADERSHIP SUPERPOWER. CLAUDE JONES, ENGINEERING LEADER | PHILANTHROPIST | ENTREPRENEUR

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Adversity Is a Leadership Superpower A leader is forged through the trials and tribulations of life. And when faced with negative influences, instead of giving into personal doubt and insecurities, leaders demonstrate the qualities of resiliency, passion, and authenticity enabling them to overcome the challenges of life empowering them to reach their full potential.

My name is Claude Jones. I am an engineering leader, philanthropist, and entrepreneur who has had to overcome the struggles of abuse, racism, and biases.

These negative influences ended up playing a foundational role in shaping and defining my personal leadership style and my passion to help others in need.

This is my story of how adversity became my leadership superpower.

The Beginning: Resiliency I was born in Chicago, abandoned by my birth father at a young age, leaving my mother, who served in the US Navy, to raise me on her own. Growing up as a child was difficult. I faced challenges from all aspects of my life. My stepfather was abusive both mentally and physically to me. I was told consistently I was stupid and would never amount to anything. The middle-class neighborhood I called home was not accepting to blacks. My life was a battlefield where I was always defending myself.

I was barely passing school, I had isolated myself from others, and I was on a downward spiral in life. I was becoming a product of my environment. It was not until 1990 when my 7th-grade guidance counselor, Mr. Baker, reached out to me and said, “Claude, I believe in you, and I need you to believe in yourself.�

It was the first time someone really looked at me for who I was and challenged me to be better than I thought I was. Mr. Baker became a mentor and coach who provided an environment of love, trust, and support, allowing me to not only believe in who I was but allowed me to know if I put my mind to it, I could accomplish anything.

The Change Agent: I am the founder of San Diego Tech Hub, an organization focused on building a sense of community where people are actively invested in their hometown by reaching out and creating connections and opportunities while helping others reach their full potential.

Being True to Myself: Authenticity People ask me all the time why I do what I do. What benefit do I get from helping others? My answer is always the same. When I had no hope, someone loved me enough and breathed life into me again. That person had no clue of the impact he would have on my life and how he enabled me to reach my full potential. The action of providing people hope and seeing others succeed drives me to do more.

My authenticity is founded on the experiences of my past, and the resiliency and passion I found within myself have kept me humble and true to who I am.

Finding my Purpose: Passion The simple act of kindness, shown by Mr. Baker, taught me a lesson that has stuck with me to this day. People helping people will result in life-changing transformations. As I received blessings in life, I vowed to pay it forward, helping create opportunities for others to walk through their door of opportunity.

Helping Others Unlock their Full Potential To exercise this passion, I created three avenues for myself to give back over the years:

There are so many people that are hopeless in this world and it takes individuals who are willing to stand up and do something about it to make a difference.

Each of us has the power to be a leader. How are you using adversity as your superpower to become a resilient, passionate, and authentic leader, creating opportunities for others, and helping them reach their full potential?

The Philanthropist: I started the Elevate Foundation, which is an organization focused on rebuilding communities, uplifting individuals, and inspiring others to do the same. As a way of paying it forward, we donate $20,000 a year of our own funds to charities and actively participate by volunteering our time, speaking, and mentorship to families and individuals in need.

The Motivator: I started The Practical Leadership Guy as a service providing motivational speaking, life coaching, and sharing my personal experiences of how best to overcome and deal with the challenges we face day-to-day.

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OBLIGATION SHOULD NOT WAKE YOU UP IN THE MORNING; OPPORTUNITY SHOULD. LUIS MARTINEZ, MSOL, FOUNDER & CEO, WE THA PLUG, DIRECTOR, STARTUP GRIND SAN DIEGO

We don’t have to ask permission or get validation from anyone to build institutions and corporations where we ourselves can build the culture that mirrors our moral compass.

I’m most excited about the future of San Diego. I envision the city becoming more of a hub in the next 5–7 years for tech and startup companies, as the cost of living in the Bay Area keeps increasing, making it difficult to scale as an early-stage company.

At the same time, I predict there will also be a migration of Pan-African and Latinx companies to San Diego as well. Those incoming founders and companies will need a foundation already established to support their journey as entrepreneurs. That’s my mission—and I hope it’s yours, too.

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My mission is to create opportunities in the innovation space for folks from nontraditional backgrounds. I have lived a very eclectic life so far, from being a pro athlete and US Navy Veteran to working as a civilian in the government sector to now being an entrepreneur. But I’ve found my life’s purpose in creating something different here in San Diego.

The Pan-African and Latinx community, especially the entrepreneurs, have always been the changemakers and innovators in the United States—yet the mainstream withholds the respect and credit that community deserves. Simultaneously, these communities have not had access to information, resources, and most importantly, CAPITAL to build a company within any startup and innovation space.

San Diego is a unique location for entrepreneurs to start, build, and scale the innovation ecosystem.

You have Tijuana, which is a booming hub for entrepreneurs and engineers coming out of the universities in Mexico. That brings an international flavor to the local ecosystem that is vastly different from other tech hubs. San Diego may be known primarily for biotechnology and life science companies, but we are moving towards a more balanced innovation ecosystem outside of those main industries.

Building this specific ecosystem in San Diego is pretty humbling, as I’m pretty sure there were people before me taking on this task. It’s definitely a challenge to change the mindset of so many people who have been limited to expressing their culture through only the church, sports, or entertainment.

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A former pro basketball player, US Navy Veteran, Luis Martinez, MSOL, is Afro-Latino born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, with an MBA in Organizational Leadership. He is also a master networker and ecosystem builder. His company We Tha Plug grew from his volunteering with Startup San Diego and today works with Pan-African and Latinx founders and startup companies at all levels from Ideation Phase to Pre-Seed and Series A phase. Luis is also the Director for Startup Grind San Diego, which has a partnership with Google for Startups that tells the stories of entrepreneurs and contributors throughout the local ecosystem through fireside chats and other variations of programming.

luis@wethaplug.com

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ANOTHER ASPECT OF “BETTER TOGETHER” IS A TALENT-BASE. NEAL BLOOM, FOUNDER FRESH BREWED TECH

ecosystem are entrepreneurs that find success in one industry and keep building new technologies in new fields. One example is EcoATM building connected kiosks to recycle cell phones, whose founders went on to start other companies that produce genetic microchip manufacturing or bloodanalyzing kiosks. Or take a look at the many spin outs from Qualcomm making internal cell phone components that went on to create connected devices in the logistics, medical, automobile, and space industries to name a few. Another great example has its own phrase coined by the late great San Diego tech and business journalist Bruce Bigelow, “Big Bio Meets Big Data.” The robust and mature biotech industry in San Diego is finding growth and collaboration through the proliferation of data science and software.

When genomic code begins to look like another codebase like Javascript or Python, it has brought a whole new group of software talent that can now find applications in medical and healthcare fields.

This will continue to be a spotlight in San Diego.

In San Diego many different industry clusters are contributing to and benefiting from force multiplying through collaboration. That is one of San Diego’s great strengths - collaboration. In a community that is commonly described as having a ‘give before you get’ mentality, we are thriving by building bridges.

Neal@freshbrewedtech.com neal@startupsd.org freshbrewedtech

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In terms of domain expertise, San Diego has deep histories in defense and aerospace, life sciences, sports and active lifestyle, and telecom. These clusters have spun off whole new industries, like drone and anti drone development, cybersecurity, connected (medical) devices, transportation and mobility technology, web analytics, brewing sciences, artificial intelligence, food tech and agriculture tech.

The underlying backbone of San Diego’s diverse

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These blurring of the lines of industries is also seen as an ecosystem movement catapulted by non profit organizations. Organizations that fuel startups, like Startup San Diego, help entrepreneurs find the resources they need next, which is where organizations like CONNECT with San Diego Venture Group, Evonexus, and Tech Coast Angels lean in to help companies move along their path.

This symphony of the entrepreneurs’ journey is proving that we are better together and is very much a San Diego ethos.

Another aspect of “better together” is a talent-base inclusion. San Diego is learning how to multiply its workforce development of veterans, underserved communities, women in tech, students, and even cross border Mexicans and build resources that help grow our companies more robustly. Talent is the lifeblood to any successful company and in San Diego, we are learning how to train and advance opportunities to those who previously haven’t had the access.

These are the seeds that are being planted through collaboration and we are seeing many fruits forming that will continue to bring success to the greater San Diego region.

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The Power of People-first Problem Solving BOB KAIN, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, LUNAPBC

I’ve been fortunate enough to live a life distinguished by constant progression from understanding to impacting, and do so in the thriving tech hub of San Diego. Trained as a physicist, I’ve been fueled by a deep drive to understand some of the most complex “whys” of our world. Quickly, I learned that understanding is more satisfying when it leads to creating positive impact. This motivation eventually led me to build a career at the San Diego–born company, Illumina, as their Chief Engineering Officer. Illumina’s breakthrough genomic products that our teams developed redefined medicine and how we think about disease.

AND PRODUCTIVITY SHOULD NO “PROGRESS LONGER BE HINDERED BY THE MYRIAD OF

TRUST AND INEQUITY ISSUES THAT AFFECT FOCUS AND ABILITY TO WORK TOGETHER IN CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE WAYS.

During my 15-year tenure, Illumina grew from a research startup of 30 employees to a global genomics leader of 3,000 employees with $1.5 billion in revenue. The work we did to reduce the cost of genome sequencing from one million dollars in 2006 to one thousand in 2015 makes me particularly proud. The $1,000-genome breakthrough paved the way for many health and technology companies to follow suit. Many San Diego startups built talented, mission-driven teams fed by the local pool of talent.

Learn more about LunaDNA on page 100 & 260

From my experience building teams at both Illumina and LunaPBC, I have learned that success and innovation comes from empowering team members to be creative in solving problems, ensuring the problems they are solving are aligned with corporate priorities and strategies, and encouraging team members to collectively solve problems with innovative solutions.

While genomics was saving lives in cancer and early onset childhood diseases, structural barriers still blocked the health discovery floodgates from bursting open. That’s why I joined forces with like-minded leaders in San Diego to build a team of talented genomics health pioneers to solve this complex problem. Formed in October 2017, LunaPBC™, an investor-

The future of innovation is becoming more about harnessing exponential technologies to improve our lives and developing creative new business models to address structural or value delivery challenges in the market place.

San Diego is well positioned because some of the world’s greatest challenges require teams that are comprised of a diversity of skill sets and those who are comfortable working cross-functionally. Successful San Diego companies today are developing resources that thrive on cross-functional teams empowered to operate as startups within the larger company, providing an incubator for future entrepreneurs.

owned public benefit corporation, is building an innovative health data platform, LunaDNA™, with the goal of eliminating those barriers.

In December 2018, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) qualified LunaDNA’s offering to recognize health data as currency, LunaDNA became the world’s first community-owned health data sharing platform. This people-first model solves previous industry research and structural challenges, such as data silos, nontransparency in data usage, and value imbalance. Less than one year later, LunaPBC was named a 2019 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for deploying an innovative solution to create worldwide impact in healthcare.

LunaPBC is fortunate enough to have been born in a city where ambitious ideas are converted into successful, thriving companies. We’re solving some of the world’s most complex problems with LunaDNA, providing members autonomy over their personal data, education on the research journey, pride in community-driven discovery, and the ability to pursue, both individually and as a community, the grandest purpose of all—enabling longer, healthier lives.

Throughout my career, I focused first on finding the intersection between my passions, my capability, where I could create real value, and where there was a strong market opportunity. Once an opportunity was identified the focus turned to understanding challenges, solving problems, and implementing solutions either within an existing company or through the founding of a new company. Since no single person can make a company successful, it is important to hire a good team, develop the team, and expand the team over time to accomplish the company’s short- and long-term goals.

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WHAT IS THE NEXT GAME-CHANGING SCIENTIFIC IDEA? THAT’S THE SALK ETHOS, AND IT’S WHY WE SAY THAT SALK IS WHERE CURES BEGIN. FRED H. GAGE, PHD – PRESIDENT OF THE SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES

San Diego’s scientific leaders include at least a halfdozen world-renowned research institutes (J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, Scripps Research and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, to name a few) as well as many biotech startups. Indeed, the San Diego Biotechnology Network lists over 675 biotechnology or life science organizations in its directory. These organizations are seeking therapies for diseases like Alzheimer’s, autism and cancer. They’re creating new medical diagnostic tools and devices. They’re developing green technologies. In short, they are looking to change the world.

The future for San Diego seems very bright, given what we scientists like to call “the downstream effects” of the Mesa’s impact on the region’s economy and vitality. Young, diverse scientists and researchers are actively engaged in the world around them. They buy homes and put down roots, raise families, seek out cultural experiences and engage in civic activities. They bring a laboratorybased ethos of people of all different ages and backgrounds working together toward a common goal of seeking truth about the world. A strong scientific community strengthens the overall community.

Rusty Gage, one of the world’s most preeminent neuroscientists, is the president of the Salk Institute, a professor in its Laboratory of Genetics and holder of the Vi and John Adler Chair for Research on Age-Related Neurodegenerative Disease. His team studies cellular and molecular mechanisms to find possible avenues to repair damaged or aging brains.

10010 N Torrey Pines Rd La Jolla, CA 92037 webrequest@salk.edu +1-858-453-4100 salkinstitute

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But whether we are scientists or artists, businesspeople or builders, I believe it’s important to remember one of Jonas Salk’s most powerful legacies, the idea that “Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.” This means paying forward the opportunities and benefits we have been fortunate to receive. And we are indeed fortunate to be at the epicenter of such exciting research, here in San Diego, where profound scientific discoveries are being made every day. As Jonas said, “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.”

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AT THE END OF THE DAY, THIS IS WHAT DRIVES INNOVATION: INDIVIDUAL DISCOVERY. GREG MCCLURE, AIA, LEED AP PRINCIPAL, DELAWIE

From its famous beaches to its craft brew scene, from the Gaslamp district to its mountains in the East, San Diego is a place people want to live. Once defined primarily by the military and surfing, in the past 20 years we have seen San Diego become home to some of the most innovative companies on the planet and some of the nation’s top schools, each with their own unique contributions to San Diego’s innovation ecosystem.

Since joining Delawie in 2004, I have focused my professional career on large-scale commercial projects for clients such as Qualcomm Incorporated, Illumina, and BioLegend, to name a few. These are the companies that will shape the future of San Diego, and the world. These clients are some of San Diego’s premier innovators on the cutting edge of their fields to push their industries a bit further than the competition can go. In order to do this, our clients have to attract the top talent in the industry and keep them happy at work. To produce the next technological advancement or the next innovation in biotech, the next microchip or the newest antibody, our clients need the best people.

They need talent, better talent than the other guys, because at the end of the day that is what drives innovation: individual discovery. Innovation comes from the scientist in the lab or at their computer, pushing forward each day, developing new methods, making things better.

And so we design world-class corporate campuses.

We make work a place people want to be. Because happy workers are crucial for our clients. When a worker’s basic needs are fulfilled they are productive, when you give them more than that they are innovators, and those are the people our clients need to be.

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DO THE RIGHT THING AND DO IT WITH CLASS. LIVE BY EXAMPLE AND TEACH THE YOUNGER ENGINEERS TO DO THE SAME. ANNIE AGUILAR, PRESIDENT & CEO, SAN DIEGUITO ENGINEERING (SDE)

Annie Aguilar, PE President/CEO, Principal Engineer

Andrew Karydes, PLS VP/Secretary, Principal Surveyor

Patricia Urquiza, MBA CFO, Accounting Manager

In 2011, I became CEO of the San Dieguito Engineering (SDE), a civil engineering land development company, with my predecessor remaining on board as COO until his retirement in 2017. As the President and CEO of a woman-owned small business, I’ve had many experiences along the way that have provided opportunities to fail and struggle, to learn and grow, which I embrace as I embark on the ninth year of running the company.

The word innovation brings to mind “inventions”— which I believe refers to technology or design that pushes boundaries. At SDE, this was certainly the case, with a transition from hand-drawn maps to AutoCAD software and the introduction of drones.

We also found nontechnical ways to innovate, such as how we serve our clients, work with our partners, and create a culture that sets us apart from our peers.

Since 1974, San Dieguito Engineering empowers the leaders of the firm to eventually run the company as a C corporation through shareholder acquisition, which we continue to do through communication and innovation. The last three years have been an amazing opportunity to shape and create a company, and, alongside my partners Andrew Karydes and Patricia Urquiza, to position the firm for the next twenty years. We keep in mind our company values to guide us in the decisions we make in who we hire and how we do business: Integrity, Creativity, Commitment, Team Work, and Work/Life Balance.

Past business relationships often came from the good ol’ boys club that “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” sensibility. Rightly so—our industry is historically predominately male—however, many women leaders have forged a path for me here in San Diego: Tricia McColl, Sunnie House, Mindy Steckmest, Carmen Kasner, and Agnes Weber, just to name a few of them. And back-scratching is fine, as long as both parties maintain respect and integrity, while keeping the bottom line in mind. What is the point of doing favors if it is not mutually beneficial to all parties involved? As CEO, I’ve learned that treating others with respect, being transparent, and acting on my gut-level feeling yield more success than not. Humility trumps ego, which allows true listening to occur. Do the right thing and do it with class. Live by example and teach the younger engineers to do the same.

Whatever skill you are doing, strive to do the best job possible. Knowledge is power and no one can take that away from you.

Our own brand of innovation—specifically service for our clients—has led us to four award-winning projects: the San Diego International Airport, SDG&E Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan, the San Diego County Water Authority Pipeline 3 Relining Lake Murray to Sweetwater Reservoir, and most recently the BioLegend Campus Extension.

Although a subconsultant on these projects, I believe we are an important extension of the team and our civil engineering services clearly makes an impact.

San Diego is a big small city. The city’s engineering industry is modest in size and comprised of large and small businesses, but few medium-sized firms.

Not only does our small business status set us apart from other engineering firms, but we have been forced to innovate to best manage our business.

Every entrepreneur knows that innovation is the key to success.

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Awards are wonderful, but it is more important for me to know that the work we do at SDE has a positive impact on our communities, in the lives of those we work for, and who work for us. I am honored to be President and CEO of San Dieguito Engineering and look forward to a continually bright and innovative future.

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THE BIGGEST INNOVATION WE HAVE SEEN IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS HAS TO DO WITH WIRELESS DATA. JOHN OSBORNE, DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, AT&T

As an economist, telecommunications professional, and business leader, I have witnessed a tremendous amount of innovation in the telecommunications space in a very short period of time. We’re on the verge of having networks so intelligent that they can guide cars through city traffic without drivers, communicate one’s heart rate and blood pressure to a medical professional in real time, and the ability to stream our choice of content from the entire catalog of Warner Brothers, Disney, and others, to a devices we carry in our pockets.

We save tremendous amounts of time and resources by having access to real time information. Where would we be without traffic apps that guide us to the best route to our destinations?

The biggest innovation we have seen in telecommunications has to do with wireless data; we’ve gone from the second generation of data (2G) to 3G, then 4G and now carriers are rolling out the fifth generation of wireless hardware (5G) that, combined with millimeter wave wireless spectrum, will transmit data up to 100 times faster theoretically. All of this with near zero latency while being able to add up to a million new connected devices. Much of this technology has been developed right here in San Diego.

Another big innovation is the FirstNet public safety broadband network. The FirstNet Public Authority awarded the 25-year contract to build the network to AT&T. With dedicated bandwidth for public safety and the ability to have priority and preemption across the network, public safety first responders will be able to share video of developing situations on the spot like never before.

San Diego has been a leader in the deployment of “smart cities” infrastructure enabling things like gunshot detection in seconds. Drones are being deployed to be on the scene of a crime within ninety seconds and provide video to first responders before they even arrive. Cameras are monitoring intersections and identifying cars that have been reported stolen.

This kind of innovation serves to further drive the economy, enabling people across all industries to get work done more quickly and from a variety of places. Telecommuting is taking off as well. Our connectivity allows us to work seamlessly from home or satellite offices reducing the strain on our roadways and reducing greenhouse gasses in the process.

+1-800-288-2020 ATT

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DISRUPTING THE GLOBAL BOOK BUSINESS.

SVEN BOERMEESTER, FOUNDER, CEO, INTERNATIONAL GROUP PUBLISHER, GLOBALVILLAGE.WORLD “With personal contact at an all time low in the world our book gifting business model is growing, we are a conference in a book.

Books are the new business card that people do not throw away. They establish your expertise, credibility, and educate, which attracts clients and business opportunities.”

How is the commercial book publishing world being disrupted?

Some clients joke with us that we are bringing back a dying art form as books are cool again. The business model however has changed completely, gone are the days of pay to play by selling advertorials or advertising. A great book on an ecosystem or industry needs to be authentic and all encompassing of all the major players sharing their story, not just whoever paid to be in there. To finance that we moved to a crowd funded book buying model where the market and the participants buy the books in bulk to use as gifts to clients, visitors, investors and employees. You also need to add technology to the printed book by embedding augmented reality videos into its pages, we do that by hiding QR codes behind the images that a mobile phone can read to activate a video. The books also need to be available online as ebooks, a blog and ultimately a forum where all the participants can communicate with each other.

How do you set up your business in new cities and countries?

Sven Boermeester is a global publishing entrepreneur with a career that spans over 20 years with stops in more than 100 countries. He was born in Antwerp, Belgium and grew up in South Africa. After completing his business studies in Cape Town, he opened his first media company and started publishing the trade and industry directories for South Africa followed by the launch of the Best of the World publishing series in Dubai.

Fast forward 20 years and 183 ‘Best of’ editions across 60 countries, Sven now lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and young son. He is working on disrupting the publishing business by mapping out the Innovation ecosystems of every major city in the U.S. and around the world, through his latest Innovation books and augmented reality video series.

We look for skilled marketing professionals in each city that know their community well and form 50/50 partnerships with them where they collect the stories and we design and print the book. We are a fast growing tribe of fun and energetic publishing entrepreneurs, partners and friends.

We all share a passion for innovation, beautiful places and cultures that we want to embrace, share and showcase with the rest of the world. We are always looking for marketing entrepreneurs to join our team, please reach out to me on LinkedIn or info@globalvillage.world.

info@globalvillage.world sven-boermeester-8605823 GlobalVillage.world InnovationsoftheWorld.com

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CHAPTER 2

FUTURE CITIES & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.”

–MARGARET J. WHEATLEY

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WHAT MAKES SAN DIEGO SO SMART?

It’s simple really. The City of San Diego has continuously embraced opportunities to be a Smart City by using technology to collect, analyze, and leverage data to improve decision-making and increase the likelihood of positive and impactful outcomes. Several recent initiatives demonstrate not only the use of technology but also the collaboration through public-private partnerships to make government more accountable, efficient, and responsive.

The City of San Diego is home to six universities, including global research leader University of California at San Diego (UC San Diego); and more than 80 research institutions, among them the distinguished Scripps Institute of Oceanography and Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Through economic development funding, partnerships, and digital marketing, the City supports a robust startup ecosystem of more than 70 incubators (e.g., EvoNexus, TMA BlueTech Incubator, Hera Labs), accelerators (e.g., The Brink at University of San Diego, UC San Diego Veterans Ventures) and co-working spaces (CyberTECH NEST). In May 2019, the City, with Community Development Block Grant funding, opened the CONNECT ALL @ the Jacobs Center, the region’s first accelerator located in a low-income community (Encanto) and dedicated to serving the City’s diverse and low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs.

City. The top-tier talent, entrepreneurial ethos and collaborative spirit are what have given San Diego a reputation as a Smart City. (Additional link: National Geographic’s documentary, World’s Smart Cities: San Diego.)

The City’s relationships with the public are more convenient than ever, thanks to digital and mobile interactions and advanced touch points using technology.

This City’s progress is evidenced by how it has made bureaucratic processes and mundane activities more accessible and easier to deliver to our customers—all San Diegans.

SMART RESOURCES: • Get It Done (https://www.sandiego.gov/get-it-done). This award-winning web interface and mobile app streamlines the process of how the public can report non-emergency issues, such as potholes, broken streetlights or sidewalks, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, and illegal dumping, that occur in the right of way. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software assists the City in

As the launch pad for Qualcomm, Cubic, and Illumina, the City of San Diego has established itself as a technology innovation hub and global genomics leader.

SPAWAR, General Atomics, General Dynamics NASSCO, BAE Systems, and Northrop Grumman have major facilities here. These companies are among a multitude of partners investing in the City’s workforce and profile as a Smart

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processing the reports, dispatching service requests and updating citizens on the status of their reports. Launched in June 2016, Get It Done involved the Department of Performance and Analytics, the Transportation and Storm Water Department and the Department of Information Technology. The app has been expanded each year with new capabilities based on public interest and advanced functions using predictive analytics. Service requests have spiked from 45,000 annually when the app launched in 2016 to 362,000 in 2019.

• OpenCounter Online Business and Residential Portal (https://business. sandiego.gov). Formed in 2015, the Economic Development Department partnered with the Development Services Department, the Planning Department, the Department of IT, and the Office of the City Treasurer to help entrepreneurs navigate the often complex and arduous process of starting or expanding a business in a streamlined way. Composed of a zoning portal and the permits portal, this online tool guides users through a natural-language questionnaire about their projects so they can locate their businesses and determine which permits (and permit fees) are required. It’s

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all at the touch of their fingertips. In 2019, the portal expanded to include a residential element, giving single-family homeowners the convenience to scope their home improvement projects before hiring contractors or making plans. This portal cuts down on trips to City Hall and saves staff time on preapplication meetings while providing proactive customer service. In 2019, the business and residential portal answered 40,207 project scoping questions, saving an estimated 18,484 City staff hours.

• TechHire. In 2016, the White House designated the City of San Diego a TechHire city. Through a partnership of the San Diego Workforce Partnership, private corporations and the City, TechHire matches low- and moderate-income adults, out-of-school youth, underrepresented groups (e.g., veterans, ethnic minorities, women, or mature workers [ages 55+]) or longterm unemployed in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) fields. The program is designed to give tech career exposure to underserved groups and expand their access to San Diego’s rich tech talent pipeline. In FY2018, TechHire surpassed its goal of 150 placements and matched 178 participants, with 111 getting jobs.

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• Innovation at Public Libraries. Cities have been challenged to reimagine their public spaces, and the libraries of the future are already here in San Diego. Several City of San Diego branch libraries are focused on offering new opportunities to expand learning and provide maker spaces free and open to all ages. The Innovation Lab at the Downtown Central Library and the IDEA Lab at Valencia Park/Malcolm X Library are two such spaces opened since 2017. Available to the public are 3D printers, video studio equipment, graphic design software in computer labs, creative applications for photo and movie editing, coding classes, and robotics equipment. Plans are under way to replicate this model in other parts of the City, making digital innovation available to everyone. Next stop, City Heights.

• Online Community Engagement Tool. In an ongoing effort to provide innovative approaches to improving the quality of life for residents and businesses, the creatives in the City of San Diego’s Planning Department got smart about interaction with the public when it came time to update the City’s community plans, such as Clairemont. They built an app—well, a game, really, like SimCity, enabling the public to make its own decisions about the placements of housing and other land uses within a certain area. The Online Community Engagement Tool (OCET) is one of many community engagement tools used to gather input for the community plan update process. It represented an innovative approach to public engagement using technology, had the ability to reach a broad range of stakeholders, can be replicated for other planning efforts, and resulted in measurable outcomes. It was a fun way to interact with the public and for the City to get real-time engagement from residents from any computer or mobile device 24 hours a day. This addresses many of the traditional challenges associated with obtaining input through an in-person workshop.

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• O pen Data Portal (https://data.sandiego.gov). Launched in July 2016 through the Department of Performance and Analytics’ Data and Analytics program, the City was the first in the United States to provide open-source data. It offers access to more than 45 datasets of frequently requested information on topics such as water quality, parking meter revenue, Business Improvement Districts, and solar panel permits issued. Though this portal can primarily assist app developers and software engineers, the Open Data Portal is accessible to the broader public, featuring plain-speak, natural language rather than programming or bureaucratic jargon. It allows data downloads in accessible forms such as CSV, XML, and JSON. Developers are also encouraged to share their apps or visualizations.

• Open DSD (https://www.sandiego.gov/development-services/opendsd). The Development Services Department provides online services 24/7 that allow users to apply for permits, pay/find an invoice, schedule inspections, search for project information, request building records, and view zoning information. Development Services also publishes online permit activity reports in PDF and XML forms at https://www.sandiego.gov/development-services/ opendsd/permitactivity

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• Citywide engagement (https://www.sandiego.gov/citywideengagement). This program through the Department of Performance and Analytics oversees the biennial Resident Satisfaction and Employee Satisfaction Surveys. The 2018 Resident Satisfaction Survey provides results that let City leaders make more informed, data-driven decisions to serve San Diegans better. Survey results here: https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/sandiego_2018_survey_ findings_report_-_final_0.pdf • Climate Action Plan (https://www.sandiego.gov/sustainability/climateaction-plan). In 2015 the City adopted the ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP), which calls for the elimination of half of all greenhouse gas emissions and aims for the all electricity in the City to be from renewable sources—all by 2035. To come up with innovative ideas about how to meet the goals of the CAP, the City hosted a SmartCity Hackathon with participants mentored by tech firms and University of California at San Diego advisors.

• Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program. In May 2018, the City of San Diego became one of 10 U.S. cities selected to participate in the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Department of

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Transportation (USDOT). The IPP is an opportunity for state, local, and tribal governments to partner with private sector entities to accelerate safe UAS integration and innovation both regionally and nationally. IPP is designed to advance the testing of commercial unmanned aircraft operations and technological applications with expedited FAA airspace approval for San Diego projects like flying medical specimens from University of California at San Diego or deploying drones to inspect incident scenes in advance of first responders. Five testing airspaces have been designated throughout San Diego County, offering a variety of terrain and population conditions.

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decision-makers work to research, develop, and deploy tech- and analyticsbased solutions to improve infrastructure and services.

• 2030 District (http://cleantechsandiego.org/2030district/). San Diego, in January 2017, was the 16th North American city to form a “2030 District,” a commercial building community in which owners pledge to make upgrades to reduce energy use, water consumption, and transportation emissions by 50% in participating buildings by 2030. Managed by Cleantech San Diego, the community participants include the City, Measurabl, DNV GL, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Kilroy Realty, Intuit, and Urban Land Institute Greenprint Center for Building Performance. Cody Hooven, the City’s Chief Sustainability Officer, serves on the San Diego 2030 District Leadership Council.

• FRED (Free Ride Everywhere Downtown). In August 2016, in partnership with Civic San Diego, the City launched Free Ride Everywhere Downtown (FRED), an electric, sustainable transportation solution funded by Downtown parkingmeter revenues. Through an app, riders request FRED’s 15-vehicle fleet, which transported 140,000 riders around eight Downtown neighborhoods in its first six months of operation. FRED’s goal is to be economically sustainable

Smart City San Diego is a broad public-private collaboration composed of the City of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), General Electric, University of California at San Diego (UC San Diego), and Cleantech San Diego.

Its goal is to improve the region’s energy independence, to empower consumers to use electric vehicles, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to encourage economic growth—all part of the strategies outlined in the Climate Action Plan (https://www.sandiego.gov/sustainability/climate-action-plan).

Smart City and Sustainable programs and projects include: • Envision America (http://www.envisionamerica.org). The City of San Diego is one of 10 U.S. cities selected, leveraging technology collaborators and businesses to address climate change challenges and improve city services.

• MetroLab (https://metrolabnetwork.org). The City of San Diego and UC San Diego have partnered to “create a city and university collaborative for urban innovation”—or part of the MetroLab network that includes 44 cities, five counties, and 59 universities. In San Diego, university researchers and City

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through sponsorship deals. The vehicle fleet has expanded to 22 due to the demand for FRED. • WAZE Partnership: The City has partnered with Waze as part of the Connected Citizens Program (CCP). This free, two-way data-sharing program allows the City to share planned road closure information with Waze. Waze, in return, shares anonymous data from Waze users (called Wazers). This data sharing allows the City to make more informed transportation, traffic operations, and infrastructure-related decisions. For residents and others using the Waze app, it provides greater control over travel plans, which can reduce congestion and commute times.

• Smart traffic signals: The City has been installing adaptive traffic systems, in which smart traffic signals communicate with each other to re-time signals, memorize traffic patterns, improve traffic flow, and reduce vehicle stops. This smart infrastructure has resulted in reduced commute times and reduced vehicle stops by 53%, decreasing GHG emissions. Working with Qualcomm in 2014, City officials launched District 6’s smart stoplight pilot project along Lusk Boulevard in Sorrento Valley. The City has now installed smart stoplights along heavily-trafficked Friars Road, La Jolla Parkway, Mira Mesa Boulevard, and Vista Sorrento Parkway. In 2017, the City installed the Rosecrans Street smart stoplights with help from a $600,000 state grant. The most recent deployment has been in Mira Mesa in 2018.

KEY DECISIONS AND CITY POSITIONS • I n 2013, City Council adopted the open data policy to increase government transparency and accountability. Open Data Policy memo: https://www. sandiego.gov/department-document/open-data-policy-memo • In 2014, the City created the Department of Performance and Analytics (https://www.sandiego.gov/pad). This department includes a Data and Analytics Program and a Chief Data Officer. In 2016, the City of San Diego was recognized by the California League of Cities with the Helen Putnam Award in the Internal Administration category for the way the City’s Department of Performance and Analytics helped make city government more efficient and effective.

• In 2015, the City created the Economic Development Department (Annual Report), uniting three divisions: Business Expansion, Attraction and Retention; Community Development; and Sustainability as the City pursued a triple bottom line for its programming. The department balances the needs of San Diegans, our economy, and our planet. It uses CRM platforms to manage contracts and customer service. In 2018, the City created the Sustainability Department (https://www.sandiego.gov/sustainability) to consolidate and facilitate implementation of the City’s Climate Action Plan strategies including 100% renewable electricity, water and energy efficiency; zero waste; bicycling, walking and land use; and resiliency measures. The department works with the Department of Performance and Analytics and federal, state, and local partners to measure progress toward the Climate Action Plan through its annual.

WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR SAN DIEGO? The City’s investment to convert all water meters to smart meters with realtime data for service delivery…. Using data to assist our region’s homelessness crisis and align with needed services to get individuals off the streets and on a path to self-reliance…. Our desire to provide the best customer service to our residents, businesses, and visitors is genuine.

CityofSanDiego

From leading tech companies to invest in San Diego to our City’s mission to provide opportunities for all, it just makes sense. San Diego is smart.

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SAN DIEGO: LIFE. CHANGING.

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Two employees relax on Viasat’ s Carlsbad campus. From small startups to large Fortune 500 businesses, companies of all sizes and backgrounds are involved in the San Diego: Life. Changing. Campaign. C/O Viasat

ELEVATOR PITCH San Diego: Life. Changing. is a campaign—developed by San Diego Regional EDC—designed to attract and retain talent in San Diego by telling authentic stories of real companies and people changing the world.

SDlifechanging.org includes resources to help (future) San Diegans find jobs, start companies, and help San Diego companies find great employees.

WHO’S INVOLVED? San Diego’s most significant employment opportunity lies within mid-level positions at tech and life sciences companies, so the campaign is targeting STEM talent with 5 to 15 years of experience. From major companies such as Qualcomm, Viasat, and Illumina, to rapidly growing startups such as Brain Corp., Aira, and Measurabl, many companies are involved in the San Diego Brand Alliance—a group of HR and marketing leads at tech and life sciences companies that meet quarterly to advise on the campaign.

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• The Latest: Our content hub features tips and tricks on landing a job in SD, the latest company news and profiles, and more.

• Neighborhood Profiles: Many call San Diego “a city of neighborhoods” and this campaign celebrates that. Our Neighborhood Profiles give an in-depth look at 28 places around town, detailing living, entertainment options, and good local finds.

SO WHAT IS SAN DIEGO: LIFE. CHANGING? Here are some of our favorite campaign elements: • SDlifechanging.org: This website serves as a one-stop shop for anyone interested in a career in San Diego, and for companies looking to attract and retain talent.

• Company Map: Visualize the breadth of companies in the region, and sort by industry, size, and more.

• Recruitment Toolkit: The SDLC toolkit features images, logos, videos, social media posts, and more—all to help companies in their efforts to attract and retain talent in SD.

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SDlifechanging’s company map. More than 150 companies in San Diego have added themselves • Instagram Takeovers: Go behind-the-scenes and learn about what it’s like to work at some of San Diego’s coolest companies on our Instagram Stories. Some companies that have hosted takeovers include Taylor Guitars, LunaDNA, Red Door Interactive, and TaylorMade.

• “ San Diego at Work” series: Follow along with these video vignettes as we meet an employee at a San Diego company and learn their reasons for choosing SD and a little more about their role in their company. Featured companies include Sony, Lytx, Aira, Brain Corp, Intuit, and more.

• J ust Say No to Winter: San Diego is about so much more than its weather, but when it’s sub-zero-degree temperatures in much of the country in January, we need to use that to our advantage. In January of 2019, SDLC launched “Just Say No to Winter”—a campaign that targeted STEM talent in Boston, Chicago, and New York with video social media ads and an ad on the Boston “T.” The campaign was covered in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and more.

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• San Diego Ambassadors: Follow media executive host Dylan Welch (@Dylanwelchmeida), Measurabl employee and outdoor enthusiast Mel Bartow (@MelBartow), and robotics UX designer Diana Li (@chowmut) as they show you around SD. • “Made in SD” beer: Yes, we even have a beer. In 2018, we teamed up with Ballast Point to launch “Made in San Diego,” created for San Diego, by San Diego.

A program of

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INTELLIGENT CITIES ASSOCIATES, LLC, (ICA) ELEVATOR PITCH Founded in 2017 by James Filanc, Intelligent Cities Associates, LLC, (ICA) was created to help public agencies prepare for 5G, automated vehicles, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

OUR STORY Mr. Filanc, after helping dozens of cities design and convert streetlights to efficient LED technologies, early on developed a keen insight into the growing adverse impact of mobile data on public rights-of-ways. The proliferation of Small Cells, EV charging stations, sensors, and other IoT devices continue to challenge public agencies. Cellular densification, or the installation of Small Cells, will have a profound impact on public rights of ways.

It is ICA’s mission to help pubic agencies plan and prepare for the coming disruption to their public Rights-Of-Ways, while generating new sources of revenue to replace lost income due to recent FCC regulations limiting Small Cell Rents.

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In 2014, Mr. Filanc collaborated with local agencies and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to design and implement a new metered streetlight tariff rate to help both public agencies and SDG&E prepare. As more devices are placed into service, they will use more power. This new tariff, implemented in January, 2019, has been designed to simplify IoT and Small Cell deployments while assuring SDG&E is paid for delivering power. One strategic goal is the ability to eliminate meter pedestals from ROWs, while monetizing streetlight dimming savings, a contribution to regional Climate Action Plans.

Collaborating with Industry, Mr. Filanc’s insights is now shaping the design of the next generation of Small Cells. The next frontier will be a Neutral Host approach where every Streetlight will become a Small Cell, with equal access by all Mobile Network Operators. This will not only increase competition and lower the cost of service, but also assure access to disadvantaged and low-income citizens to help bridge the Digital Divide. With the promise of generating new sources of revenue for public agencies, emerging Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) hold a key to helping cities thrive in this disruptive technological age. P3s can provide capital and know-how to help public agencies unlock the value of public rights-of-ways and assure fairness to all.

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network companies, online travel agencies, shared economy companies, parking operators, developers, education organizations, and more. In each case, Madaffer Enterprises strategically advances client objectives through a mix of coalition-building, lobbying, media relations, and strategic planning.

Representing and advocating on behalf of businesses is just one side of the Madaffer story. When the City of Chula Vista decided in 2016 to take a holistic look at its technological infrastructure and innovation policies, the City turned first to Madaffer Enterprises. Working closely with the City and community stakeholders, Madaffer Enterprises built a Smart City Strategic Action Plan designed to provide a roadmap for the City’s policymaking and investments in everything from traffic signal communications to water conservation. Chula Vista’s Smart City Strategic Action Plan was nationally recognized with an award by the American Planning Association and has become a model for smart city strategic roadmaps among other cities. A similar project with the City of Carlsbad soon followed, leading to the Carlsbad City Council’s adoption of the Connected Carlsbad plan in early 2020.

BUILDING BETTER PUBLIC POLICY AROUND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY

ELEVATOR PITCH Technological innovation is speeding up and reshaping the dynamics of our daily lives. Are cities prepared? The team at Madaffer Enterprises works on behalf of both public and private sector clients to help local governments proactively develop strategies and policies to capture the benefits of innovation while anticipating and mitigating unintended consequences.

Working with these two cities in San Diego County inspired the Madaffer Enterprises team to broaden their audience and expand the community of local governments working to harness the power of innovation. In 2018, Madaffer

OUR STORY Jim Madaffer had a reputation as a tech geek during his eight years on the San Diego City Council, so no one was surprised that his first job after leaving elected office was advocating for stronger automated external defibrillator (AED) policies in public buildings throughout the United States. Madaffer’s work to improve public health through the lifesaving technology of AEDs soon led to other issues at the intersection of government and technology, including small cell wireless communications and online travel technology.

Since 2009, Madaffer Enterprises has grown from a one-man shop to a vibrant team of former elected officials, business experts, technical engineers, geeks, policy wonks, writers, designers, and community builders. Today, the firm works on behalf of a wide variety of innovative clients: transportation

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Enterprises founded Connected Communities Collaborative, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to helping local governments strategically integrate and leverage technological innovation to enhance economic prosperity, environmental sustainability and quality of life. The organization delivers by hosting webinars and in-person events designed to educate government officials and facilitate the exchange of ideas on emerging approaches to public innovation.

At the first-ever CityLaunch Conference in March 2019, Madaffer Enterprises worked with Connected Communities Collaborative to bring together over 200 elected officials and staff for two days of programming focused on digital equity, community engagement, and strategic technology planning for cities.

CityLaunch inspired a series of follow-up webinars and encouraged several California cities to pursue their own smart city strategic roadmaps and digital inclusion plans.

As technology and public policy continue to evolve, so will the work of Madaffer Enterprises. Whether the future is scalable tiny homes or self-driving cars, Madaffer Enterprises will be helping clients navigate politically charged landscapes to reach public policy solutions to meet client needs and benefit the public good.

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CHAPTER 3

BLUE ECONOMY

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ARCTIC FOAM MAKING SUSTAINABLE SURFBOARD FOAM OUR STORY Arctic Foam is comprised of entrepreneurs, scientists, and surfers sharing a passion for a more sustainable planet and clean ocean.

There are seventeen trillion pounds of plastic on this planet. Eighteen billion pounds of plastic flows to the ocean every year. This is the equivalent of one garbage truck full of plastic entering the ocean every second. Few know and experience the extent of this pollution more than surfers. But traditional surfboard foams, like other plastics, do not biodegrade and are manufactured with non-renewable petroleum. Despite surfers’ respect for the ocean, the surfboards they ride contribute to ocean plastics pollution.

With the help of science, a small group of surfers from San Diego decided to do something about their industry’s contribution to ocean pollution. Arctic Foam, a San Diego–based surfboard foam and complete-board manufacturer,

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Jim Mullen, CEO

evaluated the full life cycle of its surfboards—from manufacturing to disposal— to determine if it could produce and dispose of high-performance polyurethane foam more sustainably.

In partnership with algae researchers at University of California San Diego and Algenesis, Arctic Foam not only developed more sustainable source materials (bio-based polymers) for manufacturing its surfboard blanks, it developed surfboard foam that can biodegrade or be repurposed into other valuable products. Without compromising performance, Arctic Foam has developed algae-based polyurethane surfboard blanks that are biodegradable and sustainably produced with organic algae-based oils. The Algae Foam boards can be shaped like traditional polyurethane boards and glassed with polyester, epoxy, or bio-epoxy resins.

To address the waste generated during blank manufacturing and ultimately at the end of a surfboard’s useful life, Arctic Foam collaborated with Earthwise Sorbents to develop innovative oil spill cleanup products derived from the polyurethane waste stream of the Arctic Foam factory. Arctic Foam also partnered with Waste Management and Solar Turbines to reuse the large quantities of bubble wrap used in the shipment of large turbine equipment to protect fragile surfboards during shipping thereby cutting Arctic Foam’s bubble wrap expenses and waste. Arctic Foam also distributed the bubble wrap to other like-minded surfboard brands for reuse.

Arctic Foam strives to be the best foam and complete-board manufacturer in the world and is excited to add Algae Foam to the array of products it offers.

The caliber of our riders reflects the quality of our products—a majority of the pro circuit (World Surf League) uses Arctic Foam blanks. With Algae Foam becoming commercially available in 2020, a growing number of pro surfers are transitioning to this innovative product line.

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EARTHWISE SORBENTS MAKING SUSTAINABLE OIL SPILL CLEANUP PRODUCTS

OUR STORY Earthwise Sorbents is comprised of entrepreneurs, scientists, and surfers sharing a passion for a more sustainable planet and clean ocean.

It is estimated that approximately 706 million gallons of oil enter the ocean every year. Oil enters surface waters via many sources: accidental spills or leaks, careless disposal or storage of oil and oil products, atmospheric deposition, and stormwater runoff from cities and farms.

Oil pollution can directly and indirectly damage human health and property in affected areas and can also have devastating environmental effects to aquatic and coastal habitats, fish, wildlife, and birds. Exposure to oil can fatally smother organisms or can reduce their survival through physical, physiological, and reproductive impacts. Over many decades, oil waste decomposes from exposure to sunlight and microorganisms. But until the oil has fully decomposed, its toxic

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environmental legacy persists. As a result, preventing the introduction and spread of oil to the environment and containing and removing spills as quickly as possible is of utmost importance.

THE PROBLEM

The techniques used by spill responders to clean up oil spills depend on the characteristics of the oil and the type of environment involved. Measures that are applied to limit pollution associated with oil spills include containment (with booms, skirts, or socks) followed by removal of the oil (by skimming, filtering, absorption [soaking up] or adsorption [sticking to]), dispersing it into smaller droplets to limit immediate surficial and wildlife damage, biodegradation (either natural or assisted), and natural weathering.

Every year, billions of gallons of oil and chemicals are spilled into the environment. There are too many inefficient practices and products currently being deployed.

OUR SOLUTION

Sorbents are commonly used for oil and chemical spill cleanup and come in a variety of forms; powders, pads, pillows, booms, etc. Most sorbents currently available are made from virgin polyurethane (foam) and polypropylene (fabric) materials. Many natural or alternative sorbent products are clay and naturalfiber based. These natural products frequently lack durability or absorb water in addition to oil and chemicals, reducing their usefulness and effectiveness.

Earthwise has developed sustainable polyurethane foam, manufactured using algae oil in place of petrochemicals. We repurpose waste from our surfboards into sorbents.

In addition, we create sorbents from recycled polypropylene plastics. Our sorbent products, when properly implemented, facilitate the removal of up to 10x their own weight in oil and chemicals from the environment.

Earthwise Sorbents, a San Diego, California–based company, has developed an array of highly effective, sustainable sorbent products, made from recycled and repurposed foam and fabric materials. Earthwise Sorbents repurposes polyurethane wastes from surfboards (see Arctic Foam) into high performance sorbent pillows and recycles plastic and polypropylene wastes from other large vendors into melt-blown pads, open-net and sock booms, and sweeps.

Earthwise products are oleophilic (absorb oil) and hydrophobic (repel water) and contain 30 to 100% recycled content. Third-party testing, completed by spill response experts at Findlay University, demonstrated that Earthwise Sorbent products exhibited equivalent or superior performance compared to standard oil spill cleanup products.

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AQUACYCL ELEVATOR PITCH Aquacycl™ provides the only plug-and-play technology for decentralized wastewater treatment that produces direct electricity (without methane), eliminates sludge, and enables water reuse with minimal operating expense.

Aquacycl technologies addresses treatment needs in food & beverage (F&B) industry, agriculture, emerging markets, and military applications through competitive equipment rental and service plans.

OUR STORY Today, 80% of wastewater is discharged to the environment without being treated. Water is one of our most valuable resources, and access to clean water is a basic necessity. Water and wastewater systems are energy intensive, accounting for approximately 3–4% of energy use in the United States, resulting in the emissions of more than 45 million tons of GHGs annually.

Aquacycl’s service team loading the container

F&B producers consume large amounts of water during the process and cleaning equipment, and the wastewater generated is very energy-intensive to treat due to high organic material. This wastewater is 300 times more concentrated in organic material than normal sewer wastewater and is very difficult for municipalities to treat. If an F&B producer discharges directly to the sewer, their waste streams create toxicity events, throwing the municipal system out of balance. Today, the only options to manage high-strength wastewater are to hold-and-haul or discharge to sewers. Both of these options have environmental impacts and are expensive, costing up to $2 million per year, per facility.

Orianna Bretschger, CEO & Co-founder, Aquacycl Onsite, distributed treatment can be prohibitively expensive—and conventional treatment technologies are capital intensive and failure-prone.

Aquacycl has developed a modular, onsite plug-n-play BioElectrochemical Treatment Technology (BETT™) system that can reduce wastewater management costs by up to 90%. BETT systems treat wastewater up to ten times stronger than traditional treatment systems can handle, eliminate up to 80% of primary sludge, recover energy as direct electricity to self-power, and produce irrigation quality water (to WHO standards).

The BETT reactors are the first commercially viable Microbial Fuel Cell with zero methane generated. The BETT systems select and control natural bacteria for

Commissioning of a BETT system at a client site

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Aquacycl team sludge management, so F&B producers never have to worry about the system operations.

Container in operation at customer site with Aquacycl™ BioElectrochemical Treatment Technology (BETT™) the purpose of accelerating wastewater treatment rates, eliminating primary sludge, minimizing secondary sludge, producing electricity, and making new molecular water. The treatment process occurs inside bio-reactors that are stacked like Legos inside a 20-foot shipping container.

Locally sourced bacteria are placed inside the reactor, where they form a biofilm on its interior surfaces. As the bacteria break down the carbonbased organic matter in the wastewater, they grab electrons that they use in the process of respiration.

As the microbes respire, they release electrons,

which are captured as direct current. The energy captured is used to power the equipment, making it energy-neutral. By increasing the rate that electrons are taken away, treatment rate can be sped up, taking hours instead of traditional anaerobic systems that would take days or weeks.

Aquacycl’s technology is provided as a service, meaning companies have zero capital expenditures, and it is operated on a multi-year lease agreement with mutually agreed performance objectives. The service includes all the monitoring and control and

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The BETT systems have the opportunity to truly change the way wastewater is treated. By treating the most difficult part of the process, Aquacycl can reduce costs and energy consumption. Successful pilots have been operating for multiple years in applications ranging from confined animal production, military, residential, confectioneries, and breweries.

6342 Ferris Square | San Diego, CA 92121 Info@aquacycl.com +1-858-633-0987 aquacycl

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UNDERSTANDING AND PROTECTING THE PLANET

ELEVATOR PITCH

OUR STORY

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego works to understand and protect the planet. Its researchers investigate our oceans, Earth, and the atmosphere to find solutions to our greatest environmental challenges. Since its founding in 1903, Scripps has become one of the most important centers for global earth science research and education in the world. In addition, it has helped UC San Diego, which Scripps leaders helped to launch in 1960, emerge as a global technology hub.

Scripps Oceanography is comprised of world-class scientists and researchers. It includes Nobel Prize winners and members of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering among its faculty. Scripps understands that interdisciplinary research to advance our understanding of the earth system is strengthened by team members with diverse backgrounds and talents.

The institution actively works to recruit and support diverse students, staff and faculty, and are focused on training the next generation of scientific and environmental leaders.

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Cutting-edge research programs are under way on every continent and in every ocean, and scientists develop, initiate, and maintain long-term environmental observation programs from regional to global scales. Scripps operates a fleet of four research vessels—including R/V Sally Ride, America’s newest and most technologically advanced academic ship—and a research platform FLIP. Scripps Institution of Oceanography offers nine graduate programs (Master’s and PhD), and four undergraduate programs in earth science, environmental systems, marine biology, and oceans and atmosphere. Since 2012, undergraduate enrollment in our majors has increased 54%, and enrollment in undergraduate courses increased 67%. Birch Aquarium at Scripps serves more than 50,000 pre-K–12 students with nearly 24,000 students receiving financial support to participate in our programs. This year, Birch had more than 500,000 visitors.

San Diego’s Blue Economy is estimated to encompass 14,000 companies, 46,000 direct employees, and over $14 billion in revenue. This year, private industry and utility providers sponsored nearly $20 million of early-stage R&D at Scripps Oceanography relevant to their product development and services.

Scripps facilitates research translation and workforce development locally, with leadership positions in San Diego industry associations The Maritime Alliance (TMA) and Cleantech San Diego. In addition to on-campus programs that support spin-out businesses, Scripps supports local startups by collaborating with incubators—TMA’s BlueTech Incubator and the Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator.

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Several active Scripps Institution of Oceanography programs and initiatives stand at the forefront of innovation. They bring cutting-edge science to the decision-making process that helps officials create the most effective policies possible. Among them: • ALERTWildfire: Geoscientists at Scripps developed the ALERTWildfire network of state-of-the-art cameras and data infrastructure in fire-prone areas to help firefighters and first responders in the western US monitor, prepare for, and better fight wildfires. During the 2016–2018 fire seasons, ALERTWildfire provided critical information on more than 600 fires.

Scripps has collaborated with San Diego Gas and Electric and other utilities throughout the West to bring an increasing number of backcountry regions online. There are now more than 160 cameras now in operation with several dozen more in development.

An example is the Resilient Futures project initiated by CCCIA in San Diego Bay. San Diego Bay is home to 15 military facilities, a port, airport and other valuable businesses, recreational assets, and ecosystems. The project is developing a bay-wide model to improve site-specific predictions for highwater events, waves, and sea-level rise in the bay. This will serve as a key step in prioritizing and investing in adaptation strategies. Support for this project was provided by the Port of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, and the San Diego Airport Authority.

• Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation (CCCIA): This center leverages expertise in marine and atmospheric science with engineering, policy, social science, and business. Its goal in combining these fields is to create interdisciplinary partnerships to advance climate change science and test adaptation solutions.

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• Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes: Atmospheric river storms account for up to half of California’s annual precipitation and 90% of flooding events. This center provides 21st century water-cycle science to improve atmospheric river forecasts.

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• Oceans and Human Health: Scripps Oceanography marine biologists established the world’s most advanced center for marine biomedicine and biotechnology to develop cures from the sea. Currently a Scripps-discovered compound with potential anticancer properties, Salinosporamide A, is in phase 3 clinical trials being led by San Diego company Celgene. California Seaweed Company was launched by Scripps marine ecologists. The venture produces consumable algae for sales to restaurants and food suppliers.

Major initiatives include Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO), in which Scripps collaborates with reservoir operators to create a perfect balance between flood protection and storage that helps municipalities get through dry summer months with adequate water supply. Officials in one Southern California county estimate that such an improvement in water supply reliability could enable them to meet the needs of 165,000 more people in its jurisdiction annually.

In addition, Scripps researchers track the origin and repositories of industrial and household chemicals such as DDT that have made their way to marine environments. Researchers at the Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health study the toxicity of these compounds, which can be found in the tissue of fishes, marine mammals, and shellfish.

• Keeling Curve: The Keeling Curve is a precision measurement of concentrations of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since its start in 1958, the record has become known as the foundation of modern climate change science. It stands as a record of human influence on nature in charting levels of CO2 that have not been seen for at least 800,000 years.

9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla, CA 92093 +1-858-246-5511

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CAPTURING THE BLUE VOICE AND PROMOTING THE BLUE ECONOMY THROUGH INNOVATION

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TMA BlueTech’s UN Decade of Ocean Science joint event with Scripps Institution of Oceanography, during which BlueTech companies presented on their innovative technologies.

ELEVATOR PITCH TMA BlueTech is the leading BlueTech cluster in the US and one of the largest in the world. But what does this mean to those who are unfamiliar with terms such as “cluster” and “BlueTech?” As a member-based organization, TMA BlueTech strives to bring together individuals throughout ocean and water technology to collaborate on projects and ideas, learn from each other, and contribute to the overall development of the industry. We believe in sustainable, science-based ocean and water industries.

OUR STORY The Blue Economy We believe that the Blue Economy includes the sum of all economic activity related to ocean and water industries, inclusive of traditional maritime, shipping industries, and emerging BlueTech industries like maritime robotics, offshore renewables, aquaculture, sustainable seafood, etc., and water/wastewater industries. Many of our member companies sell into both ocean and water sectors, and the earth’s closed-loop water system doesn’t differentiate between salty or fresh.

Therefore, we believe a Blue Economy definition needs to include both ocean and water industries.

Think: “if it’s wet, it’s blue” and “if it’s innovative, it’s BlueTech!”

TMA BlueTech Founder & President, Michael Jones, started our organization 14 years ago when he realized the need for an organized BlueTech cluster in the San Diego region. Photo courtesy of Kyle Thomas.

Defining a Cluster The general definition for the term “cluster” is a community of individuals regionally focused on a specific theme or sector. A “Business Cluster” is a regional concentration of related industries that helps increase its competitiveness, globally.

There is considerable research on why business cluster thrive and how they impact their regions.

San Diego has long been a hub for maritime, as a port city with a heavy naval influence. Mixing with the presence of the tech industry, BlueTech,

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or sustainable ocean and water/wastewater technology, has been growing rapidly as a cluster within the San Diego region. This does not leave BlueTech tied to the region, either. As a dominantly export-oriented industry, BlueTech companies all over the world interact and collaborate fluidly through a hub-and-spoke of BlueTech cluster organizations. TMA BlueTech showcases this growth through its member base of 60+ BlueTech startup companies, roughly half of which are regionally located in Southern California.

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JOIN THE BLUE VOICE!

Now is the Time!

The role that our oceans and water plays in life as human beings is immeasurable. In a changing environmental landscape, solutions to global problems require a focus on ocean- and waterrelated sustainability. We believe that our companies are innovating at a pace that provides the solutions necessary to many of the issues facing the future of our success as a species. At the same time, BlueTech is crucial to our economy, creating jobs, educating our youth on how to be the next generation of sustainable problem-solvers and how to protect the beauty of the planet we call home.

Let’s Spread the Word TMA BlueTech hopes to be a forum to highlight BlueTech companies, update the public on the most recent innovations in this ever-growing space, drive influential policies, and highlight top minds in ocean and water technology. We encourage partnerships, collaboration and new ways to spread our network.

Join TMA BlueTech in our vision of promoting sustainable science-based ocean and water industries.

Join the Blue Voice!

Guests at the BlueTech Gala Dinner stand to applaud students in the San Diego Unified School District, who played a key role in our annual event recognizing leaders in BlueTech. TMA BlueTech leads numerous education programs for students interested in the BlueTech industry.

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San Diego, CA 92108 +1-619-450-4600 info@tmabluetech.org

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OCEAN MOTION TECHNOLOGIES THE NATURAL FORCES OF OCEAN WAVES HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE CLEAN, RELIABLE AND LOCALLY SOURCED ENERGY TO COASTAL REGIONS.

ELEVATOR PITCH Wave energy is far more predictable and continuous than other renewable generation (e.g. solar and wind). Our industry has increasingly diverted from large grid-scale experimentation to small-scale local generation in order to develop technologically and economically viable technologies to capture wave energy. If grid-scale wave power generation is the eventual goal, then we must forge a path that creates commercially competitive products at each step of the way. Ocean Motion Technologies is at the forefront of this movement. Our team is fabricating the world’s first adaptive ocean wave energy converter that is controlled by an advanced artificial intelligence. Initially, we focus on offgrid, small-scale, low-power applications in markets for data buoys for ocean observation and navigation, offshore aquaculture, and coastal security and defense.

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OUR STORY A few years ago, the company founder, Jack Pan, was deployed to Antarctica for one of his research expeditions. During this voyage, he noticed the inadequacy of incumbent power systems on data buoys and moorings (i.e. solar panels and batteries). He wondered why the abundant and readily available ocean wave energy was not used to power oceanographic observation platforms.

Upon his return to civilization, Jack founded Ocean Motion Tech to solve these technical challenges.

Current technologies for energy generation at sea are solar panels, batteries, miniature wind turbines and diesel generators. They are not well-adapted to marine environments and imposes a range of very high maintenance and repowering costs.

Commissioning crews and ships to travel to remote ocean buoys to refill diesel tanks or remove salt and debris from solar panels and wind turbines exceeds the unit cost of these products. Ocean wave energy is the natural choice for energy generation in these situations, but there is still no viable product. Our product will significantly alleviate these problems for end users by producing a low maintenance energy solution that will lower the cost of collecting oceanographic and climate data, managing fishery and support offshore aquaculture, and supporting coastal security and defense apparatus at sea.

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This innovative engineering and commercial approach championed by Ocean Motion is very timely. The United States’ Department of Energy has announced the “Powering the Blue EconomyTM� initiative. The goal of this new initiative is to pivot from large grid-scale experimentation to small-scale local generation in order to develop technologically and economically viable wave power technologies in existing markets. This initiative will meet future market demands resulting from a paradigm shift to autonomous robotics and big-data infrastructures in the maritime and offshore energy industries.

The power demand will require next-gen charging capability at sea and more reliable and costeffective power sources on maritime observatory platforms. Our product can aid national defense apparatuses by providing sustained power to ocean observing payloads and autonomous vehicles in harsh marine environments.

Since energy generation is such a significant fraction of the overall cost of maintaining powered ocean buoys at sea, lowering maintenance cost could lead to a boom in ocean data gathering and analytics. The dawn of the era of big blue data (i.e. the generation of much larger volumes of oceanic data than are currently generated) is expected to be driven by an internet of things (IOT) comprised of data buoys, cheaper and more reliable sensors, underwater vehicles and aerial drones. The applications of big data in the marine environment

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are immense. Better data on fisheries can prevent overfishing by keeping tabs on fish populations while also identifying the location of schools of fish.

Remote defense buoys can help in the detection of unauthorized entry into national waters and assist the Coast Guards and Homeland Security monitor for illicit maritime transport, for example in interdiction of drug and human trafficking.

Better data from the ocean can improve weather forecasting, provide a better understanding of changing ocean environments and help in tsunami detection and prediction.

At its core, our technology is an improvement on conventional and reliable wave energy conversion mechanisms. However, it will be the first commercial artificial intelligence aided wave energy converter that can adapt to ambient sea states to optimize power output. As a result of the development process of this product, Ocean Motion Tech will introduce a new category of wave energy converters.

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SUBSEASAIL LLC REVOLUTIONARY UNMANNED SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE SAILING VESSEL (USSV)

A race between two SSS vessels

Gen6 sailing off Puerto Rico Feb 2020 The submerged hull significantly improves sailing efficiency by reducing drag – no wave-making drag is associated, only skin friction. The entire system is capable of submerging underwater through an optional ballasting system to hide from bad actors and to escape rough weather. The passive wingsail control mechanism removes complexity which greatly increases endurance.

The technology can be scaled to multiple form factors and can be used in the commercial sailing industry.

OUR STORY SubSeaSail designs and manufactures disruptively-economical autonomous maritime systems that are engineered for simplicity and protected with key patents that make them unique to the unmanned surface vehicle market.

SubSeaSail’s new category of sailing vessel, an “Unmanned Semi-Submersible Sailing Vessel” (USSV), has the entire hull and keel submerged underwater and propelled by a wind-catching wingsail assembly above water (patented).

A passive wingsail control mechanism (patented) enables automatic wingsail control without the use of complicated, expensive or vulnerable electronics, pulleys, or lines. Only one electro-mechanical component is required for the system to sail (a servo) with a total electrical load of less than one watt.

This design results in a remarkably simple yet robust, affordable system that is scalable and variable with an incredibly low visual, infrared, and audible signature. SubSeaSail’s first customer was the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to perform passive chemical detection over unexploded ordnance ranges, as well as turbidity monitoring at dredge sites. The vessel has a multitude of commercial, defense and scientific applications which include but are not limited to (in alpha order):

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Easy to assemble & launch from boat or dock • AUV launch and landing platform • Cargo delivery and pre-positioning of goods (technology scalable to carry large cargo) • Communications gateway that links subsea assets with real-time reporting • Defense and military, such as anti-submarine warfare • Monitor sensitive and controlled areas for detection and identification of illegal fishing vessels and unauthorized traffic • Sensor platform to collect data as a single unit or in swarms, such as monitoring acoustic signatures, currents, marine life, sensor packages, weather, etc.

• UUV delivery and charging station

The growing demand for autonomous maritime systems to reduce costs and risks associated with missions in the ocean calls for technology that is affordable and reliable. With its unique, patented technologies and disruptively economical price, SubSeaSail’s technology answers this need and is focused to achieve its goal of becoming a leading manufacturer of persistent unmanned systems.

Revolutionary Unmanned Semi-Submersible Sailing Vessel (USSV) 4420 Hotel Circle Court, Suite #215, San Diego CA 92108 +1-619-279-3550 or +1-619-253-8761 mbjones@subseasail.com

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CHAPTER 4

CREATIVE ENTERTAINMENT TECH “Entertainment and learning are not opposites; entertainment may be the most effective mode of learning.”

–HERBERT MARCUSE

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SONY ELECTRONICS

ELEVATOR PITCH In the 73 years since its founding, Sony has evolved into a company with a wide-ranging business portfolio that includes games, music, motion pictures, electronics, semiconductors, and financial services. Our source of value creation lies in the diversity of Sony’s businesses, technologies, and people. While our businesses continue to refine their unique advantages, Sony as a group will accelerate new value creation through greater collaboration between these businesses.

SONY’S STORY Sony Electronics’ presence in San Diego was established in 1973 and in 2004, we decided to call this seaside city our home for the North American headquarters.

In 2009, management sourced local talent to design and build the new office in Ranch Bernardo. The LEED certified skyscraper is a staple and visible on any drive on Interstate 15. Over the years, Sony Electronics has come to share the building with branches from sister companies such as Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Music, Sony Pictures, and Sony Corporation of America.

Sony is the number one global imaging applications provider. CMOS image sensors are not only indispensable in image capturing and content creation, but they are also key devices for the future in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and autonomous driving. Sony uses the technologies we have accumulated over many decades as a source of competitiveness, a key evolutionary direction, and as a growth opportunity to embed AI into Sony’s CMOS image sensors and realize Edge AI, or “intelligence at the edge.”

Technology is indispensable to all of Sony’s businesses and the key component to accelerate and generate global synergy. Sony’s technical strengths include audiovisual, image sensors, robotics, and AI, with clear linkages to Sony’s electronics, games, motion pictures, music, and financial services businesses. In addition, this deep ecosystem helps build a network of community around these strengths.

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For several years, Sony has been a hub for attracting top-tier talent and tomorrow’s change-makers, earning awards and designations such as a Great Place to Work, The Human Resource Index, and Best & Brightest. The main attraction for talent is Sony Electronics drive for innovation right here in San Diego. Sony Electronics is dedicated to making a difference in the local community through different corporate social responsibility partners and programs and through green initiatives which help provide an opportunity to improve lives through technology and create a better tomorrow. that enriches people’s hearts by delivering emotional experiences; helps creators to realize their dreams; and contributes to society through the delivery of safety and reliability. Sony continues to lead various sustainability initiatives, recognizing that its existence depends on a healthy environment and society.

SOCIAL VALUE Sony’s dedication to creating a better world was part of the founding of Sony’s Corporate Social Responsibility philosophy: “It is the core corporate responsibility of Sony to society to pursue its corporate value enhancement through innovation and sound business practices and contribute to developing a sustainable society. We will all give due consideration to the impact of our business activities on the interests of our stakeholders including shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, business partners, local communities, and other organizations.”

Our commitment extends to helping our local communities, investing in the education of children, supporting the arts and culture, helping disadvantaged youth, protecting and improving the environment, and providing necessary support when large-scale disasters strike. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony established the “Sony Global Relief Fund for COVID-19,” a $100 million fund to support those around the world affected by the COVID-19 virus.

Through this fund, Sony provided support in three areas: assistance for those individuals engaged in frontline medical and first responder efforts to fight the virus, support for children and educators who must now work remotely, and support for members of the creative community in the entertainment industry.

In order to ensure that Sony remains a meaningful presence in the world, and that all employees are aligned in the goal of generating value from a long-term perspective, the company defined its Purpose “to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology.” It also defined the Values that support that Purpose: Dreams & Curiosity, Diversity, Integrity & Sincerity, and Sustainability. Together, these comprise “Sony’s Purpose & Values.”

Sony Electronics works with a range of CSR partners globally, nationally, and locally here in San Diego. Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Boys and Girls Club San Marcos Teen Tech Center. The center is a lab for youth to learn necessary STEM and creative skills for tomorrow’s workforce. President and COO Mike Fasulo is passionate about the partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs and for years has been the co-chair of the Pacific Military Youth Of the Year, a program that honors youth in military families. Sony Electronics also partners with institutions and schools such as Our Lady of Peace, Orange Glenn High School, and youth filmmaking program Film2Future. In addition, Sony employee groups work with local nonprofits like I Love a Clean San Diego, Wounded Warrior Project, and Meals On Wheels.

Sony’s unwavering commitment to society goes back to our beginnings. Today the world is changing dramatically, and growing ever more complex. Sony will continue to take a long-term view of its business with a strong commitment to creating sustainable social value, in addition to generating economic value as a global company. Sony’s long-term management approach is underpinned by strong corporate governance. Moreover, Sony will utilize its strengths in terms of its diverse business portfolio, technology, and people to create value

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Road to Zero with SORPLAS www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/eco/RoadToZero/gm_en.html Sony pioneered the development of SORPLAS™, a plastic resin made of recycled plastics that can be recycled repeatedly. SORPLAS contains up to 99% recycled plastic from sources such as optical discs and water bottles, combined with less than 1% of a Sony-developed proprietary flame retardant. Even though SORPLAS is made from recycled plastics, its excellent structural strength is not degraded through the recycling process and it can be crushed and re-pelletized for use, again, in brand new products. As of March 1, 2020, Sony uses SORPLAS in components of more than a dozen TV models, including the Z8H series 8K LED TVs, A8H series 4K OLED TVs, and X950H series 4K LED TVs, as well as various cameras, camcorders, and other consumer devices.

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Coding and Education with KOOV—www.sony.com/koov Perfect in the classroom or at home, KOOV is a comprehensive coding, robotics, and design kit meant to be a one-stop shop solution for STEAM education with everything needed to start building robots no matter what the skill level or understanding. KOOV is based on the open source Arduino platform, so students can easily take the skills they learn into other projects. Innovative in the way it blurs the lines between learning and playing, KOOV stimulates creativity, helping to develop 21st century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication preparing students for the modern demands of university and employers across the globe.

Children and educators have access not only to great resources, course material, and guided learning in the KOOV app but also to an international community of KOOV users, which allows them to share their own creations, code, and ideas— all within a secure space that’s well-supervised, student-friendly, and incredibly collaborative, providing unlimited possibilities.

From materials sourcing, product design, and product manufacturing to disposal of unwanted products, Sony is looking at the entire product life cycle to spur change and push to have a sensible circular path in which repurposing, reusing, and recycling is standard. This philosophy is part of Sony’s broad commitment to environmental sustainability through its global environmental plan, the Road to Zero, which strives to achieve a zero environmental footprint throughout the life cycle of Sony’s products and business activities by 2050.

New for 2020, Sony has announced their first Annual KOOV Challenge for US students. Students and KOOV users all over the contiguous United States will have the opportunity to have fun, think critically, express their creativity using their coding, robotics and design skills, and collaborate with their peers in this contest to win prizes and further their knowledge in STEAM. There is no fee to participate and students (grades 3 through grade 8) may participate online in the KOOV App and/or in person at Sony’s San Diego headquarters.

For more information on Sony’s commitment to sustainability and worldwide environmental activities, please visit www.sony.net/eco

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Robotics—www.sony.com/aibo As a pioneer in the social robot space, Sony first introduced the robotic puppy companion aibo in 1999.

The latest aibo design is the sixth generation and unlike previous generations, pairs cutting-edge robotics with new, cloud-connected artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm and advanced image sensors, giving aibo the ability to create a unique personality—no two aibos are the same because of this. As aibo interacts with people over time, it develops its own unique personality through everyday interactions, enabling it to remember what actions make its owner happy, which helps to form a deep bond with members of the household. Whether someone is enamored by advanced technology, has interest in experiencing AI/robotics in action, or is looking to add pet companionship to a lifestyle that otherwise wouldn’t allow for it, Sony believes aibo serves as a vehicle to inspire joy and provide entertainment in people’s day-to-day lives.

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Home Entertainment and Sound—Finding Calm in the World’s Chaos www.sony.com/electronics/headband-headphones/wh-1000xm3 Sony Electronics North America, headquartered right here in San Diego, has a long history of developing revolutionary audio technologies that fill the world with emotion by creating new music experiences. In 1979, Sony introduced the WALKMAN®, which changed audio as we knew it by offering music on-the-go. Now, more than 40 years later, Sony continues to challenge and change the way the world experiences sound.

In some of Sony’s newest headphones, you’ll find its industry-leading noise cancelling technology. Sony’s proprietary HD Noise Canceling Processors QN1 and QN1e dramatically improve sound quality, whether you’re listening to music, a podcast, or your favorite movie. They also feature Dual Noise Sensor technology that captures ambient noise with dual microphones and then pass the sound data to the processor to cancel the noise.

This technology helps reduce airplane noise, subway clanging, your chatty coworkers, and other daily background sounds. Noise cancelling offers an escape from daily chaos so you can experience and appreciate your favorite sounds—whether it be an inspiring melody or dramatic movie scene.

In addition, Sony has added a new a web-based Application Programmable Interface (API) with both a Visual Programming feature allowing beginners to easily program a variety of actions for aibo and a more advance Developer Program will enable to user to create new applications and experiences for aibo. aibo is excited to now have an open platform through the launch of its SDK software developer.

Sony’s 1000X headphone family is its pinnacle example of noise cancellation.

WH-1000XM3, the third-generation over-ear headphone in the family, is an award-winning product that offers a premium sound experience, extended battery life, and smart features. Its sibling, the WF-1000XM3, is Sony’s truly

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wireless model, offering a lighter way to experience noise cancellation on-thego without the nuisance of wires.

Both models are jam-packed with smart features, to offer the convenience the world continues to crave. For example, the WF-1000XM3 earbuds include “Wearing Detection,” which will automatically pause what you’re listening to when the headphones are taken out, and resume playing when the headphones are put back in.

Adaptive Sound Control, another smart feature, automatically detects your activity, whether you’re travelling in an airport, walking on a crowded street, or sitting in a quiet area, and optimizes the sound to suit the setting.

Ambient Sound mode also helps you tune in for a quick conversation or to hear announcements—giving you the option to hear and interact with your surroundings when you want.

Sound—which is synonymous with the word Sony—continues to be of peak importance as we develop today and tomorrow’s technologies. Offering our customers an audio experience that captures the creator’s true intentions brings them closer to the artists, podcasters, and directors they love the most.

Autonomous Driving with Vision-S www.sony.net/SonyInfo/vision-s/ On January 7 at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, NV, Sony announced its pursuit of safety, comfort, and entertainment in mobility with the new VISION-S. The first prototype vehicle of “VISION-S” was showcased at the Sony booth. The vehicle is a demonstration of the forthcoming self-driving era; the foundation of comfort will be supported by safety and security: the ability to take precautions far more thoroughly, more carefully, and faster than humans. Vision-S has a total of 33 automotive grade sensors, including Sony’s leading CMOS sensors, ToF, and LiDAR. The prototype aims to deliver Sony’s own technology, a full entertainment experience with 360 Reality Audio in the speakers built into each seat, and intuitively operated panoramic screens. The VISION-S Prototype also comes with AI, 5G, and cloud technologies with the aim of continuously updating and evolving the car’s functionalities. Developing cutting-edge technologies for secure driving and creating in-car entertainment, Sony will contribute the evolution of mobility.

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Learning from Photography Pros in Vacation Mode—alphauniverse.com Personal growth vacations are all the rage these days as people young and old increasingly use their free time to explore personal interests, such as photography. While traveling to exotic locales and capturing images has always been in vogue, electronics pioneer Sony has innovated the vacation experience that combines adventure travel with mentorship from professional photographers. The company’s annual “Kando” trip hosts a colorful assortment of photography enthusiasts, storytellers, and creators as they travel to beautiful destinations and practice their craft. Kando is a Japanese term that roughly translates as “the power of emotional connection”—a concept that Sony says is core to its philosophy.

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who helped guide and engage participants in learning new ways to capture their experiences via photography.

Like other soul-inspiring adventures, Kando Trip eschews classroom learning to give participants a hands-on experience in a real-world environment. The lessons were not just technical, but also challenged Kando Trippers to see the world differently through creative photo composition. They learned clever lighting techniques, how to shoot aerial and underwater photographs, and tips for capturing the moonrise in a way that brings the landscape to life with unique color, soft light, and deep shadows. They also learned how to send images from their Sony camera featuring state of the art CMOS image sensors directly to a smartphone using Sony’s Imaging Edge app. These are skills and capabilities that enable participants to take better photos in their daily lives and share their important life moments with others.

The most recent Kando Trip took a group of photography enthusiasts to Sunriver, Oregon. The resort grounds were impeccable, horses roamed the land, small planes landed on a picturesque landing strip, and guests could see the snowy mountains in the distance. In this unspoiled landscape, they participated in workshops under the guidance of leading photographers, filmmakers, educators, and social experts. Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Smith and acclaimed photographers Bob Krist and Katrin Eismann were among the legion of mentors

By combining adventure travel with photography skills development, Sony has captured lightning in a bottle. The 2019 Kando Trip was our biggest event yet. Where will next trip take place? Sony hasn’t revealed details, but wherever the location, the combination of beautiful surroundings and professional mentorship is certain to create some new photography enthusiasts.

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“Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.”

–STEPHEN R. COVEY

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SAN DIEGO WORKFORCE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY THROUGH WORK

ELEVATOR PITCH At the San Diego Workforce Partnership, we are redefining workforce development. We believe in the power and dignity of work and understand that an integrated approach is the key to empowering individuals to attain durable self-sufficiency and businesses to create a stable workforce.

OUR STORY The future of work is upon us. We are reimagining workforce development to keep pace with a rapidly changing, skills-based economy in order to achieve the highest levels of personal and economic impact for our community.

Workforce development isn’t confined to a search for a job or talent. It’s baked into the community, the classroom, and the home as we recognize the importance of what comes before, after and with securing a great career and solving a business need.

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Everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed. And when more people have access to the resources they need to do so, our economy and community are stronger.

Income Share Agreements One key example of innovation is the Workforce Income Share Agreement (ISA) Fund. The Workforce Partnership is the first workforce development board to provide access to education through ISAs. An ISA is an alternative to student loans that we believe shares risk between students and educators. This allows the Workforce Partnership to provide access to high quality training programs that help people get the skills San Diego businesses are looking for.

In an ISA, we provide students with tuition funding and career services, and in exchange, they agree to pay a fixed percentage of their income for a fixed period of time. Unlike with a student loan, graduates only make ISA payments when they’re employed and earning more than the minimum income threshold.

ISAs are not new. But as a public-facing organization, the Workforce Partnership has put together an opportunity that provides maximum consumer protections while still supporting long term financial sustainability of the fund.

The fund will support an estimated 500 people over the next three years. In the first year, the program is tailored to those who are interested in a career in the technology industry. In future years, we hope to offer similar, ISA-based programs for other fields of study. We also encourage all potential applicants to weigh the features and benefits of ISAs against other potential financing options available to them.

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ATHENA “As a global STEM hub, San Diego is strengthening its status as a ‘destination for diversity’ as more companies move into San Diego for proximity to diverse talent.”

–Holly Smithson | CEO, Athena

OUR STORY Something quite special is happening in San Diego as community leaders and market forces converge to reimagine the region as one of America’s most dynamic innovation centers.

The Brookings Institute just short-listed San Diego as a “Top 5 Superstar City” for its national standing in high-tech job growth.

In parallel, San Diego is welcoming tech titans like Amazon, Apple, Teradata and Tesla to the neighborhood as they establish proximity to the region’s diverse STEM workforce.

Athena’s 21st Annual Pinnacle Awards Gala hosted at Qualcomm Campus

Yet one puzzling fact persists, even as UC San Diego graduates more women in STEM (science, tech, engineering and math) than any other university in the nation, women are significantly underrepresented in STEM occupations, especially in leadership. According to Athena’s 2018 STEM Workforce Equity Index, women account for only 23% of San Diego’s STEM workforce. Nationally, women are not faring much better, accounting for 25% of the STEM workforce.

But one San Diego-based advocacy group is determined to upend this trend. Founded in 1998 by tech entrepreneur Barbara Bry, Athena is a women’s advocacy organization that fast tracks women in STEM through leadership development and peer mentoring. By transforming these scientists and technologists into corporate leaders, its mission is to advance one million women leading in STEM by 2030.

Who Cares What “Simon Says” Let’s Take Stock in What “Solomon Says” Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs chief, David Solomon just announced the firm’s new 2020 policy that companies with “…All Bros won’t get IPOs.” Last month, during the World Economic

Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Solomon declared his firm will not take companies public without at least one “diverse” board director, with an emphasis on women. Solomon cited the significant outperformance of his portfolio companies with women on their boards as the primary motivation.

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As the battle for investment and talent intensifies, it’s apparent that diversity is becoming the most consequential element of modern business. This is the vision that Athena has been championing for more than two decades in recognition that markets and companies where women are an undervalued

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Athena’s 2019 Board of Directors asset, are themselves subject to undermining their own asset value.

Enabling Business to Achieve Gender Equality Goldman Sachs is at the leading edge of a shift that is happening in the modern workforce, driven by 1) a generational movement for corporate leaders to become active citizens in creating a sustainable world and 2) data that demonstrates increased profits and innovation depend upon a diverse workforce. However, most companies lack a clear plan to re-engineer decades-old cultures and obsolete policies that run counter to a diverse and inclusive business.

That is why Athena is collaborating with the United Nations Global Compact and the New York Academy of Sciences to drive business awareness of the fundamental impact of workforce diversity and help companies achieve gender equality by 2030. Through this strategic partnership, Athena is launching an action platform called “Athena Assembly.” This data driven, multi-year initiative consists of 15 global STEM companies and sets out

to pilot and publish a scientific-backed “playbook” to assist companies in implementing and capturing the competitive advantages associated with gender equality.

Ultimately, in solving for these business challenges on how to achieve gender equality at scale, San Diego will distinguish itself as a “destination for diversity,” as it sets the gold standard for other innovation centers to plug in and play catch up.

As Athena Assembly tech members - like Teradata and Viasat - help architect this evidencebased framework to operationalize and achieve sustained equality goals, I suspect the race for top talent may be awfully kind to those designing this unprecedented racetrack.

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CHAPTER 6

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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QUALCOMM INCORPORATED HEADQUARTERED IN SAN DIEGO, CA

ELEVATOR PITCH Qualcomm is the San Diego region’s largest publicly traded company and San Diego county’s largest telecommunications employer. Qualcomm’s local presence strengthens the regional economy and promotes future economic growth in San Diego and around the world. From its inception, the company has been a principal driver of the region’s technology cluster, spurring numerous startup companies and attracting other major industry players. Qualcomm, together with its subsidiaries worldwide, is a recognized leader in the development of 5G wireless—ushering in a new era of intelligent, connected devices that’s transforming entire industries and enriching lives on a global scale.

When Qualcomm breaks through, the mobile ecosystem leaps forward and the world benefits.

OUR STORY Established in 1985, Qualcomm is a leading wireless technology innovator and driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of technologies such as 5G (5th Generation wireless). The company invents foundational technologies that transform how the world connects, computes, and communicates.

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Qualcomm attributes much of its success to its dedicated focus on research and development (R&D), on which it has cumulatively spent more than $61 billion. The company’s breakthrough inventions—including those used in its integrated platform solutions, software, and services—are the genesis for its astounding patent portfolio, numbering over 140,000 patents and patent applications. Qualcomm could be considered an R&D engine for the mobile and wireless space, contributing significant value to a wide and evergrowing number of industries and, ultimately, billions of people around the world.

It began with growing the mobile ecosystem Qualcomm revolutionized the mobile industry by making its technology inventions available to virtually any mobile device (i.e., mobile phone) manufacturer, or any company, that wanted to make and sell mobile devices. In effect, this created greater competition across the mobile industry— giving consumers more choices in brands and devices.

As of the beginning of 2020, this practice continues—helping dramatically spur innovation

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and growth across the mobile ecosystem and beyond. For example, Qualcomm’s breakthroughs in 3G, 4G, and 5G—coupled with advanced lowpower computing—have helped make it possible for the mobile ecosystem to thrive and grow exponentially, from smartphone makers to network operators and app developers. Today, the entire smartphone industry uses Qualcomm technology in some manner, and nearly every global network operator and mobile device marker depends on the company’s inventions to bring their products and services to realization.

But now, with the world transitioning to 5G, Qualcomm envisions its wireless innovations enabling industries beyond mobile.

Transforming and creating new industries Often overlooked is how vital Qualcomm and its inventions are in creating entirely new industries and business models. Without the technology foundation Qualcomm created, ride sharing, social media apps, photo sharing and streaming video on-the-go, high-precision GPS, chat services, and crowdsourced directions would not be what they are today.

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Currently, Qualcomm and its subsidiaries are focused on applying the advantages of 5G wireless— speed, high throughput, and low latency—to a wide range of industries. Examples include the automotive industry’s interest and testing of C-V2X (cellular-vehicle to everything) connectivity, which allows vehicles to communicate with each other, road infrastructure, and even pedestrians’ mobile devices; the development and deployment of Industrial IoT such as smart factories and warehouses that can be reconfigured and coordinated faster and with less effort; and the ever-growing number of intelligently connected (a.k.a., “smart”) consumer IoT devices people use every day.

Enriching lives Ultimately, it is people who benefit from Qualcomm inventions—now and into the future.

Consider the mobile phone with the potential for always-on, high-speed Internet connectivity— something that has become integral to people’s everyday lives. Capabilities such as app store operations, video streaming, audio quality, facialrecognition technology, power management, and battery efficiency are all based on inventions by Qualcomm.

With a laser focus on driving 5G forward, Qualcomm and its subsidiaries are leaning heavily on their R&D expertise and actively exploring

opportunities to leverage advanced technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), XR (eXtended Reality = Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality), and camera sensors into the integrated platform solutions making their way into more and more of the things that can benefit people everywhere.

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Enabling the underserved Qualcomm mobile breakthroughs span the digital divide between the wealthy and less fortunate.

The company’s technologies have helped bring the internet to the unconnected, education to the unschooled, financial services to the

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underprivileged, and jobs to the unemployed. In fact, a forecast released in November 2019 by IHS Markit and commissioned by Qualcomm stated that 5G could start to have a positive impact on global economic growth as early as 2020—far sooner than anyone expected—and generate a value chain supporting 22.3 million jobs within 15 years.

Driving the future of wireless For decades, Qualcomm has helped propel the mobile ecosystem forward by enabling many of mobile phones’ most used and valued capabilities.

The company was instrumental in driving the development and proliferation of 3G and 4G. Now, it’s building upon that history of technology leadership and doing the same with 5G, which is

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expected have a significantly greater impact than previous wireless generations.

5G is the technology that will make it possible for nearly everyone and everything to communicate and interact seamlessly—from automobiles and smart homes to factories and smart cities. It will make it possible for you to download a movie in less than one minute, browse the web 10 times faster than before, and experience life through untethered XR. And that’s just the beginning. 5G will be a platform for innovation in ways we cannot yet imagine, and Qualcomm intends to be there every step along the way.

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Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.

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BIO RESEARCH

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SALK INSTITUTE EVERY CURE HAS A STARTING POINT – SALK IS WHERE CURES BEGIN.

ELEVATOR PITCH

They are supported by 10 on-campus research centers working to accelerate discoveries in critical fields of research, as well as by shared campus hubs called “cores,” which provide cutting-edge equipment and trained experts to Salk researchers to assist in their efforts.

The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk’s mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature, and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer’s, aging, or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin.

The Institute has a history of innovation and excellence in the San Diego area and the greater scientific community for the last 60 years. Beginning with Jonas Salk, inventor of the first safe and effective polio vaccine, the Institute has a rich legacy of impactful scientific breakthroughs that have transformed how humanity understands the world in which we live. Salk has been home to six Nobel laureates, is ranked among the top research institutes in the world, and has faculty who routinely publish the most-cited research papers in neuroscience, plant biology, and genetics.

OUR STORY

Vision for the Future Since the Salk Institute’s founding, its mission has been to improve lives through scientific discovery. Today, Salk scientists working in collaborative teams are boldly seeking answers to three of humanity’s most critical issues: climate change, cancer, and aging optimally—so we don’t just live longer, we also live healthier in advanced age.

60 Years of Excellence Founded in 1960, the Salk Institute is home to a highly collaborative cadre of scientists who delve into a broad range of research areas, from aging and immunology to diabetes, cancer, and plant biology. Salk scientists are among the world’s leaders in neuroscience, molecular biology, genetics, and plant biology.

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HARNESSING PLANTS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative, recently awarded more than $35 million from The Audacious Project, can help buy our planet time to develop solutions to climate change. This biologically-based solution aims to develop coastal and crop plants that are efficient at capturing and storing larger amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, while continuing to feed a burgeoning human population. Salk Ideal Plants™ will reduce atmospheric CO2, reverse lost soil carbon and vitality, and strengthen plant survival to enhance crop yields.

CONQUERING DEADLY CANCERS Salk’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center aims to harness new approaches to fight five deadly cancers: pancreatic, ovarian, lung, brain (glioblastoma), and triple-negative breast

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cancer. The collaborative Salk team uses cuttingedge strategies to strike tumors’ vulnerabilities simultaneously—such as cutting tumors’ metabolic supply lines; disrupting inflammatory barriers; reprogramming malignant cells; mobilizing the immune system; and developing computational methods to re-engineer therapeutics—all while working with clinical partners to accelerate discoveries from the bench to the bedside.

UNDERSTANDING OPTIMAL AGING Salk scientists are paving the way for a new view of age-related diseases and pointing to therapies to extend our healthy life span. They are forging new partnerships across fields—computer science, genetics, epigenetics, neuroscience, immunology, and other areas of molecular biology—in order to spearhead ambitious studies to reveal how we can live longer and healthier. These scientists are diving into molecular, genetic, cellular, and

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systems-wide processes in the body; peering into the fundamental workings of cells; and developing novel techniques to replace and repair failing organs and tissues.

Meeting the Opportunities of the 21st Century In addition to these three initiatives, the Salk Institute is focused on research driven by faculty with expertise in disciplines that will change the landscape of science, including next-generation technologies, computational biology, and bioengineering.

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THE SALK INSTITUTE’S HISTORY AND ARCHITECTURE Timeless Words Inspire an Iconic Architectural Wonder Embossed in the white travertine walkway leading to the Salk Institute’s courtyard is a quote in silver sans serif lettering from Jonas Salk: Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. No words better exemplify the vision the Institute’s founder had for his now world-renowned biological research facility.

In 1960, Salk selected famed architect Louis Kahn to bring his vision to life, and construction of the Salk Institute, situated on 27 acres of coastal bluffs, began in 1962. Salk charged Kahn with creating large, open, and unobstructed laboratory spaces able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of science, while simultaneously designing a facility worthy of a visit by Picasso.

Looking up from Salk’s inspiring quote, one’s gaze is drawn to the River of Life bisecting the Institute’s

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travertine courtyard and running in a straight line to a pool overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The slow-moving stream represents the constant trickle of scientific discoveries spilling into the greater body of knowledge.

Two mirror-imaged, six-story buildings, with alternating laboratory and utility space, flank the open courtyard. Constructed from poured concrete, glass, and teak, the buildings also house 36 faculty studies with views of the ocean and courtyard.

Between the laboratory buildings is a single expanse of open space, a unifying area for social interaction. While Kahn had anticipated planting trees and other greenery in the courtyard, a consultation with Mexican architect Luis Barragán led him in the opposite direction. Barragán stated: “I would not put a tree or blade of grass in this space … If you make this a plaza, you will gain a façade—a façade to the sky.”

Salk’s campus acts in harmony with nature, including a small orange tree orchard and a eucalyptus grove between the east and west buildings. Now, 60 years after their construction, the Institute’s buildings continue to be heralded around the globe as architectural and functional icons.

Additionally, the Salk Institute has long been recognized for its dedication to conservation. In 1992, Salk received a 25-Year Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and was featured in the AIA exhibit “Structures of Our Time: 31 Buildings That Changed Modern Life.” The California Historical Resources Commission determined the entire Salk campus to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. In the summer of 2017, the Salk Institute; Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.; and the Getty Conservation Institute through CMAI unveiled the successful results of a restoration project to preserve the signature teak window systems of the nearly 60-year-old modernist structure. The $9.8 million project extended the life of the wood frames by an estimated 50 to 70 years. In October 2017, the project was recognized with an Excellence in Craftsmanship and Preservation Technology award from the California Preservation Foundation.

Considered a cathedral to the blend of art and science, the Salk Institute is a must-see destination for 40,000 visitors each year, many of them international and a significant number of them architects.

10010 N Torrey Pines Rd. La Jolla, CA 92037 webrequest@salk.edu +1-858-453-4100 salkinstitute

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LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY

ELEVATOR PITCH La Jolla Institute for Immunology is one of the leading immunology-focused independent research institutions in the world. Our researchers are dedicated to studying the immune system because no other biomedical discipline has greater power to treat and prevent diseases from A—Z, from Alzheimer’s to Zika.

OUR STORY What sets La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) apart can be summed up in a single word: Focus.

The immune system is the centerpiece of our research. A greater understanding of the immune system packs the potential to prevent, treat, and even cure, diseases such as cancer, infectious diseases and the many diseases related to chronic inflammation and autoimmunity.

cancer vaccines based on these findings are currently underway in close collaboration with the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

At La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 21 world leaders in immunology research— handpicked for their pioneering spirit, creativity and collaborative approach— head independent laboratories that work on understanding different aspects of the immune system using the latest biomedical research tools and technologies.

Infectious diseases remain among the leading killers worldwide. LJI is pioneering new vaccines for infectious diseases that have proven to be resistant to vaccination such as HIV, dengue, Zika and others. LJI scientists discovered a crucial cell type responsible for promoting lifelong protection and the molecular switch activating it. These findings were instrumental in bringing novel HIV vaccine candidates into clinical trials.

To fight cancer, LJI scientists are on the forefront of generating personalized cancer vaccines. One of the most exciting recent developments in medical research has been the realization that the disease-fighting power of our immune system may be deployed to combat cancer. Our researchers have made fundamental discoveries on the immune response to cancer cells and why these responses are not always effective. Several labs working together have developed an improved method of identifying mutated cancer proteins that can stimulate a protective anti-cancer response. Clinical trials testing personalized

The Institute is also breaking new ground in the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. For example, several labs collaborate on in-depth investigations of a family of molecules called TNF proteins, some of which were discovered here. Groundbreaking research on the function of these proteins is leading to the development of biologic drugs in clinical trials for the treatment of asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

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LJI is also a global technology leader in the big data revolution that will transform human health. The Institute has developed one-of-a-kind tools for the world that analyze the human immune response to cancer, microbes, allergens and other agents that stimulate the immune system. It contains information on nearly half a million molecules with information from 20,000 papers and software that has been licensed by 36 companies. Based on data generated at the Institute, LJI has created a similar database for understanding how our genetic differences affect the human immune response, which will provide unparalleled insight into autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These are just a few examples of how research by LJI scientists is changing the way we view and treat disease. As a result, the research contributions of scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology regularly earn them a spot among “The World’s Most Influential Minds”, an honor given to the top 1% of most frequently cited authors of scientific publications.

As our understanding of immunology advances, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the future of human health depends on how well we can harness the power of our immune system to fight infection, cancer and autoimmune diseases, and put it back on course when it strays. Widely recognized as one of the world’s most influential centers for immunology research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology is making big strides toward Life Without Disease®.

In an unexpected twist, LJI scientists found a new target for attacking Parkinson’s disease. The cause of this neurodegenerative disease is unknown, but researchers at the Institute found the first direct evidence that Parkinson’s may be an autoimmune disorder mediated by T cells. They discovered that Parkinson’s patients have an increased T cell immune response to a brain protein.

This raises the possibility that Parkinson’s could be prevented by therapies that dampen this unwanted immune response.

Additional research programs bridge these three principal areas. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease caused by the action of white blood cells in the arteries. Taking an unconventional approach, LJI researchers are developing a therapeutic vaccine to prevent the activity of white blood cells. The prototype decreased arterial plaques in mice even when the animals were put on an artery-clogging high fat diet. These proof-of-concept studies encourage us to work on a human atherosclerosis vaccine to prevent heart attacks, a leading killer world-wide.

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SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS UNCOVERS THE FUNDAMENTAL MOLECULAR CAUSES OF DISEASE AND DEVISES THE INNOVATIVE THERAPIES OF TOMORROW

OUR STORY Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute is a preeminent, independent biomedical research organization dedicated to understanding human biology and disease and advancing scientific discoveries to profoundly impact human health. For more than 40 years, the institute’s research has produced breakthroughs in cancer, neuroscience, immunology, and children’s diseases, and is anchored by its NCI-designated Cancer Center and advanced drug discovery capabilities.

Since its founding in 1976, a specific focus has been on the study of cancer. The inspiration came from William Fishman, PhD, who had just left his post as professor and director at Tufts University and moved to the West Coast with his wife and career partner, Lillian. With a $180,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the pair leased space in a renovated apartment building and established the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation.

The La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation soon became a world leader in cellular adhesion and gene regulation. Recognizing its scientific advances, the NCI elevated the organization into its elite group of seven NCI-designated Basic Laboratory Cancer Centers. In 1996, philanthropists Roberta and Malin

Sanford Burnham Prebys is a preeminent, independent biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding human biology and advancing scientific discoveries to profoundly impact human health.

Sanford Burnham Prebys’ cancer center is one of only seven basic research centers in the US.

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The institute’s researchers focus on studying diseases on a cellular level to devise the best approach for novel treatments.

Burnham made a significant monetary donation to support the ongoing scientific studies at the Foundation, and to honor them, the organization’s name became the Burnham Institute for Medical Research. Subsequent substantial donations added the names of T. Denny Sanford and Conrad Prebys.

The institute is committed to educating and training the researchers of tomorrow and employs more than 100 postdocs.

Today, the Institute takes a unique, collaborative approach to medical research and is especially known for its world-class capabilities in stem cell research and drug discovery technologies. It is ranked among the top 2% of research institutes worldwide based on citations per paper, No. 3 of all independent research institutes by NIH funding, and No. 6 in the US in the Nature Index of nonprofits/non-government institutions in biomedical science. Research conducted at Sanford Burnham Prebys has led to seven FDA-approved drugs and tests, including the PSA test, and 10 clinical trials are currently under way.

In addition to its two pillars of fundamental and translational research, Sanford Burnham Prebys is committed to educating and training the next generation of scientific leaders. The institute’s graduate school is recognized for a customized curriculum and its accelerated time-to-degree timeline of less than five years. More than 350 postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and interns are mentored at the institute each year.

At Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, scientists share a passion of medical research and an entrepreneurial spirit that fuels scientific discovery, thereby brining to life the institute’s motto: From research, the power to cure.

The Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics is the institute’s translational research center, where projects from the labs move into the drug discovery phase.

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10901 North Torrey Pines Road La Jolla, CA 92037 +1-858-646-3100 info@SBPdiscovery.org @SBPdiscovery

SBPdiscovery.org

San Diego is home to Takeda’s premiere biotech-like research center where we advance “Best for Patient” transformative medicines by leveraging our capabilities in collaboration with external innovators

Discovering Medicines That Change People’s Lives Takeda is committed to delivering transformative medicines for patients. Recognizing that it is not possible to work effectively in all disease areas, Takeda’s innovation strategy focuses on four core therapeutic areas of Neuroscience, Gastrointestinal, Oncology, and Rare Disease—areas where there is high unmet patient need and where Takeda has a track record of recent successes and deep scientific expertise.

Diverse Melting Pot Of Talent We pride ourselves in being a biotech melting pot, with diverse roots and a culture that welcomes world class scientists and engineers from around the globe. This contributes to an external facing culture that is agile, adaptive, and welcoming of new people, technologies and approaches. Although most of our employees are not from California, there is something unmistakably San Diego and California about our culture.

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Doing Research Through Collaboration External collaboration is very important to how drug discovery research is conducted at Takeda. This stems from our belief that Takeda will successfully deliver significant improvements for patients by thinking creatively about how to combine what Takeda and its partners can do separately and together. By wedding our internal research with external capabilities including win-win collaborations that tap into external innovation, we advance “Best for Patient” transformative medicines aligned to Takeda’s therapeutic areas and portfolio goals with quality of thought and execution.

Our History We have been in San Diego for over 20 years, growing both organically as well as through acquisitions and integrations. Over time, we have diversified our roots and our areas of scientific excellence but have never lost our focus on scientific excellence or our passionate pursuit of delivering transformative medicines to patients. Our recently completed, best-in-class research facility reflects the company’s commitment to being an important part of the San Diego life science ecosystem.

Innovative Collaborative Research In San Diego Takeda California, Inc. 9625 Towne Centre Drive San Diego, CA 92121 + 1 619 930 8101 TCAL.CC@Takeda.com

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THE WORLD’S LARGEST MARKETPLACE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH. WE HELP PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENTISTS DISCOVER LIFE-SAVING MEDICINES IN LESS TIME AND AT LOWER COST. OUR MISSION IS TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO CURE ALL HUMAN DISEASE BY 2050.

FASTER SCIENCE

®

THE CHALLENGE

the cost of medical research. Put simply, Scientist.com enables Faster Science®.

A single, highly trained scientist can now run an entire medical research project—from concept to clinic—from his or her laptop computer or mobile phone without ever stepping into a laboratory. Until recently it took hundreds of pharmaceutical researchers working together on huge research campuses to bring a drug to market.

We need faster and cheaper ways to discover life-saving medicines. The pharmaceutical industry spends $150+ billion a year on medical research (aka R&D) but only produces about 25 new medicines a year. Different approaches to pharmaceutical R&D are needed if we are to cure the thousands of remaining human diseases and make new treatments affordable to all.

Scientist.com has spent the last thirteen years working with scientists and procurement experts to build a marketplace optimized for pharmaceutical R&D. We were founded in 2007, launched our first public marketplace in 2008, and built our first R&D marketplace for Pfizer in 2009. Today, we operate R&D marketplaces for 24 of the world’s top 30 pharmaceutical companies, 80 biotechnology companies, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as BIO and BIA, two of the life science industry’s largest group purchasing organizations.

FASTER SCIENCE By connecting scientists and enabling them to exchange ideas and transact seamlessly online, the Scientist.com marketplace is speeding up and reducing

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We are a good example of an overnight success ten years in the making! Sales through the marketplace grew steadily until 2015, at which point they grew explosively. We have been on Inc. magazine’s list of America’s 500 fastestgrowing private companies three years running with 1,522% sales growth from 2016–2018. In 2018, we were recognized as America’s 9th Fastest-Growing Company by Inc. magazine and as America’s 12th Best Entrepreneurial Company by Entrepreneur magazine. We were also recognized by Inc. magazine in 2018 and 2019 as One of America’s Best Workplaces.

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an academic scientist pursuing a hunch, to a concerned parent of a sick child, to a forward-thinking high school student who dreams of changing the world.

Research can now be performed externally, on-demand, and at lower cost than before, all of the key elements needed for a radically improved discovery process.

Scientist.com is fundamentally changing how scientific research is done. By simplifying access to experts and R&D services, we are dramatically lowering barriers to innovation and ushering in a new, cost-effective approach to research. We believe Scientist.com could be as disruptive to the pharmaceutical R&D market as Amazon has been to the consumer retail market. But instead of changing the way we buy books and consumer goods, we are changing the way we cure disease.

SCIENCE DEMOCRATIZED By making all of the tools of modern research available to anyone who wants to make use of them, we have also taken medical research out of the hands of a few massive corporations and placed it squarely in the hands of anyone—from

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CHAPTER 8

HEALTHCARE & HEALTH TECH “The aim of medicine is to prevent disease and prolong life.

The ideal of medicine is to eliminate the need of a physician.”

—WILLIAM JAMES MAYO

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BACKED BY

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“We are leading a movement to prove that health data is medicine by putting people at the center.”

—Ardy Arianpour, CEO & Co-founder, Seqster

ELEVATOR PITCH Everyone is seeking health data. Seqster is the first personcentric technology that lets everyone connect their medical records, DNA, and wearables all in one secure platform to create their universal health record. The ability to instantly pull all health data together in a common form and share with caregivers creates opportunities for novel insights and more accurate and timely care. and CTO Dr. Xiang Li. They were instrumental in the landmark 2013 Supreme Court decision disallowing gene patents, and thus opened up genetic testing to a broader market. The impact on women’s health that the team witnessed directly played a role in the creation of Seqster in 2016.

OUR STORY In the ten years prior to establishing Seqster, Ardy Arianpour was pioneering and disrupting the genetics-testing industry, including the development of a test to detect BRCA1 and -2, predictor genes of breast cancer along, with his Co-founder

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When Ardy founded Seqster with Dana Hosseini and Dr. Xiang Li, the goal was to tie genetic data to high-quality real-world clinical data. Being experts in genetics and clinical diagnostics,

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“We empower patients with the technology to create and share their own health journey.”

—Ardy Arianpour, CEO & Co-founder, Seqster

the founding team knew the importance of solving complex clinical issues with highquality data. While Seqster’s story began with DNA, where its name pronounced “seekster” comes from (as in DNA sequencing and seeking health data), it quickly became much bigger.

“We learned that DNA data alone isn’t valuable. It needs to be combined with many other data types such as a longitudinal clinical record stitched together across city, state, or country in order to provide a 360° view of a patient’s health,” Ardy says, “but we came across a daunting obstacle right out of the gate. Our clinical data is not easily accessible. Even worse, unlike DNA data, the format and terminologies used by clinical data vary across different providers. We had to first build programs to retrieve, standardize, and harmonize them.

“With our first version of Seqster built, we showed it to an ex-senior executive at a large healthcare system, and the first thing she exclaimed was, ‘Oh my god! You guys cracked interoperability!’ That was our eureka moment when we realized that we

FAST FACTS • Both FHIR and portal based clinical data retrieval • API to share data with payers, pharma and providers • 21st Century Cures Rules CMS-ONC Compliant • • • •

Access to: 3,600+ Hospitals/150,0000+ Medical Groups & Small Doctor Offices 30M+ Consumer DNA Sequencing Results 200M+ Wearables Data

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not only solved a problem for our own business but also an industry-wide $30 billion annual healthcare problem caused by the siloing of our health data.”

Once the news started leaking out about what Seqster had created, the team decided to emerge from stealth, immediately garnering accolades, awards, speaking engagements, and press. More importantly, many business opportunities emerged as a direct result of giving patients access to their “cleaned up” health data.

The Seqster team knew they were embarking on something monumental when Bill Gates personally requested to see the platform. That led to their first customer, Boston University, to use Seqster technology to rapidly accelerate the onboarding and monitoring of Alzheimer’s Disease study patients. Closer to home, Seqster announced a 3-year licensing deal and partnership with La Jolla Institute of Immunology (LJI) to support the execution of a $6.9 million, 5,000 participant Asthma study funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Seqster enables users to pull health data from over 150,000 hospitals, doctors’ offices, and clinics nationwide and combine that information with their DNA and other real-time fitness wearable data in a HIPAA-compliant, HiTrustcertified hosting platform. The outcome is a view of a patient’s “net health” on an elegant and user-friendly interface. Ardy believes that the days of carrying around manually collected paper medical records in binders will soon become history. We have all known people who relied on this method prior to Seqster, and it is rarely a pleasant story.

Today, Seqster is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) serving healthcare enterprise customers that are seeking to improve the health of their members and patients.

The prestigious awards and recognition over the past two years demonstrate how significant and original its technology is. Just like the essence of the Seqster app is interoperability, the heart of Seqster as a company is people themselves.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES • • • • • • • • • • •

2020 Takeda Pharmaceuticals becomes a strategic investor in Seqster 2019 UCSF Digital Health Awards: Top 10 Data Interoperability Platform 2019 HL7 FHIR DevDays Patient Innovator Finalist 2019 National Readmission Prevention Collaborative Innovation Winner 2019 San Diego Business Journal Top Business Leaders 40 Under 40 2019 San Diego Business Journal CEO of the Year Finalist 2019 MM&M Top 40 Healthcare Transformer 2018 Exponential Medicine MEDy Award: “The One Company To Watch” 2018 World Frontiers Forum Young Pioneer 2018 SDVG COOL Companies of the Year 2018 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions: Winner of People’s Choice & Judge’s Choice Awards

7310 Miramar Road, #430 San Diego, CA 92126 seqster

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LUNADNA

ELEVATOR PITCH Established as a public benefit corporation

and named a 2019 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, LunaPBC™ was formed to engage individuals directly to permission their health data for discovery and deliver privacy, transparency, control, and choice in the data sharing relationship. To operationalize this new paradigm, they created LunaDNA™, the first people-powered and member-owned digital repository to organize medical, DNA, real-world, and social-determinants data online. Everyone in the LunaDNA community brings unique value to the platform and everyone shares in the value created.

Build exemplary communities for health discovery

Transform shared life data into actionable insights

Empower people to live longer, healthier lives

We engage diverse populations, promote them from subjects to partners, and match them with researchers.

We combine enriched life data with innovative analysis tools in a secure platform to accelerate discovery.

We enable families and friends to live and enjoy their lives more by harnessing life data for good.

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OUR STORY In today’s data intensive world, many of the products

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IN DECEMBER 2018

LunaDNA’s shares-fordata offering was qualified by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reward members with equity in the company.

we use produce digital insights about our unique self—from retail data tracking our shopping habits to wearables that stream exercise and biometric data—revealing clues about our quality of life and disease predispositions. Access to our DNA information is also readily available at relatively low costs to help diagnose disease or trace our ancestry.

This new era of deep and broad “life data” prompts new questions about health, the information shared within families, and the impact of our environment on our well-being. Unprecedented opportunities in genomics, big data, and artificial intelligence are upon us to discover world-changing solutions, particularly in healthcare. And as the subjects of the data being generated, people are all at the center of it.

Nonprofits, for-profits, disease organizations, and research communities will be able to query the LunaDNA platform for discovery studies. Member’s de-identified and aggregated health data will power research at the scope and scale needed for medical breakthroughs. While maintaining anonymity and only with opt-in contact consent, LunaDNA members may also receive communications from researchers interested in including them in a specific research study or trial.

In October 2017, a team of genomic and health executives, passionate about social responsibility, united with the goal of moving people to the center of research and health discovery. They saw the long-standing problem of individuals being disconnected and treated as subjects of research versus partners in discovery. They wanted to make individual data privacy and control a priority, in an age when people’s data was being bought and sold regularly. They believed that operating in a people-first framework was not only the right thing to do, but the best way to pursue health discovery.

“Nothing is more personal than our health and DNA data. LunaDNA, in a precedent-setting move, is enabling individuals to own shares in the company that creates value from the data collective. This data paradigm enables people to control their inclusion in the system, learn about studies undertaken with the database, celebrate discoveries, and participate in the financial rewards that come from partnerships,” said Bob Kain, CEO and co-founder, LunaPBC.

A healthier world with people at the center of discovery.

“

I BELIEVE THE FUTURE OF DISCOVERY AND PEOPLE’S DATA WILL BE SIDEWAYS NOT SILOED, CONNECTED NOT DICTATED, SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND TRANSPARENT—WE WILL ENGAGE EVERYDAY PEOPLE RESPONSIBLY TO PERMISSION THEIR HEALTH DATA TO HELP CRACK THE CODE IN GENOMICS AND BEYOND.” —DAWN BARRY, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, LUNAPBC

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PSY-TEK LABS BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN INTEGRATIVE AND CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE USING SUBTLE ENERGY TESTING

blood work and X-rays. Hertz and Clark searched for cutting-edge equipment and advanced health technologies in body scans that reveal cellular level statistics, life energy patterns, and other wellness information. They wanted health practitioners to use reports and images from these devices to help their patients understand what is happening internally and energetically. Psy-Tek Labs was born.

ELEVATOR PITCH Psy-Tek Labs is a research laboratory and testing center. We feature “Pioneer” devices that measure the biofield (Subtle Energies) that access our various states of wellness. We do this without the use of traditional medical practices that use radiation, blood, compression, etc. Our devices include Medical Thermal Imaging, Brain Mapping, Heart-rate Variability, Interstitial Fluid Analysis, and other processes that directly assess the subtle energy fields of both subjects and materials. Our innovative lab conducts health assessments for everyone and performs research for organizations and individuals on products, devices, and healing practices.

OUR STORY Science fiction fans drool every time they see “Bones,” the doctor on Star Trek, pull out his Tricorder and magically diagnose any body before him. The Tricorder isn’t here yet, but a generation of computers and devices that can measure our bodies’ energy fields have evolved and are starting to reveal previously undiscovered components of our health.

Bob Hertz, CDP, a computer scientist and serial entrepreneur, is at home with sophisticated computers, communications, and laboratory equipment after decades of automating industry and businesses utilizing cutting-edge technologies.

Bob Hertz and Mary Clark are the co-founders and managing directors of Psy-tek Labs, which is a division of Healing Energies and Research Technologies, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting advancement in health technologies and subtle energy research.

Since 1996 Hertz has been working with Mary Clark, PhD, a psychotherapist and specialist in Energy Psychology and Energy Healing. They focus on health systems, alternative methods of healing, and noninvasive methods of assessing health for both allopathic and integrative physicians. They include the many different types of practitioners, including nutritionists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and dozens of healing modalities and practices.

“You name the field, we’ve worked with the practitioner,” Hertz says.

In 2001 Hertz and Clark first came up with the idea of creating a Subtle Energy testing lab. They began exploring noninvasive equipment that claimed to be energy-based. Most of the devices evaluated were not scientifically based and could not support repeatable data needed for assessments and research. Additionally, health practitioners such as acupuncturists and massage therapists, to name a few, could not order medical testing such as MRIs,

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Hertz and Clark have joined up with a longtime friend and colleague. Gaetan Chevalier, PhD, a wellknown and published physicist who specializes in exactly what Psy-Tek Labs is all about.

Subtle Energy is Gaetan’s “middle name.” He has the long-term experience in both utilizing and instructing in subtle energy devices. Together, Hertz, Clark, and Chevalier have been growing the assessment services, testing, and research in Psy-Tek Labs for over 10 years.

Psy-Tek Labs facility is in Encinitas, California, located on the campus of CIHS, a graduate school and research institute. Psy-Tek Labs and CIHS collaborate in research and instruction.

Presently, Psy-Tek Labs schedules testing and health assessments for the public and performs research on several health-related issues and products.

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Psy-Tek Uses Medical Thermal Imaging as a Preventative tool to Study Breast Health Medical Thermal Imaging Thermography has moved to the forefront in today’s female breast health technology, announced Mary Clark, Managing Director of Psy-Tek Testing Lab in Encinitas. “Thermography shines as a preventative tool to help improve health and well-being,” she stated.

Thermography is a non-contact, noninvasive procedure which captures and records temperature variations on the skin. Studies have shown that it can be particularly helpful for evaluating inflammatory responses and inflammation which creates a thermal pattern, visually detected with medical thermal imaging. “This makes it an ideal compass to show an individual’s health position, while at the same time acting as a roadmap for physicians,” according to Dr. Clark.

Psy-Tek’s special high-definition cameras use far infrared emission technology, showing heat patterns in both normal cells and unbalanced cells where inflammation or abnormal metabolic activity occurs. This advanced technology gives physicians, alternative practitioners, and individuals the incredible benefit of revealing underlying health conditions. “With follow-up thermal imaging, any heat pattern changes can be tracked and monitored,” Dr. Clark added.

Ildi Clark and Carisa Hertz, Psy-Tek Lab’s highly trained technicians, urge women to take advantage of this technology and schedule a thermal imaging health study appointment for peace of mind, too.

It is quick, safe, easy, and women like the fact that it is noninvasive as well as comfortable with no compression. And of course, the extra security of knowing there is no radiation and no X-rays is a plus.

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Medical thermal imaging is FDA-cleared as an adjunctive tool. Testing data is analyzed by a team of experienced thermal imaging specialists and reviewed by medical doctors who prepare the client’s report, according to Gaetan Chevalier, PhD, Psy-Tek’s Research Director. The testing lab neither diagnoses nor treats clients; instead, it offers information services to medical and allied alternative health professionals and their clients.

Imaging. “This process, also noninvasive, involves photographing of fingertip light emissions on special crystal film plate. This displays and measures BioEnergy fields, including life energy patterns, virtual chakras, and elements related to consciousness. It utilizes Kirlian Photography, a technique for recording photographic images of plasma discharges, like the auras of living plants and creatures,” Dr. Chevalier explains.

Additional Body Scans Show Important Cellular Level, Life Energy, Wellness Information Psy-Tek Labs is also pioneering research in advanced health technology that includes new developments and techniques in body scans to reveal powerful cellular level statistics, life energy patterns, and other wellness information. Some of these techniques look at subtle energy systems and how components affect physical connections.

For example, they can give feedback to both practitioners and their clients as to the impact on their systems. And they can chart data on health programs and procedures that can be used as a roadmap for determining how best to proceed with healthcare applications.

Brain Mapping Our cutting-edge P300 technology monitors a recently discovered brain signal, along with the standard QEEG (Quantitative EEG) signals to uniquely assess reaction times, speed, and connectivity crucial to detecting brain dysfunction.

Learn if you have known brain conditions such as Concussions, ADD/ADHD, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Learning Disorders, and Anxiety and/or Depression.

MenlaScan This device uses bio-impedance analysis of interstitial fluids to provide a unique analysis of body composition on segments of the body. It also includes a sophisticated photoplethysmography performing digital pulse analysis. This combination of analysis methods allows this noninvasive device to analyze stress, fatigue, cardio scores, body fat, microcirculation, spinal conditions, brain health, and more. Matthew Chilton, a technical manager at Psy-Tek Labs, explains, “An interpretive program then offers recommendations for therapeutic, lifestyle follow-up, and monitoring.”

GDV Another body scan test available is the GDV/EPI, Gas Discharge Visualization or Electro Photonic

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All the Psy-Tek body scans are available for men as well as women. More men are showing interest in the procedures as a result of the noninvasive efficiency, increased accuracy, and lower cost elements, in addition to individual screenings.

“Whether one’s goal is fun exploration, to gain insight into your own personal well-being, or to monitor your or your loved one’s health, our cutting-edge devices such as medical thermal imaging or any of our other advanced technology tests can serve as an informational roadmap to help guide one to learning more about one’s self,” Hertz affirmed. “It is a natural approach,” he notes, “to achieving wellness.”

741 Garden View Court, Suite 206, Encinitas, CA 92024 +1-760-733-6000

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COMPANION MEDICAL DEVELOPING EASY-TO-USE, AFFORDABLE DIABETES TECHNOLOGY FOCUSED ON ADVANCED INSULIN DELIVERY AND REAL-TIME ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS.

ELEVATOR PITCH Companion Medical was founded on the belief that people’s lives shouldn’t revolve around diabetes.

After I was diagnosed with type 1, I was really frustrated with the limited management options available. While insulin pumps certainly have benefits, the majority of people living with diabetes are not willing to use them—we wanted to give those people an alternative option. Our ultimate goal is to improve Population Health, so we built our affordable, easy-to-use, and clinically useful system that would appeal to a larger group of people.

OUR STORY Now, we are thinking even bigger. We created the InPen, America’s first and only FDA cleared smart pen+app system, and are constantly working towards making diabetes management even more personalized. Our system takes the guesswork out of diabetes management, allowing people to spend more time focusing on the things they love. Our main focus at the beginning was creating a smart insulin pen that had many of the benefits of insulin pumps without the burden point of having a device physically attached to your body 24/7.

What does Companion Medical do?

Companion Medical develops easy-to-use, affordable diabetes technology focused on advanced insulin delivery and real-time actionable insights. The company’s flagship product, InPen, is the first FDA-cleared smart insulin pen and mobile app–based diabetes management system providing patients and healthcare providers with essential data to optimize insulin regimens.

How does Companion Medical foster innovation?

Companion Medical starts with empathy, not technology. Only by understanding what people are doing and why they are struggling can we provide the right solutions to help them. We believe that too often in the past, the industry thought the highest tech solution was the right one, regardless if people were willing to use it. As an example,

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pumps have been on the market for 30+ years and yet only about 7% of people with diabetes use them.

We innovate through knowledge, empathy, and by creating a culture of respect and encouragement. Throughout our innovation process, our number one question is, “Will this new technology make people’s lives easier and better?”

If the answer is no, we find an alternative solution. Not every idea will work, but we won’t know until we try. If we can all approach the problem with understanding and empathy—which we don’t see enough of these days—then we can create better solutions.

What does Sean do through Companion Medical to engage in innovation?

Right now, 10% of employees at Companion Medical are living with diabetes and understand the challenges firsthand. As part of that 10%, I consciously make an effort to share my experiences with employees in hope that it will empower them to ask questions and share their own stories. Everyone has been impacted by diabetes in some way, whether it is a family member, colleague, or friend. Just by sharing experiences, we can all help uncover trends and identify innovative solutions.

What are some ways Companion Medical innovates internally?

We invest in our employees by offering perks and benefits that really matter.

We offer unlimited paid vacation, stock options, and internal career growth and hiring. Companion Medical wants everyone on the team to be aligned and working toward the same goals.

We’ve created a culture where new employees can come in and make an immediate impact. Teams are encouraged to be self-directed and to take initiative. We look for task execution, but unique, new ideas and challenging the status quo are always welcome.

11011 Via Frontera Suite D San Diego, CA 92127 +1-844-843-7903 support@companionmedical.com companionmedical companion-medical companion_med

What is Companion Medical most excited about going forward?

We are most excited about discovering solutions that have never been considered before. In the coming months, we are aggressively working to change the paradigm of diabetes management to lift the burden of those living with diabetes by providing real-time coaching and improving the communication between the healthcare provider and the patient. All of these things have never before been possible with previous systems.

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FIRST PROMISE CARE SERVICES LLC

ELEVATOR PITCH As the CEO of First Promise Care Services and Founder of BLISS Senior Care Foundation, I’ve been a devoted Advocate for seniors for over 15 years. It’s been my mission to make a positive impact in the lives of our seniors and ensure no seniors are left underserved. They all deserve to be cared for with dignity, respect, and compassion!

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testing and completing the study, the Leadership Program called “Empowering Caregivers to be Leaders” is now being implemented in retaining employees and attracting quality, good-hearted caregivers.

OUR STORY Born in the Philippines and coming from a poor family, I always had a dream for my family and me to live a better quality of life, and I valued every opportunity that came my way. Visiting America was only a dream, but being able to call America my home today is a true gift!

My passion in serving seniors has encouraged me to keep searching for solutions for our seniors despite their socioeconomic background. So finally, in 2018, I had the vision to bridge the gap between low-income, underserved seniors with inhome care. This specific group of seniors have managed to survive on as little as $900 each month; only enough to cover basic rent, food, medication, and utilities. Therefore, BLISS spoke to my heart and was born.

My journey began in September 1999, when I landed in LAX from Sydney, Australia, with only $35 in my pocket. My sister accommodated me in her home while I looked for work.

BLISS stands for “Blessed Low Income Senior Support” and aims to give these seniors new hope to make life simpler by connecting qualified Seniors with state-registered home-care aides.

Initially, I began working as a bathing aide in a large care facility. Later I became a private caregiver to an elderly woman with advanced MS whom I grew compassion for during my time with her. With minimal work experience, I learned that the only way to effectively care for her was to envision myself in her shoes.

BLISS accepts tax deductible donations that sponsor seniors living in low-income senior communities who are in need of assisted care. This sponsored service will provide these seniors with the dignity and support while living independently in their own home. In addition, empowered caregivers will also be given an opportunity to elevate their careers while providing quality care to low-income seniors, making BLISS a WIN-WIN situation! More importantly, BLISS aims to change lives of Seniors by one act of service at a time!

My experience as a caregiver began to grow from one patient to the next. I was given the chance to care for another sweet lady who made a lasting impact on me. I quickly became a part of the family as she helped me master my English and taught me how to cook, play the piano, arrange flowers, entertain guests, and much more.

Today, I am happily married to my husband Kevin for 16 years, who has supported me in all of my endeavors, along with our 11-year-old son Simon, who is also a blessing from God. Early in our marriage, I had an opportunity to purchase a six-bed care facility for the elderly. I quickly studied to become an administrator, my husband and I ran the facility together as both the administrators and as caregivers. We then hired a team of caregivers and trained them to help cater to the needs of our clients. Three years later, we acquired our second six-bed care facility and repeated the process.

1283 E. Main St. Ste 101 El Cajon, CA 92021 Direct Office: +1-619-334-8900 24/7 Helpline: +1-619-274-9630 passionforseniors firstpromisecare firstpromisecareservices

As the care needs and demands of the aging population began to grow, we started First Promise Care Services in December of 2015 where we now had the ability to send state-registered home-care aides to provide care in the comfort and privacy of the homes of our seniors.

In 2018, First Promise Management Team was given a chance to participate in a quality job study with the San Diego Workforce Partnership. After successfully

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PACIFIC COAST TRIAGE SERVICES (PCTS) PCTS IS AN AFTER-HOURS NURSING ADVICE SERVICE THAT ALLOWS PHYSICIANS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR TIME AWAY FROM THE OFFICE.

OUR MISSION PCTS provide triage service for OB/GYN, Pediatric, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, and Geriatric/SNF patients. We take thousands of calls per year. It is our intent that the patients and families that we serve are cared for with professionalism, current knowledge, and sound critical thinking. Whether it is determining the best home-care strategies or evaluating when to send a patient to an urgent care or the emergency department, the highest level of service will be provided. PCTS strives to be an extension of the medical practice in which we serve with our nursing advice. We want your patients to feel like we are an extension of you.

Along with physician approved standing orders, physician approved protocols, and thorough communication, we will provide a service that allows physicians more time off on evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays with the least amount of stress. With typical physician office hours Monday through Friday being 8am–5pm and the weekend office hours 9am–1pm, this leaves 115 hours a week (460 hours a month) and 192 holiday hours per year for a RN to take calls so the physicians have more time off.

This allows physicians to sleep, relax, and replenish themselves. In our experience, approximately 98% of the after-hour patient calls can be handled by nursing advice. This service alleviates the need for the physician to be called in most circumstances. An on-call physician will be available to answer a nurse’s questions and approve medications that are not on the standing orders.

Progress notes will be faxed to offices by the next business day to help staff with scheduling and keep physicians informed.

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INNEROPTIMAL, INC

YOU ARE MAGNIFICENT BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION! DR. DANIELLE CHAVALARIAS, MARIE-LAURE WAGNER-HUNSAKER

OUR STORY Dr. Danielle Chavalarias created InnerOptimal, Inc. with her daughter MarieLaure Wagner-Hunsaker in 2006 in Encinitas, CA 92024. Their combined experience in improving people‘s brain power is over 45 years.

Internationally recognized speaker, Dr. Danielle Chavalarias is a renowned expert in Brain Optimization & the power of the Mind. She has spoken extensively in the USA, France, Spain, Portugal, UK, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, and Gabon. She is currently the CEO of InnerOptimal, Inc. Danielle, Marie-Laure and their team help adults as well as kids achieve Peak Performance, improve their Memory, Focus, and overcome Anxiety and Stress.

Using cutting edge technology to optimize the brain, they also achieve amazing results with Depression and Sleep disorders, P.T.S.D, Addictions, Anger management, ADHD, Emotional and Cognitive issues.

They both believe a Young and Vibrant Brain is possible at any age!

Dr. Danielle says: “Traditionally, lots of techniques or healing methods focus on an issue; a target. In contrast, at InnerOptimal we focus on the person as a Whole. Often multiple issues converge to the same cause, and this is where InnerOptimal excels!”

Dr. Danielle frequently witnesses roadblocks, inherent to life Events, preventing people from performing at their full potential. Marie-Laure specializes in revealing these roadblocks and teaching you how to enhance your potential to overcome your roadblocks.

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“We are only at the beginning of discovering how to use the natural and unlimited potential of our Brains to feel better, be better, and perform better! This leads to more happiness and caring for others! Our mission is to better the world, one person at a time!” – Dr. Danielle

LIFE TRANSFORMATION IS POSSIBLE! Liberate Your potential with the InnerOptimal Program Business woman experiencing a shock and discouragement of losing her business and her home.

BEFORE INNEROPTIMAL PROGRAM 29% 53% 18%

Relative values of the Survival brain, Limbic system, Neocortex.

Green: Survival part of the brain.

Blue: Limbic system.

Red: NeoCortex.

We see that this woman is currently disturbed, deeply worried by recurring negative thoughts that are making her mull things over. She is involved in a certain number of concerns taking up a big part of her mental energy. Her mental energy is low, leading her to refuse and avoid further hardship as well as change.

AFTER INNEROPTIMAL PROGRAM 29%

32%

38%

Green: Survival part of the brain.

Blue: Limbic system.

Red: NeoCortex.

This woman was preoccupied by several causes and she is regaining her ability to face new situations with increasing ease. Currently she has good physical energy, she is essentially sociable. Her mental energy is good to play an active part in her efficiency and her flow. She is totally ready to face any potential danger. She has appropriate response either by flight or fight, according to circumstances.

Cognitive anxiety is limited. Goals are in harmony with current abilities.

2210 Encinitas Blvd, Suite L, Encinitas CA 92024 +1-760-633-3328

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The Chiropractic Center of North County uses a variety of safe and effective chiropractic techniques in order to stabilize, strengthen, and heal the body.

No two bodies are the same. Careful evaluation, history, and exam findings are needed in order to determine and provide the correct type of chiropractic care.

“Alignment is everything!”

—Dr. Kent Pollock

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Why Chiropractic Science has proven that everyone has an inborn or innate intelligence that utilizes the nervous system to control and regulate the body’s vital functions as it relates the environment. This inner wisdom works both consciously and subconsciously at keeping you in balance with the proper heart rate, release of hormones, digestion of foods, regulation of breathing cycles, and so on. This system is always on and always functioning—24 hours a day, seven days a week. The most serious interferences to this system occur when certain short- or longterm stress is too much for the body to handle.

These stresses can arise from various sources: Physical Stresses: • Auto Accidents • Sports Trauma • Injuries at Work Chemical & Nutritional Stresses: • What we EAT • What we DRINK • What we BREATHE Emotional Stresses: • Relationships at HOME • Relationships at WORK • Feelings from PAST relationships or experiences Toxins in the Environment: • Heavy metals • Pesticides/Pollution Electromagnetic Pollution: • Cell phones/Computers/Tablets • Power lines • Microwaves • TVs Any of these stresses will cause nerve interferences that result in malfunction to every system in the body. Research has shown that if these interferences persist for more than 10 days, imbalances develop in the body, scar tissue forms, and cells cease to function properly.

Why Do We Focus on The Spine?

The spine serves not only to offer optimal biomechanics, but also to serve as a protective housing for the nerves that travel between the brain and tissues of the body. It is here that most, if not all, interferences exist. Thus, proper structure is vitally important to have proper function.

What we do is significantly different. Here’s why.

Along with employing the traditional chiropractic

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techniques, we offer a variety of alternative therapies that have been shown to be extremely effective:

Infrared Light Therapy HealthLight is a photo-modulated (pulsed, lightemitting diodes) device also known as low-level light therapy (LLLT). Infrared phototherapy releases nitric oxide from the hemoglobin and surrounding tissue. Nitric oxide relaxes muscles and cells found in the arteries, veins, capillaries and lymph vessels.

When these muscles relax, they dilate the blood vessel, thus allowing increased circulation.

Rapid Release Therapy Scar tissue forms in the body as a temporary patching mechanism for wounds. Rapid Release Technology targets painful adhesions using resonance. RRT has determined the optimum frequency for effectiveness, which instantly releases cramps and muscle spasms and is focused on relief of soft tissue problems caused by scarring.

Therapeutic Ultrasound Therapeutic ultrasound increases a process called cell streaming. Cell streaming is the movement of fluids within the cells of the human body. This process is important because the movement of fluids allows cells to communicate with increased efficiency, thereby speeding up the healing process to the injured tissues. Ultrasound therapy: • increases blood flow in the injured area • reduces swelling and edema, which can be significant sources of pain • gently massages the muscles, tendons, and/or ligaments in the treated area and softens any scar tissue that is usually present in an injured area.

Theory of chiropractic care hasn’t changed; the tools have. We pride ourselves in being one of the most innovative chiropractic wellness centers in Southern California, utilizing the latest technologies and alternative therapies, including massage and Reiki. Follow us on Facebook to keep up with the latest in chiropractic news.

848 2nd Street Encinitas, CA 92024 chirocenter01@gmail.com +1-760-633-1202

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Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.� —HARRIET TUBMAN

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SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS (SANDAG) As one of the most innovative public agencies in the region, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is well known for helping advance the public transportation industry. SANDAG is a leader in developing partnerships with small and disadvantaged businesses that help them grow.

OUR STORY The Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE) is a new SANDAG division that advocates for communities, the workforce, and small and diverse businesses through various program initiatives. A significant ODE objective is ensuring that small businesses have an equal opportunity to work on SANDAG projects.

Led by Ms. Elaine Richardson, Director of Diversity and Equity, the program makes it simpler for small firms to partner with SANDAG and offers them training, guidance, and strategies that maximize their prospect of securing government contracts.

Ms. Elaine Richardson, Director of Diversity and Equity, SANDAG firms working on SANDAG contracts increased exponentially. Comparing data before (2008) and after the Bench was implemented (2012) shows that DBE participation grew from 15 firms to 78 firms—a 420% increase. Over that same period, the number of women-owned firms participating increased 413% from 8 to 41. Participation by minority-owned firms also grew dramatically: 800% for African American–owned firms, 129% for Hispanic American–owned firms, 100% for Native American–owned firms, 117% for Asian–Pacific American– owned firms, and 400% for Subcontinent Asian American–owned firms.

SANDAG BENCH PROGRAM One standout Diversity and Equity program is the SANDAG Bench Program.

SANDAG introduced the Bench in 2011 to increase opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses to participate in capital improvement projects. At that time, SANDAG prepared a $260 million on-call procurement for Architecture and Engineering (A&E) services. Essentially, the Bench was created to offer a pool of Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and Small Business (SB) firms that could partner with prime consultants as subconsultants.

Before the Bench existed, few small and diverse firms participated in A&E contracts. After SANDAG debuted the Bench, the number of small and diverse

SANDAG expanded the Bench Program to include Construction Management (CM) and Planning contracts. The continuing focus of the Bench Program is helping small businesses gain new opportunities and grow. Through 2019, the A&E and CM Benches have committed more than $110 million in contract agreements to almost 170 Bench firms.

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A highlight of the Bench Program has been its contribution to the Mid-Coast Trolley project, a $2.1 billion, 11-mile extension of the Blue Line Trolley service from Downtown San Diego to the University community area. The General Contractor for this project, Mid-Coast Transit Constructors (MCTC), earmarked up to $200 million for DBE/SB participation and worked with Ms. Richardson to implement a Construction Bench.

Currently, more than $175 million has been paid to DBE and SB firms.

Through the hard work and guidance of Ms. Richardson, the SANDAG Bench Program has expanded opportunities for small and disadvantaged firms throughout the San Diego region. Ms. Richardson continues to improve other SANDAG programs that support the small business community, and she is working with her team to develop a more robust Small Business Program.

Mid-Coast Trolley Project

SANDAG BENCH SUCCESS One example of the many firms that have benefited from the Mid-Coast Trolley Construction Bench is a woman-owned trucking firm, Leinaia’s Transportation, that began working on this project with just one truck.

After attending numerous networking events hosted by SANDAG and MCTC, receiving her DBE/SB certifications, and speaking to a Senior Vice President within MCTC, the owner secured an initial contract for $500,000.

The contract award has since increased to approximately $9 million, and she has purchased 17 more trucks and 26 pieces of heavy equipment and hired 20 more staff members. With the experience this firm has gained on the Mid-Coast Trolley project, the firm has won new contracts with other agencies collectively worth millions of dollars. This success story highlights the significant impact that programs like the Bench can have on small and emerging businesses.

Ms. Leinaia King, Owner, Leinaia’s Transportation

BENCH OUTREACH EVENTS

Various SANDAG Bench Outreach Events 401 B Street, Suite 800 | San Diego, CA 92101 +1-619-699-1900

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BOSS CAPITAL PARTNERS BOSS CAPITAL PARTNERS PROVIDES TECHNOLOGY BUSINESSES WITH THE GUIDANCE, SYSTEMS, AND FUNDING NEEDED TO SCALE AND EXIT SUCCESSFULLY.

OUR STORY BOSS Capital Partners is a boutique investment firm dedicated to working with technology businesses that need operational expertise and guidance to achieve capital efficient and rewarding outcomes. By utilizing the BOSS— Business Operating Support System—the BCP team assists startup companies with tactical challenges they face in product management, engineering, sales, marketing, pricing, legal, and finance. Consistently and efficiently applied, BOSS allows BCP to transform the day-to-day operations of portfolio companies and significantly increase the quality of potential exit outcomes.

“Across the world, there are 25 startup ecosystems with an Ecosystem Value above $10 billion each, adding up to nearly $1 trillion in economic value.

Additionally, 57 startup ecosystems boast an Ecosystem Value between $1 billion and $10 billion, creating thousands of jobs and billions in economic productivity. Through altruistic capitalism—wealth is successfully distributed to entrepreneurs, who then share with their team to create a flourishing startup ecosystem.” —Gregory Shepard, CEO, BOSS Capital Partners

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BOSS (Business Operating Support System) Gregory Shepard, CEO and co-founder of BOSS Capital Partners is the creator of BOSS (Business Operating Support System), an open-source business operating system based on his 20+ years of entrepreneurial and investor experience. BOSS was developed to give entrepreneurs a guided process to grow, scale, and exit a business profitably. BOSS is both a methodology and operating system that guides your business using the BOSS Principles, through a battle-tested process to grow, scale, and exit your business. Entrepreneurs can manage every aspect of their business from funding through strategy to functional area operations and even exit planning.

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Gregory Shepard CEO and co-founder of BOSS Capital Partners Gregory Shepard lives in San Diego with his wife and two younger children, while his eldest daughter forges her own entrepreneur path in Denver, CO. In his free time Greg enjoys living life to its fullest. Greg has been very active in the San Diego community, from delivering keynotes at San Diego Startup Week & San Diego Tech Innovation Council to running in the San Diego Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon; Greg seeks challenges to show those like him that it is possible to realize what we previously thought impossible.

BOSS is prescriptive, methodically guiding your business through the “5 phases of BOSS,” while allowing your team to execute day-to-day tasks faster and more efficiently. The BOSS movement is transforming San Diego startups into focused, actionable metrics-driven businesses with a clean plan, improving their ability to raise money and exit profitably.

bosscapitalpartners.com

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OUR STORY Back in 2013, San Diego’s leading tech hub status was not well known, so a group of entrepreneurs came together to lay the groundwork for a vibrant early stage tech startup ecosystem. The result was the first San Diego Startup Week, launched by local tech leaders Brant Cooper, Eric Otterson, Phelan Reissen, Al Bsharah, Mel Gordon, Austin Neudecker, and Tim Ryan. The goal was not to be a standalone event, but more of a platform to allow organizations or communities to bring their respective ecosystems together to coincide. That first Startup Week partnered with the San Diego Venture Group’s Venture Summit, where 200 founders came together for over 10 events for education, mentoring, and socializing.

After a successful first year, the team looked at who was missing from the conference and realized that as companies grew each year, the content needed to as well, enabling anyone in a startup or any tech company to come out and learn and enrich themselves at the pace that each company needed to hit growth metrics. This was the birth of skills-based tracks which has enabled Startup Week to grow each year to the 3,000-to-4,000 person conference it is today.

In 2018, Startup San Diego hired its first Executive Director to further grow the organization and the local startup community.

Startup San Diego has also added other events throughout the year to keep the momentum going, such as 1st Mondays, a monthly meetup that encourages strategic relationship building among entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activists at a local hotspot in San Diego. Meanwhile, the monthly 3rd Mondays meetup provides attendees with an opportunity to hear directly from a local service provider.

Another focus of growth is inclusivity. As the non-profit Startup San Diego formed out of that first Startup Week, it was important that the organization represented the entrepreneurial community and enabled access to communities that didn’t normally get access to startup education. Communities like military veterans, under represented entrepreneurs, students, Tijuana, North County San Diego, and industries like craft beverages, defense, biotech, and more were all given seats at the table as board members and content creators. In doing so, Startup Week strives to capture data that enables the understanding of bringing communities together holistically and inclusively.

The nonprofit will launch a new annual event in Fall 2020 called Convergence, which will unite businesses at every stage of maturity that are looking to expand and actively participate in recruiting San Diego talent and service providers.

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Start Up San Diego - now made up of company founders, investors, innovators, mentors and students - continues to foster an innovation economy and build a thriving startup scene. But the organization can’t do this alone. The future of the startup ecosystem depends on organizations like Startup San Diego helping to lead charge, but also on the broader community to come together to lift the region up. In the unique spirit of San Diego’s tech community, the future is collaboration and it’s bright.

startupsandiego StartupSD startup-san-diego

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“Individually, we are one drop.

Together, we are an ocean.”

—RYUNOSUKE SATORO

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FUSE INTEGRATION DELIVERING WARFIGHTER CAPABILITIES WITH USER-FOCUSED ENGINEERING AND DESIGN

ELEVATOR PITCH Fuse is a Veteran-Owned Small Business with a focus on delivering communications, networks, and software-based solutions for our nation’s warfighters. Founded in 2010, our San Diego–based company has earned recognition as an emerging leader in airborne networking and has been ranked as one of the most innovative and fastest-growing private companies in the country.

OUR STORY Fuse is focused on delivering solutions to our nation’s warfighters deployed around the world. Our team includes members with military and government experience, including prior aviators, sailors, marines, soldiers, and federal engineers. Fuse employees have a range of experience levels, from fresh out of academia with knowledge of the latest technology to seasoned industry experts.

This diversity of backgrounds and experience—in addition to expertise across software, networks, industrial design, graphic design, and systems integration — greatly contributes to our ability to successfully bridge the gap between the engineer and end user.

our open and creative environment maintains agility, matching the speed of innovation, accommodating rapid changes, and delivering user-focused solutions to warfighters.

Our mission to advance warfighter capabilities has been furthered by the US government’s highly competitive SBIR Program (Small Business Innovative Research), allowing our team to develop scientific and technological innovations for defense and commercial use. Fuse has been awarded SBIR funds almost every year since our first award in 2012, receiving multiple Phase I and II awards to develop technology as well as multiple Phase III contracts to transition that technology to ships and aircraft in the fleet.

Design thinking encourages Fuse employees to approach all projects creatively and collaboratively while building empathy and understanding the problems faced by users that can be tested and evaluated for feedback. Our agile development process allows the Fuse team to support continuous meaningful iteration while adapting to evolving requirements. As Fuse continues to grow,

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management of system and network performance across multiple distributed platforms. Additionally, T3 collects link and sensor configuration settings and status data from globally dispersed platforms (such as ships and aircraft) and integrates the data onto a secure, network-accessible user interface, providing remote insight into status and system settings for operators and subject matter experts.

Fuse’s innovative solutions and agile development process yields high impact solutions and delivers integrated solutions designed for the warfighter, not the engineer. Our products and integrated systems go beyond the standard of merely achieving functionality and attain the higher standard of efficient and intuitive usability in tactical environments. Reinforced by an ISO 9000 certified quality policy, the Fuse team is committed to developing, producing, and delivering systems that meet and exceed requirements and satisfy our customers and users. We put warfighters first and are proud to help them accomplish their missions more safely and efficiently.

Our focus on the user and driving usability through iteration provide great value to our partners, customers, and users. Fuse offers an array of products, including hardware, software, and integrated systems specializing in communications, networking, and control. CORE® — a flexible and lightweight networking solution providing advanced outing, optimization, encryption, and management services—comes in a variety of sizes and configurations and won CONNECT’s Most Innovative Product award in 2017. A portable, ruggedized roller-bag version of our CORE technology, discretely supports VIP network integration at remote or unimproved sites as well as hotel environments. Supporting the CORE family of products, our network and communications management software, T3 (Tactical Technologies Toolset), provides real-time visibility and remote

4863 Shawline Street Suite D, San Diego, CA 92111 +1-619-255-0668 info@fuseintegration.com fuseintegration fuse-integration

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SAN DIEGO NATIONAL SECURITY CATALYST

TECHNOLOGY & POLICY INNOVATION FOR EFFECTIVE NATIONAL SECURITY ELEVATOR PITCH

OUR STORY

The Catalyst exists to meet two urgent needs: • Improving the transition of innovative dual-use research and technology to national security users by leveraging San Diego’s unique security, technology, business and university environment.

• Providing practical, effective policy recommendations to eliminate barriers to innovation and improve U.S. national security competitiveness.

The United States leads the world in innovation, research, and technology, but risks losing its edge in the realm of national security. Catalyst aims to drive more and better investment in, and adoption of, security innovations by strengthening connections between innovators, researchers, investors, and policymakers. An initiative of the UC Institute on Global Conflict & Cooperation, Catalyst’s goal is to broker partnerships, and provides practical, effective policy recommendations to improve U.S. competitiveness and enhance global stability and prosperity.

Catalyst is a broad and collaborative effort that compliments and supports existing academic, incubator and national security innovation initiatives.

A Problem to Solve Though private sector companies are developing technologies that can help address 21st Century national security challenges, government regulation, and complex contracting rules that disadvantage start-ups, create weak incentives for private sector innovators to partner with the U.S. government. At the same

Due to San Diego’s unique geography-driven national security environment, we service Homeland Security, Coast Guard, Justice, Interior, Energy, Disease Control and other First Responders in addition to the Department of Defense.

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time, emerging global powers are improving their national security capabilities; and new technologies promise to profoundly reshape the innovation landscape.

In a changing world, where challenges go beyond traditional military conflict to include cyber warfare, competition in space, climate change, terrorism, and global pandemics, the US must accelerate innovation to anticipate and outpace emerging threats.

Our Approach Catalyst focuses on two complementary sets of activities. First, Catalyst improves the links between national security organizations, entrepreneurs, academia, and investors. Specifically, Catalyst identifies promising technology solutions with national security applications among San Diego’s R&D centers, start-ups, and established companies, and helps innovators navigate the U.S. government system, reducing the barriers to entry, and ultimately leading to deployment of new and better technology. Our expertise in US government policies and systems, combined with our extensive network among business, government, and the

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academy, enables us to provide tailored advice to facilitate partnerships.

Accelerating innovation also requires addressing the policy and systems constraints that stymie innovation. Our research focuses on identifying where policies or processes are blocking innovative solutions, and offering practical solutions for policymakers.

Our Unique Ecosystem Catalyst is based in San Diego, a global hub for entrepreneurial business, investment, and technology. San Diego is home to large number of national security agencies—the US departments of Homeland Security, Energy, Justice, Interior, and Defense, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and local first responders—all of whom work every day to operationalize technologies to enhance security. San Diego is also home to world-class university systems that conduct vibrant, cuttingedge research. UCSD is a recognized global leader in the nexus of technology and innovation, with centers of excellence that include the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Office of Innovation and Commercialization

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Catalyst works across 9 technology areas: • Autonomous Systems & Robotics • Machine Learning, AI & Data Analytics • Communications, Cyber and IoT • Drone & Counter-Drone • Health & Genomics • Training & Human Performance • Advanced Materials • Energy Generation & Storage • Smart Facilities

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“Listen to anyone with an original idea, no matter how absurd it may sound at first. If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give people the room they need.”

—WILLIAM MCKNIGHT

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Powering Prosperity Around the World ELEVATOR PITCH Through flagship products TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Mint, Intuit is a financial platform company that gives everyone the opportunity to prosper.

OUR STORY Intuit’s foundations began with a thought 36 years ago: there must be a better way. Innovating in San Diego since the mid-1980s, scientific programmer Michael A. Chipman believed software could help make taxes easier, and formed ChipSoft.

Meanwhile, in Palo Alto, Scott Cook watched his wife struggle to balance the family checkbook, and began thinking of possible tech solutions.

Cook, and partner Tom Proulx, created personal finance software Quicken and formed Intuit, Inc., which would later acquire ChipSoft. Today, over three decades later, Intuit serves over 50 million customers with 19 offices in eight countries. Intuit’s 1,500 San Diego employees primarily work on TurboTax, Turbo, and Mint.

One secret to Intuit’s success is their focus on thoughtful approaches. Customer Driven Innovation (CDI) encourages employees to seek the intersection between important unsolved customer problems that they can solve well, and opportunities to build unique, durable solutions. Design for Delight (D4D) helps Intuit employees practice empathy for customer pain points. Employees are trained to get creative in thinking of possible solutions, and then use rapid experimentation to land on a solution. Both approaches stress falling in love with customer problems rather than employee solutions.

Intuit empowers its technologists to make an impact by hosting regular by-engineer-forengineer events: hackathons, workshops, and meetups, including San Diego JavaScript, San Diego’s largest tech meetup. Twice a year, engineers

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participate in Global Engineering Days, a week when they can choose their coding adventure and work on a customer problem that inspires them. Intuit is also an enthusiastic participant in the open source community, where source code is made freely available for edits and reuse. Intuit encourages engineers to contribute to external open source projects and make projects of their own available for others to contribute to and use.

Intuit highlights engineers’ open source projects at opensource.intuit.com.

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Another way Intuit encourages innovative approaches is by fostering a diverse workforce.

Intuit’s Tech Women @ Intuit (TWI) initiative focuses on attracting, recruiting, retaining, and advancing women. Programs vary from targeting technologists in various stages of their careers to engaging with middle and high school–aged students. Intuit also supports organizations who help increase and advance girls and women in technical roles, like Girls Who Code and AnitaB.org.

Intuit’s focus on innovation has led to their being consistently named on Fortune’s 100 Best Place to Work and Forbes America’s Best Employers for Diversity. Intuit also regularly ranks as one of the top places to work in San Diego. One-third of Intuit’s board of directors and 40% of its executive team are women. For over 30 years, TurboTax

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products have ranked as the No. 1 bestselling tax software. 98% of QuickBooks customers agree it’s a simpler way to manage their business.

Intuit’s unique culture allows the company to remain nimble and flexible, seeking new solutions to ever-evolving customer problems, and unlocking more and more opportunities for consumers and small businesses to prosper.

7535 Torrey Santa Fe Road San Diego, CA 92129

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WALMART LABS AT WALMART LABS, A LINE OF CODE CAN CHANGE THE WAY THE WORLD SHOPS. ELEVATOR PITCH Imagine being part of the world’s largest brickand-mortar retailer helping support one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic e-commerce organizations in existence. That’s what it’s like to be part of Walmart Labs.

Walmart Labs is the embodiment of innovation as it breaks new ground in the development of industry-changing solutions to simplify the in-store and online shopping experience for millions of daily shoppers.

From using machine learning to optimize the manner in which online grocery orders are picked by store associates, to expanding our supply chain network by building a new last-mile delivery platform, to using in-store robotics making it easier to identify out of stock, mispriced, or mislabeled products on the shelf, Walmart is creating the shopping experience of the future, allowing customers to shop anytime, anywhere.

OUR STORY Walmart Labs is the tech arm of Walmart focused on providing innovative solutions to streamline the shopping experience for over 270 million daily shoppers across 11,000 stores worldwide.

Formed in April of 2011, after the acquisition of search engine company Kosmix, Walmart Labs has spent eight years building its technology brand, attracting over 7,000 engineers located in tech centers distributed coast-to-coast and internationally.

Walmart Labs found its roots in Southern California through happenstance. In 2012, Walmart Labs was exploring opportunities to expand its technology footprint in other locations. Through a series of conversations, Walmart Labs leadership found Claude Jones and offered him an opportunity he could not turn down: the chance to create a Walmart Labs office in Carlsbad, helping to attract talent, build the Walmart technology brand, while solving technology problems at Walmart scale.

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Not only would this add value to help Walmart achieve its technology goals, it was a win for San Diego, as you had a Fortune 1 company investing in San Diego, creating job opportunities; helping to put San Diego on the map as a tech powerhouse.

Walmart saw from the start that San Diego has all the right ingredients to be a true tech city. Between the untapped talent pool, the opportunity to collaborate with other businesses and organizations, and the quality of life San Diego has to offer, Walmart believes San Diego is primed to be the tech hub of the future.

And with their initial investment of 13 engineers in a 1,000-sf building, the commitment to San Diego has held strong over the last seven years. Walmart has grown the office by 93% with over 170 associates creating job opportunities across engineering, product, program, user experience, and data science disciplines. In addition, as of October 2018, Walmart Labs moved into a new 30,000-sf tech center which is a hub in north county bringing technologists together helping to inspire and promote innovation across the region.

Claude Jones Sr. Director of Engineering, Walmart Labs cjones@walmartlabs.com

As Walmart Labs continues on its transformation journey of becoming a technical powerhouse, it will continue to look for opportunities to invest in San Diego as a source of innovative thought and talent.

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FROM SUITS TO BOOTS: WHY THIS CEO LEFT WALL STREET TO BRING INNOVATION TO CONSTRUCTION

OUR STORY Raken is a cloud-based SaaS solution for the construction industry that was developed with field workers in mind. The platform boosts productivity and safety by streamlining workflow processes such as daily reporting, time tracking, and safety management. Prior to founding Raken in 2014 Kyle Slager, Raken’s CEO, worked at Brandes Investment Partners, a leading global valuebased investment management firm, where he was responsible for investing more than $120 billion in assets under management. In 2014 he decided to take a risk and start a tech company in the construction industry. Raken is now one of the fastest-growing startups in the construction industry, serving nearly 4,000 clients in 92 countries.

Raken was developed to help bring modern technology to the construction industry. After surveying hundreds of construction companies, it became apparent that the sector was under-serviced by technology and was in dire need of an innovative solution. Raken provides construction firms with a platform designed for their end user in order to create happier job sites and better power business insights.

Raken was recently named the top-rated mobile field operations solution for the construction industry. With industry-leading adoption rates driven by the platform’s intuitive interface, Raken is the top choice for producing efficient daily reports and gathering insightful data from the field.

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MemComputing Team

ELEVATOR PITCH MemComputing is a San Diego technology startup that is disrupting the high-performance computing market. Its proprietary MemCPU™ coprocessor technology makes virtually any computer faster than today’s most powerful supercomputer!

MemComputing’s solutions are solving the world’s largest companies’ most complex computations, saving them hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

OUR STORY Fabio Lorenzo Traversa and Massimiliano (Max) Di Ventra invented the new technology known as memcomputing. Max, who is a professor of Physics at UC San Diego, was joined by Fabio as a PhD Scientific Researcher in 2012. With backgrounds in quantum computing, nanotechnologies, and theoretical physics, they worked together in researching unconventional computing methods.

Their approach was quite innovative; given what we know now about transistors today, they went back to the drawing board and imagined how

they would design a computer from a physics perspective.

They succeeded in inventing a completely new and novel computing architecture, which they named memcomputing.

Theoretically, the mathematics behind memcomputing proved that the technology would be faster than any known computer on a class of problems that plagues nearly every industry.

Examples of these problems can be found in life sciences with computational chemistry, the oil and gas industry’s exploration and extraction of petroleum, and optimizing transportation logistics.

These problems are so large and complex that it takes years to compute on the world’s most powerful supercomputers. However, memcomputing would solve the same problems in minutes or seconds, not years.

The science supporting their invention was so deep that they struggled to get acceptance from the scientific community. That was until the two scientists presented memcomputing to John Beane, who served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University. John was a serial entrepreneur who was familiar with the challenges associated with

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MemComputing Founders: John Beane, Fabio Traversa, Massimiliano Di Ventra bringing disruptive technology to market. The startup companies he’d formed and been a part of previously had returned over $1 billion to investors.

The trio saw the same potential for the memcomputing technology and founded MemComputing, Inc., the company, where all three sit on the board; John serves as CEO and Fabio as CTO. Max has kept his role as a Professor of Physics and remains very involved.

The first year was the hardest; they had to build a software prototype of the technology. The San Diego Supercomputer Center evaluated the prototype, and confirmed that for a problem that would literally take the world’s fastest supercomputers eons to solve, the memcomputing technology solved it in 1.5 hours. Having validated, they then raised $1 million to begin building the company and the technology.

The MemComputing team is now comprised of world-renowned physicists, PhD computer scientists and developers, tech-startup gurus, and an excellent support staff. They’ve succeeded in bringing their first product to market, the Virtual MemComputing Machine (VMM), which is being used to solve the largest and most complex computations associated with optimization, big data analytics, and machine learning by companies in the Global 2000.

MemComputing brands its products and services under the MemCPU moniker.

“You’ve got CPUs and GPUs. Those are great, but MemComputing is an entirely new computing technology, and deserves its own designation. The name, MemCPU fits that bill perfectly,” says CEO John Beane.

In fact, John likes it so much, you can see MemCPU on his license plate when driving around San Diego! MemComputing is disrupting the high-performance computing market and has become one of San Diego’s premier startups. Looking ahead, the 2020s will prove to be a vital decade in human history, one that will see technological advancements we cannot yet anticipate and will affect every aspect of our daily lives. MemComputing looks forward to these challenges and embraces the chance to accelerate the growth towards a more efficient and sustainable future.

9909 Huennekens Stree Suite 110 San Diego, CA 92121 info@memcpu.com memcomputing

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“If you look at history, innovation doesn’t come from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect.”

—STEVEN JOHNSON

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Seamgen was founded in 2008 with the vision of becoming a leading custom software design and development agency partnered with like-minded, innovative businesses. The company is dedicated to building mobile and web applications that have a lasting positive impact on businesses and the lives of their end users.

Seamgen is San Diego’s premier digital product agency, dedicated to positively impacting the lives and experiences of individuals through the implementation and utilization of design and technology. We integrate digital experiences across mobile, web, and IoT devices resulting in meaningful interactions for users.

Made with Love in San Diego—90% OF THEIR BUSINESS IS LOCAL

OUR STORY

The company takes San Diego to heart, and collaboration is deep-rooted within the company’s culture. Seamgen strives to support the local San Diego community by partnering with local organizations focused on growing the tech community.

Long before Seamgen came to be, there was an ambitious, athletic tech enthusiast who spent the majority of his early life in the heart of Southern California. Marc Alringer, founder and president of Seamgen, was determined to grow a company that would support the local tech ecosystem.

The company’s mantra is Together we can. Seamgen is focused on creating a team environment where everyone’s opinion matters. Whether it is internal processes or client relationships, everyone is involved at each step of the process and transparency is key to success. They serve as an extension of your team and want to do what’s best for you. Seamgen cares about your business and performs at the highest degree of excellence to exceed your expectations.

Marc spent his early childhood days tinkering with technology. After moving to San Diego, enjoying the laid-back beach lifestyle, he noticed the city’s urban sprawl and wanted to be a part of it. He went on to graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) with degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

Understanding the potential that the city had and his passion for tech, Marc went on to grow several local San Diego companies establishing them as thought leaders in their field. When the timing was right, Marc took a leap of faith and took advantage of an opportunity that revolutionized the tech industry—the inception of the iPhone. Shortly after Apple made their big announcement, Marc understood that complex business challenges could be solved through digital applications.

185 W. F Street, Suite 700 | San Diego, CA 92101 hello@seamgen.com +1-619-819-7456

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TALL CONCEPTS WE CREATE DIGITAL PRODUCTS FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST BRANDS, EFFICIENTLY. ELEVATOR PITCH Tall Concepts creates digital products for the world’s largest brands, and they do it efficiently! From brand new global platforms to iterating and improving existing in-market solutions for a growing list of dynamic clients and partners.

They offer collaborative services that range from high-level strategic thinking and ideation through to pixel perfect product design executions. Tall Concepts creates immediate value for its clients by rapidly delivering new products to the market through highly efficient processes and by staying nimble.

OUR STORY Tall Concepts (or “TC”) is a relatively new entrant to San Diego’s design scene, but that hasn’t stopped them from making a big impression in the ever-expanding design community in San Diego and SoCal. Tall Concepts was founded at the beginning of 2017 by Leigh Brett, an ex in-house, agency, and consultancy guy from London. Tall Concepts, and their deliberately top-heavy design team, are routinely entrusted with creating brand new digital products and experiences for the world’s largest brands, including AT&T, Sony Pictures, Ericsson, and more.

Growing from strength to strength, 2019 was their most productive year yet.

Their current program of work includes designing a range of highly intricate and deeply technical digital products and services. One, a content management system to facilitate the delivery of video on demand content to Sony Pictures’ long list of global entertainment networks. Two, a rapid and continuous cycle of AT&T marketing microsites designed to promote new products and services.

Three, a brand new global ‘edge’ cloud platform for technology giant Ericsson.

Tall Concepts attributes their continued growth and long-standing relationships to ongoing focus on removing waste and increasing efficiency, which in turn increases value for their clients and partners.

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GIVING BACK Tall Concepts is a socially conscious company that likes to give back. They actively contribute to the local San Diego community through their strategic partnership with the San Diego Tech Hub, also featured in this book. Leigh Brett, Tall Concepts’ Founder and CEO, personally serves as Chief Product Officer for the Tech Hub, and Tall Concepts is the official design partner. This responsibility includes designing all digital products and services that support the thousands of “Conduits” that make up the thriving tech community in San Diego.

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5 STUDIOS 2 FOUNDERS 2000 FOUNDED 150 CONSULTANTS

ELEVATOR PITCH Blink is a user experience (UX) research, strategy, and design firm that works with great companies to create digital products, brands, and experiences.

With studios in Austin, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, Blink brings two decades of experience using our evidence-driven design process to projects for amazing clients.

OUR STORY We’ve been thinking about user experience for a long time and have a deep understanding of human behavior. Blink was founded in 2000 by Karen Clark Cole and Kelly Franznick, who are still involved in the company’s day-to-day operations.

Karen is our CEO, and Kelly is our Chief Innovation Officer. Some of our earliest employees are still here, too. John Dirks (Chief Research Officer), Geoff Harrison (Chief Design Officer), and Heidi Adkisson (Principal Designer) were all part of Blink’s early success. Over the last two decades, we have partnered with countless industry-leading companies to solve some of the world’s toughest problems with “evidence-driven design.”

Blink designers prepare materials for a concept-card session on the mezzanine of the San Diego studio. Concept cards are one way we generate a number of possible solutions to explore and test.

Evidence-driven design is what makes Blink different from other design firms. We believe evidence is stronger than opinions. Research helps us understand our clients’ users and evaluate solutions to determine which is best.

Our 150-person team includes user experience research experts with diverse backgrounds in fields such as anthropology, cognitive science, and forestry.

Our studios boast state-of-the-art user research labs and observation rooms. Blink researchers are well-versed in methodologies and best practices to uncover user needs, motivations, and context of use.

Our research team also devises new methods for testing emerging technologies, such as voice-user interface (voice UI), the “internet of things” (IoT), and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).

Guests at a community event in our San Diego studio explore Blink’s vast portfolio, which includes work for Nike, Apple, Oculus, and HBO.

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Blink consultants enjoy coffee while discussing a client project in our Seattle studio.

Our commitment to research bolsters our design practice. The Blink design team includes interaction designers, visual designers, and motion designers. We employ any combination of these disciplines depending on the problem at hand to create experiences that reflect the brand behind them — and we are able to validate that alignment with research. We believe the experience is the brand.

A Blink consultant parses data from a user research session. The data will be organized, analyzed, and presented as insights and recommendations.

We work closely with our clients in a collaborative and transparent process that helps our client teams become stronger. We believe great process inspires and aligns. A collaborative, user-centered design process breaks down silos and aligns organizations.

Innovative companies hire Blink to pursue new market opportunities, disrupt old industries, and solve the world’s most challenging problems.

Together, we make big bets with confidence that stems from our unique process.

Blink’s combination of brand expression and user insights results in the inspired solutions we have provided to world-class clients such as Microsoft, Amazon, NASA, Kaiser Permanente, and ServiceNow for two decades.

Karen Clark Cole Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder & Partner

Kelly Franznick Chief Innovation Officer, Co-founder & Partner

This state-of-the-art user research lab offers a comfortable environment for researchers and research participants. Multiple cameras capture important data, and we stream the feeds securely to our on-site observation rooms or to clients worldwide.

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A BIG VOICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

ELEVATOR PITCH While there are numerous companies that offer voice-calling solutions or text message marketing, VoxDirect has been the only company to put both voice and text marketing features on one unified platform and make it affordable for any size business. What would normally cost small business owners hundreds or even thousands of dollars to piece together these services are now available on one simple-to-use app, starting at only $39/mo.

support and how they reward their communication consultants that represent their VoxDirect brand. Voxox has solved two major needs in the small business marketplace. First, they are driving down the cost of must-have communication tools. And second, they have created a unique compensation model for their work-from-home consultants that allows ordinary people to earn extraordinary income by helping the small business community.

Why Small Businesses? “We strongly believe that small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy. We believe in small business owners as the catalyst for economic growth and have made it our mission to innovate new communication solutions with them and their customers in mind,” says Executive Chairman and Co-founder, Bryan Hertz.

Executive Vice President Staci Wallace explains the Voxox and VoxDirect strategies by saying, “We create easy-to-use communication and marketing tools that help small business owners automate the often laborious and timeconsuming activities they don’t like to do so they can get back to doing what they really love. That is why we sincerely believe our brand promise of ‘Making life

What makes this company so intriguing is its “people first” culture. More than just an ideology, Voxox has made it a driving core value in both customer

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better for many’ will drive innovation and help us continue to deliver great value to the small business community. It’s also the foundation behind our community of Independent Certified Consultants that will help us reach the millions of small business owners today.”

OUR STORY When Voxox was established by co-founders Bob, Bryan, and Kevin Hertz in 2006, no one could have predicted the impact it would have in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected small businesses throughout our nation.

Eight months prior to the global crisis, Voxox had already launched their VoxDirect brand with a clear focus on empowering small business owners with advanced communication tools, calling features, and text message marketing that would allow businesses to operate remotely and enable meaningful connections with their customers. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, these features proved to be invaluable to small business owners as they shifted from old-school office-based phone solutions and

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email marketing methods into new mobile-first solutions like a cloud-based phone system, text message marketing, and automation.

While work habits have continued to shift in the marketplace, the utilization of cloud-based communication tools and work-from-home solutions have paved the way for a new workforce to emerge. By providing affordable phone solutions that formerly were only available to big business enterprises, VoxDirect is giving small businesses a big voice. Now, even micro-businesses and solopreneurs can turn any phone or group of mobile phones into a professional, unified phone system with a virtual assistant (press 1 for sales, press 2 for support), multiple extensions, toll-free numbers, and so much more. Plus, the same simple-to-use app offers a complete text message marketing system that has become a must-have service for small businesses.

Today, over 90% of all text messages are opened within three minutes and text message marketing has proven to have over 500% greater engagement rate than emails. No doubt, the San Diego-based Voxox team had clear foresight when launching their B2B brand, VoxDirect, giving a big voice to small businesses.

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Bryan Hertz, Executive Chairman and Co-founder

Staci Wallace, EVP Marketing & Strategy

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PROFESSIONAL CONSULTING “Exploration is the engine that drives innovation.

Innovation drives economic growth.”

—EDITH WIDDER

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SAN DIEGUITO ENGINEERING (SDE) SMALL-BUSINESS AGILITY DOESN’T EQUATE TO SMALL ABILITIES ELEVATOR PITCH Small businesses in San Diego are not likely to be less innovative simply because of their size. In fact, as Annie Aguilar of San Dieguito Engineering (SDE) knows, the opposite is often true. Due to their agility, SDE has, in fact, tackled many large projects with early-to-market technologies that larger firms haven’t yet adopted.

OUR STORY Aguilar, who has worked with SDE since 2000 and served as President and Principal Engineer since 2011, has seen plenty of changes during her nineteen years with the company. While there were few changes for nearly a quarter of a century after the company began in 1974 in Rancho Santa Fe, technology has swiftly evolved the company since her arrival, becoming an

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award winning firm since 2014, when SDE was awarded SBA Woman Owned Small Business of the Year.

It’s easy to see innovation from the standpoint of technology when examining the changes SDE has experienced. From hand-drawn plat maps to full adoption of AutoCAD to the introduction of the even more robust Civil 3D and MicroStation, SDE’s engineering practices have become more precise and systematic. The company upgraded their accounting practices in the early 2000s from Excel spreadsheets and simple accounting software to Deltek’s Vision. More recently, we have utilized drones to supplement the myriad of tools we use for topographic surveys and aerial photogrammetry.

ACCOLADES To grow with San Diego, which nearly doubled in size since the founding of SDE, the firm has evolved in multiple ways. After the recession, the focus of SDE shifted from private development to public works and won some large projects that kept the company busy while others languished. In 2014, SDE was recipient of the APWA San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter Utility Project of the Year award for the San Diego International Airport Terminal 2 Landside Expansion. In 2016, SDE was recipient of another APWA Project of the Year Award for SDG&E Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan Project. Aguilar was the 2016 APWA Award recipient for Outstanding Service in the Private Sector and San Diego Business Journal (SDBJ)’s Top Woman-Owned Businesses for 2016.

This year, in 2019, Patricia Urquiza was recognized as a finalist for the CFO of the Year award with SDBJ as well as two other awards, APWA Project of the Year Award for the SDCWA Pipeline 3 Relining Lake Murray to Sweetwater Reservoir project and ENR Best Manufacturing Project for BioLegend Campus.

SDE also set themselves apart through their relationships with clients. Precision and accuracy must also be applied with communication, education, and service.

SDE continues to evolve into the infill land development niche, kicking it off with the award-winning BioLegend campus.

In addition to WMBE, WOSB, and SLBE designations, SDE is recognized at the state and local level as a Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, providing feedback to Caltrans District Directors on how to improve accessing local firms to work on their projects through the Small Business Council Meetings. As a small business, SDE does have advantages: The company cross utilizes employees for them to work in different disciplines of the projects, i.e., engineering and surveying, resulting in employees with enormous breadth and depth of knowledge on projects. Anytime a client calls, they speak with the principal engineer on their project.

Small-business agility doesn’t equate to small abilities. San Dieguito Engineering, under the direction of Annie Aguilar, introduced technology rarely used on the West Coast—subsurface utility engineering or SUE—when they mapped over twenty miles of corridor for the city of San Diego for the SDG&E Pipeline Safety Enhancement Plan.

While other areas of the country have used SUE for years, San Diego was just beginning to use SUE. Aguilar has been asked to share her expertise with other firms and agencies through various speaking engagements. As SDE moves forward in the 20th century, the company continues to innovate and evolve to add new business lines and create the corporate culture that will sustain itself for decades to come.

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ELEVATOR PITCH In 1961 Homer Delawie founded the firm in a small office that he built for himself in Old Town. He had no way of knowing that nearly 60 years later the firm would be designing buildings for some of the world’s top Biotechnical, Telecommunication, and Life Science companies.

Delawie has been privileged to provide comprehensive design services to the most prominent private, institutional, and public entities throughout the country, with a shared goal to build partnerships with our clients and the community through experience, creativity, and integrity.

Our focus is open and frequent communication within the team, in order to meet project goals and address project constraints at each phase of the development.

BIOLEGEND: A CASE STUDY BioLegend develops world-class, cutting-edge antibodies and reagents for biomedical research, manufactured in our state-of-the-art facility in San Diego, California. When BioLegend envisioned their

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new corporate campus in San Diego, they wanted a space that would foster a sense of collaboration and dedication to the biotech company’s mission to enable Legendary Discovery. To do this, Delawie applied its understanding of the client’s process and workflow to form a building program that ultimately marries functional, flexible, and efficient lab space with interdepartmental collaboration.

The main campus building features an iconic 70-foot-tall atrium as its focal point. From the atrium, BioLegend employees access the upper floor labs, offices, break rooms, and conference rooms.

A pedestrian bridge connects the atrium to the refurbished administrative and amenity building.

The most sought-after amenities, determined by their staff, will include a fitness center with locker rooms, a kitchen, wellness bar, yoga rooms, game room, and other amenity spaces that will encourage more collaboration and relaxation in between work week demands.

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Forward-thinking sustainable strategies will be introduced, including copious amounts of natural lighting through large windows and the atrium structure. An expansive green roof will visually mask the presence of a 500-person multipurpose room built off of the main building.

OUR STORY “Design matters” is how Delawie approaches projects, whether they are ground-up buildings or existing building renovations. Achieving our client’s design vision is Delawie’s primary goal. Our design philosophy reflects the client’s personality, not a preconceived design style. We listen to what the client wants, and our mission is to design every project to reflect the client’s goals.

In addition to creating new spaces for our innovator clients, Delawie finds ways to innovate itself.

Our firm is comprised of over sixty of the brightest minds in architecture and interior design, with many staff holding technical designations in their respective industries. We have maintained a strong architectural presence in San Diego for decades, having completed thousands of noteworthy projects in the public and private sector since our founding.

Delawie has been creating sustainable designs since 1974 and was one of the first firms to embrace the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The firm designed San Diego County’s first LEED Gold Certified building, EXP Engineer’s headquarters.

We are also the designers of Qualcomm Inc. Building W campus, a 525,000-square-foot multibuilding project that was the county’s first LEED Gold Certified high-rise building, subsequently earning California Construction’s Best of 2006 Outstanding Green Building Project Award.

Our own corporate office, completed in 2015, employs such green strategies as skylights, LED lighting, operable windows for natural ventilation, and drought-tolerant landscape material. The project is seeking LEED Platinum certification, and the addition of a rooftop photovoltaic power station now offsets 60% of the building’s energy costs.

We approach each project with sustainability in mind, and provide integrated, multidisciplinary designs to meet the project’s sustainability goals.

Our design philosophy parallels the widely accepted LEED framework, developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Delawie is considered a LEED pioneer in San Diego with 25 LEED Certified Projects built.

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MMA colleagues in San Diego participate in a beach cleanup in partnership with The Rob Machado Foundation

MARSH & MCLENNAN AGENCY AT MMA, OUR BUSINESS IS TO BE THERE IN THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER FOR OUR CLIENTS, COLLEAGUES, AND THE COMMUNITY.

ELEVATOR PITCH

and care about them while also bringing them the resources typically reserved for giant firms.

Our story begins in 1909, when two brothers set out to insure fishing boats in the San Diego Harbor. Since then, we have grown to become one of the leading insurance brokerages in San Diego and across the US. We are passionate about insurance because it makes an impact on our beloved San Diego community in very real ways. In fact, our mission is to make a difference in the moments that matter.

With an open door culture, our colleagues drive new and creative ideas.

Whether they serve formally as a member of the Marketplace & Innovation Trends Team or compete in a fun Shark Tank-like competition, our colleagues share ideas that make a difference in everything from our culture to client experience, and beyond.

Here are just a few examples of our innovative programs, tools, and resources:

OUR STORY

CULTURE • We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. Marsh & McLennan is a National Diversity Council (NDC) corporate partner.

• GROW (Growth & Relationships and Opportunities for Women) is a firstof-its-kind program designed to support the professional development and advancement of our women colleagues.

• The Barney & Barney Foundation was formed to commemorate our 100year anniversary. The foundation celebrated its 10th year in 2019 and has provided $3 million to 200 California nonprofits.

With over 400 colleagues in the San Diego office alone, we provide innovative insurance solutions for our clients in the areas of business insurance, employee health and benefits, retirement services, surety, and private client services.

We are honored to support companies who are innovating within their industry.

We think of ourselves as the innovator’s innovator. We do this through a model we call World Class. Local Touch. What this means for our clients is we know

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Chris Williams, Chief Executive Officer, MMA West Region

Colleagues and friends in the business community mingle at the 2019 Open House, celebrating our newly renovated office space CLIENT EXPERIENCE • Automated online insurance renewals.

• Client portal, allowing for easy viewing and access to your MMA team, up-todate, industry-specific news, handy file-sharing capabilities, and more.

• Benchmarking tools to keep you competitive.

• MMA Rx Solutions, which provides pharmacy expertise, data-driven solutions, and ongoing program management.

• MMA NetworkSelect, a program to give data-driven provider network recommendations.

• MMA iNGAGED, a mobile application and web portal branded specifically to a client, designed to assist them in promoting employee engagement and communications.

MMA colleagues dress up for the circus-themed 2019 Annual Meeting in San Diego Agency’s proprietary programs, Beyond Benefits gives life science employers with over 100 employees access to a competitive benefits program with unique coverages at exceptional rates.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Innovation is not stagnant. It implies movement and change, and with change, comes risk. With the force of Marsh & McLennan behind us, we have our finger on the pulse of global changes that have an impact on local businesses.

LIFE SCIENCE, BIOTECH, AND OTHER SAN DIEGO-BASED INDUSTRIES We are proud to serve a number of San Diego-based industries including life science and biotechnology, among others. As of 2019, we work with 128 employee health and benefits clients and 643 business insurance clients in these two industries alone. One example of our industry-specific innovations is our Beyond Benefits Trust.

Marsh & McLennan Agency is committed to the well-being of our San Diego business community and is proud to be part America’s Finest City. Looking to the future, we are excited to support our local clients as they thrive, invest in new solutions and technological advances, and build on our promise to deliver a world class, local touch experience to the thousands of companies we serve.

Beyond Benefits is a large group health benefits program exclusive to Biocom members and life sciences organizations. As one of Marsh & McLennan

+1-800-321-4696 9171 Towne Centre Drive, Suite 100 San Diego, CA 92122

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SAYVA SOLUTIONS COMPANIES GOING THROUGH CHALLENGING TIMES APPRECIATE SPECIALIZED SOLUTIONS AND INSIGHT THEY CAN RELY ON; THAT’S WHY THEY GO TO SAYVA SOLUTIONS.

ELEVATOR PITCH

OUR STORY

Sayva is an accounting, finance, technology professional services firm that provides outsourced accounting, specialized project consulting, and full-time recruiting services. Sayva’s unique approach, extensive network, and professional backgrounds allow them to work closely with their clients’ to develop customized solutions that meet their needs and deliver results. Every team has professional backgrounds in the areas they serve, offering the special ability to communicate technical requirements and screen effectively. Driven by their core values of integrity, accountability, attitude, and unity; Sayva Solutions has refined their process to proactively align candidates’ and consultants’ personalities and goals with their clients’ distinctive environments.

Sayva’s Technology team provides consulting, contract to hire, and direct hire recruiting services to clients in the San Diego and Phoenix markets. They also provide recruiting services for remote roles across the country. Their clients range from startups to enterprise organizations, and Sayva offers resources in application development and IT infrastructure. With over 40 years of recruiting experience, the Technology team takes a solutions-oriented approach with their clients to provide the ideal outcome for all parties. They carefully select their candidates through targeted searches, a strong referral network, and active participation in the local technology meetup groups.

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ACCOLADES Sayva has seen consistent financial success and growth over the last few years and was ranked one of San Diego’s Fastest-Growing Companies by the San Diego Business Journal and Inc. 5000 in 2018 and 2019. The company was also awarded one of the Best Places to Work in San Diego by the SDBJ in 2018 and 2019.

The company’s success is spearheaded by Ryan Buell, who is the passionate founder and CEO of Sayva Solutions. The team fosters a new age culture that values relationships above all else. Not only is this the company’s mission, but it’s a major driver behind their success. Mr. Buell sees his employees as his most valuable asset and ensures that there are a variety of employee recognition and appreciation engagements, opportunities for career progression and leadership training, and a stellar work/life balance.

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LIFE’S RICHES COME TO THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO RISE ABOVE THEIR LIMITATIONS AND CAPTURE THEIR DREAMS. ALLISON MASLAN

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Allison Maslan is a CEO, speaker, author, and serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled 10 successful companies from the ground up. Starting her first company at 19, she has worked with industry giants such as Merrill Lynch, Ben and Jerry’s, and more. She is the author of two books, Blastoff! and the WSJ Bestseller, Scale or Fail: How to Build your Dream Team, Explode your Growth and Let your Business Soar, which has been endorsed by Shark Tank’s Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran. She’s also the host of The Scale or Fail Show, an online series where listeners learn from the most successful business leaders in the country.

Allison is the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Global Network, the world leader in scaling businesses. As a business coach, she noticed the lack of support for businesses that have grown past the startup phase, and since then, has dedicated herself to helping the under-served community of established business owners.

She now uses her 35 years of experience and SCALEit method to teach others how to navigate the difficult process of scaling.

PGN, a mastermind and mentoring agency for companies with revenues of $1 million and up, offers personalized guidance, strategy, and networking for high-level entrepreneurs. Allison and her team (all former CEOs of multimillion companies) guide business owners to reach 7, 8, and 9 figures. Pinnacle has helped business owners of every industry imaginable break through their perceived limits, take years off the scaling process, go from entrepreneur to enterprise, become the leaders they were meant to be, and most importantly— get their time back to spend with their loved ones and other life passions.

Allison’s yearly events in San Diego, some of the only conferences specifically for scaling businesses, draw guests from all around the world every year.

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“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions.”

—ANTONY JAY

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CHAPTER 14

EDUCATION, UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES

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VISION STATEMENT The University of San Diego sets the standard for an engaged, contemporary Catholic university where innovative Changemakers confront humanity’s urgent challenges.

This is the University of San Diego’s vision statement. It isn’t a catchy tagline or a lofty goal.

It’s our true north and it informs the decisions we make and the paths that we take.

It’s what we do. It’s who we are.

We are Changemakers. We are innovators. We are confronting urgent challenges that face all of humanity.

At USD, this means sparking the entrepreneurial spirit and helping it grow and flourish.

OUR STORY The University of San Diego is at the edge of it all — on the edge of the Pacific, on the edge of an international border, and always on the edge of innovation and discovery.

students to launch their own businesses or pursue careers in theatre or in the music industry.

The School of Business offers a minor in entrepreneurship, designed to provide students with the foundational leadership and venturevetting skills of highly successful entrepreneurs — whether their goal is to start a new business, advance in their career or join a fast-paced startup.

Each fall, the School of Business also holds the USD Legacy Entrepreneurship Conference which, since 2011, has brought together students, alumni, investors and entrepreneurs for an interactive evening of coaching, collaborating and sharing the journey of the entrepreneurs.

The School of Leadership and Education Sciences is home to the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education, a nonprofit research and development institute focused on pioneering research, developing innovative curricula and technologies, supporting professional learning, and powering innovation in the classroom — for students in kindergarten to those pursuing doctoral degrees.

USD’s Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, ranked 13th in the nation, offers a three-tiered approach to entrepreneurship through the eTrack Initiative. It starts with an entrepreneurship track for senior design, continues with an Entrepreneurship

No matter what stage they’re in, student entrepreneurs who are wondering how best to pursue their vision, hone their concept, create their product, secure their funding, or launch their business — will find everything they need at USD. The School of Law offers an entrepreneurship clinic helping business startups and emerging growth companies structure business entities, finance regulations, draft investment and employment agreements and protect intellectual property.

The College of Arts and Sciences offers a minor in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship, which prepares

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The USD School of Business’ inaugural Fowler Business Concept Challenge, which awarded $45,000 in prize money, showcased many ideas that can make a difference in the world — and opened the doors for future Changemaker entrepreneurs.

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The USD School of Business fuels innovation through its Innovation Center, where startups boom, social enterprises flourish, jobs are created, wealth is built and global problems are confronted.

Scholars Program and culminates with participation in entrepreneurship awards and competitions. The eTrack Initiative develops an entrepreneurial mindset where student teams are creating successful ventures and bringing products to market.

Rise to the Challenge To put those skills into practice, the University of San Diego created the Changemaker Challenge, an idea competition that in recent years has included the participation of approximately 25 percent of its first-year students. The Changemaker Challenge has focused on some of humanity’s most urgent challenges — including homelessness, migration and displacement.

The university also launched the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge, a social venture pitch competition, which inspires student entrepreneurs around the world to connect and create sustainable business solutions to global issues.

In 2019, 42 student teams from 12 countries on six continents shared their world-changing ideas, competing for $50,000 in seed funding. In addition to the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge, the USD School of Business is also home to the Fowler Business Concept Challenge, both of which are named in honor of former USD Board of Trustees Chair Ron Fowler and his wife, Alexis.

The Fowler Business Concept Challenge is run by the USD School of Business Innovation Center. In 2019, Montreal’s Bria d’Amours and Haiti’s Carl Dumesle, two new international students in USD’s full-time MBA program, received the top prize of $15,000 in scholarship money for their idea called, Housing for Undergraduates and Graduate Students (HUGS) to make finding housing for international and out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students easier.

There are many resources, training and mentoring opportunities through various competitions at the University of San Diego, starting with the Fowler Business Concept Challenge and the Changemaker Challenge, moving to the Venture Vetting (V2) Pitch Competition, Torero Ventures Lab and The Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge, where students receive seed funding as prizes, and finally the San Diego Angel Conference, where San Diego companies vie for angel investment.

Mysty Rusk is the director of The Brink, USD’s Small Business Development Center, which was recently named the No. 1 business incubator in the region.

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In 2019, graduate students in the School of Business — Robert Lawrence ’20, Noah Oliver ’20 and Sungho Ryu ’20 — launched a craft sparkling water company, SouthSwell, and sold their first 500 bottles by the end of the course.

“Our water is all-natural and purified through a 13-phase reverse osmosis purification system. We want the people who support us to feel good about their purchasing decisions — by receiving a product they love, and by knowing their dollars spent are helping to make a positive impact in the local community,” Oliver says. “In addition to using zero single-use plastics SouthSwell gives back a portion of all profits toward the fight against ocean pollution and conserving our coastlines.”

That extra attention to sustainability, social justice and changing lives, truly is the Torero way.

Supporting Innovation in the Community While the University of San Diego offers a variety of resources to student entrepreneurs, it also support entrepreneurs in the community.

The University of San Diego established The Brink Small Business Development Center to focus on innovation-based companies. Now, through an additional partnership with the County of San Diego, it created the InnovateUp program focused on creating quality jobs and supporting economic growth in the local communities where it’s most needed — including Chollas, City Heights, Encanto, Linda Vista, Rolando Park and Redwood Village. The Brink also supports many women-owned, minority-owned and veteran-owned businesses.

Since January 2018, The Brink has worked with more than 650 companies, has supported more than 4,000 jobs and raised $45 million in capital. Recently, it was named the No. 1 business incubator by the San Diego Business Journal.

Living and Learning The university’s dedication to innovation isn’t just infused in what students learn, but also in how they live. The university’s five Living Learning Communities (LLC) give first-year students the opportunity to live and learn together. The largest of the LLCs is dedicated to innovation.

Students living here practice social entrepreneurship that leads to positive change in the community and let their compassion drive their curiosity.

They take a range of courses together, including introduction to the fundamentals of architecture, introduction to cinema, to sculpture, to media studies, to engineering, bioenergetics and systems, to genomes and evolution, to general chemistry, to acting, and to world religions, among others.

Through USD’s Master of Arts in Social Innovation from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and participation in the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge, Momo Bertrand, of Cameroon helped local refugees build life skills through basketball, accelerated the growth of a startup teaching English and digital literacy to refugees in Greece and prepared to train digital marketing students to share African success stories with the world.

These are just some of the USD courses that promote entrepreneurship, innovation and Changemaking.

Why? Because the World Needs Changemakers No matter where they’re living or what they’re learning, USD’s entrepreneurs and innovators look at everything through the lens of a Changemaker.

The San Diego Angel Conference is the culmination of several events that help entrepreneurs become more investment-worthy, and sessions for accredited angel investors to “learn-by-doing.” In 2019, growth-oriented companies received $535,000 in angel investment, but the committed and ambitious investors are interested in nearly doubling the fund for the 2020 conference.

The University of San Diego was the first on the West Coast — and remains one of only 50 universities in the world — to be designated as a Changemaker Campus. Here, classroom learning is connected to social justice and social change. More than 500 courses include a service component. More than 8,000 students participate in service-learning projects annually. And, each year, the faculty, staff and students contribute more than 400,000 public service hours

The Torero Ventures Lab is a class co-taught by faculty from USD’s business and engineering schools. Students, who are paired with faculty and entrepreneurship mentors with venture-specific expertise, build prototypes to test their business ideas and explore the customer experience before going to market.

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USD became the only university in the nation with two alumni in NASA’s current astronaut program, which includes Jonathan Kim ’12 (third from left) and Matthew Dominick ‘05 (fifth from left). globally. Just as there are many opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue innovation, there are also countless ways the University of San Diego helps prepare students to change the world.

Much of the activity on this front is led by USD’s Changemaker Hub. The Hub hosts events, encourages students to be part of larger global communities, including Stanford’s University Innovation Fellows, and offers campus endeavors such as the Changemaker Faculty Fellows program. Faculty members learn to incorporate social innovation in the classroom, in their research and in their work in the community.

The Changemaker Hub also recently hosted the Urgent Challenges Collective, a strategic funding initiative focused on innovative ways to address the issues of homelessness and food insecurity.

In Fall 2017, the College of Arts and Sciences launched a minor in Changemaking, which features courses social entrepreneurship, leadership, social justice, law and theology and teaches students to achieve transformative and systematic social change.

Julia McNeely ’20 (second from right) is the first student at USD to graduate with a minor in Changemaking.

Julia McNeely ’20, who majored in sociology with an emphasis in law, crime and justice, was the first student to graduate from USD with a minor in Changemaking.

sociology. McNeely was also director of community service for Rotaract, an international youth program tied to Rotary, was part of the First Generation Student Association, and served as president of Linda Vista Dollars for Scholars, which raises money for graduating high school seniors who will be the first in their family to attend college.

She worked in USD’s Center for Student Success and was a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, an international honor society dedicated to the advancement of

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exchange, the University of San Diego is turning community-defined “problem briefs” into actionable student assignments, design projects, research theses or extracurricular pro bono engineering projects — all supported by faculty and local engineering professionals.

Elizabeth Kresock ’20, a double major in computer science and mathematics, is working with San Diego Youth Services to design a document showing the location of food banks and shelters throughout San Diego.

Simaran Chauhan ’20 — who lived in seven different countries by the time she was 21 and has been a member of Engineers Without Borders and Habitat for Humanity for nearly a decade — wrote draft policy on nuclear energy as an assignment from an ambassador with the United Nations. Since then, she’s been speaking about sustainability at conferences in New York, Seoul, Korea, and Geneva, Switzerland.

The 2019 Legacy Entrepreneurship Conference was hosted by USD School of Business’ new Innovation Center — led by (from left) Strategic Initiatives Manager Karolina Rzadkowlska, Founding Director Priya Kannan-Narasimhan, USD School of Business Professor and Adviser Amit Kakkad, and Entrepreneurship Manager Regina Bernal.

Industrial and Systems Engineering student Daniel Ley ’20 says industrial engineering is all about removing waste and decreasing variability to ensure that processes and organizations can be sustainable on the business side and from an environmental perspective. To that end, he became a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and now facilitates a workshop for nonprofit executives through a San Diego organization called Urban Corps.

McNeely has been admitted into the 2020 Teach for America Corps in San Diego and plans to dedicate her career to reforming the educational system so it’s attainable by all.

Soon he will take on another venture, creating edible bowls and cups out of super foods. The project will apply engineering design concepts, industrial engineering process improvement concepts, and design of experiments.

“While I graduate with a minor in Changemaking, that’s not what makes me a Changemaker,” McNeely says. “Rather, it’s what I do with this degree that makes me a Changemaker.”

“With growing concerns of climate change and the continual use of single-use plastic items, we must start to rethink how we package our food and consumer goods,” says Ley. “If we don’t, our local and global communities will begin to suffer as resources become contaminated and scarce.”

Aside from pursuing a minor in Changemaking, students can also earn a Master of Arts in Social Innovation from USD’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies.

They tackle real, relevant social challenges around the world — by curbing ongoing violence in Mexico, promoting socioeconomic growth in Rwanda and pondering solutions that are workable and scalable.

In addition to these and other standout students, USD’s alumni also are innovators, entrepreneurs and Changemakers. They are not only making a difference around the world but beyond.

One of the program’s standout graduates is Momo Bertrand from Cameroon, who earned his master’s in social innovation in 2019.

Matthew Dominick ’05 graduated with a degree in electrical engineering with minors in math and physics, while Jonathan Kim ’12 graduated summa cum laude with a degree in math. Today, they are NASA astronauts who are eligible for spaceflight, including assignments to the International Space Station, Artemis missions to the moon, and ultimately, missions to Mars.

“Every time I traveled out of Africa, people would talk about safaris or Ebola or poachers chasing elephants,” Bertrand says. “But what I saw were entrepreneurs chasing their dreams. I felt a need to transform the way people look at the continent.” His lofty goal is to rebrand Africa — and now the Kroc School’s master’s in social innovation will help him do just that.

Their stories began at the University of San Diego, where a values-based education and an ecosystem for innovation prepares students to be innovative Changemakers who confront the urgent challenges of this world.

The Kroc School is also home to an event known as Peace Innovators, which brings together change leaders from different disciplines to share stories about the impact they’re witnessing, the insights they’re gaining and the ideas they’re putting into action to bring about the solutions the world so desperately needs.

At USD, not even the sky’s the limit!

Changemaking is just as intrinsic to the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, where students are known as Changemaker engineers. Some of those Changemaker engineers have implemented water filtration systems and more efficient stoves in the Dominican Republic. Others have learned how to remove contaminants from the water supply in Uganda, where water quality is extremely poor and where intestinal diseases is the sixth-leading cause of death.

5998 Alcalá Park San Diego, CA 92110 +1-619-260-4600 usandiego uofsandiego

The Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, in collaboration with the Karen and Tom Mulvaney Center for Community Awareness and Social Action, also established the Engineering Exchange for Social Justice. Through this

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UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO The campus conducts $1.3 billion in research annually, an enterprise that has created over 750 startup companies, including many high-tech and biotechs in the region. In 2017, UC San Diego was second in the nation for the number of companies created by a university campus (innovation.ucsd.edu). The university also supplies the region with the talent that is responsible for building these companies and creating high paying jobs that contribute to the quality of life in San Diego and beyond.

ELEVATOR PITCH Our entrepreneurial spirit leads to agility, risk-taking, and innovative approaches to solving problems and seizing opportunities. Public service, sustainability, integrity, and ethics are core principles guiding our activities.

At the core of our strategy is an interdisciplinary research program, ranked in the top six (6) in the nation, with strengths in engineering, health, social sciences, oceanography, data science and business. Technologies developed through this research impact all our lives in areas as diverse as communications, treatment of diseases, transportation, education, renewable energy, and climate change, to name a few.

OUR STORY UC San Diego is a key member of the San Diego community, a driver of social and economic prosperity in our region and a partner supporting the broader needs of our community and the state of California. As a research and innovation engine, UC San Diego has an economic impact of almost $17 billion in California each year.

Building an successful society, however, requires much more than research and discovery, and the university has long recognized that our students will be the leaders in shaping our future. Through innovation and entrepreneurship, we are incubating the leaders of tomorrow, who will inspire confidence in a larger vision and, ultimately, recognize opportunities for bringing new solutions to societal challenges.

The University takes its mission of engaging in public service very seriously and has been ranked, for six consecutive years, as the number one university in the nation for its contributions to the public good.

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• Nanovision: Restoring sight to blind people using nanowire retinal prostheses—pushing the engineering boundaries of what is possible. www.nanovisionbio.com/technology/ • Oncternal: Offering hope to cancer patients with treatments for previously intractable cancers. www.oncternal.com • South 8 Technologies: Revolutionary new chemistry to develop batteries that operate in colder temperatures. Applications for all-weather grid storage, electric vehicles, and high-atmosphere drones. www.south8technologies.com

We are creating a culture on campus that will stimulate innovative students from all disciplines and origins to recognize within themselves their own creative potential, and provide them with the experiences, network, and skills to unlock that potential and shape the society and economy of tomorrow.

To be successful in this mission of improving the quality of life for global citizens, UC San Diego has developed mutually beneficial engagements with the community at many levels. There are more than 2,200 outreach programs that engage communities across Southern California. Through the Volunteer 50 program, nearly 20,000 students complete more than 3 million hours of community service each year. The Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program provides a pathway for students from historically underserved communities to achieve a higher education. UC San Diego has been designated as a Changemaker Campus by Ashoka U for its role as a leader in social innovation.

Our innovation programs are intrinsically engaged with the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem, including partnerships with Connect, EvoNexus, JLabs, and Biocom. This ensures our entrepreneurs have access to all the resources they need for a complete life cycle of development. All programs are thoroughly rooted in principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

9500 Gilman Drive | La Jolla, CA 92093 +1-858-534-5815 kshrieve@sandiego.edu UCSanDiego ucsdnews

Recent examples of startup companies from UC San Diego include: • Educational Vision Technologies: An automated system with interconnected content to revolutionize how students learn and study, and, notably, provides independence to the 70% of students with disabilities who depend on others to take notes for them. https://evt.ai

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THE INSTITUTION’S FLAGSHIP CAMPUS HAS BEEN A SYMBOL OF COMMUNITY AND AFRICAN AMERICAN ACTIVISM SINCE ITS BEGINNINGS IN 1972

ELEVATOR PITCH San Diego Continuing Education (SDCE) is the adult education division of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD). As the largest provider of noncredit education in California, SDCE’s mission is to provide accessible, equitable, and innovative quality education and career training to adult students. SDCE has offered free career training and classes continuously for more than 100 years.

OUR STORY SDCE’s free career training programs include areas within priority workforce sectors such as Automotive, Skilled and Technical Trades, Business and Accounting, Digital Media, Information Technology, Healthcare, Child Development, Fashion, Hospitality, and Culinary Arts. Additional free courses include High School Diploma/Equivalency, English as a Second Language (ESL), Citizenship, and Emeritus for adults age 55+. Classes are available at seven campuses in San Diego from Barrio Logan in the south to Miramar in the north.

SDCE’s Educational Cultural Complex (ECC), the institution’s flagship campus has been a symbol of community and African-American activism since its beginnings in 1972. Many significant events have ties to ECC, including the California Commission to establish Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday and performances by Civil Rights leader Coretta Scott King, awardwinning artist and humanitarian Stevie Wonder, and Civil Rights activist and American poet Maya Angelou.

SDCE received numerous first place awards during San Diego’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade. A steel-cut bust of Dr. King designed by SDCE’s welding students for the parade has been inaugurated into the Broadway Heights neighborhood promenade.

SDCE’s Historic Preservation Committee will negotiate with the city and state officials to have ECC named as a Civil Rights Landmark Designation.

“The inclusion of ECC as a national landmark is important because out of the thousands of landmarks in San Diego ethnic and minority groups are often not truly represented,” said Carlos O. Turner Cortez, PhD, President of SDCE. Inside SDCE’s Citizenship classrooms are American flags and even larger American dreams. Since 1914 SDCE has supported immigrants, refugees, and undocumented students to rebuild or create lives in the United States through free Citizenship and ESL classes.

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SDCE’s Digital Media program opens a world of possibilities for those with a passion for creativity and design. SDCE’s rigorous curriculum encourages students to develop skills in motion graphics, video production, content management, and developing and designing websites and mobile applications.

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community. SDCE has the only Gateway model in the nation that includes oneto-one case management and experiential learning with paid work experience.

SDCE was named Entrepreneurial College of the Year by the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship in 2019. SDCE continues to scale innovative learning through a fully online educational program, ICOM Academy (Interactive Competency-based Online Micro-credentialing Academy).

SDCE’s Business and Accounting program prepares tomorrow’s entrepreneurs to cultivate key business practices in economics, accounting, and marketing, with a primary focus on critical thinking and analytical skills.

SDCE is part of the award-winning San Diego Community College District (SDCCD). Many students achieve a high school diploma and/or career training certificate at SDCE and then transition to a SDCCD college, City, Mesa or Miramar.

“A student’s academic success can be tied to the support available to them beyond the classroom,” said Dr. Turner Cortez, who was appointed to lead SDCE in 2014 and since then has established the school’s Seven Pillars of Student Success to improve opportunities for students who traditionally face inequity in education: Employment Security » Food Security » Housing Security » Transportation Security » Financial Literacy » Textbook and Course Material Affordability » Intellectual and Emotional Security.

4343 Ocean View Blvd.

San Diego, CA 92113 +1-619-388-4956 sdce.edu sdce

SDCE focuses on the Seven Pillars through strategic partnership growth, access to academic achievement, and workforce development. Community collaborations include the implementation of SDCE’s Farm to Family Fair and San Diego Gateway to College and Career program. Farm to Family Fair is a free public fresh food distribution for students and the Southeastern San Diego

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THE SDSU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER IS HOUSED IN THE ENGINEERING AND INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES BUILDING

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY SDSU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER ELEVATOR PITCH By providing students with mentorship, funding for competitions, an incubator, a prototyping lab and intense experiential learning, SDSU’s dynamic entrepreneurship programs are teaching student entrepreneurs how to build, scale and sustain startup businesses in order to support and grow the San Diego region.

OUR STORY San Diego State University is not only the oldest and largest university in San Diego, it is also the most entrepreneurial. Just ask U.S. News & World Report, which in 2019 ranked SDSU’s

entrepreneurship program as among the best in the nation.

Spearheading that award-winning program are the two entrepreneurship centers housed within the SDSU William E. Leonhard Entrepreneurship Center. Through the collaboration of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center and the Zahn Innovation Platform (ZIP) Launchpad, students are supplied with the education and startup experience required to become a successful entrepreneur. While the Lavin Center focuses its efforts on teaching students through academic and experiential programs, the ZIP Launchpad incubator is where campus innovators work through their prototypes and business models to turn their startups into real businesses. Collectively, they offer a wide array of programs to engage students from across the campus.

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SDSU’s Entrepreneurship Center is located in the university’s new Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences building — an 85,000 square-foot facility with 17 labs and research rooms. It is specifically designed to foster collaboration, creativity and innovation among the entire school community.

Students admitted into programs through the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center and ZIP Launchpad are offered an abundance of startup resources. These include: up to $10,000 in seed funding, 24-hour coworking space, legal, accounting, financial modeling and other domain expert support, mentoring, and software and engineering prototype assistance, including access to the HG Fenton Company rapid prototyping lab for software and hardware prototyping support.

Students admitted into the program learn how to develop their entrepreneurship competencies,

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cultivate professional networks, utilize mentors, evaluate trends and marshal lean resources to launch and build new ventures. This also includes introductions to investors and access to funding resources. One of the sources of funds available to student entrepreneurs is the SDSU Aztec Cooperative Fund (ACF). With funds from the ACF, a startup team in the ZIP Launchpad can hire fellow students from other disciplines to complete a 70-hour, paid internship to help with the growth of their business.

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support and guidance provided by the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center and ZIP Launchpad. The SDSU-based startup companies have collectively raised $15 million in funding. By fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs, the SDSU Entrepreneurship Center aims to launch startups, create jobs and impact the San Diego community and region.

CourseKey founder and CEO Luke Sophinos is a prime example of a startup that benefited from both the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center and the ZIP Launchpad. After joining the Lavin Entrepreneur Program, he tapped into the well of entrepreneurship knowledge supplied to him and set out to design a way to help students remain engaged in large classes and lectures.

Sophinos joined the ZIP Launchpad incubator with an early stage idea. There, he was exposed to beneficial community connections, expert advice, and the resources he needed to develop his software platform, secure funding, build his team and bring his idea to life. Since launching the company, CourseKey has raised $9 million in multiple funding rounds.

5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, Ca 92182 CourseKey is one of more than 260 entrepreneurship teams that the ZIP Launchpad incubator has assisted, and is one of 26 companies that the incubator has helped launch. Others include Bold Brew, SoulMuch, Shredlights and Restoar. Each of these companies have benefited greatly by leveraging the

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LAVIN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ADVOCACY PROGRAM (LEAP) SDSU AND USD SCHOOL OF LAW FORM UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP WITH DUANE MORRIS LAW FIRM TO OFFER ASSISTANCE TO STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS.

ELEVATOR PITCH In 2017, San Diego State University (SDSU), University of San Diego (USD) School of Law, and international law firm Duane Morris launched a program that pairs student entrepreneurs from the Lavin Entrepreneur Center with USD School of Law students and Duane Morris attorneys to offer legal assistance. It is the first business school/ law school/legal firm partnership of its type in the region to combine student learning experiences with those of practicing attorneys. “Partnering with Duane Morris and the USD School of Law provides our Lavin Entrepreneurship students access to essential legal counseling for establishing their startup businesses,” said Bruce Reinig, Interim Dean of the Fowler College of Business.

“We are thrilled to participate in this innovative program that provides our students a more complete entrepreneurial educational experience.”

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“Having access to work with Lavin and the Duane Morris LEAP program was absolutely amazing! They gave me the opportunity to get one provisional patent and two trademarks, something I would not have been able to do without their help (or at least it would have been much, much harder). They gave me a better taste of what it’s like to be an entrepreneur and for that I am forever grateful.”

– Stu Massengill, Trainer for Tony Robbins

OUR STORY The LEAP program consists of four key components: Legal Workshops: Each year, Duane Morris attorneys conduct an on campus legal workshop for Lavin students. These workshops cover common legal pitfalls of startups, including tax, employment, intellectual property, entity formation, and ownership issues. “As a longtime board member of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, I felt this was a tremendous opportunity for us to support startups as a firm and individually,” said Duane Morris partner Michelle Hon Donovan.

“Not only is it a win for the students involved, but it allows our attorneys the chance to assist these emerging ventures, which has an incredibly positive impact on the San Diego community.”

The Duane Morris LLP Clinic: Once per semester, Duane Morris opens up their offices to meet with the Lavin entrepreneur students. Through this program, students have the opportunity to meet with different specialist attorneys to handle any

legal issues that may arise, as well as offering general legal advice on their business matters.

This is a great way for the students to learn how to work with an attorney in setting up a business on a strong legal foundation. Each Lavin student is also paired with a USD School of Law student who accompanies them through each meeting with the Duane Morris attorneys. This provides training for the law students and provides for a smooth transition in the event that entrepreneur becomes a USD Entrepreneurship Clinic client.

“The Duane Morris partnership really helped me make sure that when I start a business, I am doing it legally,” said Tammy Nguyen a LEAP participant.

“In respect to writing up contracts and employing people for my business, the advice was invaluable.”

“This is an exciting partnership to foster entrepreneurship in San Diego,” said Stephen C. Ferruolo, Dean of USD School of Law. “It demonstrates the types of collaborations that have made San Diego so vibrant a center of innovation. As a former startup attorney, I know the value of pairing lawyers with entrepreneurs. As Dean, I am pleased to be able to work closely with my colleagues at SDSU’s Lavin Entrepreneurship Center.”

USD Entrepreneurship Clinic: The USD School of Law students are able to assist Lavin entrepreneur students on a rolling basis with basic legal research and assistance with corporate filings through the on campus USD Entrepreneurship Clinic.

Duane Morris Pro-Bono Legal Services: For issues that fall outside the scope of the USD clinic, Duane Morris takes on discrete legal matters on a pro bono basis.

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THE FLEET SCIENCE CENTER BRINGING STEM OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY ELEVATOR PITCH The Fleet Science Center connects people of all ages to the possibilities and power of science to create a better future. Our mission is to realize a San Diego where everyone is connected to the power of science.

OUR STORY In 2019, the Fleet Science Center took a strategic step in our growth as a countywide organization.

We started conversations with people from six communities across three cities that span San Diego County. We asked these educators, business owners, parents, and community leaders how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) can serve their communities. Their answers, and ongoing discussions about STEM, are now generating plans, programs, and partnerships to connect everyone in their communities to the power of science. This year the Fleet also

grew our many exhibits, events, and programs, engaging 450,380 people, 173,862 of whom were students and youth, in a variety of educational STEM experiences across the county. It is thanks to the generosity of our members and supporters that students have the opportunity to experience the best of what the Fleet Science Center has to offer, whether in their neighborhood libraries and schools or in Balboa Park. Each day your support helps us in our mission—to realize a San Diego where everyone is connected to the power of science—and we are very grateful. Thank you!

STEM IS EVERYWHERE The Fleet works with communities to leverage STEM in support of neighborhood goals, such as creating access to STEM education at local libraries, schools, community centers, and local businesses or addressing specific challenges by tapping into the Fleet’s network of STEM professionals. The Fleet strives to put STEM at the service of the community.

FLEET SCIENCE CENTER IN BALBOA PARK Embracing our role as a place where families

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interested in science come to celebrate STEM and to be inspired, the Fleet continues to upgrade experiences at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. Plans for the future include reimagining the gallery experience using communityinformed feedback to create a destination where communities come together around science.

CONNECTING WITH EDUCATORS AND SCIENTISTS The Fleet is dedicated to our community’s teachers, giving them ongoing opportunities to expand and deepen their STEM teaching skills. More than 1,000 educators participated in our Fleet Inquiry Institute programs in 2019. San Diego has a multitude of amazing scientists and engineers, and the Fleet’s goal is to connect these professionals with the community in ways that benefit both—from casual conversations at our Two Scientists Walk Into a Bar program to problem-solving discussions between a community with an issue and the experienced engineers we know. To provide science at the service of the community, the Fleet shares access to resources that help us all grow.

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ROBOLINK ELEVATOR PITCH Robolink was established in San Diego, California, to encourage students to engage with and enjoy STEM. We make fun and approachable robotics kits that bring computer science to life and teach real industry competency. We teach programming and artificial intelligence through our robots and ship kits all over the world.

OUR STORY When Robolink was founded in 2012, STEM education was becoming more important. President Obama had recently started the White House Science Fair and code.org was one year away from launching its Hour of Code challenge.

However, UCSD alum and CEO Hansol Hong didn’t see any exciting or engaging STEM products that delivered thorough and well-thought-out educational materials. Robolink’s first robotics kit prototype, Rokit Smart, was developed, and instructors started teaching K-12 students in the company’s Sorrento Valley office in order to make STEM education more accessible and fun.

In the past seven years, Robolink has grown. They have taken advantage of the extraordinary engineering talent coming out of local universities like UCSD and SDSU to add more team members. Another local learning center has been added, and Robolink has benefited from the ecosystems surrounding hardware, startups, and STEM education in San Diego. Two more products have joined Robolink’s lineup, and this is where the company thrives; they have been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge educational hardware since their inception.

CoDrone, which was developed in 2016, was the company’s answer to the growing popularity of consumer drones and is the world’s first programmable drone for education. It was a Last Gadget Standing Finalist the same year. Zumi, a self-driving car kit, was designed to teach kids about artificial intelligence and autonomous transportation and won the 2019 CES Best of Innovation Award for Robotics. Robolink has shipped thousands of these kits, some as close as ten minutes away from their office and some as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

Striking a balance between delivering industry-aligned education and engaging students with products can be difficult. Robolink develops multiple iterations of their robotics kits with user tests at their learning centers as well as with local schools that are happy to invite local companies to their computer science classes or after-school robotics clubs. This works well for everyone involved: parents and teachers are happy with the educational value, and students are happy because they have fun with robots.

Robolink’s mission is to make STEM education accessible, engaging, and fun for all. Students all over the world can learn how to build and program robots with online lessons that come with United States standards–aligned lesson plans for teachers that want to use Robolink’s kits in their classrooms. By doing this, Robolink hopes to cultivate the next generation of innovators and inventors and build their passion for science, engineering, and coding.

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AGRIBUSINESS, GREEN TECH & SUSTAINABILITY

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“When you learn, teach.

When you get, give.”

—MAYA ANGELOU

Photo by Kyle Thomas - kylethomasphotography.com

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GROGURU Groguru supplies an innovative system

solution using soil sensors, AI, and cloudbased recommendations for strategic irrigation management for commercial farmers.

ELEVATOR PITCH GroGuru is all about strategic irrigation management. We help farmers make more money by increasing crop yield, while at the same time more efficiently using water and other scarce resources like fertilizer, energy, and labor, in a sustainable way. removal of sensors required by all competitive alternatives in the market. We bury the sensors below the till depth, so that farming can occur over the top.

OUR STORY

The GroGuru solution is 30x more scalable than alternatives, by a combination of increasing the install window and reducing the installation frequency.

This permanent installation gives critical and consistent data to farmers that currently is not available.

GroGuru’s team includes experts in wireless communication, crop science, artificial intelligence, software, sensor technology, and systems engineering.

We also have the domain expertise in farming and agronomy necessary to solve the significant problem of optimal irrigation management for farmers.

GroGuru adds information about the soil, the crop, application of water via irrigation equipment, weather, and spatial data in the cloud, and then uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to create recommendations to farmers about when and how much to irrigate. The GroGuru software as a service (SaaS)

GroGuru monitors soil using its patented wireless underground system, WUGS, that enables the permanent installation of soil sensors, even in annual field crops like corn and soybeans, eliminating the need for annual installation and

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provides a best-in-class solution, giving farmers the power of expert agronomic recommendations, and the GroGuru user interface is easy to use and very intuitive for farmers.

70% of the fresh water supply is already being used for agriculture irrigation, the amount of arable land is shrinking, and where we need to increase food production by 70% by the year 2050 just to keep pace with population growth.

GroGuru typically sells through irrigation equipment and farm supply dealers to family farmers with farms ranging from 1,000 to 30,000 acres and some commercial farms over 50,000 acres.

The market for GroGuru’s products is massive. In the US alone, there are 313 million acres of farms, and 52 million of those acres are irrigated. Globally, farmland is over 3 billion acres.

The GroGuru solution is a total game changer for annual field crop farming, which represents the vast majority of crops grown for food.

4250 Executive Square #200 La Jolla, CA 92037 +1-559-461-5705 sales@groguru.com

Here is a link to a video with some customer testimonials that describes what we do: https://youtu.be/ebOZB76EEJ8 GroGuru is solving a problem of global and catastrophic proportions where there are 800 million chronically undernourished people in the world today,

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WE EXCEL IN ELECTRICAL CONSTRUCTION, TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES FOR A RESILIENT FUTURE.

SETTING THE INDUSTRY

ELEVATOR PITCH In business since 1938, the four-generation, family-owned company based in San Diego has earned countless recognition for electrical contracting excellence throughout the region. Just a handful of accolades include being named by Solar Power World Magazine the No. 2 California Electrical Subcontractor, No. 4 National Electrical Subcontractor, and the No. 3 National Solar + Energy Storage Installer.

OUR STORY For almost a century, Baker has delivered electrical construction services to the greater San Diego area with uncompromising quality, innovation, and integrity.

The exponential growth in the number of projects in the region over the last decade has led Baker to expand to multiple offices, 275 office employees, and 1,270 field team members.

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“As a committed partner to thousands of San Diego businesses, Baker is poised and fully equipped to meet the ever-growing electrical construction needs of the region,” says Joseph Carangelo, Sr. Director of Strategy and Business Development. Carangelo continued by saying, “As a company, we have a firm grasp of the vision our CEO Ted Baker, and our talented team is ready to transform our San Diego communities for a resilient future.”

Baker Electric’s robust array of services has allowed them develop a diverse portfolio of commercial projects in Construction, Renewable Energy, Tenant Improvement, Systems Infrastructure, and Services & Special Projects. Baker’s ability to rely on their experience and expertise in completing state-of-theindustry projects ranging from utility-scale solar systems to commercial EV charging solutions for several different verticals has set them apart from the pack.

What is the Baker difference? It’s simple. As is expected from a company with 82+ years of excellence under its belt, Baker recognizes the importance of investing in its people. From the field electricians to the administrative support team, it’s the people that come first. Even the company motto, “We deliver energy through people,” reflects Baker’s understanding of the fact that any successful company that prides itself on excellence is simply a sum of its parts.

“Our teams take pride in their craft, in the company they work for, and in the service they provide to their clients,” says Carangelo.

STANDARD SINCE 1938

An IBEW union contractor since the company’s inception and a member of NECA since 1957, Baker understands the importance of developing a sustainable organizational culture that puts employees first. Generations of Baker electricians and their families have benefited from the most competitive wages and other invaluable benefits afforded to them such as employer-provided pension plans. Baker’s ability to deliver on its commitment to an employee-first business culture year after year is a key differentiator in the industry.

The future indeed looks bright in California. With new opportunities popping up every day in this scaling economy, Baker Electric is excited to play a major role in the historic growth of Southern California. Setting an impressive industry standard since 1938, Baker is primed and ready to fulfill the demands of the current construction boom and beyond.

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CLEANTECH SAN DIEGO ELEVATOR PITCH Cleantech San Diego is a member-based trade association launched in 2007 by visionary leaders from the private, public, and academic sectors who recognized a growing clean-tech industry as the next great economic opportunity for the San Diego region. The organization was founded on the premise that setting a high bar for sustainability would result in an economically viable response from industry to help us meet those goals. Directed by this principle for more than a decade now, the San Diego region has proven time and again that investment in a low-carbon economy reaps benefits for innovation, business, collaboration, education, and the environment.

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OUR STORY In collaboration with its members and partners, Cleantech San Diego works to position the greater San Diego region as a global leader in the clean-tech economy and smart cities movement. It achieves this by fostering collaborations across the private-public-academic landscape, leading advocacy efforts to promote cleantech priorities, and encouraging investment in the San Diego region.

The San Diego region currently ranks No. 4 in the nation for clean-tech leadership. San Diego is ranked No. 2 in the nation for solar installations. A recent study commissioned by Cleantech San Diego finds there are more than 3,200 clean-tech businesses in the San Diego region, supporting 45,000 jobs with an economic impact of $8 billion. The San Diego region is also rapidly emerging as a globally recognized smart cities leader due to a number of progressive initiatives that benefit both the economy and the environment, including adopting ambitious climate action plans, deploying the world’s largest IoT platform on city streetlights, embracing open data operations, being recognized as an electric vehicle hot bed, being designated as an autonomous vehicle testing ground, and the list goes on.

like the City of San Diego, the City of Carlsbad, the City of Chula Vista, the Port of San Diego, and the San Diego International Airport.

• Through its Southern California Energy Innovation Network, Cleantech San Diego is engaging the energy startup community to help secure the future of the region’s clean-tech economy.

• Cleantech San Diego’s K-12 Schools Sustainability Strategy Collaborative, in partnership with SDG&E, has saved San Diego county schools more than $11 million per year thanks to Proposition 39-funded energy efficiency upgrades at over 500 school sites.

This impact is also reflected in the makeup of Cleantech San Diego’s membership, which includes more than 100 businesses, universities, governments, and nonprofits committed to advancing sustainable solutions for the benefit of the economy and the environment.

San Diego’s clean-tech leadership continues to be a model across the state and the nation thanks to Cleantech San Diego’s dedicated members in the public, private, and academic sectors and their unmatched spirit of collaboration. Collectively, we are making a difference.

Together with its members, Cleantech San Diego has spearheaded a number of projects and initiatives over the years that have helped solidify the region’s position as a global leader in the clean-tech economy and will support its growth for years to come.

• Cleantech San Diego’s Smart Cities San Diego initiative continues to gain significant traction and global attention by facilitating the deployment of new technologies that are saving energy, water, and money at landmark locations

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“There is nothing else like it among the parks of the world.”

–SAMUEL PARSONS JR.

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BALBOA PARK: THE CULTURAL HEART OF SAN DIEGO Steeped in history, San Diego’s Balboa Park is an urban oasis like no other. This rectangular 1,200 acre parcel is smack-dab in the middle of the city, making it a convenient stop for tourists and locals alike. And what a stop it is—17 museums, theaters, performing arts organizations, recreational facilities, outdoor activities, the San Diego Zoo, and more—all fall within the boundaries of this special place. No wonder it is one of the most visited, and among the highest rated, places to visit in Southern California. And like a fine wine, Balboa Park has become better with age.

Founded for the future In the mid-1800s, San Diego city leaders recognized a need to set aside public space for future generations. In 1868 the park was officially founded under the name City Park, and at that time it was nothing more than scrub brush-covered mesas and canyons on the outskirts of what was then downtown. In the early 1900s, news spread about a canal being dug across Panama, which would allow European travelers to reach San Diego in great numbers. A plan was hatched to hold a Panama-California Exposition in 1915, welcoming travelers through the canal as the first port of call in California. In honor of the exposition, City Park was renamed Balboa Park, chosen for Spanishborn Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the explorer famous for crossing Panama and being the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. The Exposition was a huge success, and drew over 2 million people to a town of less than fifty thousand residents! Buildings left over from the exposition were repurposed, as well as several animals that were on display; these animals would be the start of the world famous San Diego Zoo. In 1935, a second expo called the California Pacific International Exposition resulted in another wave of visitors, as well as new buildings and developed areas in the park. After World War II, the City of San Diego determined the best use for the structures was to create a hub for the city’s art and culture organizations, and formally designated the

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use. Today, several of the buildings from the 1915 exposition are still standing, as are structures from the 1935 exposition. Others were recreated with the same architectural flair as the originals, making Balboa Park a fantastic architectural and historical treasure. Still a city owned and maintained park, Balboa Park is also a registered National Landmark, and a California Cultural District.

Get outside Although development of the park has happened for more than 100 years, much of the park is still open space. In addition to 65 miles of hiking trails that crisscross Balboa Park, there are a host of recreational options in each main area.

East Mesa is a large area dedicated to outdoor activity. There are two traditional golf courses in Balboa Park; a full course and an executive 9-hole course. Foot golf can be played on the executive course, and there is a full 18-hole disc golf course on East Mesa. There are picnic areas and playgrounds, two dog parks, athletic fields, plus the Bud Kearns public pool and the Balboa Tennis Club. Not to be forgotten are the bocce ball courts and one of Southern California’s only velodromes for bicycle racing.

Central Mesa is largely dedicated to the cultural institutions, however there are playgrounds and picnic areas, a third dog park, plus many gardens and trails to explore, including the Inez Grant

Parker Memorial Rose Garden featuring over 1,600 individual plants and 130 varieties; Alcazar Garden, a re-creation of a traditional Spanish garden; and Palm Canyon, a scenic walk among many varieties of palm trees. The historic botanical building and reflecting pond is the single-most photographed location in San Diego; the building is original to the 1915 exposition and is one of the world’s largest wood lath structures. Also on Central Mesa is the

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Rube Powell archery range, featuring a trail-style shoot-and-walk archery course.

West Mesa features lawn bowling courts (which is very different than bocce), as well as horseshoe pits, more picnic and playground areas, and a popular jogging loop around Marston Point. The expansive grass areas along 6th Avenue are always active with casual sports players, as well as sunbathers.

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Culture shock Balboa Park is not just beautiful on the outside.

Venture inside a museum or attraction and you will be immersed in bold, exciting new experiences.

You will also engage with passionate people who are experts in their field—their knowledge incredible and their excitement infectious. No other place outside of the National Mall can boast such a diversity of cultural experiences in one place.

Arts Venues • San Diego Museum of Art – With more than 20,000 objects from around the globe in their collection, the Museum of Art features everything from contemporary photography to classics from European masters. Their annual Art Alive event combines amazing floral arrangements with complimentary works of art.

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• Timken Museum of Art – Often called San Diego’s “jewel box,” this free museum is considered one of the best small collections on the West Coast.

Here you can see the only Rembrandt painting on display in San Diego.

• San Diego Art Institute – Modern art lives here.

The Art Institute creates bi-national partnerships that leverages proximity to Tijuana, and explores current and sometimes difficult topics.

• Museum of Photographic Arts – One of a few photographic museums in the country, rotating exhibitions keep the galleries fresh. MOPA has one of the best theaters in the park, and often hosts film festivals.

• Old Globe Theatre – a re-creation of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, the Old Globe is one of America’s top regional theaters, having sent more than 25 productions to Broadway.

• Casa del Prado Theatre – This small theatre hosts

performances by groups such as the San Diego Junior Theater, and San Diego Civic Youth Ballet.

• Mingei International Museum – Currently under renovation, the Mingei celebrates creativity and culture from around the world through folk art and artifacts. The museum will re-open in 2021.

• Spanish Village Arts Center – This beautiful Spanish courtyard features more than 200 artists’ work in 40 studios actively creating art in a variety of mediums, including pottery, glassblowing, sculpting, painting, woodworking, and more. Many of their works are for sale.

• Spreckels Organ Pavilion – The world’s largest outdoor organ is original to the 1915 exposition.

Free concerts are every Sunday at 2 pm, with other concerts scheduled throughout the year.

Cultural, Science, and Historical Venues • Fleet Science Center – Home to the world’s first IMAX dome theater, the Fleet makes learning about science fun for all ages.

• San Diego Natural History Museum – Called the Nat, this museum tells the story of San Diego’s

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natural past through a vast collection of exhibits and artifacts. The Nat is also active in local conservation.

San Diego History Center – The History Center presents engaging, family-friendly exhibitions and activities that tell the remarkable story of the San Diego region.

San Diego Model Railroad Museum – One of the world’s largest model railroad museums featuring layouts in multiple scales, with recreations of famous Southern California railroad icons such as the Tehachapi Loop and the Carrizo Gorge Bridge.

Japanese Friendship Garden – A peaceful blend of incredible gardens and small museum exhibits, the Japanese Friendship Garden is most famous for their annual Cherry Blossom Festival, featuring the largest grove of these trees in San Diego.

San Diego Museum of Man – Explore what it means to be human—how we interact with one another, and how we have lived over time. And take a tour of the 200-foot California Tower,

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featuring breathtaking views of Balboa Park and San Diego.

San Diego Automotive Museum – This museum has a mix of rotating displays as well as permanent collections, including Louie Mattar’s Fabulous Car that made a trip from San Diego to New York and back without stopping!

San Diego Air and Space Museum – Home to California’s official moon rocks, the museum chronicles the history of manned flight. The historic Apollo 9 capsule is a visitor favorite.

WorldBeat Center – One of two cultural centers to be housed in former water tanks, the WorldBeat Center celebrates music, dance, and culture from around the globe.

Centro Cultural de la Raza – Also in a former water tank, focuses on music, artwork, and programming that highlights culture unique to the region, including Kumeyaay and Chicano culture.

House of Pacific Relations International Cottages – Travel around the world in 80 minutes! 32 “houses” welcome visitors to sample a slice of

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life in another country. Most weekends one of the houses presents an outdoor program, often with music, dancing, and food from a particular nation.

• San Diego Zoo – One of the most famous zoos in the world, the San Diego Zoo features a vast collection of more than 3,500 animals. Plan a day just for visiting the zoo.

• Comic-con Museum – Coming to Balboa Park in 2021, the Comic-con museum will be a yearround home to all things pop culture, promising both daytime and evening events and activities.

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Know before you go When visiting Balboa Park, it is often the little details that can make your visit a great one. Here are a few tips you can use when planning your excursion.

• Getting to the park – All parking in Balboa Park is free, with exception of the valet parking at the Prado restaurant. There are a number of parking lots in and around the park; the small interior lots fill up fast most days, so park at Inspiration Point on the east side of Park Boulevard. This is one of the largest lots in the park, and is serviced by a free tram that takes visitors to the center of the park where the Visitors Center is located, as well to other major destinations within. There is

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a large lot in front of the San Diego Zoo as well.

If using rideshare, ask to be dropped off at the Prado restaurant, which is also adjacent to the Visitors Center. Public transit runs along Park Boulevard near the park’s core, as well as down 6th Avenue, on the park’s west side. While in the park there are a number of dockless bicycles and scooters for rent—a fun way of getting around!

• Where to eat – There are a number of options in the park for a meal or a quick bite. For full service, the Prado is a favorite for Spanishinfluenced cuisine, and Panama 66 has a fresh blend of seasonally crafted meals and a broad selection of craft beer and wine. Ask for a blanket and you can picnic in the adjacent

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sculpture garden. Many of the cultural institutions feature cafes for quick meals, snacks, and more. WorldBeat center has the only full vegetarian and vegan menu—and some of the items served are grown in their nearby garden.

Daniel’s Coffee in Spanish Village is located in a beautiful and colorful courtyard, surrounded by artists’ studios. Lastly, every Friday from June through September the main El Prado walkway hosts a rotating selection of food trucks after 4 pm; in addition, several museums are open late, many with discounted admission. Check out the rooftop bar at the Nat—some of the best views in the park!

• Where to shop – Much like food options, many of the institutions in the park have unique art and souvenir items for sale. Visitor favorites include the shop at the Museum of Photographic Arts, Bibliotique at the Museum of Art, Northstar Science Store at the Fleet Science Center, and Spanish Village Art Center where you can buy creations directly from the artists. The United Nations building near the International Cottages sells a variety of items representing many countries and cultures.

• For the kids – Many of the museums feature family-friendly activities and exhibitions. The historic Balboa Park Carousel provides rides, and still challenges riders to grab a brass ring for a free ride. The Balboa Park Miniature Train is a 3-minute ride on a replica antique diesel locomotive. Both the carousel and the train are located near the zoo entrance.

• Special Events – There are a number of great events in the park each year. The largest by far is December Nights, a 2-night holiday celebration that draws well over 300,000 people who enjoy food, drink, rides, and free museum admission against a backdrop of beautiful holiday lighting throughout the park’s core. On Friday nights during the summer live music, food trucks, late hours and discounted admission at popular museums provide great entertainment when the sun goes down. San Diego Pride Festival in July makes use of West Mesa with a stage and activities; Earth Day, Halloween Family Day, and other events are family-friendly. For adults only, the Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum, and the San Diego Zoo host themed cocktail events during the year.

For over 100 years Balboa Park has represented the best of San Diego, for Europeans who first passed through the Panama Canal in 1915, and for the millions of visitors the park now receives each year. No other venue can match the combination of fun, active outdoor experiences with the depth and breadth of cultural and historical exhibitions, events, and activities. For a deeper look at the park’s history, as well as current events, maps, and more, visit balboapark.org.

• Explorer Pass – If you are looking to spend quality time exploring the various museums in Balboa Park, consider a Balboa Park Explorer Pass. Operated as a collaborative program, the pass comes in one-day and multi-day options, as well as multi-day with the San Diego Zoo. Explorer Passes are a significant discount over purchasing admission at individual museums, and the revenue supports the nonprofit venues you visit.

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ADVERTISING, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

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“We don’t see things as they are. We see things as we are.”

—ANAIS NIN

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LEDGE MEDIA TO MODIFY THE CATCH PHRASE FROM A POPULAR AD CAMPAIGN FROM YEARS AGO, LEDGE MEDIA IS DEFINITELY NOT YOUR FATHER’S PUBLISHING COMPANY. In 2017, Daphne Fletcher founded Ledge Media, a multimedia content development and publishing company, after serving for several years as Vice President of HPN Books, a national publishing company. After successfully building the new company, Ledge Media acquired HPN Books in 2020 and merged the two publishing companies.

Armed with a passion for technology and storytelling that was cultivated at an early age, Daphne has risen through the ranks of publishing to create a dynamic company where content, unique stories and the manner in which they are presented to consumers really matters.

Aside from the parent company, Ledge Media also features two other distinct divisions – HPN Books (HPNBooks.com) and HPN Custom Media & Publishing (HPNCustomMedia.com).

HPN Books HPN Books publishes quality coffee-table books that allow communities and organizations to celebrate their heritage and growth while simultaneously enhancing civic pride and prestige through a unique fundraising platform which HPN

Books has developed. HPN Books partners with organizations to tell their stories while publishing a large quantity of books to the organization at no cost and helps them utilize their books as a fundraising tool.

Cityscape coffee table books offer a stunning pictorial essay that captures the culture and character of a community. These photo journals reveal the vibrancy, activities, workplaces, lifestyles and diversity that define a region.

Two different book series, CityScape and Community Heritage, comprise the HPN portfolio which has hundreds of titles in its library, having published thousands of books about cities and regions across America, helping nonprofit organizations raise millions of dollars over the last 30 years.

Meanwhile, the Community Heritage series depicts the evolution of a community – the inspiring journey from its humble beginnings to its modern face. These coffee table history books certainly capture it all and are where HPN Books started as the Historical Publishing Network.

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photography, video production and animation to logo design, web design and website development, just for starters.

A professionally written, photo-rich history, heritage, or anniversary custom book that can be enjoyed by any organization, family or individual offers many benefits. It creates positive public relations goodwill, leaves a powerful legacy and represents an invaluable gift that serves as an effective marketing tool for an organization or brand.

Whatever the focus, customers will enjoy a tasteful, glossy publication showcasing everything that makes their community, institution or association unique, exciting and noteworthy.

HPN Custom Media & Publishing HPN Custom Media & Publishing is a one-stop source for all custom media needs, including turnkey book design, writing, editing and production. Clients are also supplied with separately customized services including print, digital, photo and video solutions, as well as related website design and advanced management services.

Blending leading edge mixed media Ledge Media specializes in blending leading edge mixed media – including the latest in augmented reality, the technology of combining real word images, video, and the like with computergenerated information and/or imagery – with traditional books and magazines.

It possesses a full-service project management network of industry leading professionals, including book publishers, film producers, photographers, cinematographers, directors, writers, designers, marketing and IT professionals – all ready and able to assist in any project from initial concept to launch.

The services provided by Ledge Media run the gamut – from content development, custom books,

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Ledge Media has taken the lead in partnering with Global Village World to publish the INNOVATIONS OF THE WORLD book series on the west coast including INNOVATE® SAN DIEGO, INNOVATE® LIFE SCIENCES, and INNOVATE® LOS ANGELES coming soon.

With a mandate to produce innovative and enlightening content, Daphne realizes Ledge Media and its unique divisions is ideally positioned to make its mark in the evolving media landscape.

And, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We are awash in a sea of meaningless content in an era where content is king,” says Daphne. “I aim to change that.”

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FRESH BREWED TECH OUR STORY As an entrepreneur and tech evangelist, Neal Bloom has been actively engaged in growing and promoting San Diego’s thriving tech ecosystem over the last several years. Through his grassroots effort in multiple organizations, The UC San Diego alumnus has helped build an entrepreneur-focused community that helps entrepreneurs and companies grow and succeed in San Diego.

Through his volunteer work at Startup San Diego (as co-founder and chairman), he has been helping connect entrepreneurs to resources in San Diego, alongside building his own companies and angel investing in others. One thing Bloom noticed in San Diego is there’s a strong population of engineering-backed entrepreneurs who build amazing technology, but these skill sets don’t typically lend themselves to marketing companies—both their product and the company culture—to the broader community. He felt that there was a lack of awareness for what was available to founders and to the general public, from one company to the next, and the ecosystem as a whole.

Fresh Brewed Tech’s original “tech mafia” series covers San Diego’s “godfathers of tech,” which spawned dozens of entrepreneurs and subsequent companies, further fueling our local ecosystem. Pictured above is the WebSideStory tech mafia, whose alumni are still active in the local analytics space today.

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L–R: Neal Bloom, Rachel Gauvin, Corinne Naliboff, Sandy Athniel & Andrea Siedsma (bottom surfboard).

He thought about how local companies mainly get media coverage when they raise some investment money or sell/go public. But companies are constantly hiring, branding, creating new products/technology, and differentiating themselves year-round, on top of growing and creating jobs.

cities/communities beyond San Diego, including Orange County. The FBT team is also now creating original content and marketing campaigns as a separate public outreach agency for cities and municipalities called Rising Tide Partners. Bloom and his team are excited to continue to spread the tech gospel in the San Diego region and beyond. Stay tuned!

Bloom had the idea of showcasing the everyday life of San Diego’s tech ecosystem, as well as historically, how our tech community has evolved. Did these serial entrepreneurs move from elsewhere? Did they start previous companies?

This is what Fresh Brewed Tech started as in 2018—a platform to tell the stories of our tech community and amplify them to a larger audience, from our original “tech mafia” series to spotlights on startups launched by local university students and alumni. In nearly two years, the award-winning Fresh Brewed Tech has grown into a media company that tells stories via many mediums such as email newsletters, blogs, audio/podcasts, videos, and events.

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Fresh Brewed Tech has been so successful at storytelling and elevating San Diego’s tech community that the team has expanded its brand to multiple

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BAM COMMUNICATIONS

ELEVATOR PITCH Early on, I was drawn to the idea of being a storyteller. During my career in television, I was introduced to a PR professional who explained the ins and outs of public relations, which helped me realize it was something I could—and wanted—to do.

OUR STORY Starting off, it was just me, my laptop, and a cellphone. For the first few years, I did everything from sourcing clients to stapling agendas for every client meeting. Eventually, the work grew into such a mountain with more and more clients that I had to hire people in order to have some sanity.

How does BAM foster innovation?

Our growth today can be attributed to three core factors: First, bringing on talent that matches the ethos of the company. Second, we’ve become discerning about the clients we take on and determine if each one matches our niche focus of VC-backed technology companies that have a positive impact on the world. Lastly, we have clear goals that are transparently shared and ruthlessly monitored. Every employee has access to our annual goals, quarterly focuses, and can review monthly progress in real time as numbers and successes get counted.

We represent disruptive technologies across the spectrum: consumer tech, enterprise, health tech, fintech, artificial intelligence, agtech, cyber security, and more. We understand the demands and pace technology-driven brands face. By using robust amounts of data to show bottom line impact and building strong media relationships, we are able to introduce our clients to our 400+ venture capitalists.

What does BAM do?

We know journalists and we understand their inboxes are flooded with pitch ideas, both good and bad. OnePitch is an email pitch platform that matches pitches to journalists’ preferences through a specific categorization and vetting process. With BAM’s ever-growing list of media relationships and the target messaging of OnePitch, we are better able to get stories in front of the right journalist the first time around.

What does Beck do through BAM and OnePitch to engage in innovation?

Founded in 2008, BAM Communications is a PR agency that believes stories move the world, and we aim to move stories forward for technology-driven brands that are disrupting entire industries. We’ve become incredibly focused and proficient in our media relations techniques, relationships, and programs, and the core of our business remains in media relations.

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Rebecca Bamberger, CEO

What are some ways BAM innovates within?

BAM innovates from within in a variety of ways, including an “Always Be Learning” stipend, which encourages the team to learn and develop skills outside of the office. This stipend is used for PR-related networking events, language courses, dance lessons, boxing classes, and yoga certification, among others.

Additionally, BAM has created a company culture that thrives on direct feedback, radical candor, and full transparency which fosters employee trust.

Brief Beck bio including cool hobbies A born and raised San Diegan, I graduated from UCLA in two years, becoming the University of Pittsburgh’s youngest MBA graduate at 21. I started BAM while working as a news anchor in San Diego. After winning an Emmy in 2011 for my work in TV, I focused entirely on BAM and Bite, San Diego’s top-rated and largest food tour company in the country, which I sold in 2016.

I am also an investor with Plum Alley and Backstage Capital, two groups that support investing in diverse founders.

I always say, “You can buy stuff, you can collect things, but what tells your story and fills your life is a collection of experiences. That’s it.” My hobbies include flying helicopters, traveling, and being comfortable with being uncomfortable.

BAM team hobbies BAM is a company comprised of nerds and raconteurs that are encouraged to embrace their individuality and unique mindsets to offer nothing but the best to its clients.

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OUR STORY

ELEVATOR PITCH Since its founding in 1980, Streeter Printing has been serving San Diego and beyond. Streeter focuses on being reliable, responsive, and resourceful to meet clients’ printing needs, from concept to completion, with knowledge, experience, and superior customer service.

Adrienne Streeter grew up in Baltimore in a printing family. Her parents’ business started with a small printing press in the basement and grew to two presses in the garage until the business was large enough for a storefront and finally an entire facility that offered design, fulfillment, and mailing services in addition to printing. They also opened other locations in the area.

“I was collating around our dining room table at the age of seven,” Adrienne says. “But even if this is a family business, I will tell you that Streeter Printing is ‘Not Your Father’s Print Shop.’”

That’s always been the case. Adrienne and her husband Jack, who was also trained in printing, opened Streeter Printing together when she was 27. If there are few woman-owned printing companies today, then they were almost nonexistent in 1980.

“Salesmen would come into our shop and ask me where the owner was,” she says. “I still get that sometimes, but it’s not as prevalent as it once was. In any case, I’m confident in my knowledge and in my experience.”

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Streeter Printing was ahead of its time in other ways, too, namely embracing “Going Green” before it was a phrase. Recycled papers have long been a print option, and the company has used soy and vegetable-based inks for years. They also recycle every bit of paper, their chemistry is clean enough to go down the drain as-is, and they’ve adopted two highways from Cal-Trans to keep clean.

Adrienne sees it as their way of giving back to the city that has been so good to them.

Streeter works to set itself apart in other ways, especially through its service.

What makes Streeter Printing perhaps rarest of all among businesses is that it will become a third-generation family business when their son Jon takes it over.

“I think people used to think of printers as blue-collar guys with tattoos and cigars who love to drink,” Adrienne says. “There’s nothing wrong with any of those things, but I wanted to elevate our level of professionalism. To put ink on paper is easy, but we go way beyond that by providing graphic services, assisting the clients to define their target market, and really providing education on how to maximize their printing dollar to enhance their business. In simple terms: “we care’.”

“Jon understands the industry and brings a new and energized perspective. He’s up to date with the latest print innovations so that we can offer those to our clients,” Adrienne says.

In the same way that Streeter provides both a product and a service, its innovation lies not only in its embracing change, but in having navigated such change over the course of 40+ years. It’s easy to forget that innovators are not just the new kids on the block; sometimes they’re the third-generation business whose reliable service and expertise have cemented them into the innovation ecosystem.

That’s so important in a business that provides both a service and a product; and printing is one of the few industries that does. Streeter keeps its edge thanks to a team of 20 experienced employees who have embraced the company philosophy of “doing the best job as humanly possible for clients,” Adrienne says. “Without our clients, we’re nothing.”

streeterprinting.com Wearing Red for Women’s Heart Health Week

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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

—MARGARET MEAD

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OUR STORY SDTH is a people organization with the common goal to connect, inform, and empower San Diego’s tech ecosystem.

Imagine for a moment if there was a community that was willing to invest in their hometown by building connections, creating opportunities, and helping others reach their full potential. This environment of diverse, authentic relationships is the driving force behind San Diego Tech Hub (SDTH).

On December 6, 2018, a group of 38 passionate individuals got together to answer the question: “Is San Diego a tech hub?” The group all agreed that San Diego is an innovative city, and with 3.3 million people across the region, we have the talent and resources to be one of the top tech cities on the map.

However, the perception of San Diego as a “tech hub” was not resonating with the outside world or even some that lived in our hometown. And worse, we were constantly being compared to the Bay Area or cities like Dallas and Seattle.

After some discussion, it turned out San Diego had some challenges with how we collaborated as a city and this was preventing us from reaching our full potential. We were then on a mission to start a grassroots effort to solve the following pain points: Siloed environments: Are businesses, organizations, and individuals truly collaborating towards a common goal, or are we duplicating efforts working independently?

Biased opinions: As a city, are we conscious of our biases? Or do we sometimes make decisions based on familiarity, where people are more accepted if they fall into the “like me” bucket?

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The Status Quo: Are some of our business, hiring, or even our learning practices a bit outdated? Are we only following them because it’s just always been that way?

We asked ourselves, What opportunities are we missing out on for not taking a stand to address these challenges?

That question sparked a movement, and in our first year, our small organization of 38 grew to over 2,000 members to where we are now united with a clear mission, vision, and set of values.

Our Mission, Vision, and Values San Diego Tech Hub (SDTH) is the voice of San Diego. Our founder, Claude Jones, had a vision to create an environment that fostered diverse, authentic relationships and brought awareness to the talent, innovations, and opportunities we have within our city. This vision turned into a movement that brought professionals across all disciplines of tech together to form a community of individuals willing to take action and improve their city through socially good acts.

Our vision is to create a flourishing San Diego tech community that is collaborative, diverse, and known for its positive impact on the regional economy and the community at large.

The mission of our hub is to facilitate opportunities to build authentic relationships between people, businesses, and community partners of the San Diego area. At San Diego Tech Hub, we’re changing the world through actions.

There are two distinct passions represented in our community with different needs and resources: • In the business sector, there are professionals looking for jobs, employers looking for employees, businesses looking for clients, and startups looking for resources.

• In the sector of Social Good, there are social Change Makers looking to volunteer their time or resources to help others in need.

• Conduits representing one or both of these areas work together to help build local awareness about the talent, innovations, and opportunities that San Diego offers.

Transforming San Diego When we think about the community being created and the goals we aim to accomplish, it is amazing to think about how our collective efforts will all come together.

We are a community; we are conduits for change, innovation, and service. The action of each conduit is not only a contribution to the community, it is the community.

DO ONE GOOD THING, HELP TRANSFORM SAN DIEGO

Claude Jones SDTH Founder claude@sandiegotechhub.com

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WE THA PLUG ADVOCATING FOR & EMPOWERING PAN-AFRICAN & LATINX TECH ENTREPRENEURS

ELEVATOR PITCH We Tha Plug works with Pan-African Latinx founders and startups at all levels from Ideation Phase to Pre-Seed and Series A Round phase. We Tha Plug is a global community of Pan-African, Latinx and other underrepresented founders, Venture Capitalists, and Angel Investors in the startup, tech, and innovation space. The overall mission of We Tha Plug is to raise the awareness of Innovation in Pan-African and Latinx communities in technology and create an ecosystem for entrepreneurs from grassroots to professional levels. We provide a global ecosystem that gives founders access to startup fundamental education, mentorship, programming, resources, and funding. We have over 100 PanAfrican and Latinx Founders in our organization across the US and abroad.

OUR STORY Luis and I experienced as budding entrepreneurs,” said Russell, who runs a consulting business for small business owners and entrepreneurs. After getting a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership, Luis, a US Navy veteran, looked to get more involved in the local startup community. He spent the last two years volunteering with Startup San Diego and more recently began serving as Chapter Director for Startup Grind. Luis’s original plan was to build an

We Tha Plug was founded by Founder/CEO Luis Martinez, MSOL, and Partner/Chief Operating Officer Christiana Russell, M.Ed. The duo sought to build a community to support Pan-African and Latinx founders in the tech and innovation space, based on their own experiences in San Diego’s startup ecosystem. “Ninety-nine percent of what we’re building is based on what

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ecosystem in the San Diego area for Pan-African and Latinx founders; however, this vision changed after hosting a meetup during Startup Grind Global Conference in Silicon Valley, February 2019. During this meetup, over 70 Pan-African founders attended the meetup where many topics were discussed, including starting a venture fund and creating an environment where tech and innovation events culturally mirrored the group being targeted. As a result, We Tha Plug was born.

Since its inaugural event in Silicon Valley, We Tha Plug has helped bring awareness and empowerment to Pan-African and Latinx founders in the San Diego innovation ecosystem while expanding domestically and eventually internationally. We Tha Plug’s initiative is broken down into 3 stages: 1) help 1,000 Pan-African and Latinx founders start a tech and innovation company, 2) help 100 people get jobs in the tech and innovation space either through those 1,000 founders we’ve helped launch their startup or through our corporate partnerships, and 3) partner with other organizations in 10 cities to expand and build this initiative abroad. Most recently, We Tha Plug have expanded into the secondary and higher education sector by partnering with the San Diego Unified School district and Mira Mesa Community College to implement workshops focused on The Lean Canvas Business Model.

Success Stories We Tha Plug (WTP) has dramatically expanded its outreach over the last year by partnering with key

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organizations in California, specifically San Diego, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. However, our reach extends across the United States and beyond.

Internationally, We Tha Plug have partners in Europe and Africa where we hold monthly Zoom calls to secure resources and services for WTP members. “It is important that we reach across the aisle and champion other underrepresented groups to ensure equity is present in the startup ecosystem,” Russell said. Unfortunately, inequity is further confirmed by a report conducted by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. which showed Latinos were grossly underrepresented in San Diego’s innovation economy, accounting for 17% of the innovation workforce when they make up roughly 34% of the population. The numbers are even more egregious for Pan-Africans within the workforce. Russell further asserts that “changing the narrative can only happen if we take action by unifying and sharing resources and knowledge with one another.” This has been demonstrated over the last months WTP has been in operation.

They have successfully mentored early-stage startups such as Lift Your Eyes, a VR/AR startup; Edifius, an AI computer software company; ands Teach the Geek, an online course for engineers to better equip them with public speaking platforms.

“A lot of times, the first thing founders talk about is funding,” Martinez says. “What WTP does is help founders understand what customer discovery is, as well as customer acquisition cost, which is key to their early-stage success. We have to get down to the fundamentals and build a proper business model before even thinking about money and

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investors. It’s about playing the long game. This is a real pain point of founders.”

Next Steps For 2020 and beyond, Martinez and Russell are focused on building a bridge between investors and underrepresented founders that are prepared and ready for funding. In addition, they have begun to develop a curriculum that will launch within the WTP incubator created for early-stage founders and an accelerator that specifically targets Pan-African and Latinx current and future founders. WTP will continue to host its signature events domestically and internationally. These events will be used to launch a conference in San Diego, attracting the Pan African and Latinx tech and innovation community locally and beyond. Moreover, Russell and Martinez want to build a global ecosystem where founders can support each other through the successes and challenges related to building a startup and an ecosystem in their community.

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STARTUP GRIND SAN DIEGO THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT STARTUP COMMUNITY ACTIVELY EDUCATING, INSPIRING, AND CONNECTING 3,500,000 ENTREPRENEURS IN OVER 400 CITIES.

ELEVATOR PITCH Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community actively educating, inspiring, and connecting 3,500,000 entrepreneurs in over 400 cities. We nurture startup ecosystems in 120 countries through events, media, and partnerships with organizations like Google for Startups. The cornerstone of our global community are monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators, and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies.

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OUR STORY Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs find mentorship, connect to partners and hires, pursue funding, and reach new users since its founding in 2010.

Our Values are Simple: • We believe in making friends, not contacts.

• We believe in giving, not taking.

• We believe in helping others before helping yourself.

We believe that these values should be the values of every entrepreneurship ecosystem everywhere.

We host monthly events for San Diego entrepreneurs and supporters. Each event features a successful local founder, innovator, educator or investor who shares personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. We offer local food + drinks and spend an hour filming an informal, intimate fireside-chat-style interview with our awesome person of the month then have a Q&A and mixer. Each event gets archived on www.startupgrind.com—some of the past interviews were with biz legends like the founders of Nest, Capital One, Pinterest, Stripe, SoundCloud, Words with Friends, Intuit, Indiegogo—the list goes

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on and on. These interviews are a unique peek behind-the-scenes at the life, journey, and insights of those who have gone before, and are incredibly engaging and inspiring events. Startup Grind was recently featured in Forbes magazine and is quickly becoming known as the TED of the entrepreneur world. Locally we have featured companies such as Startup San Diego, Classy, Fashionphile, Walmart Labs, Mission Edge, LaunchBio, and Blink UX, and many more to come in the future.

lmartinez@startupgrind.com

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PUBLIC WORKS, LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN

“The future lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”

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CALTRANS AND SANDAG REDEFINING TRANSPORTATION AND PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

ELEVATOR PITCH Caltrans District 11 (Caltrans) has a proud history of proactive thinking to meet the ever-increasing transportation needs and quality-of-life challenges of the growing San Diego and Imperial County populations. By being at the forefront of changing transportation thinking and technology, Caltrans and its regional transportation planning partner, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), work together to fulfill their vision to promote a safe, sustainable, integrated, and efficient transportation system that enhances the local economy and livability.

Caltrans and SANDAG have transitioned away from traditional, highway-only, linear improvement projects and instead employs a “Complete Corridor” approach when evaluating proposed transportation improvements. The agencies have found that the integration of highway, transit, and environmental projects

North Coast Corridor Phase One Improvements: The San Elijo Lagoon is currently being restored concurrently with the San Elijo Lagoon highway bridge replacement. The restoration project is improving tidal circulation in the lagoon, enhancing upland areas for threatened and endangered species, and accommodating for future sea level rise. provides a net benefit to the community and local resources because it allows the streamlining of project planning, approval and construction, and unlocking opportunities that might otherwise not have been possible.

This new “Complete Corridor” approach helps to create balanced sets of multi-modal transportation projects to meet a variety of land use and stakeholder needs. These corridor-focused packages contain enhancements that encourage carpooling and transit use, protect important environmental resources, aid in critical first- and last-mile alternate commuting solutions, and improve local community connections. SANDAG is exploring how the complete corridors concept can be integrated with a more holistic approach to moving people and goods in the San Diego region through 5 Big Moves. The 5 Big Moves—Complete Corridors, Transit Leap, Mobility Hubs, Flexible

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Fleets, and Next Operating System (OS)—are key strategies that will enhance connectivity, increase safety and sustainability, and improve quality of life.

A regional project that exemplifies the Complete Corridors concept is Caltrans and SANDAG’s and partner agency SANDAG’s North Coast Corridor (NCC) Program, a $6 billion, 40-year vision to improve the north–south highway and rail travel corridor that traverses six coastal cities, from La Jolla, in the City of San Diego, to the City of Oceanside.

This program features a multitude of transportation and quality-of-life improvements that include adding 27 miles of Express Lanes to Interstate 5 (I-5); double tracking 99% of the 60-mile LOSSAN rail corridor with accompanying station and rail platform upgrades; building over 30 miles of new

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North Coast Corridor Phase One Improvements: The Santa Fe Drive and Encinitas Boulevard highway under-crossings in the City of Encinitas are currently being improved to facilitate east-west pedestrian and bicycle access via new sidewalks and protected bike lanes. These important enhancements are helping to connect communities and increase access to the coast.

North Coast Corridor Phase One Improvements: A nearly 80-year old, single track, trestle rail bridge over the San Elijo Lagoon was recently replaced with a modern, concrete double tracked bridge, moving the region a step closer toward increasing passenger and commercial rail frequencies and meeting future customer demands.

North Coast Corridor Phase One Improvements: The Interstate 5 (I-5) highway bridge (currently under construction) over the San Elijo Lagoon is being replaced to improve tidal flow in the lagoon below, accommodate future Express Lanes, and provide a new north-south connection between the City of Encinitas and Solana Beach via a suspended bike and pedestrian bridge. bike and pedestrian trails that facilitate alternate commuting as well as local trips; improving more than 30 highway overpasses with safer and more efficient bicycle and pedestrian pathways for increased coastal access; and restoring, enhancing or preserving over 1,200 acres of environmental and coastal resources.

In 2014, Caltrans led an innovative effort to environmentally clear the entire 40-year North Coast Corridor Program, receiving unanimous

approval from the California Coastal Commission for its Public Works Plan/Transportation and Resource Enhancement Program (PWP/TREP).

The PWP/TREP was the first comprehensive blueprint of its kind, laying out a phased, integrated approach to implement and permit more than 80 projects within the North Coast Corridor during the coming decades.

Another example of Caltrans and SANDAG leadership in innovative project delivery for the

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North Coast Corridor program includes the use of Construction Manager General Contractor (CMGC), a unique design-bid-build model for Phase One of the North Coast Corridor improvements in the cities of Solana Beach, Encinitas, and Carlsbad. CMGC allowed Caltrans to bring in a contractor during the design process for their insight and feedback.

Allowing a construction expert to help the project team identify and work through potential issues earlier in project design minimizes project risk, builds a stronger partnership between Caltrans, SANDAG, and the contractor, and ultimately saves time and money during construction.

Transportation is changing rapidly, and Caltrans and SANDAG are committed to remaining leaders in delivering state-of-the-art transportation improvements for their stakeholders, resource agencies and partners through leadership, innovation and teamwork. Programs like NCC prove that agency partnership, strategic planning and continued support from the community can lead to “Complete Corridors� and a greater mobility for the San Diego region. Caltrans and SANDAG are excited for the technology-based future of transportation and is taking steps to adapt the NCC vision to meet the needs of San Diego travelers for years to come.

Caltrans District 11 4050 Taylor Street MS 121 San Diego, CA 92110 +1-619-688-6670

SANDAG 401 B Street, Suite 800 San Diego, CA 92101 +1-619-699-1900 sandag.org

SDCaltrans CaltransDistrict11

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THE AIRPORT INNOVATION LAB DEVELOPING REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS

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OUR STORY In late 2016, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (SDCRAA) repurposed part of its former Commuter Terminal into a space where innovators could conceive, develop and test emerging technologies and business concepts that have the potential to transform the airport experience for future passengers. This space is called the Airport Innovation Lab™.

This high-tech testing ground currently features a 3,500-square-foot workspace with a model ticket counter, gate and baggage belt that collectively represents a de facto “mini-terminal,” three conference rooms, and a co-working space to draft their test set-up, create and refine their prototype, run tests in a controlled environment and collect feedback on their solutions from airport staff.

The Airport Innovation Lab™ is not only a testing ground but it helps reduce barriers for innovators to break into the aviation industry. Successful ideas

can be implemented at the San Diego International Airport (SAN) as well as other airports, and related industries such as malls, hotels, and convention centers.

AN IDEA TAKING FLIGHT: Each year, the SDCRAA releases two “Opportunity Statements”: one statement has a specific focus area and changes each cycle, and, the second statement seeks solutions that will increase revenue, enhance the passenger experience, improve operational efficiency and/or decrease costs.

Concepts must be unique and innovative, scalable to other airports and identify an opportunity – or an airport ‘problem’ that needs to be solved. Successful applicants submit concepts and a prototype that may be tested in the airport environment.

Selected candidates participate in a 16-week program in the Airport Innovation Lab™. During the 16 weeks they test and vet their ideas and present their findings to a panel of Airport Authority staff members for an opportunity to negotiate a contract at SAN.

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“San Diego International Airport is finding new ways to continue its role as an industry innovator. We are very excited to see the Innovation Lab move towards developing real-world solutions to address existing challenges, as well as develop radical new concepts.” Kimberly J. Becker, Airport Authority President/CEO

BENEFITS TO INNOVATORS: • Access and potential to monetize idea in the lucrative airport market (over $10B in yearly operational spending) • Opportunity to compete for a contract with San Diego County Regional Airport Authority • Ability to test product or service in an airport environment and get feedback from airport executives and passengers • Share product/service with members of the aviation industry, local/regional community, start-up community, airport/airlines executives, investors and other stakeholders • Weekly workshops with airport subject matter experts, sessions to help companies build a sustainable business and 1:1 mentor sessions • Coaching and insight on government procurement process • Office space and mentorship

“We were born as a business in San Diego based on the confidence and support of the San Diego International Airport Innovation Lab™ and now, with the support of TRITON FUNDS, we elevate our commitment to our fellow San Diegans as they travel through San Diego Airport.” - P.J. Mastracchio AtYourGate CEO

SUCCESS STORIES: Innovators who have successfully tested their prototype concepts in the Innovation Lab: • AtYourGate is a mobile app to order, purchase and provide delivery of food, beverage and retail purchases at the San Diego International Airport. This in-airport order and delivery app for passengers, flight crew and airport employees provides a new option to provide more food, beverage and concession options.

Food is brought to you in the airport.

• Ciari Guitars is an in-airport guitar kiosk where consumers can relax pre or post flight by experiencing a Ciari Guitar in a comfortable setting that includes seating and one or more guitar play stations.

• Vark is a cloud based valet management platform designed to reduce admin time, operation costs and revenue leakage for the operator.

Vark offers a stress free valet experience for the customer.

• FreedomPark is valet services which provide a fast, friendly no-wait valet parking experience, saving you time and ensuring your vehicle is safe.

• Baggage Nanny is a service of secure luggage storage and delivery (for arriving and departing passengers).

• Nuvve is a pioneering vehicle-to-grid applications at airports with excess electric vehicle (battery-stored) energy sold back to the grid or buildings during peak demand times.

• TravelCar is a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform enabling passengers to park and potentially rent their personal vehicles while traveling.

• Nüdel Kart is a deconstructable mobile cart that can be reconfigured by children in different ways. Its mission is to engage children in playful learning in an airport setting or location where inspiration to explore and learn are limited.

• NXT Robotics is an autonomous cognitive robotic devices for enhanced security and safety in a dedicated perimeter.

• Lorenzo Designs is a flexible, programmable, illuminated LED stanchion belt that can direct traffic and improve way-finding in busy customer environments.

SDCRAA Administration Building 3225 North Harbor Drive San Diego, California 92101 +1-619-400-2400 SanDiegoAirport ambassablog

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AIRSPACE TECHNOLOGIES ELEVATOR PITCH Logistics has been an antiquated industry for far too long. That is why Airspace Technologies was created. The co-founders Nicholas Bulcao and Ryan Rusnak mapped out all the antiquated or human processes and used it as a roadmap for the Airspace Platform. Two things were clear: the customers needed a modern platform that could provide the level of transparency and error prevention that these critical shipments deserve, and these problems could not be solved with an off-the-shelf technology.

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OUR STORY The airspace software platform automatically routes and dispatches in seconds rather than 40 to 60 minutes enabling routes and flights unavailable to other forwarders. Airspace is different than any other freight forwarder in that it provides 100% transparency in real-time to all stakeholders at every stage of the delivery process. With other companies, the process is much more manual with people calling for information, and only estimates of cost and time frames. Airspace gives companies the exact information from the field. While new technology helps any company that needs more dependability and faster deliveries, Airspace found it is particularly crucial in the healthcare industry since lives are at stake. Airspace focuses on time-critical shipments because they matter the most. Bottom line, at Airspace, organizations don’t provide the easy shipments. They come to Airspace with the part of their supply chain that carries extraordinary challenges, sometimes life-and-death. The Airspace response: “Bring us the impossible and watch us work.�

Mission Statement: Airspace Technologies makes shipping faster, safer, and more transparent than ever before through people, service, and technology.

Vision Statement: Our vision is to create the most trusted delivery network the world has ever seen.

Ryan Rusnak and Nicholas Bulcao

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VEYO REVOLUTIONIZING TRANSPORTATION TO CREATE HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES.

In 2015, Veyo launched a new model for Medicaid transportation, adapting the innovations created in the consumer ridesharing space to the healthcare industry—innovations that focused on the transition from traditional, fixed-fleet taxicab companies to transportation network companies (TNCs). Central to Veyo’s strategy was creating its own vertically integrated ridesharing network, purpose-built for the healthcare industry and the unique needs of the Medicaid population. The result was a less costly, more responsive, and more transparent transportation solution that utilizes trained drivers to deliver transportation to patients with a wide variety of medical needs.

Now the third largest non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) broker in the US, Veyo’s revolutionary technology and pioneering rideshare model have proven that high-quality, reliable transportation can positively affect healthcare outcomes and lower costs. Since the model was introduced just over four years ago, Veyo has conducted over 25 million trips and is changing lives everyday thanks to three key features: Veyo’s rideshare fleet was designed for the unique needs of the healthcare population.

While consumer TNCs are built to primarily serve individuals without any special needs in urban geographies, Veyo’s fleet was built to meet the broad array of healthcare needs. Veyo’s Virtual Fleet™ employs a network of rideshare drivers— Independent Driver-Providers (IDPs)—and thirdparty traditional NEMT fleets. This combination

allows Veyo to serve all regions and all modes, from ambulatory transport to higher levels of service such as bariatric or stretcher. Each IDP is trained and credentialed according to Federal and State CMS requirements, including First Aid, CPR, HIPAA, ADA education, patient sensitivity, and hand-to-hand service.

Veyo’s next-generation technology was built specifically for the NEMT benefit.

The Veyo Platform is designed to bring nextgeneration technology tools to the management of those benefits. The Veyo Platform employs call centers, booking portals, and member and driver apps to verify eligibility, determine the most appropriate mode of transportation, and ensure the highest-quality access to care. The Veyo Platform provides reliable on-time performance reporting, tracking, and transparency, while also employing sophisticated mechanisms to detect and prevent Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.

Veyo was built to be a trusted ally to healthcare plans.

With a focus on data and technology, Veyo is able to cut costs and improve outcomes for healthcare plans and their members. From basic requirements, such as providing encounter data and managing eligibility files, to complex functions such as mileage reimbursement or public transit partnerships—the Veyo Platform is at a state department or health plan’s disposal to better manage their NEMT program.

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“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”

—MARIE CURIE

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OPEN SOURCE MAKER LABS

OSML High Altitude Balloon (HAB) flight at 82,000 feet over the Salton Sea

ELEVATOR PITCH Open Source Maker Labs (OSML) opened in 2014 as North County’s first and only makerspace and business incubator. Founded by a retired US Navy Captain, Dan Hendricks, OSML’s mission is to develop the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, problem-solvers, and leaders.

OUR STORY The lab is located in the Vista Business Park, which is zoned for Industrial R&D—a perfect fit for the kinds of operations conducted at OSML. Within its 3,000-square-foot facility, members have access to a wide variety of design and rapid prototyping tools that can be used to develop and test almost any kind of product. For example, thanks to a new partnership program with SOLIDWORKS for entrepreneurs and startups, members can have access to the full commercial suite of their advanced design tools at OSML. Rapid prototyping capabilities include 3D printing, laser cutting and engraving, metalworking, welding, electronics, and an advanced computing lab.

Palomar College STEM Academy at OSML

OUR SUCCESSES Some of their successes include hosting a team of undergrads from the University of California – San Diego that needed a place to build and test a 20foot liquid-fueled rocket with a 3D-printed engine. The team was sponsored

by NASA, and in addition to the lab space and equipment, OSML provided the systems engineering mentoring, safety, and oversight throughout the project, resulting in a successful test flight in the Mojave desert. Since graduating, many of the team members have started careers with SpaceX, NASA JPL, and Virgin Orbit.

OSML had a long history of developing young professionals for the best jobs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Through partnerships with local colleges and universities, hundreds of students have completed design challenges that have given them a solid advantage in successfully competing for the best jobs in STEM.

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Above: OSML is a hub for San Diego’s North County startup ecosystem Left: UCSD Vulcan-1 rocket fabricated at OSML Below: Team of middle school girls that won Student Spaceflight Experiments Program challenge; their experiment flew onboard the International Space Station

North County San Diego has been emerging as a well-developed technology hub with solid economic growth, and OSML has been an active catalyst for this. OSML is a founding member of the Startup78 program, initiated by Innovate78 (a consortium of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and the five cities along the CA78 corridor—Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido). OSML also hosts Open Source Saturdays, a successful program of the San Diego Tech Hub that brings together technology professionals for weekly sessions of software skills development, networking, and cross-mentoring.

OSML provides a variety of hands-on workshops for all skill levels Another program with California State University – San Marcos gave their physics majors the opportunity to apply their theoretical learning to a teambased challenge: design an environmental sensor package, get it into near space with a high altitude balloon, and recover the date (and video) for analysis. OSML has led three successful high altitude balloon flights to near space, providing students with practical experience to round out their academics. Other projects include four cohorts of Palomar College’s STEM Academy for incoming STEMtrack students, and pilot programs with MiraCosta College.

OSML has become a hub of innovation in North County by connecting a growing community of emerging talent, mentors, entrepreneurs, and local industry. For local small to medium sized manufacturers, they serve as a coworking space for research and development. Local companies that need to develop or improve their products come to OSML to use their rapid prototyping equipment (and expertise) without interrupting their own production lines. As a business incubator, OSML also hosts several early-stage startup companies that are developing products in the medical, energy and defense sectors.

2780 La Mirada Drive, Suite E | Vista, CA 92081 +1-760-998-1522 info@opensourcemakerlabs.com

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SAN DIEGO CODE SCHOOL ELEVATOR PITCH San Diego Code School was founded in 2018 by Mike Roberts after having helped many beginners on their journey to a tech career at another local coding boot camp. In his previous role as Chief Academic Officer, he recognized the bootcamp experience was not the right fit for many. Learning to code is hard. More importantly, having a desire to learn to code doesn’t mean everyone can take a sabbatical, leave their families, and relocate to take an immersive in-person boot camp. The tuition cost alone can be in the tens of thousands of dollars, causing many students to go into debt. San Diego Code School is changing the trend by tackling the status quo and rising costs of education.

OUR STORY When he founded the program, Mike knew there was a need to make it a bit more flexible to fit into people’s lifestyles. San Diego Code School designed classes around the weekend so that working adults seeking a change in careers would be able to dedicate full time to the study of programming, but work parttime as needed to pay the bills.

San Diego Code School operates an unrivaled coding boot camp experience.

Online and MOOC are often seen as the best alternative approaches, but while the online experience provides accessibility, it is not nearly as efficient as time with instructors face-to-face. Mike Roberts created a program that would

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meet people where they are, in terms of cost and time commitment, without compromising the quality of the learning experience.

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While all San Diego Code School Students are provided placement services with partnering organizations, apprentices, in particular, are positioned much better to transition into larger software companies. The apprenticeship program is funded by employers, significant grants, and local foundation support.

Within the first year, the operation has grown to two campus locations across the county. The school strategically selected communities with three attributes: large populations that have been historically underrepresented in the tech industry, low educational attainment with a high number of nontraditional students, and regional access to a large number of programming jobs. In a somewhat competitive landscape, no other program provides greater access within these communities. San Diego Code School has a diverse student body with 36.8% Female, 31.6% Latinx, 15% Black, and 20% Asian and Pacific Islander students enrolled as of January 2020.

SDCS leverages progressive team building to add new students to programs on an ongoing basis. In the open floor classroom environments, students are incubated alongside more experienced alumni, instructors, and students at various stages of the program. This holistic approach to engaging the learning community helps everyone gain the skills needed to work collaboratively in a professional shop.

The curriculum was designed in coordination with local employers, balancing the need for specific skills with the foundations of software engineering. Alumni and employers have shared that the program results in a lot of experience and transferable knowledge that allows them to be productive early in their engineering career.

NEW COLLAR APPRENTICESHIP The largest area of innovation at San Diego Code School has been the Software Apprenticeship program. The program recently became registered with the State of California, and it allows students the opportunity to get on-the-job training. Like a traditional trade apprenticeship, participants in the Software Apprenticeship Program are paid from day one of training and gain over a year of experience before entering the job market. Apprenticeships graduate debtfree and with real-world experience.

The school also stands out by focusing on preparing students for day one on the job as a software developer. All the students train in a project-based curriculum culminating in the Impact Internship Program conducted on campus. During the internship, students work directly with local small businesses and build a project that adds value to a local business. This program has assisted several small startups launching new products and is now working with the San Diego Regional Entrepreneur Center to help even more startup founders leverage local talent.

San Diego is a special place to live and work if you enjoy an active lifestyle or are looking to start a business. It offers a thriving tech hub with world-renowned life science companies doing research as well. Alongside this community, the San Diego Code School provides an alternative path to careers in this ecosystem compared to the traditional computer science degree route. Rather than spending four years to earn a degree, students can complete a certificate program in as little as eight weeks and be ready to launch a career.

In addition to the flagship apprenticeship program, Mike Roberts founded the nonprofit Creating Coding Careers, which offers free community workshops to engage out-of-school youth and provide low-cost training in the evening as a precursor to admission into other programs.

Our vision of the future is a more inclusive one. Mike Roberts envisions outof-school youth in San Diego having an equal opportunity to prepare for and attain software engineering and related technical careers, regardless of their economic status, race, sexual orientation, or gender. Cooperative educational opportunities will exist and are accessible for a variety of technical roles. The gap will be closed, and women and people of color will be well represented in these roles. San Diego Code School is an outcomes-driven organization with a mission to make that vision possible.

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OUR STORY Hookit was founded in 2001 by two former athletes and longtime friends Scott Tilton and RJ Kraus. Initially founded in their hometown back east, the two picked up and relocated the company to sunny San Diego in early 2003 in a motor home. The original mission was to help amateur athletes connect with sponsors through the internet, which was a revolutionary concept at the time.

As the internet and social media exploded onto the scene over the past two decades, so has Hookit.

WHY WE EXIST Social and digital media have completely transformed how fans consume and engage with sports as well as the opportunities to maximize sponsorship value.

As a result, a vast majority of sponsorship value had gone unmeasured. Our mission is to improve global sponsorship effectiveness by providing the most comprehensive, trusted source of intelligent data so sports marketers can make smarter investment decisions.

The founders saw a huge opportunity to evolve the original business model and refocus its efforts on becoming a data and analytics company in 2013. Today, Hookit is the leading sponsorship analytics platform for sports and pioneered a global AI-powered spontech platform empowering brands to improve the performance and effectiveness of their sponsorships.

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Sports sponsorship is a $160B+ industry and the way investments have been measured historically is totally outdated. What was once a reactive, assumptive based approach is now data-driven intelligence using real-time data, machine learning, and AI to analyze how sponsorships are performing and, more importantly, where investments should be made in the future to achieve maximum ROI. HOW WE DO IT As social & digital media have the most in-depth data ever available, we use these media platforms as a proxy for overall sponsorship value. We actively track nearly 500,000 entities in sport across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Weibo, and VK. Every post is aggregated and analyzed for fan engagement and brand promotion via mentions, hashtags, and brand logos using computer vision technology to analyze every photo and video. The award-winning Hookit Valuation Model (HVM) and proprietary sponsorship KPIs are trusted by some of the largest global brands who spend hundreds of millions of dollars on their sponsorship portfolios annually.

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“What is now proved was once only imagined.”

—WILLIAM BLAKE

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COURSEKEY

ELEVATOR PITCH CourseKey’s attendance platform revolutionizes how postsecondary institutions handle attendance. By leveraging the devices students bring to class, the platform digitizes the attendance process, significantly shortening the time instructors spend taking roll and providing school registrars with attendance data in realtime. The solution helps increase schools’ efficiency, compliance, and retention.

OUR STORY Frustrated by the lack of technological innovation in college classrooms, a group of university students dreamed of giving instructors the ability to leverage students’ phones, laptops, and tablets as a way to make class more engaging and exciting. Through months of hard work and more Jack in the Box tacos than you can count, dreams became reality and CourseKey officially launched in January 2016.

Today, CourseKey specializes in automating attendance and is used on over 90 campuses across the country with over 2 million student check-ins registered on the CourseKey platform.

Through their attendance solution, CourseKey is removing many of the problems that accompany paper-based attendance tracking, including wasting class time to check students in, tedious and time-consuming manual data entry by instructors, and delayed availability of attendance data to registrars. By digitizing the process, students can check in simultaneously in mere seconds, instructors are relieved of any manual data entry, and attendance data is available to registrars in real-time, empowering them to begin outreach to atrisk students immediately.

in 2019. CourseKey has also been awarded patents for their GPS and sound attendance tracking methods.

CourseKey’s values define how they work together as a team and with their partner institutions.

• We believe in being radically transparent, even when it’s uncomfortable.

• We practice thoughtful and respectful disagreement, always putting our honest thoughts on the table.

• We evolve through reflection, acknowledging that progress is born from both success and pain.

CourseKey has won a handful of awards, including being named one of San Diego’s 30 cool companies by San Diego Venture Group for the third time

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• We embrace optimism, come to work every single day excited about what we’re building, and view every challenge as a mountain waiting to be summited.

• We practice and repeat good habits, always in pursuit of growing from beginners to experts.

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2150 W. Washington Street, Suite 113 San Diego, CA 92110 support@coursekey.com +1-888-801-3406

CourseKey raised its Series A funding in 2019, giving the company the resources to scale up operations and continue helping institutions across the country increase their efficiency, compliance, and retention through automated and digital attendance.

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ABERRANT KIN INNOVATION INCUBATOR OF BRANDS ELEVATOR PITCH Diverging from Normality. Aberrant, to deviate from the usual. Kin, the bloodline, family. That is how the company name ABERRANT KIN was born.

The innovation incubator of ideas, brands, and products. Innovation is a natural part of adaptation and evolution. To innovate is to move forward and we believe to reach our potential that is what we have to do … innovate! We have learned successful innovation involves process, products, people, and personality. Innovation without the right moving parts is just a great idea. We are grateful to be in an environment like San Diego, which nurtures creativity and innovation by being surrounded by many other amazing companies, entrepreneurs, and people who live by it.

OUR STORY How it began ... We, Blake & Amanda Lewis, bonded over health and wellness back in 2012. We found out on our first date we both had an invention notebook. How cool is that!? Our journey began with getting healthy as I figured out starting my first business (knowing I wanted to create a brand of some kind) while Amanda worked on innovation for Adidas. We started with juicing, and creating beverages that fit our lifestyle. I quickly realized that the market was lacking in things that were healthy and tasted amazing. I first launched Juice Lounge—now renamed Juicemade, a custom coldpressed juice company. Juice was super saturated in San Diego and knew we weren’t going to get to where we wanted to be unless we innovated and shifted. I LOVE coffee and gave it up to be “healthy” but was not happy about it and thought there had to be a way to make coffee healthier and keep it in my life. I started researching and went down the rabbit hole. A year later Superfood & Company, was born! All things superfoods, infusions & health beverages like Superfood Coffee®, Kefir Soda, & Superbooch®. Superfood-infused cold-brewed coffee was our first creation, and then first-ofits-kind Kefir Soda (a probiotic cold pressed juice), then a superfood-infused kombucha, and now onto launching synergy blends on our online store. How far it has come from a little idea of making healthy drinks for me and Amanda!

We did that for a few years then realized we had a plethora of ideas and passions. The fire was always burning! Our future vision was greater than our present reality and we knew we needed to create a parent company to house our creations. So we created ABERRANT KIN, and started bringing our brands to life.

Fast forward to now! Sprouted Coffee® is born, coffee reinvented. It’s a roaster collective of some of the best local coffee roasters in San Diego who we are collaborating with to showcase our sprouted coffee bean in unique ways.

Next, ME Water™, standing for Magnesium/ Mineral Water (an artesian spring infused replenishment water), which is in R&D currently. It all started back when I became ill from exhaustion, stress, and overexertion. Running a business is stressful and can sometimes take over your health.

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through tradition. Thoughtfully sourced and wisely brewed. Our take on the old and new merged into one. There are so many ancient alcoholic beverages, infusions, and brews that no one is really making and we see it as a challenge and complement to our desire to create exciting products. Both out of want and need.

The hospital nurse mentioned a mainstream electrolyte drink which was filled with dyes and synthetics and we were so frustrated that there was nothing of high quality. So we said, “We gotta make an infused water for those like us looking for better.” Very excited about this coming to San Diego. For all the families & athletes.

The two (2) brands we are most excited about are extremely innovative! Fermentation Kitchen®, a Nordic-style restaurant that focuses on fermenting, culturing, curing, preserving, foraging, and creating unique chef dishes from locally sourced ingredients. A local San Diego eatery showcasing the magic of fermentation.

Wise Brewing™, is our dream! San Diego… the mecca of beer and breweries. Let’s shake it up a bit! Wise will be a beer-less brewery that creates alcoholic beverages with a twist. Innovation

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Thank you to San Diego for being the best environment for innovation and creation we could have hoped for. Moving here from Idaho and Texas long ago, we could not have imagined the paradise of ingredients, resources, and incredible support from the community as we have experienced!

blake@aberrantkin.com superfoodandcompany myjuicemade sproutedcoffee drinkmewater fermentationkitchen wisebrewing

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GROWING UP IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL WASTELAND LED FOUNDER AND CEO ZHICONG ‘ZACK’ KONG TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM OF SINGLE-USE PLASTIC POLLUTION WITH AN INNOVATIVE COMPOSTABLE AND REGENERATIVE UTENSIL.

ELEVATOR PITCH Plastic pollution has become a hot-button topic for environmentally conscious consumers and municipal governments. With an average useful life of only 15 minutes, plastic accounts for over 60% of global beach litter, as well as comprises a significant portion of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” now estimated at twice the size of Texas.

BACKGROUND As local and national governments recognize the wastefulness of single-use plastic bags over the last decade and are enacting legislative restrictions

around their use, the focus of attention has recently turned to single-use plastic straws and utensils, which cumulatively account for staggering amounts of waste annually.

In the United States alone over 40 billion plastic forks, spoons, and knives are disposed of each year. Worldwide, the number of single-use plastic utensils is estimated at 500 billion annually.

Millions of fast food restaurants and grocery stores contribute to the explosion of waste, as plastic utensils are hygienic and extremely inexpensive to produce. While the specific plastic materials most commonly used to manufacture utensils— polypropylene and polystyrene—are technically recyclable, most recycling plants will not accept them because they are difficult to process and not cost effective per unit to recycle. With the vast

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majority of plastic utensils ending up in landfills or oceans, it is imperative that alternative, ecofriendly, and cost-efficient solutions be developed.

In 2017 Zack Kong founded TwentyFifty, a San Diego–based company, to address the significant global demand for functional, 100% biodegradable and zero-waste alternatives to plastic utensils. Design criteria included mechanical properties, better biodegradability in the form of compostable waste management, minimal supply chain carbon emissions footprint, and costcompetitiveness with current plastic offerings.

TwentyFifty’s primary innovation lies in designing and manufacturing utensils exclusively from natural grains. TwentyFifty’s bioengineering team discovered that the two key factors to developing strength in grain-based functional utensils are

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Zhicong Kong, Founder and CEO year refining its groundbreaking mold through seven iterations with the help of 3D printing and rapid prototyping. The final molds are intended for use in a fully automatic production setting, with maximum capacity and yield on an industrial scale of production.

density and molecular bonding. To increase the density of product, the water percentage in the raw dough must be restricted. This requirement directly conflicts with the basic premise of injection molding techniques used for plastic utensils, which require liquefying the injected material, whether molten plastic or raw dough, in the case of TwentyFifty’s proposed product. Armed with this particular insight, TwentyFifty developed an all-new, innovative mold technology that allows a dough with extremely limited water content to form a high strength product. TwentyFifty spent a

Another key consideration in TwentyFifty’s business planning was sustainable supply chain management (SCM). While the initial utensil formulations comprised three staples of US agriculture—wheat, corn, and soy—it would not be environmentally responsible to export these flours around the world simply to make compostable utensils; the carbon footprint involved in materials transportation would soon negate the benefits of biodegradability in a full lifecycle analysis. For this reason, as well as to keep costs to the absolute minimum, as required of any commodity product, TwentyFifty found it essential to define specific formulas for each of the earth’s agriculturally distinct regions, covering nearly 60% of the world’s population. For example, because sunflower seeds are readily available in Europe, the European formula uses sunflower-seed flour in place of soy flour; in Southeast Asia, the byproduct of palm oil extraction is a key ingredient; in tropical zones, wheat is reduced and even eliminated; in less temperate zones, rice does not figure as a significant component in the formula.

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Under the banner of its TwentyFifty brand, in March 2019 the company debuted its first fork product at the Natural Products Expo West show in Anaheim, where the company was honored to receive recognition as a 2019 NEXTY Award Finalist as one of the best new natural living products.

With a production facility now operating in Oceanside, California, the company has a phased scale-up manufacturing plan to meet market demand from thousands of utensils per day to millions per day. Even as they contemplate these exciting prospects of growth, however, and as a member of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), the team at TwentyFifty remains mindful of its Triple Bottom Line (TPL) mandate, which includes people and the planet, as well as profitability within a total sustainability framework that examines the company’s social, environmental, and economic impact.

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CAPELLA FLAVORS OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE THE WIDEST VARIETY OF GREAT TASTING FLAVORS, PRODUCED WITH THE FINEST INGREDIENTS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF QUALITY AND PURITY. ELEVATOR PITCH Capella flavors came to fruition in 2008 in Tom McMahon’s garage. Tom was a senior software engineer at the time and working for Merryl Lynch, but he saw an opportunity he couldn’t ignore and so one day he decided to take a leap of faith and start a business from his garage in North County San Diego. Tom would work late into the evenings and weekends while maintaining his day job for a few years to create a new brand and company from scratch.

OUR STORY The original vision of the company was to provide high-quality concentrated flavors to help enhance the taste of coffee and tea but soon began developing delightful flavorings that could also be used in food and beverages. Starting with just 6 flavors, the mission was to provide the finest quality post-brew flavorings without any fats, calories, or sweeteners.

2013 was a pivotal year in the story of Capella’s exponential growth. This was the year Tom strategically partnered with Joey Allen, owner of Allen Flavors.

Tom and Joey hit it off immediately, as they share a very similar background and journey. Both are from the East Coast of the United States and started their own successful flavoring companies out of the garage. Joey brought decades of experience and success to the table, as well as the infrastructure and operations Capella needed to progress to the next chapter in its remarkable story.

To provide its customers with products faster and at a lower cost, Capella now has operations on both the East and West Coast of America, as well as a European distribution center located in Denmark. This means Capella can now deliver anywhere around the globe.

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COMMITMENT Since 2008, Capella has gone from strength to strength and adapted well to changing customer and market demands. However, one thing that has never changed is Capella’s commitment to providing the highest quality concentrated flavoring on the market.

Because of this constant innovation vision, Capella today is an international company with over 150 flavors and shipping to over 60 countries.

Their products are now used in a variety of industries ranging from beverage, confectionary, baking, and fitness. To bring it back home, if you’ve enjoyed a flavored craft-brewed beer here in sunny San Diego, the chances are you have already enjoyed a Capella flavor.

Corte del Cedro, Carlsbad, CA 92011 +1-760-650-0200 customerservice@capellaflavors.com

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“Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them.”

—ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD

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ELEVATOR PITCH “One employee’s dream became a reality very quickly at Hansen Surfboards,” said owner Don Hansen. He has always felt that the key to success was trying new things and engaging the community—innovation has always been in the back of his mind. Encouraging his employees to excel at customer service and come up with new ideas gave them opportunities to advance and remain a leader in the industry.

OUR STORY In 1961, when Don Hansen started shaping surfboards in a little shack in Kawela Bay, he had no clue that this idea of a future employee would be something his business would eventually stand out for. History has it that in the early years of shaping boards, his innovative designs were propelling the Hansen name to success. After a year in Hawaii, Hansen moved back to California and sponsored

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some of the most progressive surfers, including John Peck, Rusty Miller, Linda Benson and Mike Doyle. He also created some of his most popular models including the 50/50 with Mike Doyle, Competitor, Classic and Superlight which are still in production today.

In addition to surfboard manufacturing, when Don saw the need for a high quality retail surf and sportswear shop in San Diego, Hansen’s transitioned into the retail business and finally made its home in Encinitas, California. The store quickly became one of the most popular shops in Southern California. Don’s son, Josh Hansen says, “The goal was to keep the tradition of making the shop a family environment where anyone could come in, feel right at home and get the gear they needed, whether a beginner or a pro.” This meant, not only surfers, but everyone who walked through the doors.

Hansen’s has always been a successful retail business and when employee Patty Bolton was hired, she brought the idea of rewarding kids for their report card grades to Don. He immediately implemented the program called Goods for Grades that has now been in existence for 25 years! It also had nothing to do with surfing, but rather was focused on scholastic achievement and helping the community.

In line with keeping a “family environment”, the Goods for Grades program was started in 1996 and has rewarded thousands of kids for their report card grades ever since. To date, the program has given out over 1.5 million dollars in “Hansen vouchers” to kids in grades K thru 12. What began as a small idea to attract more customers has blossomed into a program that actually encourages children to work harder in school. Hansen’s continually gets praise from teachers and parents for the program. Twice a school year, the kids can bring in one midterm and one final report card and receive vouchers, to spend on whatever they choose. Some kids save them up for years and get something really big. There is a criteria Hansen’s follows to make the program fair for everyone, and the appreciation by the community is overwhelming.

The fun thing for the employees who have been here a while is seeing the “children of the children,” who originally came in when the program started so long ago. One mom, whose child came in every year with his report cards visited Patty to share her son’s acceptance letter to Harvard. That meant a lot.

So, nearly 70 years later, in the world of surfing, sportswear and snow gear, Hansen’s has not only remained an innovative industry leader but has also transitioned to lead the way in social innovation, serving the community and making education a focus to encourage young people to always do their best!

Photography by Tom Keck.

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AIRA CONNECTING YOU TO REAL PEOPLE INSTANTLY TO SIMPLIFY DAILY LIFE

The service can be used through either a free app (available in the Apple App or Google Play Stores) or with the Horizon Kit—a pair of smart glasses that Aira designed after finding that nothing in the market could do what the service required.

OUR STORY Founded in 2015, Aira Tech Corp is a technology company committed to making lives simpler, easier, and more fun. Based in San Diego, California, Aira has created a service that provides information in a way that’s more natural to interact with: by speaking with actual humans.

People have used Aira for so many tasks that there isn’t enough space to list them all. Our agents have assisted with everyday tasks like reading mail and signing inaccessible PDFs, and exceptional tasks like describing a wedding, concert, or even fireworks at a theme park.

Aira connects people who are blind or have low vision with highly-trained, trusted professionals who can see the user’s surroundings through their smartphone camera—ideal for when a little extra information can get things done a whole lot faster.

There’s a reason that people trust Aira. Not only are they talking to actual humans, but prospective Aira agents also have to go through robust background checks, sign strict privacy clauses, and undergo weeks of rigorous training—all before they can answer a single call.

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The Aira Team, comprised of members from every department, stands in front of their boardroom named “Bock.” The late Larry Bock was a blind entrepreneur and venture capitalist who founded many San Diego companies. He believed in Aira’s mission—so much so that he was one of the company’s first investors and first Executive Chairman.

The service is free to use for short calls, with the option to upgrade to premium plans for more time with Aira’s professionals. Additionally, there’s the Aira Access Network, which is a collection of leading businesses—such as Walgreens, Intuit Quickbooks, Wegmans, and AT&T—that have partnered with Aira to provide the service for free at their locations or with their products.

4225 Executive Square, Suite 400 | La Jolla, CA 92037 support@aira.io +1-800-835-1934 aira.io airaio

Aira also has initiatives geared toward leveling the playing field in the community, such as the Job-Seeker Program which covers the cost of all calls related to finding or changing employment.

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TERI (TRAINING EDUCATION AND RESOURCE INSTITUTE) CAMPUS OF LIFE ELEVATOR PITCH

OUR STORY

Since TERI opened its doors in 1980, this nonprofit has been creating dynamic solutions for a huge need: a happy, productive life for the millions of individuals with developmental and learning disabilities. TERI has developed 20 model programs and services serving over 850 individuals and their families. These include 13 residential homes, K–12 schools, fitness and wellness programs, adult enrichment, and vocational training. TERI’s innovative programs are recognized in the industry as the highest standard of care for this population, and families with special-needs children and young adults are relocating to San Diego from around the country to benefit from the TERI experience.

Four decades after launching TERI, CEO Cheryl Kilmer and her team of more than 500 dedicated professionals and volunteers have been recognized for delivering uncompromising quality of life programs to TERI’s clients.

That level of care cannot come soon enough for many families. With a 200% increase in the diagnosis of autism in the last decade, the need for quality services and programs dedicated to the developmentally disabled falls far short of the need. It is a need that extends beyond San Diego. 1.2 million children are born with congenital disabilities in China alone each year. Delegations from China and many other countries around the world have heard of TERI’s success with the neurodiverse population, which they are eager to replicate.

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Doing so, according to the indefatigable Kilmer, means first building a campus where TERI’s quality standards can be centralized and codified before they can be scaled. Today, TERI offers everything from speech programs and vocational support to equestrian therapy and performing arts productions.

These services are provided from several locations dotted primarily along north San Diego County.

When it comes to tackling the physical, mental, and emotional needs of its clients, no challenge is too big for TERI’s team. But Kilmer’s vision far exceeds the local impact that TERI is providing. “We can do better, and we can teach others to do better,” says Kilmer.

TERI’s Campus of Life, a 20-acre site nestled in the warm hills of San Marcos, California, is the launching pad for global impact. With the help of over $20 million in community donations, TERI purchased the site and completed a state-of-the-art therapeutic equestrian center. Today, clients learn to trust the world around them and build confidence in their own talents and strengths while interacting with and caring for a stable of six horses.

The next phase of the Campus of Life is the key to unlocking Kilmer’s ultimate vision—to build the world’s first place where an integrated community can learn, create, and thrive side-by-side. When completed, the master plan will include 111,000 square feet of facilities for a theatre, art studios, galleries, music production studios—all available for use by both TERI clients and the community. A fitness and wellness complex with one junior Olympic pool will be key to emphasizing the active lifestyle that is crucial to TERI’s emphasis on health and self-esteem.

It’s an ambitious plan that requires vision, an uncompromising commitment to quality, and tenacity on the part of Kilmer, her team, and the community.

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COVID-19 INNOVATION

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“The betterment of society is not a job to be left to a few. It’s a responsibility to be shared by all.”

—DAVID PACKARD

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INNOVATION & COLLABORATION TAKE CENTER STAGE IN SAN DIEGO DURING COVID-19 Besides the immeasurable suffering and loss of life, there’s no doubt COVID-19 has deeply impacted our daily rituals and the global economy, halting travel and meetings, driving down stocks, and quarantining all of us. But, there is also a silver lining—one that has sparked more innovation and collaboration. And San Diego has been at the epicenter.

While many industries and regions have felt the grave impacts of COVID-19, San Diego’s innovative companies and research organizations have played a significant role in working to combat the deadly virus. Not only that, but our local government agencies and nonprofits have also risen to the occasion, putting into action several strategies to help keep local businesses afloat.

As lockdown ensued throughout the state, San Diego’s government entities jumped into action to offer assistance and access to resources to businesses.

With close to 90% of San Diego’s business being small-to-medium-sized businesses, cities and the county transitioned to a crisis communications/ economic development focus—from emergency loans by the City of San Diego, Carlsbad, and others, to grants funded by large companies like Qualcomm and Cox Communications, as well as the San Diego Foundation and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Shortly after, many companies started to pivot their business model to battle COVID-19 at the front lines, whether through using their manufacturing for mask/ventilator/protective equipment, or making hand sanitizer, test kits, digital dash boards, and more. Meanwhile, San Diego’s celebrated life science community spun up its virus testing and vaccine and antibody trials to work towards halting the spread of the virus and even a cure. Since then, more than a dozen (and counting) San Diego biotech companies have been working towards a vaccine. It’s no surprise, however, that San Diego’s biotech cluster, the third largest in the nation, has risen to the occasion. Below are a few examples:

• Local university scientists and researchers are also leading the charge for combating coronavirus, including identifying key proteins to develop a cure for COVID-19, using 3D printing to build ventilators, testing known drugs that may inhibit the virus, and more.

• San Diego’s collaborative spirit is also soaring. One thing I have learned about this community is that collaboration and helping one another is ingrained in our region’s DNA. And that holds true during the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been countless companies, entrepreneurs, and organizations who have gone above and beyond to help their fellow San Diegans. For example, Nader Khalil, CEO of Paeau, designed an easy way for small businesses to share gift cards with customers online. Meanwhile, San Diego State alumnus Joel D’Elon has offered a free health app during coronavirus quarantine to help boost positivity and productivity at home. Then there’s CureMetrix, which is offering a no-cost implementation of its AI-based mammography solutions for radiologists to help them prepare for the surge in mammograms that will come as they go back to work.

• Inovio, which is leading the development of DNA based medicines, has begun testing its DNA vaccine against COVID-19, which is an unprecedented development speed.

• Another San Diego biotech, Arcturus, is working diligently to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke-NUS Medical School, which is expected to be in clinical trials this year.

• Thermo Fisher Scientific’s next-generation sequencing technology is being used to rapidly identify which strain of the virus is present in patients.

• General Atomics is working on developing technology to detect respiratory diseases.

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Organizations like the San Diego Food Bank have also stepped up to provide meals for hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering from food insecurity as a direct result of the COVID-19 lockdown. Thousands of community members have donated and volunteered to assist in the San Diego Food Bank’s endeavor.

With San Diego’s innovation and collaboration prowess in full swing, it’s no wonder Mayor Kevin Faulconer introduced #SanDiegoStepsUp, a campaign to illustrate San Diego’s compassionate

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spirit during the coronavirus pandemic and to celebrate those who are going above and beyond to help their community.

While we aren’t quite sure what the landscape will look like when many of us return to work, one thing’s for certain and that’s San Diego’s innovation economy will continue to thrive, thanks in part to the support of local governments, companies, and entrepreneurs, as well as the innovative, creative, and collaborative minds that call our region home.

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techos@freshbrewedtech.com freshbrewedtech

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FUSE INTEGRATION WHILE THE WORLD IS THROWN INTO A STATE OF

DISARRAY OVER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WE HAVE SEEN SCORES OF INNOVATIVE SMALL BUSINESSES TEAM TOGETHER TO HELP SUPPORT CRITICAL NEEDS.

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As a small drop in the bucket, Fuse and three of our Fuse engineers have brought together both company and personal 3D printers to help donate emergency use face shields for use by hospitals that don’t have enough PPE on hand.

Our small team used open-source 3D design files to print face shield visors to be sent to multiple hospitals through the MatterHacker network. With some creative thought our team figured out how to print 20 visors at a time so that we could be far more efficient in our output. We may just have a few printers, but this small project is a great example of the impact a team of small businesses can make on big projects.

We are proud to be able to focus some of our creative energy into helping the nation find solutions to critical gaps and needs. Using our design thinking approach with a clear focus on the user we find that we can make an impact on a wide variety of industries, and we look forward to helping our community as we continue to grow together.

4863 Shawline Street Suite D, San Diego, CA 92111 +1-619-255-0668 info@fuseintegration.com fuseintegration fuse-integration fuseintegration

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LUNAPBC INTEGRATING ALL THE INFLUENCERS OF HEALTH TO FIGHT COVID-19 AND FUTURE PANDEMICS

What does it mean to have a genetic predisposition? A top concern for not wanting to explore one’s DNA through at-home DNA testing is “discovering future disease.” Medical professionals will tell you that genetic predisposition is an increased likelihood of developing a particular disease based on your genetic makeup. That leads to the next question: What factors go into my “increased likelihood”? After all, some people with a predisposing genetic variation will never get the disease, while others—even within the same family—will. This brings us to the powerful influences of lifestyle and environment on the likelihood of our genetic predisposition actually turning into a disease.

Let’s explore the question of genetic predisposition through the lens of COVID-19.

There are many unanswered questions right now. In the immediate term: What makes some people more susceptible to coronavirus infection than others? Why do some people with COVID-19 have more severe symptoms than others? Why are some young people dying while others seem to be immune? And in the longer term: What is the spectrum of long-term health effects after the virus has run its course? These are all questions that we are scrambling to answer now and will need to understand in the future. Indeed, as a global society, focusing on healthcare triage and community surveillance is the right immediate focus. But we, the people living it, should be documenting our observations and experiences now so that we are able to conduct robust long-term studies. The answers to these important questions will come from studying DNA, lifestyle, and environment together, alongside the health outcomes that each of us experience. The inputs for study should be collected directly from people.

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What if we were all in a digital, privacyprotected platform sharing our DNA and health information? We could layer on information about our experience during the coronavirus pandemic: Do you have a fever? Are you sleeping well? Can you sense smells and tastes? Are you experiencing any curious changes? Do you have the space and luxury to social distance in your environment?

This data set, that could be built directly from the safety of home, would help scientists characterize the threat to public health and help inform community-specific plans to slow the spread.

Taking the picture a step further: If you develop COVID-19, analysis could explore how some DNA features differ from those who did not develop the disease, which is especially informative if environment and lifestyle are similar. Such analysis could answer if there is genetic predisposition to contracting COVID-19 or not, and the course of the disease if one is affected. And, just as important, we could study if and how genetic factors play a role in the types and severity of longer-term health effects.

San Diego’s bold and collaborative community, combined with its history as the genomics capital of the world, is playing a vital role in integrating all the influencers of health—including DNA, healthcare interactions, environmental, behavioral, social and structural determinants—to improve our understanding of disease and wellness.

Find out how LunaDNA is leading the way and integrating influencers of health to disease and future pandemics at https://learn.lunadna.com/ covid19-campaign/

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SEQSTER COVID-19 COMPASS: REAL-TIME ENTERPRISE

HEALTH DATA COLLECTION WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOM TRACKING As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and profoundly impacted every part of our daily lives, it also impacted the normal course of business and flow of health data essential for keeping us healthy and saving lives. Seqster was perfectly suited for times like this because we created the technology allowing people to collect, own, and share their health data remotely with their loved ones, caregivers, and clinical trials.

Finding a vaccine or cure for COVID-19 requires important patient data, from results of their diagnostic results to understanding how they respond to potential therapies. Seqster’s technology allows critical patient data to be shared instantaneously even when patients are staying home. This resonates not only with our fellow San Diegans, but also with everyone around the globe who is mobilized to fight the pandemic while reopening our economies.

The COVID-19 Compass Symptom Checker module is built into the Seqster interoperability platform, allowing healthcare enterprises to track the health and well-being of study participants who may have been exposed to COVID-19.

Features of COVID-19 Compass • Based on CDC guidelines and best clinical practices • Covers four levels of illness severity: Lifethreatening, Severe, Non-life-threatening, Mild • Minor symptoms typically correlated with COVID-19 • Symptoms occasionally associated with COVID-19 • Covers risk factors such as age, gender, location, and potential exposure • Includes preexisting health conditions that indicate higher risk • Can include specific roles such as healthcare workers or long-term care residents COVID-19 Compass is designed to address participants currently enrolled in clinical trials.

Study participants are provided with official recommendations based on any of nine different scenarios determined by their responses to the symptom checker questions. COVID-19 Compass is

powered by our interoperability platform to help healthcare enterprises better navigate the health of their population, while identifying and tracking patients’ symptoms along with vitals collected directly from any connected EHR device.

Features of Seqster Interoperability Platform • Standardized patient-reported symptoms are matched with real-time diagnostic test results acquired from the patient’s healthcare providers

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• Geographic area, age, gender, and preexisting conditions derived from the patient’s EHR • Pulse-ox (SpO2), heart rate, and temperature captured from the patient’s vitals measured from in-home devices or the patient’s EHR • Positive test results can be reported, along with all of the above metrics, with patient’s consent, to the research team or regional health department immediately after they are recognized in Seqster Study managers benefit from COVID-19 Compass by easily monitoring their subjects in any study through the Seqster Research Portal (SRP) in real time and taking necessary action to ensure that subjects’ health remains a top priority. Seqster logs the answer to every question asked on each run of COVID-19 Compass and uses the answers to generate statistical tables and graphs to help patients and the research community better understand the trends nationally and within geographic regions.

COVID-19 Compass and the Seqster Interoperability Platform are hosted on HIPAA compliant and

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HITRUST certified servers. The platform, including COVID-19 Compass, can be deployed within 24-hours. The platform can also scale automatically to thousands of active users and be dynamically updated as COVID-19 guidelines evolve.

7310 Miramar Rd., #430 San Diego, CA 92126 seqster

seqster.com

RESPONSE TO COVID-19 DRIVES INNOVATION AT PSY-TEK LABS Robotic Camera Positioning System for Medical Thermal Imaging Clients.

“State of the Art” Medical Thermal Imaging technology has always been the standard at Psy-Tek Labs. Now, we’re taking our examinations to a new and even safer level.

Our ‘Robotic Camera Positioning System’ supports a safe antiviral environment with 100% separation of patient and technician during examination. It also provides accurate repeat readings critical for our research. We feature Flir premium high definition cameras displaying crisp, high accuracy, detailed images, with maximum stability and the highest level of temperature accuracy.

A 50 frame per second feature guarantees instant, real-time capture for professional high-definition images. We also utilize the highest resolution “Far Infrared” arrays to deliver cutting-edge images from the 307,000 individual temperature pixels. This is now the standard for medical science applications.

The ability to provide pixel sized heat values, increases the accuracy of detection and improves comparative analysis for our research as well COVID-19 Testing While you remain in the car, we will perform a rapid antibody test through the driver side window.

The test is a finger prick for 2 drops of blood, topped with 2 drops of a clear reagent into a plastic test tray. We will wait with you for the 10 minutes it takes for the results to display.

With a negative result, we will accompany you into the exam room. Please continue wearing your mask and gloves.

With a positive result, we will reschedule your appointment for another time, as you may be infectious. We suggest that you further your evaluation or treatment with your personal physician or one of several local clinics. A refund will be issued to you.

Depending on the type of exam you scheduled and the direction of your technician, you may still be asked to wear your mask and gloves. However, if you choose not to wear these protective coverings, we will gladly reschedule for a time when our procedures work better for you.

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ELEVATOR PITCH Arcturus is a leading clinical-stage messenger RNA medicines company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare diseases and vaccines.

OUR STORY Founded in 2013 and based in San Diego, California, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: ARCT) is a clinical-stage mRNA medicines and vaccines company with enabling technologies: (i) LUNAR® lipid-mediated delivery, (ii) STARR™ mRNA Technology and (iii) mRNA drug substance along with drug product manufacturing expertise.

Arcturus’ diverse pipeline of RNA therapeutic candidates includes programs to potentially treat Ornithine Transcarbamylase (OTC) Deficiency, Cystic Fibrosis, Glycogen Storage Disease Type 3, Hepatitis B, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and a self-replicating mRNA vaccine for SARSCoV-2. Arcturus’ versatile RNA therapeutics platforms can be applied toward multiple types of nucleic acid medicines including messenger RNA, small interfering RNA, replicon RNA, antisense RNA, microRNA, DNA, and gene editing therapeutics. Arcturus’ technologies are covered by its extensive patent portfolio (187 patents and patent applications, issued in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China and other countries).

Arcturus’ commitment to the development of novel RNA therapeutics has led to collaborations with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, CureVac AG, Synthetic Genomics Inc., Duke-NUS, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. For more information visit www.ArcturusRx.com

About Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can lead to respiratory illness, including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARSCoV). Coronaviruses are transmitted between animals and people and can evolve into strains not previously identified in humans. On January 7, 2020, a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) was identified as the cause of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China, and additional cases have been found in a growing number of countries.

COVID-19 vaccine candidate (ARCT-021) HSA Allowance and CTA Approval Arcturus announced positive immunogenicity data. A single administration of LUNAR-COV19 STARR™ mRNA induced a higher anti-spike protein IgG response than conventional mRNA at

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equivalent doses, The IgG response also continued to increase at a much greater rate over the 30-day post vaccination period than conventional mRNA. The first 3 cohorts in the Phase 1 clinical trials of the phase 1/2 study have completed dosing and the Phase 2 clinical trials part has initiated.

About STARR™ Technology The STARR™ Technology platform combines selfreplicating RNA with LUNAR®, a leading nanoparticle delivery system, into a single solution to produce proteins inside the human body. The versatility of the STARR™ Technology affords its ability upon delivery into the cell to generate a protective immune response or drive therapeutic protein expression to potentially prevent against or treat a variety of diseases. The self-replicating RNAbased therapeutic vaccine triggers rapid and prolonged antigen expression within host cells resulting in protective immunity against infectious

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pathogens in animal models. This combination of the LUNAR® and STARR™ technology is expected to provide lower dose requirements due to superior immune response, sustained protein expression compared to nonselfreplicating RNA-based vaccines and potentially enable us to produce vaccines more quickly and simply.

OTC FDA Allowance and CTA Approval Arcturus announced the acceptance of two clinical trials for its flagship asset ARCT-810, also known as LUNAR OTC, a first-in-class mRNA therapeutic being developed to treat ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency. The Company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a Phase 1b study in patients with OTC deficiency was allowed to proceed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and an additional Clinical Trial Application (CTA) for a Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers was approved by the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (Medsafe). A healthy volunteer Phase 1 single ascending dose study is being conducted in New Zealand and has completed dosing four cohorts. A single ascending dose phase 1b study in stable OTC deficiency patients is being conducted under IND in USA and is anticipated to commence screening patients very soon.

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Seroconversion1 rate (% of Animals) – STARR™ mRNA vs. Conventional mRNA LUNAR® Delivery Single Dose (µg)

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1 Seroconversion is the transition from a seronegative condition where no neutralizing antibodies are in the serum to a seropositive condition, in which neutra lizing antibodies can be detected in serum following a 1/10 dilution. Definition set forth by the World Health Organization {WHO).

2 One microgram (μg) is 1 millionth of a gram, 1 billionth of a kilogram (i.e. 1 kilogram contains 500 million doses at 2 ug/ dose).

About ARCT-810 ARCT-810, Arcturus’ first development candidate, represents a novel approach to treat ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. ARCT-810 is based on Arcturus’ mRNA design construct and proprietary manufacturing process. ARCT810 also utilizes Arcturus’ extensive and propriety lipid library and employs the Company’s LUNAR® delivery platform to deliver OTC mRNA to hepatocytes. ARCT-810 is an investigational mRNA medicine designed to enable OTC deficient patients to naturally produce healthy functional OTC enzyme in their own liver cells. Replacing the deficient OTC protein has the potential to restore activity of the urea cycle pathway, resulting in reduced plasma ammonia and urinary orotate concentrations.

Joe Payne, Co-Founder President & CEO

Pad Chivukula, Co-Founder CSO & COO

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INDEX Aberrant Kin (Super Food Coffee Company)

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Luis Martinez, MSOL (We Tha Plug & Startup Grind San Diego)

Aira 250

LunaPBC™

Airport Innovation Lab™

222

Madaffer Enterprises

Airspace Technologies

224

Marsh & McLennan Agency

Allison Maslan (Pinnacle Global Network)

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Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer (City of San Diego)

Annie Aguilar (San Dieguito Engineering)

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18

20, 100, 260 40 154 10

MemComputing 136

Aquacycl™ 48

Mitchell Kronenberg (La Jolla Institute for Immunology)

Arctic Foam

Nathan Fletcher (County of San Diego, 4th District)

44

Arcturus 266

Neal Bloom (Fresh Brewed Tech)

Ardy Arianpour (Seqster)

Ocean Motion Technologies

13

16 9 19 56

AT&T 24

Open Source Maker Labs

230

Athena

Pacific Coast Triage Services (PCTS)

108

15, 72

Baker Electric

188

Psy-Tek Labs

Balboa Park Cultural Partnership

194

Qualcomm Incorporated

BAM Communications

206

Raken 134

Blink 144

Robolink 182

Bob Kain (LunaPBC™)

20

Salk Institute

Boss Capital Partners

118

San Diego Code School

232

Caltrans

220

San Diego Continuing Education

172

Capella Flavors

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San Diego National Security Catalyst

126

Chriopractic Center of North County

112

San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC)

City of San Diego Claude Jones (San Diego Tech Hub & Walmart Labs)

10, 28

San Diego State University Entrepreneurship Center

17

Cleantech San Diego

14, 190

Companion Medical

104

San Diego Tech Hub San Diego Workforce Partnership San Dieguito Engineering (SDE)

CourseKey 238

SANDAG

Delawie

Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute

Earthwise Sorbents

22, 152 46

Sayva Solutions

102, 264 76

21, 82

34 174 17, 212 70 23, 150

11, 116, 220 88 156

First Promise Care Services LLC

106

Scientist.com 92

Fleet Science Center

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Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego

Fred H. Gage, PhD (Salk Institute) Fresh Brewed Tech Fuse Integration Greg McClure, AIA (Delawie)

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50

Seamgen 140

19, 204, 256

Seqster

124, 258

Sony Electronics

22

13, 96, 262 62

Startup Grind San Diego

16, 216

Groguru 186

Startup San Diego

16, 120

Hansen Surfboards

Streeter Printing

Hasan Ikhrata (SANDAG)

248 11

SubSeaSail LLC

Hookit 234

Sven Boermeester (GlobalVillage.world)

InnerOptimal, Inc.

Takeda California

Intelligent Cities Associates LLC (ICA)

110 12, 38

Tall Concepts

Intuit 130

208 58 3, 25 90 142

TERI 252

Jason Anderson (Cleantech San Diego)

14

TMA BlueTech®

James Filanc (Intelligent Cities Associates LLC)

12

TwentyFifty 242

John Osborne (AT&T)

24

UC San Diego

168

University of San Diego

162

Kristin Gaspar (County of San Diego, 3rd District) La Jolla Institute for Immunology Lavin Entrepreneurship Center (SDSU), LEAP Program Ledge Media Liz Gasser (Athena)

8

54

16, 86

Veyo 226

178

Voxox 146

1, 202

Walmart Labs

15

We Tha Plug

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132 18, 214

PHOTOGRAPHY & MULTIMEDIA DESIGN Telling stories and connecting community through photography, journalism and design eworldinc@gmail.com 760-330-0113 KyleThomasPhotography.com

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“The history of innovation is the story of ideas that seemed dumb at the time.”

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Photo by Kyle Thomas kylethomasphotography.com