SoCal Ecosystem Leadership Forum 2022

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Verizon
Amazon
Annenberg Tech | Annenberg Foundation
Be Courageous [Facilitation Sponsor]
Sunstone Management [Lunch Sponsor]
BioscienceLA [Venue Host]

See more photos of the day: https://photos.app.goo.gl/AwefT1HS5R8J5ER87

Here are photos of the graphic recorder illustrations that captured the content for the day: 1. Overview 2. Lightning Round Speakers 3. Breakout Group Themes and Synthesis

Check out the summary report of what was discussed.

Leadership Forum Overview

Our annual regional planning workshop focused on uniting and catalyzing the leadership of Southern California’s diverse and compelling innovation nodes which define the SoCal innovation network. To accomplish this, we convened a diverse cross section of leaders from across the region for a professionally facilitated one-day intensive workshop to generate clarity of purpose, goals, and a coordinated strategy to tackle shared challenges and opportunities.

There are common challenges and opportunities that unite the often fragmented, geographically dispersed hubs of innovation throughout Southern California. The Alliance’s analysis of the region, in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group, revealed that there is need to coordinate these compelling pockets of innovation to address common issues. We believe there is extraordinary value in aligning best practices, external messaging, and delivery of services and resources to harness the collective potential of the region’s innovation assets to make Southern California the next great innovation ecosystem. 

We heard:

• How the California Governor offices support innovation in SoCal with funding and targeted programs. Speaker: Christopher Earl @ CA Gov / SBA. 
• Diversity in tech/VC – the latest results from the PledgeLA Survey from Calvin Selth @ AnnenbergTech 
• How Sunstone Management is supporting startups and innovation through investments in regional accelerator programs. Speaker: John Keisler @ Sunstone Management.
• Technology and endemic assets of the SoCal region from the Caltech perspective. Speaker: Fred Farina @ Caltech.
• The big picture and holistic approach to investments and a new perspective on growth vs innovation. Speaker: Krisztina ‘Z’ Holly @ Good Growth Capital.

Event Goals

• Articulate a strategic plan to quantify and communicate the impact and overall vibrancy of the innovation ecosystem in Southern California
• Convene SoCal’s regional leaders to align best practices, external messaging, and delivery of services and resources to harness the collective potential of the region’s innovation assets to make SoCal the next great innovation ecosystem
• Unify, connect and engage the top leaders who represent the compelling innovation nodes that define the SoCal innovation network
• Achieve a collective clarity of purpose, goals, and a coordinated strategy to tackle the shared challenges and opportunities across SoCal