Ecosystem Engagement

Catalyzing regional leadership to collectively tackle shared challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of economic prosperity for the region.

Pulling stakeholders together to achieve shared goals

We bring diverse stakeholder groups together to ensure we collectively work towards common goals and celebrate our region. The crucial ecosystem ingredients are already in place in Southern California, so we focus on connecting and coordinating leaders within (and across) the diverse matrix of industries and geographies to build relationships and support collaboration across the silos and communities in the region that might not otherwise interact.

Ecosystem Engagement Programs

SoCal Ecosystem Leadership Forum

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 convene 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.

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Fueling Innovation Through Node Development (FIND)

We help innovation communities achieve their full potential by assembling engaged local leaders who collectively drive and energize entrepreneurial activity in their communities.

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Allies in Innovation

A unique celebration of the SoCal innovation ecosystem and an opportunity to acknowledge the leaders from across all stakeholder groups who support Alliance programs through their generosity of funding, engagement, and enthusiasm. It’s our way of saying “Thank You” to the many people who lean into our work.

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This Is SoCal – Regional Branding Campaign

To take our innovation ecosystem to the world, we launched a communications campaign that clearly articulates what makes Southern California innovation so unique.

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Partner Leadership Council

The Partner Leadership Council is a key committee that coordinates and connects the top regional ecosystem organizations. At the virtual quarterly meetings, Council members share updates on their initiatives and programs in the spirit of collaboration. This is an opportunity to ensure we’re all synced and avoiding duplicate effort, especially with large federal grant proposals and regional initiatives.

Rita Battocchio

Head of Signature Events Octane

Bio

Lindsay Bourgeois

Director BioLabs

Bio

Bill Carpou

CEO Octane

Bio

Stephen Cheung

President and CEO Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC)

Bio

Stacy Cumberbatch

Managing Director Blended Impact

Bio

Stephan Erkelens

President and CEO RevHub

Bio

Dan Gober

Executive Director Biocom

Bio

Nick Griffin

Executive Director Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID)

Bio

Carlos Gutierrez

Chief Strategy Officer LARTA

Bio

Mike Krenn

CEO Connect San Diego

Bio

Jenny Krusoe

Founding Executive Director AltaSea

Bio

Ryan Kuder

Managing Director Startup San Diego

Bio

Miji McConnell

Executive Director DTI

Bio

Andrea Nunn

SVP Entrepreneurship Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce

Bio

Mark Percy

President CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County (CLA-OC)

Bio

Elizabeth Reynolds

Program Director Starburst Accelerator

Bio

Dave Whelan

CEO Bioscience LA

Bio

John Rossant

CEO of NewCities, Chairman of CoMotion CoMotion

Bio

Calvin Selth

Program Lead, AnnenbergTech Annenberg Foundation

Bio

Vivian Shimoyama

President Long Beach Accelerator

Bio

Zhen Wang

Founder Community Manager Sunstone Management

Bio

Rita Battocchio

Head of Signature Events Octane

Rita has a diverse range of work experience in event production and marketing. Rita holds an Honors Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing from the University of Windsor.

Lindsay Bourgeois

Director BioLabs

Lindsay Bourgeois is Director for BioLabs at the Lundquist Institute. Lindsay expertise is in the areas of research and development, bench laboratory operations management, and biotech market share development.

Bill Carpou

CEO Octane

Bill Carpou is the current chief executive officer of OCTANe and a partner in Visionary Ventures. Prior to joining OCTANe as CEO, Mr. Carpou was the Managing Partner for TheGreyGroup which he founded and focused on revenue growth and operational improvement for early-stage companies.

Stephen Cheung

President and CEO Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC)

Stephen Cheung is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and its subsidiary, the World Trade Center Los Angeles (WTCLA). Stephen brings LAEDC together to promote equitable economic growth across the Los Angeles region. Stephen is a graduate of UCLA holds a BS and MSW.

Stacy Cumberbatch

Managing Director Blended Impact

Stacy Cumberbatch, Founder and Managing Director of Blended Impact, leads strategy and partnerships with cities, nonprofits, and project sponsors to reduce barriers to economic development in middle and lower-income communities with a focus on emerging innovation ecosystems. Stacy has an BA from University of Georgia and a Masters of Science from USC Marshall School of Business.

Stephan Erkelens

President and CEO RevHub

Stephan Erkelens founded RevHubOC in 2019 and serves as the full-time president and CEO. RevHub, the first social enterprise incubator in Orange County, has been selected to assist in developing and operating CABI, OC’s first climate action business incubator. Stephan is focused on utilizing organizations like CABI to shape the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Orange County, setting the precedent for California.

Dan Gober

Executive Director Biocom

Dan Gober leads Biocom California’s partnering, programming and benefits efforts and helps raise awareness of the region’s resources, innovations and accomplishments. Dan holds a B.A. in economics from California State University Long Beach.

Nick Griffin

Executive Director Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID)

Nick Griffin, Executive Director at Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID), spearheads DCBID’s marketing, economic development and strategic initiatives, to attract companies, retailers, investors and residents to Downtown Los Angeles. Nick is a graduate of UCLA and has an MBA from Ohio State University.

Carlos Gutierrez

Chief Strategy Officer LARTA

Carlos is Chief Strategy Officer at Larta Institute, a Los Angeles-based mission-oriented nonprofit that advises & mentors emerging technology-based founders, startups, and institutions (public and private) developing solutions that Feed, Fuel, and Heal the world. Carlos received his bachelor’s degree from Cal State University, Northridge, and has an M.B.A. from the USC Marshall School of Business.

Mike Krenn

CEO Connect San Diego

Mike Krenn, as CEO of Connect has helped companies raise over $600M in just Series A capital in the last few years. Connects bring over 200 VCs to SD annually, as well as the leading DEI program in the region. Mike was a founder of both the Tech Coast Angels and CommNexus (Now Evonexus).

Jenny Krusoe

Founding Executive Director AltaSea

Jenny Cornuelle Krusoe is Executive Vice President and COO of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, California. She is a graduate of Harvard University and completed a fellowship in nonprofit management at the Stanford University School of Business

Ryan Kuder

Managing Director Startup San Diego

Ryan Kuder is the Managing Director of the Techstars Anywhere Accelerator, a full Techstars mentor driven accelerator program delivered (mostly) virtually. He has also managed Techstars accelerators in San Diego and London. Ryan graduated from Georgetown University

Miji McConnell

Executive Director DTI

Miji McConnell is Executive Director and Co-founder at DTi. Miji received her BS at the US Air Force Academy and her Masters at Central Michigan University.

Andrea Nunn

SVP Entrepreneurship Greater Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce

Andrea Nunn leads the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce’s entrepreneurship and innovation efforts. She is responsible for connecting businesses, large and small across the Los Angeles region, with resources, workforce development, capacity building and access to contracts.

Mark Percy

President CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County (CLA-OC)

Mark Percy serves as CEO and President and is on the Board of Directors of CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County. Mark received his BA from Stanford University, MBA from Yale University.

Elizabeth Reynolds

Program Director Starburst Accelerator

Elizabeth Reynolds, Managing Director at Starbust Aerospace, is championing today’s aerospace renaissance, aligning early-stage technology innovators with government and commercial stakeholders and investors to modernize infrastructure in space, transportation, communications, and intelligence. Her team works alongside hundreds of technology startups developing new aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, drones, sensors, autonomy, robotics, and more.

Dave Whelan

CEO Bioscience LA

David Whelan is CEO at BioscienceLA, a regional accelerator with all stakeholders as constituents, participants, and beneficiaries. We support a diverse economy, including biotech and biopharma, medical devices, digital health, bioinformatics, healthcare IT, MedTech, synthetic biology, and adjacent industries.

John Rossant

CEO of NewCities, Chairman of CoMotion CoMotion

John Rossant founded the NewCities Foundation. He believes it is imperative that different stakeholders work together to improve the quality of life and work in 21st century global cities. John holds advanced degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the American University in Cairo.

Calvin Selth

Program Lead, AnnenbergTech Annenberg Foundation

Calvin Selth leads AnnenbergTech, an initiative of the Annenberg Foundation that focuses on increasing access and opportunity for underrepresented Angelenos in LA’s tech and innovation sectors. We provide funding and operating support for PledgeLA, a collective of 215+ companies and VC firms committed to measurably advancing diversity, equity, and community engagement.

Vivian Shimoyama

President Long Beach Accelerator

Vivian Shimoyama, Chairperson at Long Beach Accelerator, leads the board in its mission to accelerate early-stage startups with seed funding, mentorship and exit strategy. Vivian is a recognized expert on growing small businesses and leads two ventures — Growth Small Business and Scale Smarter Partners, LLC, these firms accelerate business growth through guided tools that allow companies to thrive.

Zhen Wang

Founder Community Manager Sunstone Management

Zhen Wang is Investment Committee and Founder Community at Sunstone Management, building the founder-mentor ecosystem. Zhen is co-founder of Cheese, a debit card and credit builder fintech startup in the US. Zhen spent 11 years in Ernst &Young’s Federal Tax Consulting in Los Angeles.

Upcoming Ecosystem Engagement Events

Our events are highly curated and invite only to ensure high quality connectivity for our members. If you’d like to be included in future events, please submit a “Get Connected” form to join our community.

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