Amee Sas, Executive Director
amee@soconexus.org
Amee is an entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in Real Estate, Investments and start-up companies throughout the North Bay. She began at SoCo Nexus in April of 2013 during a period of organizational transition and worked together with the Nexus board to increase new membership, advance participation, and develop relevant programming and revenue.
In her position as Executive Director she is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the SoCo Nexus mission from fundraising and strategy, to hiring, development, fiscal reporting, financial projections, and program development. One of Amee’s greatest interests is the development of strategic partnerships with businesses, entrepreneurs, educational institutions, and government agencies throughout Northern California.
Ilham Ghanim, Community Manager
Ilham received her Bachelor Degree in Hospitality Management from the University of Central Florida. Subsequently, she became Front Office Manager at the Doubletree Sea World in Orlando, Florida. After her five year career as the Front Office Manager and the Manager on Duty, PHG Management Company offered Ilham the position of the Front Office Manager at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country, which brought fortunately brought her to our part of the country.
Ilham was an active member of the Hilton care committee, a group that focuses on improving guest scores and team recognition. Making the decision to work for SoCo Nexus, a non-profit that focuses on empowering and supporting star-ups was not a difficult decision for Ilham to make.
All of us at SoCo Nexus, are glad she did.
Sprout Mentors
Sprout Program Coordinator: Clay Bilby specializes in new product introduction (technology products), product marketing and finance.
Clay Bilby has worked in high tech for over 20 years with management experience in product planning, product introduction, mergers and acquisitions, finance, channel support and global procurement. Clay has taken new products through all stages from concept to introduction. He has also been directly involved with 13 completed acquisitions. As one of Clay’s job assignments, he was the controller for a start-up business. Clay is currently a manager with Agilent Technologies Inc, the world’s premier measurement company providing innovative measurement solutions for Chemical Analysis, Life Sciences, Diagnostics/ Genomics and Electronic Measurement. In addition, Clay is an adjunct professor at California State University Sonoma, teaching in the MBA program. Clay also has 10 years of experience in the medical field. Clay holds an Electrical Engineering Degree from the University of Michigan, an MBA from California State University at Sonoma and a Degree in Respiratory Therapy from Northwestern University in Chicago.
Lance Cottrell is the founder and principle at Obscura Security. He founded Anonymizer Inc. in 1995, and is an internationally recognized expert in cryptography‚ online privacy‚ and Internet security. Before that he created the Mixmaster anonymous remailer in 1993. He is a frequent public speaker at conferences such as the RSA Security Conference, Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference‚ the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Europe‚ ISS World. He is principal author on multiple Internet privacy and security technology patent applications. He took Anonymizer to a very successful exit in 2008, and is now chief scientist of Ntrepid, the acquiring company. He holds a MS in Physics from the University of California, San Diego and a BS in Physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Helder Sebastiao advises organizations and teams in successfully applying means-driven entrepreneurial thinking (effectuation) and lean startup principles to new product / venture launches. Helder spent the past decade in academia (at the University of Oregon, University of San Diego, and University of Portland) researching, teaching, and mentoring entrepreneurs on these processes, which he calls lean entrepreneurial thinking and acting (http://hjsebastiao.wordpress.com/). Helder also served in a leadership role for organizations that foster regional entrepreneurial ecosystems, most notably CONNECT and the MIT Enterprise Forum in San Diego.
Prior to earning his PhD at the University of Oregon, Helder had a fifteen year career spanning a wide variety of experiences, including as an entrepreneur, consultant, director of economic development and entrepreneurship programs, marketing and advertising professional, and electrical engineer. He earned his MBA from San Francisco State University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. While his primary area of expertise is technology, he has worked with clients in a wide variety of industries, sizes, and stages of development.
Bob Amiral specializes in Software, Travel, Computers and Peripherals, IT Services, Networking and Equipment, Internet / Web Services, Consumer Products and Services, and Telecommunications.
Bob is an entrepreneur, business owner and angel investor with over thirty years of experiences including software development, telecommunications, IT services and direct marketing. His startup and early stage companies have been in B2B software for banks and vehicle dealerships tracking customer purchases, inventory and CRM and also an early developer of VOIP software licensing to numerous embedded equipment manufacturers ranging from startups to large corporations including Sony, Microsoft, LSI Logic and Cisco leading to a successful exit through a buyout. With sales and public speaking experience not only in the U.S., but throughout Asia and Europe, Bob has global view of business and opportunities. When in IT services, Bob also was at the forefront of the use of fiber optic communications for networks when with the City of Santa Rosa. Bob has planned and implemented network upgrades for Morrison & Foerster, a global law firm with 13 offices including the move of a 500 person office in downtown San Francisco. Bob’s broad background that includes general management, technology and sales gives him a strong foundation from which to mentor.
Lindsay Austin specializes in Instrumentation, Lasers, Optics, and Biophotonics.
Lindsay Austin is an entrepreneur, mentor and angel investor with a philanthropic desire to build a better community. He also has a passion for wine making and operates a private winery – Kings Hill Cellars – that caters to clients who participate in the wine making process and make wine by the barrel. He is serving on the non-profit boards of the North Bay Angels, the North Bay iHub and the Sonoma County Museum, and previously served on the board of United Way of the wine county. Lindsay has over 30 years’ experience in companies that develop, manufacture and market lasers, optics and instrumentation. He is the cofounder and Chairman of Pavilion Integration Corp (PIC), a leader in biophotonics. Previous to PIC he was the President and CEO of SpectraSwitch, a start-up optical components company. Prior to this he was with JDS Uniphase where he initially served as VP Sales & Marketing and later as VP/GM of the Commercial Laser Division. He has also held senior management positions with Coherent, Lambda Physik and Spectra Physics. Lindsay earned his BS and MS degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington.
Michele Chaboudy specializes in Electronics, Software, Publishing, SaaS, and Media (online news/advertising/search).
Michele has over 25 years of strategic leadership in the electronic and media industries with significant milestones achieved in product management, market positioning, and business development for large corporations and small businesses. She has helped obtain funding and developed revenue streams for companies in both business-to-business and consumer sectors and has over 15 years of hands-on management in high-tech start-ups. Michele was an early pioneer in the Internet industry as a member of the founding team of five early stage companies (Silicon Valley and Austin) including MarketWatch.com which had a successful IPO. Start-up companies that she has advised recently have been in the SAS, social media, geo-mapping, online advertising and content management areas–helping them with funding as well as strategic planning and operations.
David Fain specializes in Electronics/Instrumentation.
Mr. Fain has sat on the Board, invested in and been advisor to several, high technology companies and has been successful in raising first round and venture capital financing. He founded four high technology companies including Integrated Automation, providing factory automation and inspection systems; Exotech, performing aerospace and military programs; Working Machines, a warehouse automation systems provider; and Radiation Electronics which lead in infrared thermal imaging. Many important “firsts” in optical imaging systems, ultrasonics and warehouse automation were pioneered that formed the basis of current, established technology. The companies were highly profitable, debt free and were either sold to larger companies or had an IPO. Now retired from business, Mr. Fain is mentoring small companies in technology and business approaches at several sites.
Gerard Guidice specializes in Food and Restaurants.
35+ years in the food industry developing both front and back of the house operations, managing profit and loss for several facilities/restaurants. Co-founder of Sally Tomatoes a commercial kitchen and food incubator at Sonoma Mountain Village. Previously with Johnny Garlic’s Restaurants/Russell Ramsay’s Chop House, Oakmont Golf Club/The Quail Inn, Santa Rosa Ca. and more. Gerard has strong community outreach, marketing, public relations experience serving on several Boards and Organizations including President, Rotary Club of Rohnert Park Cotati 2013-2014, Vice Chair, Planning Commission City of Rohnert Park, Director and Sonoma State University Athletic Association.
Nils-Michael Langenborg specializes in Food and Medicinal Products.
Nils-Michael has over 25 years of marketing and brand-building experience. He began his career at the international advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson, where he honed his skills in creating results-driven marketing campaigns for companies like Chevron, Sprint, Dole, Castle & Cooke, Bumble Bee Seafoods, Sun-Maid, Sunsweet, Sheraton Hotels, and a host of others. For the past 16 years he has been intimately involved in the natural and organic products industry, more recently with Lundberg Family Farms, which specializes in organic rice products. He has worked for Traditional Medicinals, Spectrum Organic Products, Straus Family Creamery, Whole Foods Market, and is currently President and CEO of Whole Health Marketing, a marketing consultancy for triple-bottom line brands. Clients include Numi Organic Tea, Good Earth Natural Foods, Pantropic Sustainable Palm Oil, Alter-Eco and Practice Greenhealth. He received a green MBA from Dominican University of California and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing (Advertising minor) from San Francisco State University. He currently holds faculty positions at Dominican University of California where he teaches entrepreneurial finance in the Green MBA program, and at the University of California at Berkeley Extension program where he teaches a course in green leadership based on the work of Adam Smith.
Officers
Chairman
Lindsay Austin is an entrepreneur, mentor and angel investor with a philanthropic desire to build a better community. He also has a passion for wine making and operates a private winery – Kings Hill Cellars – where members make the wine. He is serving on the boards of NonProfitEasy, Pavilion Integration, North Bay Angels, North Bay iHub and Sonoma County Museum. Lindsay has over 30 years’ experience in companies that develop, manufacture and market lasers, optics and instrumentation. He is the cofounder and Chairman of Pavilion Integration Corp (PIC), a leader in biophotonics. Previous to PIC he was the President & CEO of SpectraSwitch, a start-up optical components company. Prior to this he was with JDS Uniphase where he initially served as VP Sales & Marketing and later as VP/GM of the Commercial Laser Division. He has also held senior management positions with Coherent, Lambda Physik and Spectra Physics. Lindsay earned his BS and MS degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington.
Vice-Chair
John Stayton, Executive Director of Sonoma State’s MBA Program
After fifteen years in high technology industrial marketing, John desired to leverage his business background by developing a profession that would serve the environment and society. In 2000, he cofounded the world’s first graduate program in sustainable business that, in 2002, became known as the GreenMBA. The GreenMBA at Dominican University of California (www.greenmba.com) is a rigorous two-year program that transforms students’ abilities to advance environmental and social initiatives in any type of organization. John was GreenMBA Program Director for eight years. In 2010, John cofounded the Venture Greenhouse. John Stayton joins the leadership team at Sonoma State’s School of Business and Economics as Executive Director of Graduate and Executive Education, a position which will encompass both the evening and executive formats of SSU’s traditional and wine business MBA programs.
In 1997, John and his wife Ana purchased an organic fruit farm in Sonoma County as a step toward developing a more ecological lifestyle. Their 2.5 acre farm and home now model “suburban sustainability”, with natural buildings, a solar system, and extensive and diverse food production. Golden Nectar Farm (www.goldennectar.com) was featured in the New York Times on June 1, 2008.
Dave Dillwood, Partner, Dillwood Burkel & Sully LLP
Dave is a founder of the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster. He is a founding partner at Dillwood Burkel & Sully LLP, CPAs, since July, 2000. Dave practices in the fields of taxation, estate planning, business advisory services, litigation support, and is a qualified expert witness in Alameda and Mendocino Counties. Previously, Dave worked with the Big 8 firms of Deloitte Haskins & Sells (Now Deloitte & Touche) and Price Waterhouse (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP) in San Jose. While there, Dave worked with one of the first technology business incubators, and was intrigued by the unique, collaborative environment provided in the incubator, and the success rate of businesses that begin in that environment. Dave has been a frequent speaker at tax and accounting conferences and has written articles for the Journal of Taxation and The Tax Advisor. Dave is a member of the California Society of CPAs, having chaired the Wine Industry Conference three times, and a founder of the Central Coast Wine Industry Conference. He is also a member of the AICPA, and numerous charitable and business organizations. Dave is a graduate of the University of the Pacific and its Eberhardt School of Business with degrees in Religious Studies and Accounting.
Simon Inman, Partner, Carle Mackie Power & Ross LLP
Simon Inman is a partner of Carle Mackie Power & Ross LLP, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, corporate finance, banking and general business advisory work. Formerly he was a partner with Hammonds, a leading U.K. based, pan-European law firm. Mr. Inman practiced law in the U.K. for 20 years where he represented clients in numerous national and international corporate and financial transactions. In 1998, Mr. Inman moved to Sonoma County with his California-born wife to pursue their interest in wine. The couple owns a Pinot Noir vineyard in the Russian River Valley and produce wine under their own label. Since joining CMPR in 1999, Mr. Inman has handled a wide range of business transactions including merger and acquisition transactions, start-up and venture capital financing, stock options and other equity incentive plans, public and private securities matters, real estate, tax-exempt bond transactions and other bank financings. Mr. Inman holds a LLB (Hons.) from the University of Leicester, England 1978, was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, 1981, and admitted to the State Bar of California, June 2000.
Directors
Brad Baker, Chairman, President & CEO, Codding Investments
Brad Baker is the visionary behind Sonoma Mountain Village, an internationally recognized, deeply sustainable, mixed-use community planned to feature 800,000 square feet of commercial space, provide 4,400 jobs along with convenient daily services to the community of 5,000 residents and surrounding neighborhoods. Brad is the Co-Founder and Chairman of Community Fuels Inc., an alternative energy company. Community Fuels is committed to quality, innovation, and operational excellence in biodiesel production and related research. The Company has a state-of-the art facility at the Port of Stockton in California and has plans to become the largest producer of biodiesel in the state of California. Brad formed the SMBC in 2006 to foster prosperity in sustainable resource and socially relevant start-up technologies in the North Bay Region of California. In 2007, Brad founded Codding Steel Frame Solutions, a manufacturing patented technology by Genesis Worldwide, Inc. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Genesis Worldwide. He also serves on the board of Aspen Air. Formerly, Brad co-founded Codding Baker, Inc., a registered advisory firm with the founder of Codding Enterprises, Hugh Codding. Codding Baker, Inc. sold in 2006 to Exchange Bank of Santa Rosa, California. Brad graduated with distinction in Economics from San Diego State University in 1988. In May of 1988, he obtained his General Securities (Series 7) license.
Bruce Balfour, Penn State University
Bruce joined our board while he was still employed by Sandia National Laboratories-California, where he spent his time in the development of: partnerships with domestic and international industry, government, and universities; major R&D program funding; market strategy; academic alliances; and strategic business planning. While at Sandia, he was also founder and president of the i-GATE Innovation Hub (iHub) in Livermore, California and its associated technology incubator. He came to Sandia by way of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, NASA, Subaru’s Advanced Vehicle Development Group, and Pearson PLC. Balfour’s management experience includes Director of Product and Business Development at Pearson PLC’s educational software division in San Francisco. He was a manager in two successful startup software companies and the founder of three more small businesses. At NASA, he managed a team that developed and flight-tested experiment software for Shuttle intercept missions on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory. He has also been a management and software design consultant for Microsoft, Broderbund, Maris Multimedia UK, and others. Balfour received formal training in technology business incubator development, best practices, and funding from the National Business Incubator Association, of which he is an active member. He holds a bachelor’s degree in science communications from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is now completing a PhD in sociology at Penn State, where he received his master’s degree in community and economic development. His research interests include arts-based community/economic development, small business incubators, relational network analysis, organizational community development, and research park communities. In his copious spare time, he is also a metal sculptor, photographer, and bestselling novelist who splits his time between his homes in Novato, California and Tyrone, Pennsylvania.
Grant Davis, General Manager, Sonoma County Water Agency
Mr. Davis is responsible for management activities related to the Water Agency’s core functions of water delivery, wastewater management, flood protection, and environmental sustainability. An emerging focus of the Water Agency’s operations is the development of a secure, clean and renewable energy portfolio through Carbon Free Water by 2015. The Water Agency is working to expand their portfolio of renewables to offset their own energy use and to build an enterprise.
Prior to joining the Water Agency, Mr. Davis was Executive Director of The Bay Institute, a science-based nonprofit, dedicated to protecting the San Francisco Bay-Delta Watershed and improving water management in California. Mr. Davis also worked for Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, State Senator Milton Marks of San Francisco and Assemblywoman Lucy Killea of San Diego. Mr. Davis also operated a successful small business, specializing in strategic planning, public relations and campaign management.
Mr. Davis is a founding board member of the California Utilities Executive Management Association, and is Vice Chair of the Association of California Water Agencies Energy Committee.
Cynthia Murray, President/CEO, North Bay Leadership Council
Cynthia Murray is President/ CEO of North Bay Leadership Council (NBLC). NBLC is an employer-led public policy organization which represents the leading employers in the North Bay. NBLC’s goals are regional prosperity and improving quality of life by focusing on education, economic competiveness, transportation, and sustainability. Murray served eight years on the Marin County Board of Supervisors and seven years on the Novato City Council, including one term as Mayor, where she led the reuse of Hamilton Army Air Field, the first transfer of a military base to private hands in the nation. Murray received the 2010 Women in Business award from the North Bay Business Journal for her achievements in economic development. She serves on: Executive Committee of Bay Area Council Economic Institute; Bay Area Water Forum; Sonoma County Innovation Council, REAL Coalition, California Forward’s Business Advisory Committee, Dominican University’s Business Advisory Committee, and others. Murray is a graduate of Rutgers University and spent 20 years in sales and marketing.
Barry Palma, Senior Vice President and a Leasing and Investment Advisor, Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank
Barry Palma is a Senior Vice President and a Leasing and Investment Advisor with Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank in Santa Rosa. His focus is representing investors in purchasing commercial real estate and leasing office, high tech and R&D industrial buildings. In addition he has represented Sonoma County’s most prestigious firms in the leasing and purchasing of their facilities. Prior to joining Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank in March, 2010, he was with Orion Partners Ltd. and a top producing agent every year and has won numerous top salesman awards in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009. Since joining Cornish & Carey Commercial/ Newmark Knight Frank Barry was awarded the top salesman in Sonoma County for 2010. Along with coordinating the marketing and leasing of major business parks, office and industrial buildings, Mr. Palma is experienced in 1031 exchanges, build-to-suit transactions, tenant representation, real estate analysis and land sales. Mr. Palma holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Business from State University of New York at Albany. He completed some graduate work classes, in business at University of Texas at Dallas. In 1994 he completed the most comprehensive real estate program to graduate with a CCIM designation from the Commercial Real Estate Institute.