[Name]: William Hauser

[Area of Expertise]: International Health and Nutrition

Will may not be a doctor, but he’s still an international proponent for health. He was convinced he would become a physician as both his parents are, but, as he tells us, “I trended more toward business.” Born in Paris, raised in the Bay, Will graduated from Harvard in 2008 where he ran the largest student run company in the world his last two years, Harvard Student Agencies (HSA). The experience was life-defining and would later on compel him to leave Goldman Sachs for his own ambitions.

“I learned a lot at Goldman Sachs, but I really missed being an entrepreneur. A year in, I left my job as an investment banker to start Two Degrees and, in a lot of ways, Two Degrees is a marriage of passions: my passion for running businesses and the sort of long-standing desire to do something good like I see my parents doing every single day. “

Will’s is a food company that fights childhood hunger. They do this though their one-to-one model (in the spirit of TOMS shoes): for every product Two Degrees sells—starting with all-natural, gluten-free, vegan food bars in four delicious flavors—they give away a meal to a hungry child somewhere in the world. They currently work in Malawi, Kenya, Somalia, Haiti, India, South Sudan and, soon, Pakistan and the US.

Two Degrees partners up with local NGOs in each country to distribute meals that respect each region’s local diets, severity of hunger and viability of crops. “So,” Will explains, “in East Africa, for example, we give away a fortified peanut paste that is prescribed for severely malnourished children. In India, we give away fortified hot meals that are lentil and grain-based.”

In India, this is done primarily through school lunch programs . But the real revolution in how Two Degrees’s NGO partners distribute these meals can be seen in East Africa and Haiti where partners like Partners and Health and Relief International practice a primarily outpatient model of delivering critical nutrition to hungry children. Previously, malnourished children needed to stay in hospitals in order to receive treatment—an inpatient model which, as you’d imagine, is very resource dependent.

Two Degrees’s partners practice an alternative: community-therapeutic care. In this model, children are brought into clinics for diagnosis but can be treated outside of the healthcare facility through ready-to-use foods that can be easily administered at home. Thus, the meals Two Degrees gives away can be given to a starving child by their mom or a village healthcare worker without the need of a fully-staffed clinic to oversee their betterment.

In business for only 15 months now (they launched in January 2011), Two Degrees has given away over 400,000 meals worldwide. The bars are sold in every Whole Foods in the country, in big corporations like FaceBook, HP, Twitter, Microsoft, and AOL, as well as on college campuses. The big vision of the company is a global cause food brand with products that will soon branch outside of the snack cabinet. But, as Will says, no matter where they’re headed, “we’ll always keep the one-for-one model, so for every product we sell, we will always give a meal to a hungry child. And we feel that’s a really powerful motivator for a person at the store to help children around the world on a regular basis.”

Visit twodegreesfood.com to learn more!

Cheers!
Jasen, Your Hub Stories Writer

———
Jasen Talise is an intern writer for the Hub Bay Area. He is a fourth year studying Rhetoric and Theater at the University of California, Berkeley. His interests range from existential philosophy, competitive hip hop dance, to the culinary arts. He was recently a contributing writer for Issues: The Berkeley Medical Journal.

[Name]: Christie George

[Organization]: New Media Ventures

[Area of Expertise]: Media for Progressive Change

New media has revolutionized how we do politics, and Christie George keeps progressives technologically on track. Her passion is in media for mission-related work, which she first explored while working in films. She was a pioneer film distributor of social justice causes at the non-profit Women Make Movies where she toured television stations and film festivals to help spread female directors’ visions out into the world. Several years later, with an Oxford MBA to boot, she began thinking about “a way that [her] personal experience might be relevant to politics,” and she found her answer in start-up consulting.

Christie George is now the executive director at New Media Ventures (NMV), the first national network of early stage investors focused on political change. More specifically, NMV teams new media and political tech companies with progressive-minded investors who provide them the financial support necessary to develop new methods of advancing progressive ideals.

Elections and voting systems, civic engagement tools and online organizing platforms are all examples of the kinds of “political technologies” NMV leverages to widen a citizen’s influence over politics. 

Their portfolio includes Friendfactor, a new model of online organizing that brings new supporters to the gay rights movement and which recently helped garner enough support to legalize gay marriage in New York. NMV was also a major backer of NationalField, the business-oriented social networking software first adopted by “Triple O”—Obama’s online operation. According to the Washington Post, Obama raised half a billion dollars online in 2008 with an average online donation of $80 from supporters who often contributed more than once. Hence, NationalField’s unofficial title is “the private social network that helped elect a President.”

As Christie explains, “After business school, I had been interested in two things: getting films out beyond the constituency that traditionally goes to see documentaries, and to think of media more broadly than just film.” NMV offers Christie the latter in privileged form by bringing start-up teams with innovative ideas but a lack of funding before her consideration. Entrepreneurs begin with a business plan submitted in the form of an online application that determines a start-up’s potential to create progressive political change in addition to its ability to scale and generate revenue. NMV staff and screening committee evaluate applicants, and a select few are presented to the organization’s broader network of progressively-minded investors. Then, per NMV’s site:

“If a deal garners enough member interest, we will find a lead investor and move onto another round of due diligence and then funding. Typically, the total investment from New Media Ventures members will end up being around $100,000 in one-time seed capital.”

As Christie points out, it can be difficult for political tech companies to raise money in more traditional capital markets. Questions like “What happens if it’s not an election year?” or “How do you find customers to make up for that gap?” instill certain doubt in investors unfamiliar with the political landscape. NMV investors are unique because they are interested in both political impact and financial sustainability.

Christie is hopeful that NMV will stand as an example of how politics and media are essential elements of creating social change. And, she sees NMV’s role at the Hub as a bridge between the political and social impact worlds. “We are trying to figure out how we can use New Media Ventures to bring as many people as possible to the table that might not have historically thought of themselves as political. It is one of the things that I think we do really well.”

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis. To sign up, follow this link or visit http://www.newmediaventures.org to learn more!

Cheers!

Jasen, Your Hub Stories Writer

———
Jasen Talise is an intern writer for the Hub Bay Area. He is a fourth year studying Rhetoric and Theater at the University of California, Berkeley. His interests range from existential philosophy, competitive hip hop dance, to the culinary arts. He was recently a contributing writer for Issues: The Berkeley Medical Journal.

[Name]: Adam Becker

[Organization]: GovHub

[Visit]: http://www.mygovhub.org

Not too long ago, Adam was counting glass beakers on laboratory shelves—or programming an app to do so, anyway—but the future of Berkeley politics had different plans for this Solano Avenue local. “Growing up in Berkeley, it’s kind of inevitable that it’s going to foster this political mindset,” Adam notes who, at the age of 12, stood with his father and best friend on a major North Berkeley intersection holding an American flag upside down when Bush was re-elected for his second term. But this mindset never meant career opportunity until he met Nick Gaines one day crashing the Cal Cycling Bike Rides.

By then, Nick had been working for ten months on a passion project with one goal: to aggregate an individual’s entire political life onto a single website. Nick is from DC originally and had a friend whose parents were big in the DC political world. They heard his pitch and, with much enthusiasm, connected him with their first investors. Adam joined aboard around four months ago and is now Director of Development at GovHub.

GovHub is a civic engagement platform that strives to change the way citizens interact with their representatives in government. The site is comprised of two sections. The first is educational and, in its most basic sense, shows people what matters to them based on their geographic location—think details on city council meetings, lists of relevant representatives and election and proposed bill information.

The second is an online discussion that shares the same crowd-sourced moderation model as Reddit. Here, the more popular posts are voted up by users and gain higher visibility within the online community. As Adam explains,

“We want to have this critical mass of people that will get behind someone’s idea. You know, someone will post something on a discussion board, people get behind the idea and vote it up, and once it gets a certain number of votes, representatives won’t be able to ignore it.”

Story goes that the idea for GovHub came to Nick—a current UC Berkeley student—after taking a quiz in Poli Sci 1. Question: “Who’s your Berkeley mayor?” and, in a 300-person lecture, almost no one knew the answer. So, Nick began work on the site which launched in beta just two weeks ago with a live-music launch party at the Hub Berkeley.

First, they take Berkeley, which is a great place to start, with dreams of going national sometime soon. But, in fact, the site’s architecture and its underlying principles make GovHub applicable on an international scale. They are currently looking to bolster the PR and marketing sides of their organization, so if you think you can help, find them at the Hub Berkeley or visit mygovhub.org to learn more! “I would encourage people to check out the site,” Adam says, “We want to hear their voices and their representatives want to hear their voices because we’ve talked to them and it’s true.”

Cheers!

Jasen, Your Hub Stories Writer

———
Jasen Talise is an intern writer for the Hub Bay Area. He is a fourth year studying Rhetoric and Theater at the University of California, Berkeley. His interests range from existential philosophy, competitive hip hop dance, to the culinary arts. He was recently a contributing writer for Issues: The Berkeley Medical Journal.

[Name]: Jen Boynton

[Organization]: TriplePundit.com

[Area of Expertise]: Media for Sustainable Business

Jen never dreamed of being Editor-in-Chief, but sometimes your passion finds you. She was an MBA student at Presidio Graduate School with no plans of going into business, looking instead to learn ways that the non-profit sector might maximize its reach. But then came Triple Pundit with an opportunity to write, and then she fell in love: “Now that I’m in it, I love the entrepreneurial lifestyle. I wasn’t necessarily planning to do that, but I think it really suits me…I wake up excited to do my work, so you can’t ask for more than that.”

Jen is the Editor-in-Chief of Triple Pundit, a media platform for conversations about sustainable business. Abbreviated “3p”— denoting the triple bottom line’s concerns for “people, profit, and planet”—it frames daily topics of interest about small businesses, entrepreneurs, and decisions made by larger companies with commentary delivered from the standpoint of sustainability. The triple bottom line is a relatively new concept, referencing the fact that the financial bottom line is not the only one companies need to think about, and Triple Pundit serves as a public voice that incorporates its socially-conscious values into the everyday discourses surrounding business.

Recent article titles on TriplePundit.com include “Chicken Fat…to Fuel US Navy Ships in 2012,” “Why Second-Hand Shopping Isn’t Truly Guilt-Free,” “‘Forbes’ Top 30 Social Entrepreneurs List Lacks Social Entrepreneurs,” and “Fox News Viewers the Most Uninformed About Current Events, Including Climate Change.” Proposed child labor laws, green award ceremonies, the recent “Bank Transfer Day” and a Chevrolet Volt catching on fire are all feed and fodder for what has become one of the world’s most read websites on responsible business.

The site was founded by Nick Aster. Prior to Triple Pundit, Nick developed the online face of Mother Jones magazine and helped start TreeHugger.com, the most popular environmental website in the world. After all that, he was inspired to start something of his own. Notes Jen,

“Nick’s background has been in online media for a very long time…He was perusing an MBA in sustainable business at the same time he was working for TreeHugger and wanted to find a place to talk about all of the issues around sustainability that he was studying in school. He didn’t see any conversations like that happening online. So, the idea was: TreeHugger for the sustainable business community, and the rest is history.”

More than a news outlet, Triple Pundit is an open forum that allows contributors, guest posters and commenters to actively participate in on-going discussions on issues that question business practices of today. They publish an average of 10-15 articles per day, one of which can be your very own. Jen welcomes guest contributions from Hub members interested in reaching their growing readership of 200,000 readers per month. If you’d like to contribute, contact Jen at jen@triplepundit.com.

Their conversations have been going strong for six years now with recent partnerships attesting to the site’s growing ethos. They have just announced a merger with Sustainable Industries, a small, print-based media company that is looking to increase its online presence. In addition to this, 3p has partnered with companies from Abbott Pharmaceuticals to UPS to Microsoft to help them tell their sustainability stories. With such collaborations, Jen anticipates more opportunities for Triple Pundit to have a greater impact: “To know that we can have those in-roads with big companies, that’s where we’re looking to broaden our reach: to help companies, large and small, to improve and become more sustainable.”

Triple Pundit recognizes that it has no “right” answers as sustainability is ever-evolving, but it strives to be a space where dialogues on these topics can intelligently and passionately take place: “It’s a great place for daily and weekly information about this very niche topic that we’re all passionate about,” says Jen, “So, whether you come everyday, whether you just subscribe to the newsletter, it’s a great place to get insight and ideas about our industry, and also a great place to share your own information if anyone is interested in blogging. You should come and blog, too!”

Triple Pundit holds Free Social Media Office Hours for small companies every 3rd Thursday of the month, alternating between the Hub’s SoMa and Berkeley locations. Feel free to drop-in and chat with Jen; she’d be happy to provide any advice her years of experience in sustainable management and online media has to offer bootstrapping entrepreneurs.

Happy Holidays!

Until next time!

Jasen, Your Hub Stories Writer

———
Jasen Talise is an intern writer for the Hub Bay Area. He is a fourth year studying Rhetoric and Theater at the University of California, Berkeley. His interests range from existential philosophy, competitive hip hop dance, to the culinary arts. This past year, he was a contributing writer for Issues: The Berkeley Medical Journal.

Aaron Ableman

Dave Room

[Names]: Aaron Ableman and Dave Room

[Organization]: Balance Edutainment

[Area of Expertise]:Culturally-Relevant Environmental Education via Trans-media Storytelling

Aaron and Dave have a story to tell and they’re tailoring it to the tech-inclined youth. The two teamed up in January of this year to start Balance Edutainment, an educational entertainment production firm that tackles environmental issues through pop culture, leading first and foremost with music. Their flagship initiative is Pacha’s Pajamas, the story of an optimistic young girl who dreams one night that the animals on her pajamas come to life to address world issues by throwing the greatest concert in the world. In a recent interview with the Washington Times Communities, Dave noted, “If we want to deeply engage youth, perhaps the most important space to occupy is pop culture, as expressed in music. In the last century, music played a pivotal role in many of the world’s most important social movements.”

The environment is arguably at the center of the social movement defining our world today, and Balance Edutainment seeks to engage younger generations to take an active part. Think of Pacha as Dora the Explorer meets Hannah Montana meets the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, making environmental education more appealing and enjoyable for younger generations. “We’re really interested in the intersection between technology, culture and education,” says Aaron, “and I can’t think of a better way to do that than [through] the power of story.”

Stories change lives, The Brothers Karamazov taken as a personal example. But they have influence over the larger fate of humanity as well. Consider what A Doll’s House did for women’s rights, what Dr. King’s Dream Speech did for civil rights, and what the Bible has done for millions of believers throughout the Common Era. As socially-conscious storytellers, Aaron and Dave contribute to this world-changing literary canon and offer a story which exposes the entrenched ideologies that divide us from each other and the natural world; they open up global narratives to re-evaluation in hopes of raising the voice of interdependence needed for change.

With several years of teaching experience under his belt—from the indigenous reservations in Northern Canada to the slums in India to Haiti after the earthquake last year—Aaron explains the logic to their approach: Put simply, “As an educator….you have to be entertaining, culturally-relevant and fun.” Cultural-relevancy is a matter of “meeting audiences where they’re at,” says Aaron, and Balance does this by embracing the transmedia reality that youth are immersed in today. A recent statistic from comScore, a leading digital technologies research firm, found that Americans watched 1 billion more YouTube videos than they conducted Google searches in August 2009. Here, Aaron and Dave find opportunity. According to Aaron,

“What’s searched most on YouTube is music. And searching music most is youth and children. In order to meet our audience where they’re at, we need to address this screen-based reality where most of the information that kids are receiving is actually coming from. That’s part of the reason why we’ve identified music as such a viral audience development strategy.”

And music is only where they begin. Balance Edutainment is a trans-media production firm, which means they develop a range of cross-platform products from traditional books, e-books, mobile apps, online apps as well as a full audio book/album with twelve songs featuring celebrity hip hop artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Lyrics Born. “What we’re particularly excited about is that this story can be delivered on a variety of media platforms and can be experienced in a number of different ways from the book all the way to curricula,” says Aaron. Each medium allows audiences to experience Pacha’s story in a qualitatively unique way and allows its message to be scaled on a wider educational spectrum unheard of in times before the proliferation of digital technologies today.

Balance Edutainment takes a stand for children, education and the environment. They present a vision for real change in the world across a variety of media platforms—even looking into the possibility of creating a digitally-interactive game—and they do this in culturally-relevant and inspiring ways. If collective action is founded upon the stories we share, Aaron and Dave are our bedtime story activists. Here’s a taste of their recently-recorded jams, and be sure to look out for more to come:

http://pachaspajamas.com/music

And, for those of you looking to give something unique this holiday season, consider the gift of environmental literacy with the Pacha’s Pajamas Book/CD available for pre-order now for delivery before Christmas! Just visit Balance’s Kickstarter page here!

Cheers!

Jasen, Your Hub Stories Writer

———
Jasen Talise is an intern writer for the Hub Bay Area. He is a fourth year studying Rhetoric and Theater at the University of California, Berkeley. His interests range from existential philosophy, competitive hip hop dance, to the culinary arts. This past year, he was a contributing writer for Issues: The Berkeley Medical Journal.

I just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. I’m very thankful to you all; this has been a rollercoaster year of fun, challenges, and excitement. I hope everyone is winding down the year with positive energy, and looking towards well-deserved time with family and friends during the holidays.

Here is a reminder of this week’s staffing schedule. This Wednesday (11/23), staff will only be here a HALF DAY: NO STAFF BEGINNING AT 1 PM.  There will no NO STAFF THANKSGIVING DAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

That’s about it for this week!

Happy Thanksgiving, Hubbers.

Jeff

[ Hub Calendar ] [ Hub Wellness ] [ Hub Clubs ]

Hub Workbench

Hub Workshop: Hub Masters (Hub Bay Area Toastmasters)

Every Tuesday, 6:30 – 8PM @Hub SF

—

Weekly Roll Ups provide our entrepreneurs, start ups, and larger community pertinent announcements at both our Hub locations in San Francisco and Berkeley. They are written by Tim Nichols (tim.nichols@hubbayarea.com) and Jeff Shiau (jeff@hubbayarea.com).

Let’s turn an activity that we loved in kindergarten, into a weekly ritual here at Hub Berkeley:

Milk and Cookies! Our inaugural cookie + milk eating tradition will begin this Thursday at 2 PM! What’s the purpose? Well, it’s simply a quick, mid-afternoon break you can take in our kitchen, and enjoy the company of your fellow cookie-munching Hubbers. We’d like to start this simplified tradition of breaking bread (or cookie), to help you take a break from your laptop, and quickly meet other members in a fun way! If you love baking, we’d love for you to bring something to share.

Also, last reminder to mingle with the Global Social Venture Competition community! THIS Thursday, November 17 is a tremendous opportunity to meet with talented Cal Grad students , so register soon. Don’t miss this great opportunity to find new team members, and also vie for $45,000 in funding!

Lastly, Next Week  is Thanksgiving! We will have a HALF DAY ON WEDNESDAY, 11/23 (NO STAFF BEGINNING AT 1 PM), and are CLOSED THANKSGIVING DAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?

Jeff

[ Hub Calendar ] [ Hub Wellness ] [ Hub Clubs ]

Hub Workbench

Hub Office Hours: SK Law Group Consultative Services

THIS WEDNESDAY, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM @ Hub Berkeley

Hub Office Hours: Somatic Coaching for Work-Related Stress and Trauma

THIS WEDNESDAY, 3:00 – 5:30PM @ Hub San Francisco

Hub Workshop: Hub Masters (Hub Bay Area Toastmasters)

Every Tuesday, 6:30 – 8PM @Hub SF

—

Weekly Roll Ups provide our entrepreneurs, start ups, and larger community pertinent announcements at both our Hub locations in San Francisco and Berkeley. They are written by Tim Nichols (tim.nichols@hubbayarea.com) and Jeff Shiau (jeff@hubbayarea.com).

[Name]: Colin Mutchler

[Title]: Founder of LoudSauce

[Areas of Expertise]: Crowd funded media, Creative Commons

Hub Voices captures stories of Hub Bay Area members who are working across sectors and geographic regions to change the status quo.  Have a listen to Colin’s story and hear how he is spreading the word about ideas that matter.

Presented by Hub Voices producer Tarek Al-Zand

in partnership with StoryCorps

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Tarek Al-Zand is a freelance producer for the Hub Bay Area.  He has acted as an on-air host, sound editor and program director at numerous Canadian radio stations.  As an audio artist, Tarek is focused on non-linear storytelling and soundscapes.  Now a SF resident, Tarek is excited to capture the sounds of the Muni and the echoes of the alleys.

[Name]: George Scharffenberger

[Organization]: UC Berkeley

[Area of Expertise]: International Development

George Scharffenberger is a talker in the finest sense of the word; his talk is the kind that changes the world. He is a practitioner of international development with a career spanning four decades and as many countries including Senegal, Madagascar, The Gambia, Morocco, India, Mongolia and the UK. I’m writing this article on a desk at Hub Berkeley next to a copy of Building Communities From the Inside Out, an ancient Taoist answer to which hangs on a wall in George’s office:

“Go to the people. Learn from them, love them. Start with what they know, build on what they have. And in the end they will say ‘We have done this ourselves.’”

His talk empowers disadvantaged communities by helping them find and project their own voices on their journeys toward better futures. He worked in Madagascar for an American non-profit assisting communities living near newly-created national parks. The goal was to help them find ways to improve livelihoods that also accommodated national and international objectives to preserve Madagascar’s rich but rapidly disappearing biodiversity.

“The contribution we made to what others were doing was to sugggest alternatives to the paternalistic ‘We are the outsiders. What can we offer you to do what we want?’ approach. Instead we were asking ‘What do you want for yourselves and your community?’ ‘What are you looking for?’ ‘And what are the ways you might reach your aspirations that might be less destructive on the environment?’”

George locates his personal contribution to the dynamic field of international development in an ability to ask that kind of fundamental question of those he considers the real “agents” of development: “My role, at its best, has been as an effective background facilitator helping other people to work through issues and seize their opportunities.”

His talk has impact even while removed from the field of practice in his current work at UC Berkeley. George works under the Vice Chancellor for Research and has what he describes as an unconventional position: “I’m cheerleader, connector and broker. My objective is to increase the quantity and impact of issue-focused international development-related research and programs on campus.” UC Berkeley has an incredible richness in research and education directly relevant to solving problems of underdevelopment around the world, but its largeness often makes it difficult for people to connect:

“There is an opportunity to increase impact by connecting the dots, introducing people across campus to each other and then to practitioners out on the front lines.”

George links people, enlivening the networks they are a part of but are too busy to connect to and use. Equally rewarding, he serves as a link between the realms of theory and practice, believing in the mutual benefit that can derive from a more effective dialogue: “so that the research agenda is better informed by real world issues and the chances are increased that what comes out of university research will actually be useful and used.”

George’s talk builds networks, one of which is our very own. Boasting membership since before day one, he played the role of key connector between the first Hub Berkeley Staff and colleagues on the UC Berkeley campus. For the first couple of years, he also facilitated discussion amongst the international development sub-community within the Hub to help deepen those connections.

“The start of the Hub came at a perfect time for me because one of the things I was trying to do was expand opportunities for the university to connect with the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and especially social entrepreneurs off campus. I made a number of introductions of key people on campus—at Haas and the Information School and other places—to the Hub.”

George’s work captures the essence of intrapreneurship. He discovers promising new connections and takes the initiative to establish them with heartfelt a “Hello.” On the definition of entrepreneurship, he ponders: “It’s a willingness to step back and look…and then the ability to really see. There’s a lot going on whether in academia or business or NGO’s, and it’s very easy to get too narrowly focused. The ability to step back, to see, and then the determination to do something about what you see, is ultimately what makes an entrepreneur.” Whether in a remote community meeting, on the UC campus or here at the Hub, George excels in taking a metaphorical step back, seizing opportunities and weaving stronger, more effective networks. He is a living example of how one man’s talk can help others make change happen in the world.

Until next time!

Jasen, Your Hub Stories Writer

———
Jasen Talise is an intern writer for the Hub Bay Area. He is a fourth year studying Rhetoric and Theater at the University of California, Berkeley. His interests range from existentialist philosophy, competitive hip hop dance, to the culinary arts. This past year, he was a contributing writer for Issues: The Berkeley Medical Journal.

I’m excited to introduce you all to one of the Hub Squad’s new team members:

Jesse Sleamaker.

Why am I excited? I believe you’ll be pumped about the ideas he will bring to Hub Berkeley;  Hubbers will have a great time ideating with him; his creativity and energy will infect the space.

I can go on, but I thought I’d let Jesse introduce himself.

Jesse, take it away:

—From Jesse—

I moved back to my native San Francisco in August, after a year spent studying urban growth, environment, and international development at Cambridge. Before moving to England, I worked in ocean conservation in Washington, D.C., travelled in the U.S. and South America, and studied Political Science and Comparative Literature at Northwestern.

After a few days working for the Hub Bay Area, I already know that I’ve joined a community at the center of something big. With so many diverse visions for a better world, our membership is both inspiring and hard to define. I have a sense that I’ve come home to a family of like-minded change-makers, and I am thrilled to be able to start my career playing a supporting role to the entrepreneurs and activists that I most admire. I’m looking forward to learning from all of you!

My interest in cities began growing up in San Francisco. I was enthralled by the city’s rich ecosystem of characters, and loved watching how spaces ‘curated’ public life and gave the city it’s magic. The Hub is a similarly rich place – it excites both my geeky academic side, and my entrepreneurial side.

Hangin’ with friends and family in the company of food, music, creative thinking, and wilderness are my favorite things in life. I’m a backpacker, skier, surfer, insatiable reader, and aspiring (but devoted) fiddle player. My professional interests include food systems and urban agriculture, community music, urban planning and development, spatial information technology, and outdoor education.

—

There you have it! Please welcome Jesse the next time you see him at Berkeley or SF!

Cheers,

Jeff

[ Hub Calendar ] [ Hub Wellness ] [ Hub Clubs ]

Hub Workbench

Hub Workshop: How to Make a Video that Doesn’t Suck for Under $100

Thursday, November 10, at Hub San Francisco

Hub Workshop: Hub Masters (Hub Bay Area Toastmasters)

Every Tuesday, 6:30 – 8PM @Hub SF

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Weekly Roll Ups provide our entrepreneurs, start ups, and larger community pertinent announcements at both our Hub locations in San Francisco and Berkeley. They are written by Tim Nichols (tim.nichols@hubbayarea.com) and Jeff Shiau (jeff@hubbayarea.com).