2016 Selection Committee

A “Selection Committee” comprised of influencers from the Sacramento region’s business, technology and academic communities — all with experience pertaining to one of the program’s categories — carefully review the nominations during a seven-week evaluation process. During this process, each Selection Committee member also reviews nominations in a subcommittee pertaining to their area of expertise. In the event that conflicts exist between Selection Committee members and nominations, members will provide full disclosure to the rest of the committee, and then refrain from voting in the category in which the nomination is being judged. Following the evaluation process, each Selection Committee member will vote on ALL nominations submitted in EACH category (except on categories in which a nomination is being judged to which they have a direct tie). As many as three finalists (one being the winner) will be announced per category.

Selection Committee votes are tabulated by a certified public accountant provided by Moss Adams LLP. While Stoel Rives organizes the program, no one from the law firm votes. All FINALISTS were notified the week of September 19, 2016.

Kudos to our 2016 Selection Committee:

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING

Steve Mills, Partner, DCA Capital Partners

Gino DiCaro, VP of Communications, California Manufacturing & Technology Association (CMTA)

Tony Lopez, Vice President of Operations, Pride Industries

John Krueger, Executive VP, Greater Sacramento Economic Council

FOOD & AGRIBUSINESS

Kristy Levings, Director, AgStart

Joe Schmidt, Senior VP Business Development & Strategy, BioConsortia, Inc.

Ana Klein, VP & CFO, Sunsweet Growers Inc.

Julie Morris, Director of Technology Innovation, World Food Center at UC Davis

Trish Kelley, Senior Vice President, Valley Vision

Helen Singmaster, General Counsel, Raley’s

Ryan Sharp, Associate Director, Venture Catalyst, UC Davis

Ashish Malik, CEO, Bee Vectoring Technologies International, Inc.

Melissa Jones, Office Managing Partner, Stoel Rives LLP [non-voting liaison]

HARDWARE & ELECTRONICS

Harry Laswell, CEO, Powerhouse Science Center

Binda Mangat, President/CEO, Quorum Technologies, Inc.

Amit Gattani, Senior Director of Segment Marketing, Embedded Solutions Group, Micron Technology, Inc.

Norman White, Senior Attorney, Intel

Robb Moore, CEO, ioSafeTim Keller, Project Coordinator, Area 52 / Sierra Energy

Philip Wang, Stoel Rives LLP [non-voting liaison]

MEDICAL AND HEALTH TECHNOLOGY & SERVICES – supported by MedStart

Robert Groth, VP Program Development, Social Interest Solutions

John Mesic, M.D., Physician Executive, Sutter Health Valley Area

Cary Adams, JD, CEO, MedForce Accelerator / Almond Tree Capital

Claire Pomeroy, M.D., MBA, President and CEO, Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, Former Dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine

Warren Smith, Ph.D., Professor, Electrical & Electronic Engineering Department, California State University, Sacramento

Simon Cherry, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biological Engineering, University of California, Davis

Howard Bubb, CEO, SARTAChris Wood, Senior Director, Mercy Neurological Institute , Dignity Health

Chris Gresens, M.D., Senior Medical Director and Vice President of Global Medicine , BloodSource

Dushyant Pathak, Assoc. Vice Chancellor, Office of Research, ED Venture Catalyst, UC DavisMatt Phillips, Director, MedStart, Social Interest Solutions

Meg Arnold, Principal, GSD Consulting

Matt Bethards, Stoel Rives LLP [non-voting liaison]

SOFTWARE

Roger Akers, Managing Partner, Akers Capital LLC

Laura Good, Consultant, Laura Good Consulting Services

Vaibhav Nadgauda, Partner, Moneta Ventures

Corley Phillips, Director, Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy

Kim Box, Director, American River Bank

John Peters, Angel Investor

Sylvia Arostegui, Stoel Rives LLP [non-voting liaison]

SUSTAINABILITY

Todd Lindstrom, CEO, Enable Energy

Gary Simon, Chairman, CleanStart, Inc.Nicole England, Teichert Construction

Erica Manuel, Manager: Community, Economic Development & Education, SMUD

John Bissell, CEO, Micromidas, Inc.

Chris Russell, Partner, Stoel Rives LLP [non-voting liaison]