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Celebrating the Launch of the Innovate Pasadena Leadership Council

By Maureen Crow — November 10, 2015
Bill Bogaard, Harvey Knell and Jim Ellis, Innovate Pasadena Leadership Council Co-Chairs Over two years since the launch of Innovate Pasadena and hundreds of events later, the organization has kicked-off the Innovate Pasadena Leadership Council to further the goal of making Pasadena a well-known innovation hub. On October 11th, the founding members of the Leadership Council gathered at the home of Elizabeth Moule and Stefanos Polyzoides to show support for IP’s mission of enhancing the economic vitality of our city by attracting people, companies and capital to the region. The Leadership Council is chaired by four-term former Mayor of Pasadena, Bill Bogaard, Jim Ellis who serves as the Dean of USC’s Marshall Scholl of Business and Harvey Knell, Founder and President of KCB Private Equity. Guests at the kick-off party were given a special tour of the Hale Observatory, a private observatory commissioned in 1924 by Caltech founder George Ellery Hale on the grounds of the Moule-Stefanos estate. The special tour was the first of many exclusive events reserved for the benefit of members of the Innovate Pasadena Leadership Council. Leadership Council members are asked to make a minimum $5,000 annual contribution annually for the coming three years. Individuals need not be employed in technology or design-related fields but must share the vision of creating a vibrant innovation community in Pasadena. During the kick-off event, 20 individuals generously agreed to serve as ‘Founding Members’ of the Leadership Council including Dominic Ng, CEO of East West Bank, Bob Davidson, Board Chair of Art Center College of Design, Mark Holdsworth, Co-Founder and Operating Partner of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, and Steve Streit, Founder and CEO of Green Dot Corporation. They, and others who join later, will be invited to exclusive events at singular locations throughout the year. Read more about the Leadership Council here. For more information about joining the Leadership Council please contact Celina Guerrero at celina@innovatepasadena.org.
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