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Letter from the President

With our amazing momentum and impact, we charge forward with our bold vision for Pasadena.

Innovate Pasadena has had an amazing 5 years. What started as a grassroots effort to connect Pasadena's leading institutions, innovations, and resources to the greater community has led to huge growth of our innovation community and wide recognition throughout Southern California.

Looking Ahead to Another 5 Years

As the President of Innovate Pasadena, I am honored to be leading our board of directors as we wrap up our fifth year as a nonprofit organization. We have built a stronger innovation ecosystem since our formation, but as a mostly volunteer organization our network continues to be our greatest strength. Our ability to connect entrepreneurs with Pasadena’s cutting edge institutions and resources remains our biggest focus moving forward in 2018.

We have an impressive group of people and companies supporting our efforts, and a highly engaged board of directors who are committed to helping further our mission to create a vibrant ecosystem of technology and design innovation in the greater Pasadena area that supports sustainable economic growth. This year, we have also expanded our staff to include a Marketing Coordinator and an Event and Development Coordinator to support our Director of Operations. This new team has been hard at work keeping our programs and day-to-day operations running smoothly and growing steadily.

We’ve really grown over the years, and I'm proud to say we now have reached over 65,000 community members in the San Gabriel Valley, produced hundreds of technology- and entrepreneur-driven events, grown Connect Week into an innovation week that is recognized and anticipated throughout the county, and brought in new businesses, capital investments, and thousands of square footage of collaborative space to the city of Pasadena.

As we launch some exciting new programs this year – including Co(net)work, a new and improved Big Ideas series, and Tech Leaders Forum – we are reminded of the important role our sponsors and donors have played in helping our organization reach the broader Pasadena community. As a nonprofit organization, their generous donations enable us to continue building programs that connect the innovation community.

With these great accomplishments under our belts and new momentum driving us forward into 2019, your participation still matters! Please consider getting involved with Innovate Pasadena, whether through an annual or event sponsorship, by joining the Leadership Circle as one of our individual donors, or as a volunteer for one of our programs.

Here's to all the great things to come! Stay innovative, Pasadena.

Beth Kuchar, President

"Innovate Pasadena recognizes that collaboration is key to progress."

Mike Giardello, Co-Founder, Innovate Pasadena
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