Ms. Nadia Flores (Leadership Tomorrow Class of 2016) has joined Nuvision Credit Union as its Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Community Engagement. In that capacity, Ms. Flores will identify key stake holders and strengthen brand awareness within the communities they serve. Her role will focus on creating and delivering financial literacy programs and giving back to core groups such as first responders, veterans, and non-profit organizations. Previously the Director of Operations at the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Ms. Flores brings a wealth of knowledge and contacts within local communities.

Current Leadership Tomorrow classmate, Natalie Basmaciyan, was featured in Stu News Newport last week!

"Natalie Basmaciyan has been working as the city’s homeless coordinator, working on the street with homeless men and woman while also meeting with the public, other agencies and the City’s Homeless Task Force."

Congratulations Natalie on all of your hard work! Read the full article here: https://www.stunewsnewport.com/…/archives/front-page-archive

Two of our LT Graduates and current Board Members, Laird Hayes and Fire Chief Jeff Boyles, were featured in Stu News Newport for the 12th Annual State of CERT Dinner and Awards Banquet. Congratulations to Laird Hayes who was the Spirit of CERT Award Recipient.

The Institute for Community Impact, a program of Passkeys Foundation, recognized LT Alum and former Board Member Tim Bauer as the Founder’s Honoree during the organization’s 4th Annual Influencers for Good Celebration in November. The Olive Crest - Orange County Executive Director of Development was recognized among six honorees who have made outstanding contributions in serving seven pillars of community influence.

Congratulations to our current Board of Director and Alumni of the Leadership Tomorrow Class of 2015, Jeff Boyles, who was just announced as the next Fire Chief for the City of Newport Beach. Read the full press release here:http://bit.ly/2JF8VUr

Leadership Tomorrow Justice Day 2018 will be held on March 15, in the Library of the Public Defender building in Santa Ana. The program, led by Justice Day Co-Chairs Robyn Grant (’15) and Newport Beach Police Lieutenant Damon Psaros (’16,) and Justice Day Committee members Newport Beach Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Boyles (’15,) Tustin Police Lieutenant Brian Greene (’16,) and Newport Beach Assistant City Manager Carol Jacobs (’17,) offers fresh and informative perspectives about social justice and current legal issues within our communities.

We begin with a presentation by Fire Captain Nick Freeman of OCIAC - the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center.  Captain Freemen will provide an overview of Terrorism Liaison Training available to our County’s first responders.

Next, an extremely rare opportunity to engage with the two most influential people working for justice in the County, District Attorney Tony Rackaukus and Public Defender Sharon Petrosino.

Another important component of the day is the Police Chief’s Panel – a chance to interact with highly-valued public servants - Police Chief Robert Sharpnack (Costa Mesa,) Police Chief Mike Hamel (Irvine,) Police Chief Jon Lewis (Newport Beach,) and Deputy Police Chief Paul Garaven (Tustin.)

After lunch, Oree Freeman, human trafficking survivor, and Jim Carson of Orangewood Foundation, present to the class. The OC Register listed Ms. Freeman as one of the most influential people in OC in 2015. She became a victim of human trafficking at the age of 11 but was able to transcend her early dire circumstances with the help of Mr. Carson and Orangewood Foundation.  Ms. Freeman’s story is sure to capture everyone’s attention.

Then, we walk a short distance from the Public Defender building to the Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana to tour the facility – many consider the jail tour one of the most provocative experiences of the Leadership Tomorrow program.

The day wraps with a recap led by Dr, Trudy Naman (’00) back at the Library of the Public Defender building.

Leadership Tomorrow welcomes the Class of ’18 on Thurs, October 19th with a behind the scenes tour of how Orange County gets, conserves and recycles our water. The day begins at the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD), where the class takes a tour of the facility and sees how Irvine recycles over 14 million gallons of water per day. There are also presentations from some of the state’s leading experts on the pending water issues in California and Orange County.

The class then travels to the Fountain Valley Ground Water Replenishment System Facility, that is a state-of-the-art water purification project that can produce up to 100 million gallons of high-quality water every day. During lunch at the new Marina Park in Newport Beach, the class will have the chance to tour the brand new facility and eat lunch on the patio overlooking the Newport Harbor. The Benjamin M Carlson Lifeguard Headquarters is next on the agenda, where the class will receive a tour headquarters and the Ben Carlson memorial statue.

Finally, the day ends with a relaxing harbor cruise where the class has an opportunity to get to know each other better, create lasting relationships and discuss ideas for their upcoming class project.

“Upon the subject of education – I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in.” – Abraham Lincoln (Quote of the Day for Workshop #3)

With an eye to the theme of “Trends in Technology & Innovation, the Leadership Tomorrow Education day 2016 started off at The Cove, UCI Applied Innovation where our panel of experts from local school districts spoke and shared about their respective districts. Panelist Kellie Pendergast, from the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, startled the LT class when she stated, “65% of grade school kids will end up working in jobs that don’t even exist yet.” Robert Craven, from the Tustin Unified School District shared that more than 400 of their teachers are now trained in new student-centered technology that is making a big difference in the district’s education of students. Another eye-opening fact, that was shared by Kellie was that there are over 75 different languages spoken in the city of Irvine and what a difficult challenge that is for the school district.

Following the Education Panel, the Leadership Tomorrow class took a tour of the UCI Applied Innovation facility hosted by Carolyn Stephens, Assistant Director of Applied Innovation. Ms. Stephens explained how the center helps to create intellectual property for use in the public domain. She pointed out that over 36,000 people go through the center each year and they work to go from proof of product to market with hundreds of new products. The Cove is the new center of innovation in Orange County and growing by leaps and bounds each year!

A stop to the UCI Mind (Institute for Mental Impairments and Neurological Disorders) that researches diseases like Alzheimer’s was next on the agenda. Did you know that Alzheimer’s is the 6^th leading cause of death for adults in the US?? UCI Mind is one of 31 specialized Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADRC) in the country and the only one in Orange County, which is home to 84,000 people with Alzheimer’s. During the presentation, each class member was given an opportunity to hold and take a close look at an actual human brain. Greater relevance was recognized when it was pointed out that by the year 2050 there will be 16 million cases of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States, and currently there is no cure… truly there is much work to do!

The LT class then headed to Orange County United Way, Irvine where Sergio Contreras, Director of Education & Work-Based Learning, met them. Mr. Contreras led the class in an interactive activity that highlighted the challenges that derail people who are on track to graduate from college. Some of the things that got in the way were family members needing help, financial challenges of life and paying for college, poor academic preparation for college and other items in and out of their control.  By the end of the activity, only a small number of people actually graduated from college and got good paying jobs. This activity was important in light of the fact that was shared – we will need 1 million career-ready college graduates by 2025! Currently, the Orange County United Way and other partners are working to reduce the high school drop off rate by 50%.

Education Day ended at the Advanced Technology & Education Park (ATEP) with – Corine Doughty, Dean of Instruction, Economic & Workforce Development. Ms. Doughty gave the LT class a tour of the laser optics and photonics lab and explained how the program is helping students be hired right into high tech jobs locally and throughout California. The class had the opportunity to tour and learn more about the various labs and design studios that exist to prepare students for the next level of jobs – high tech and innovation. The center is expanding in the next few years to be over twice the size and should be able to serve twice the number of students.

Leadership Tomorrow welcomes the Class of ’17 on Thurs, Sept 15 with a day full of team building activities, meet and greets and a little bit of Orange County history thrown in.  (more…)