Darren Cooke is the interim Chief Innovation & Entrepreneurship Officer at UC Berkeley. He is also the executive director of UC Berkeley’s Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center, a professional faculty member at the Haas School of Business, and past chair of the Bio Track at the Berkeley SkyDeck startup accelerator. Cooke teaches entrepreneurship at Haas and for the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. He is an investor and former chair of Medical Device and Digital Health at Life Science Angels. As an attorney, Cooke led the IP legal team for the life science tools group of Bio-Rad Laboratories, and was a life sciences patent litigator at Covington & Burling. Before law school, he was a mechanical engineer developing cochlear implants at UCSF.

Jeremy Fiance started The House Fund in 2016 after graduating from UC Berkeley.

There, Jeremy proved the campus' startup potential, co-launching several initiatives, including Kairos Society Berkeley and Free Ventures, student groups that increase access to entrepreneurial resources, which sparked over 50 startups that raised $50M by the time he graduated.

Universities have always been inspirational to Jeremy Fiance as profound places for ideas to feed off each other and inspire new thinking –– and UC Berkeley in particular. From the Free Speech Movement in the 60s, to the twenty-two nobel prizes, to discoveries like the cyclotron. Berkeley has always been pushing the edge of what's possible in today's world.

With that in mind, Jeremy is dedicated to strengthening Berkeley's startup community and equipping Berkeley founders with the tools needed to build great businesses, and keep the community strong and thriving.

Outside of the technology and startup world, Jeremy is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, table tennis gold medalist, amateur cartoonist, live music enthusiast, and die hard Cal fan. Go Bears!

Nhan Nguyen Le is the CEO and Founder of Valiance Capital, a Berkeley-based real estate investment firm specializing in value-add and ground up development in student housing and multifamily. Valiance is a vertically integrated owner-operator with over 1,000 beds under management in Berkeley. With an AUM of over $300 million, aggregated across a 26-property portfolio with a growing pipeline in Berkeley, Valiance is one of the most active and leading market participants. Valiance’s in-house property management division, The Berkeley Group, is amongst the leading specialized student housing management firms in the market, with a nearly perfect 100% year-over-year occupancy, over the past 12 years. Recently, Valiance and The Berkeley Group has become the proud student housing partner of Cal Athletics. Nhan graduated from UC Berkeley and currently lives in Elmwood, Berkeley. For more information visit: www.valiancecap.com

Patrick Kennedy is the owner of Panoramic Interests, a development firm that has been building housing, live-work space, and commercial property in the Bay Area since 1990. The firm has focused on dense, mixed-use, mixed-income, infill developments, typically financed with private funds. All of the multi-family housing projects include below market rate units. The firm’s projects incorporate the Smart Growth principles designed to discourage auto use, mitigate sprawl, encourage local business, and enhance the pedestrian streetscape. Mr. Kennedy grew up in the East Bay, and attended Claremont McKenna College, majoring in Economics and English. He is a former member of the Carpenters Union and Steelworkers Union, and the California Bar. After college, he worked as a contractor, and then attended Harvard Law School and MIT, graduating with a J.D. and a Masters in Real Estate Development. Early development work included building his own house, and renovating several small commercial properties. His hobbies include open water swimming and ultra-light backpacking, both of which have furnished surprising insights into his work in development.

At Behring Companies, our team has successfully navigated large scale mixed-use developments, leveraging a unique "Full Stack Real Estate" solution to integrate seamlessly across all real estate asset classes. With a strong focus on the San Francisco Bay Area, our efforts have culminated in the participation of over $3 billion in global real estate projects, underpinned by innovative tech ecosystems and mobile applications.

Our investment platform, including six private equity funds and a development firm, has harnessed over $300 million through an EB-5 investment platform, providing low-cost capital for construction while creating U.S. jobs. With competencies in fund administration, capital raising, and loan underwriting, my stewardship has been pivotal in driving forward investments and establishing a robust network of global suppliers and capital sources.

Christian M. Cerria is Development Director of Gilbane Development Company since 2017 and a proven entrepreneurial leader in sourcing and managing the development of large mixed-use projects across the country, successfully delivering or currently has in development over 2.5M SF / 2,500 Units / 5,000 beds valued at $750 million.

During that time frame, Mr. Cerria has overseen the strategic direction and development of Altus, The York, Tempo, and Western Gateway. Mr. Cerria has unique expertise in assemblages, entitlements, incentives, ground leases, design, finance, and public-private partnerships. As Development Director, he is responsible for sourcing deals and creatively developing them throughout the deal’s lifecycle as effectively and efficiently as possible, including site selection, market research, contract negotiations, managing relationships with key stakeholders and consultants, design, neighborhood outreach, entitlements, permits, financing, and construction to ensure the project’s success.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from the University of Maryland and a Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate from Georgetown University.

The Office of the Director provides department-wide leadership, management oversight, and policy direction for overall operations and implementation. The office oversees information technology projects, special projects and research, budget and fiscal oversight, regulatory compliance and reporting, and purchasing, payroll and accounting services for the entire Department.

Joel has 43+ years of experience in the construction industry, consistently involved with the planning, pre-construction, and construction management of large, complex projects. Earlier in his career Joel worked as both Architect and then General Contractor which allows him to bring tremendous value to Josehart Construction Management’s clients by providing services as a Construction Manager/Owner’s Representative. His project experience varies from the construction of the landmark Chabot Observatory in Oakland to the Seismic retrofit of the historic US Custom House in San Francisco. Currently, JCM has represented clients for almost 2,000 units in dozens of multi-family projects either completed, or in planning or in construction.

Sarmad has two decades of experience in the commercial real estate insurance industry and profoundly understands his clients; risks and challenges. He helps clients manage business risks and crafts cost-effective, tailored insurance programs using innovative risk transfer strategies and loss control implementations.

Before Woodruff Sawyer, Sarmad worked with top insurance brokerage firms and was a property manager and leasing agent. This firsthand experience gives him a unique perspective on the needs of commercial real estate businesses.

Sarmad holds a Commercial Lines Coverage Specialist (CLCS) designation. He is also a member of various local and national building ownership associations, developing strong connections to thoroughly understand client needs.

As an associate principal and senior project manager with Studio KDA, Austin excels as a master collaborator - lending design oversight, budgeting / schedule control, consultant coordination and continuity of service from project inception through construction completion.

Using his business acumen and design skills, Austin works closely with clients to realize the potential of their project sites or add value to existing assets. As an expert on student housing and code analysis, Austin often presents on topics related to new State and regional laws and their impact on the housing development landscape. As a project leader, he not only maximizes project potential but also creates appealing, efficient buildings that are welcome additions to their communities.

A licensed Architect and AIA member, Austin got his start with a BA in City Planning/Urban Design from UC Berkeley. While there he also completed a Minor in History of the Built Environment, setting up his life-long passion for the history of places as expressed in Landscape, Architectural, and Urban Design.

Wareham Development is committed to the long-term economic and environmental vitality of our communities. We work closely with city and state agencies to ensure that each project provides maximum benefit to its surrounding community. Unlike many developers who build projects only to sell, we retain ownership of the majority of our developments, many of which have defined the thriving technology corridor between the Bay and Richmond-San Rafael bridges.

Andres focuses on entitlements and land use as well as acquisitions and leasing.

Prior to Woodstock, Andres worked as a development director on behalf of a regional portfolio focused on mixed use development. He began his career practicing law at a global firm representing institutional lenders and servicers. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and SAMCEDA and stays involved with his alma mater, St Ignatius College Prep as an alumni board member.

Andres graduated from the University of San Diego where he earned a degree in International Relations. He lives in San Mateo with his wife and two children.

Utilizing her partnership development, stakeholder engagement, project management, facilitation, and research skills, Elizabeth draws on her past cross-sector experience to design city policies and programs to ensure socially and environmentally responsible economic growth. Before joining city government, Elizabeth led IHS Markit’s Economic Strategy Solutions regional competitiveness consulting practice and launched the corporate Sustainable Customer Solutions initiative to help clients leverage IHS’ information, analytics and insight to achieve their own sustainability objectives. In the last decade, Elizabeth has also founded her own consulting firm (Cross Sector Strategies); designed regional industry cluster development strategies at the Economic Competitiveness Group; and advised many business associations, academic institutions, philanthropies, and non-profit organizations on a broad range of economic and workforce development topics. While her current focus is local, Elizabeth’s work experience spans the globe: she has worked on industry development and policy research projects in multiple US states, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. In Berkeley, she leverages the leadership and knowledge of California’s life science industry leaders to foster local job creation, innovation and community well-being.

Manu Garg is a Project Executive at Turner Construction Company, currently leading the Gateway Project at UC Berkeley and the upcoming Bakar ClimatEnginuity Hub. With 18 years at Turner, he has been instrumental in delivering significant projects like the Chorus Residential Tower and 222 Second Street in San Francisco, along with various commercial and healthcare developments. Manu's extensive experience ensures high standards in quality assurance and effective team leadership. He is known for his collaborative, solution-focused approach and his ability to build strong, trust-based client relationships. His dedication to understanding and meeting client needs has made him a respected leader and a key asset to Turner Construction Company.

Steven Donaldson is a partner in and founder of RadiantBrands, a full service branding and marketing agency that focuses on shaping brands in urban environments. He has a background in urban planning and works with commercial real estate and multifamily housing developers as well as architects. In addition, he has numerous years of experience in retail branding and marketing. As a member of the International Downtown Association he’s also worked in urban center branding and activation throughout the Bay Area and nationally. He and his agency have participated in several large-scale projects that include housing, retail and office mixes. Their work includes the initial branding of Old Oakland, work with the Fourth Street Shopping District in Berkeley and the branding and launch of Brooklyn Basin. He has a degree in Urban Studies and Economics from San Francisco State University. Prior to founding RadiantBrands he worked for several city-planning consultancies in the Bay Area. He’s a Bay Area native and currently lives in Berkeley California.