What Top SoCal Innovation Thought-Leaders Discuss Over Dinner

By Andy Wilson

What happens when you gather a Nobel Prize winner, CEOs of highly successful start-ups, and industry leaders for a delicious meal and a thoughtful discussion about innovation? We found out earlier this summer as we gathered a distinguished group of guests at the historic Hale Solar Laboratory for the first of a series of intimate SoCal innovation leadership dinners. The site is a local architectural gem, tucked away on a tree lined residential street in Pasadena, in the private backyard of distinguished local architects Stefanos Polyzoides and Elizabeth Moule.

Our evening’s guest of honor was Frances Arnold, 2018 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and Professor of Engineering and Bioengineering at Caltech. Other guests included Julie Miller-Phipps, President of Kaiser Permanente Southern California; Michael Phipps, President & CTO at Collaborative Innovation Partners; Bassil Dahiyat, CEO of Xencor; Steve Flagg, CEO & Founder of Supplyframe; Hallie Kuhn, Principal at Alexandria Venture Investments; Michael Lykoudis, Dean of the School of Architeture at Notre Dame; Sean Moriarty, CEO of Leaf Group; Carl Schoelhammer, Founder & COO at Suono Bio; and John Suh, CEO of LegalZoom.

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Andy Wilson is the Executive Director of the Alliance for SoCal Innovation. You can also find him on Linkedin and the Alliance website.