Advisory Group

The Berkeley Startup Cluster is guided by a Steering Committee and more than 50 Advisors with a shared desire to leverage Berkeley’s innovation sector to improve economic vitality, fiscal health and quality of life in the City of Berkeley.

Adena aIshii

  • Mayor, City of Berkeley

Lon Addison

  • Strategic Consultant, Digital Catalyst
  • Advisor, Geopogo
  • Adjunt Faculty, University College Dublin School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy

Joel Armin-Hoiland

  • Founder & CEO, Climate Finance Solutions
  • Co-Founder and Advisor, The Climate Map

Gregory Bell

  •  Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Corelight
  • Former Division Director for Scientific Networking, LBNL

Ryan Bethencourt

  • Co-Founder and CEO, Wild Earth
  • Co-Founder and Venture Partner, IndieBio

Eric Bjerkholt

  • CFO, Chinook Therapeutics
  • Director, Cerus Corporation
  • Director, Graybug Vision

Paul Buddenhagen

  • City Manager, City of Berkeley

Sam Calisch

  • Founder and CEO, Copper

Etosha Cave

  • Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Twelve

Sibyl Chen

  • General Manager, Berkeley SkyDeck

Kristi Childers

  • Commercial Real Estate Advisor, JLL

Rahul Chopra

  • Partner, Ventus Partners
  • Sr. Advisor – Energy Technologies Area, Berkeley Lab
  • Entrepreneur and Strategic Advisor

Jennifer Cogley

  • Deputy Director for Community Relations, Bayer

Kim-Mai Cutler

  • Partner, Initialized Capital early-stage venture fund
  • Former technology and financial journalist, TechCrunch

Kal Deutsch

  • Founding Investor-Advisor and Partner, Batchery startup accelerator
  • Investor, Berkeley Angel Network
  • International startup lecturer and coach

Steven Donaldson

  • Co-Founder and Principal, Radiant Brands

Tiff Dressen

  • Strategic Initiatives lead, UC Berkeley Office of Research

August Fern

  • Early stage investor with venture funds and family offices
  • CleanTech Track chair with Berkeley SkyDeck

Jeremy Fiance

  • Founder and Managing Partner, The House Fund

Jill Fuss

  • Managing Director, Activate Berkeley

Susan Giesecke

  • Director of Global Engagement, Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

Deepak Gupta

  • Managing Partner, Blue Bear Ventures
  • Startup Advisor, Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program at UC Berkeley

Jeremy Hammer

  • Founder, CatalistX

Stig Hansen

  • Co-founder, CEO and President, Kimia Therapeutics
  • Co-founder and Director, Carmot Therapeutics
  • Founder and CEO, Sotorasib RH LLC

Chris Haugh

Director for Platform at Roadrunner Venture Studios and Roadrunner Fund
Former Advisor to Playground Global
Former speechwriter for Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State
J.D. Yale Law School
Completed post-graduate studies at Oxford
B.A. University of California, Berkeley

Rachel Haurwitz

  • Co-Founder, CEO and President, Caribou Biosciences

Steven Horowitz

  • Founder and Principal, Ovidian Group global intellectual property business advisory firm
  • Mentor, UC Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program
  • Judge & Mentor, UC Berkeley Big Ideas Competition
  • Judge & Mentor, UC Berkeley LAUNCH Accelerator

David Horsley

  • Professor, Northeastern University
  • Former Founder and CTO, TDK-Chirp Microsystems
  • UC Berkeley SkyDeck Chip Track Chair
  • Co-Director, Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center

Wesley Jackson

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Valitor

Neena Kadaba

  • Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Apple Tree Partners
  • Former Director of Science, Quark Venture
  • Former Director of Strategic Partnerships, QB3

Clark Kellogg

  • Co-Founder, Berkeley Innovation Group
  • Faculty Lead, “Innovation, Creativity, & Design Practice,” Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
  • Visual Artist

Michelle Kiang

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Chirp Microsystems
  • Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Impact Science Ventures

Justin Knapp

  • Grants and Projects Administrator, ALL Power Labs

Camille LeBlanc

  • Founder and Board Chair, Blancspot Media
  • CEO and Founder, Juice Networks LLC
  • Chief Strategy Officer, Four Twenty Seven Inc.

Marco Lobba

  • Co-founder and CEO, Catena Biosciences

Michelle Lu

  • Chief Scientific Officer, Novel Farms

Richard Lyons

  • Chancellor, UC Berkeley

Keith McAleer

  • Communications Director, UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology and Department of Industrial Engineering & Operations Research

Carol Mimura

  •  Assistant Vice Chancellor, UC Berkeley’s Office of IP & Industry Research Alliances

Sloane Morgan

  • Developer, A3 Ventures Innovation Lab (GIG Car Share)
  • Customer Experience Officer, Sungevity
  • General Counsel

Tom Nishioka

  • Vice President, Thor Equities commercial real estate investor and developer

Kyla Oh

  • Acting Dean, Math, Science and Career Education, Berkeley City College
  • Full-time math instructor, Laney College

Bhavin Parikh

  • CEO and Founder, Magoosh

Matthew Rappaport

  • Co-Founder, Director UC Berkeley Deep Tech Innovation Lab
  • General Partner Future Frontier Capital
  • Co-Founder IP Checkups, Inc.

Kinkead Reiling

  • Founder and CEO, Bonneville Labs coworking space
  • Co-Founder, Amyris

David Reimer

  • Professional Faculty, Berkeley-Haas School of Business
  • Storytelling advisor, Berkeley Skydeck Accelerator
  • Author, Get Your Startup Story Straight

Mark Rhoades

  • CEO, Rhoades Planning Group
  • Downtown Berkeley Association, Board of Directors
  • Berkeley Design Advocates, Steering Committee

Alan Saldich

  • Vice President of Marketing, Cloudera

David Schaffer

  • Hubbard Howe Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UC Berkeley
  • Director of the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, QB3
  • Director of the Bakar Bioenginuity Hub and Bakar Labs

Rhonda Schrader

  • Executive Director, Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program
  • Executive Director, National Science Foundation I-Corps program (Bay Area Node)
  • Boardmember, UC Berkeley LAUNCH Accelerator
  • Advisor, NASA spinoff BrainAid

Gino Segre

  • Managing Director Bakar Labs, UC Berkeley
  • Former Incubator Manager, QB3

Scotty Vincent

  • Senior Director of Operations at Glyphic Biotechnologies

Bernt Wahl

  • CEO, Factle Maps
  • Executive Director, Brain Machine Consortium
  • Academic Advisor, Kairos Society

James Wang

  • Co-Founder of Lioness & General Partner, Creative Ventures

Judith Wetterer

  • Director of Marketing, Wareham Development

Sean Wihera

  • Director of Business Development, Clarity Movement