Nominations for Titans of Tech 2023 are OPEN!

January 10, 2024, will mark Santa Cruz Works’ 7th Annual Titans of Tech! At this event, we celebrate people who have inspired us with their abilities to overcome challenges, their successes, their character, and their contributions to our community. In past years, Titans have included folks like Jacob Martinez, Toby Corey, JoeBen Bevirt, Alexandra Navarro, Nina Simon, and many more. A full list of past Titans down below.

Prior to each event, we ask community members to submit their nominees and a committee at Santa Cruz Works reviews and carefully selects the final Titans based on community feedback.

Nominate the next Titan!

This is your chance to nominate someone from your company or community. Who is making a positive difference to the social, commercial, and/or health of your company? Fill out the nomination form below to share more about the individual(s) doing inspiring work or the substantial impact they’ve made. We will review submissions and select the top 10 based on merit and overall impact. We will feature nominees in upcoming newsletter articles. Nominations close on December 15, 2023 at 8am. We will announce the finalists late December.

Each Titan will be introduced by their nominator or person of choice and the Titan will have 2 minutes to share their story on stage with our community. Come connect with community members and learn about the personal journeys of the people who’ve significantly made our businesses and community even better. As usual, we’ll kick off the event at 6pm with networking and music. Food and beverages are included in the entry fee. Tickets will be on sale in November. Keep an eye out in our newsletter for more information.

juliane farand headshot

Juliane Farrand

So who has already been nominated?

The first nominee has been sent in! JoeBen Bevirt, CEO of Joby Aviation nominated Juliane Farrand, Head of People for being a backbone to their success from the very early days of Joby Aviation. Congratulations Juliane!

More nominees: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

Your Turn to Nominate!

But before you do, check below to see if the person has been a Titan in previous years.

Previous Titans

December 7, 2022

March 2nd, 2021

  • Alex Gershenson / Supply Shift

  • Alexander Wolf / UCSC Baskin School of Engineering

  • Becca Fenwick / UCSC

  • Chris Miller / Cloud Brigade

  • Hilary Bryant / Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County

  • James Hackett & Chris Frost / Equal Access Santa Cruz

  • Michael Sikand / Our Future

  • Nicole Beck / 2ndNATURE Software Philippe Kahn / FullPower Technologies

  • Roya Pakzad / Taraaz Research

January 8th, 2020

January 17, 2019

John Felts - Cruz Foam
Chrissy Meyer - Partner at Root Ventures
Guy Kawasaki - Chief evangelist, Canva. Board member, Cheeze. Brand ambassador, Mercedes-Benz.
Sara Isenberg - Santa Cruz Tech Beat
Robin Hunicke - Professor at UCSC and Co-Founder at Funomena
Socrates Rosenfeld - Jane Technologies
David Dennis - Microsoft / Ventana Surfboards & Supplies
Orion Melehan - LIFEAID Beverage Co.

January 25, 2018

Darrin Caddes - Plantronics
Doug Erickson - Santa Cruz New Tech MeetUp / Nanigans
Heidi Schriefer - Looker
Ted Holladay - Studio Holladay
Jeremy Almond - Paystand
Bonnie Lipscomb - City of Santa Cruz Economic Development Office
Justis Earle - HANSNAP
Keri Waters - Buoy Labs

Robert Singleton - Santa Cruz County Business Council

JoeBen Bevirt- Joby Aviation

February 23, 2017

Ken Kannappan, Plantronics
Ryan Evans, Inboard
Keri Waters, Calliope Waterworks, Inc.
Sol Lipman, Ya Doggie
Jacob Martinez, Digital NEST
Toby Corey, SolarCity/Tesla
Peggy Dolgenos, Cruzio Internet
Drew Meyer, Amazon Web Services
Mohamed Abousalem, UC Santa Cruz Office of Research
Margaret Lawrence Rosas, Looker

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