A behavioral science-backed workshop for people leaders ready to move past AI hype — discover your leadership style, understand how AI amplifies it, and leave with a concrete strategic roadmap in hand.

In a historic first for Santa Cruz, elementary school students took center stage as forum moderators, drawing strong community turnout and sparking an authentic civic conversation between mayoral candidates and the next generation of city residents.

Your first hire is a turning point for your business. Make sure you get it right — join this free, step-by-step webinar designed to take small business owners from "where do I start?" to confident, compliant hiring.

The Farm Robotics Challenge unites the brightest young minds in agriculture and engineering to solve real problems happening in fields right now. From autonomous weeders to AI-powered pest detection, competing teams design, build, and test robotic systems that could reshape how the world grows food — and the best ideas don't just win prizes, they become companies.

CEO Works Luncheon: Kelsey Manne Donnellan helps leaders turn conflict into collaboration with practical tools for stronger, more open teams.

CarbonBridge, a Santa Cruz Works Accelerates graduate, just landed an additional $1.85M from ARPA-E — bringing their total federal award to $2.57M and signaling serious momentum in next-generation biomanufacturing.

Santa Cruz’s Dragon Gate tells the story of the city’s forgotten Chinese American history along the San Lorenzo River. A short film from the Coastal Watershed Council traces Santa Cruz’s five Chinatowns, the last of which was destroyed in the 1955 flood, and highlights the monument now standing at Chinatown Bridge as a reminder of the people who helped shape the city. The article also connects that history to today’s riverfront revival, including Laurie Egan of Coastal Watershed Council speaking at New Tech at River Row.

Two UCSC founders built Judging.dev — the first open source, AI-native, always-free competition hosting platform — after watching judging infrastructure collapse into spreadsheet chaos one too many times. They're presenting at New Tech on June 4.

AI has made code creation easy. But Google I/O speaker Adam Bender warns that flooding one node stresses the whole system. Watch his talk — and rethink what "building fast" actually costs.

The UC Santa Cruz Science Division has named three alumni as recipients of its 2026 Distinguished Alumni Awards, celebrating careers that have reshaped medicine, healthcare policy, and our understanding of the cosmos.

UCSC announces their ambitious undergraduate housing project has been approved by the UC Board of Regents, as a part of their plan to increase student housing by 40% within the next ten years.

Santa Cruz Works New Tech heads to River Row on June 4 for an evening of riverfront networking, local innovation, and fast-moving founder presentations. This month’s lineup features companies working across accessibility, AI-powered building insights, ocean intelligence, sustainable materials, and downtown river activation.

Join Santa Cruz Works on June 12 for breakfast, networking, and a behind-the-scenes look at Future Motion, the Santa Cruz company behind Onewheel. This Company Spotlight runs from 8:00–9:30am at Future Motion HQ, with free tickets for SCW members and $10 general admission.

Santa Cruz will host an invitation-only Flight Test Summit on June 12 at Joby Aviation’s headquarters, bringing together flight test pilots, engineers, innovators, and local supporters. Interested attendees or sponsors can submit the interest form to be considered for an invitation.

PG&E’s free EV Advisory Services program helps eligible small businesses explore the transition to medium- and heavy-duty electric fleets. Through expert guidance on planning, equipment, charging, costs, and infrastructure, the program gives Santa Cruz County businesses a no-cost way to start electrifying without guesswork.

2026 Work Life Survey lucky winners! Thank you again to all of our sponsors.

The most underpriced risk in advanced air mobility isn't technical — it's social. DART's Josh Metz made the case at a national AAM workshop that community trust and workforce readiness determine whether the sector scales.

Santa Cruz Works reached out to our community this year with a simple question: how are we doing, and how can we do better? Nearly 2000 people responded — longtime partners, newer members, newsletter subscribers, and engaged community members who haven't yet formalized their connection with us. Their answers were generous, candid, and full of ideas. Here's what we heard.

Jonathan Lo's Keeping People Interested reframes marketing's core purpose: stop chasing attention and start earning it. His empathy-first framework helps founders move customers from awareness to advocacy — without ever feeling like they're being sold to.

A Santa Cruz Experience you definitely have not had. Experience hospitality in a new Mindset with Steve Fortunato.