2022 Innovators of the Year
About the Innovation Homecoming: The Inland Empire is a fast-growing region that is teeming with innovation, and much of that innovation centers around the people who were born and raised in the region. Some of our innovators have made a name for themselves in the region, while many others have distinguished themselves in other parts of the state or across the country. What if we had an alumni reception for our innovators, not for any particular high school or university, but for the entire two-county region? This is the idea behind the Inland Empire Innovation Homecoming series.
On Thursday, May 12 we welcomed back and celebrated our alumni entrepreneurs and innovators via an inaugural virtual awards event. Although we did not crown a “king” and “queen” at this homecoming, we did award outstanding innovators and entrepreneurs in different categories. Winners were selected through a comprehensive nominations process, with the help of institutions, alumni, and professional networks.
The following profiles include our inaugural class of “Innovators of the Year” and “Innovators of Distinction” for 2022. These outstanding innovators and entrepreneurs have created amazing products, services, or processes that impact our local communities. Please take a moment to read through their stories. Our goal is to continually lift up Inland Empire innovation stories to highlight our region’s creativity, determination, and passion.
Public Private Partnership
Jesus "Chuy" Flores
Innovator of the Year
About Chuy: Jesus “Chuy” Flores is a Senior Associate at Estolano Advisors and an alum of Cajon High School in San Bernardino and currently serves on the City of San Bernardino’s City Planning Commission where he helps to advise on key land use and development decisions. Estolano Advisors is an award-winning urban planning and public policy firm. Estolano Advisors works with public agencies, non-profits, philanthropies, and businesses to craft innovative solutions to address complex problems. Since joining Estolano Advisors, Chuy has helped lead the firm’s environmental and economic equity practice managing applied research studies, stakeholder engagement processes, and technical assistance programs. Chuy’s recent work includes The AB 617 Portside Community Steering Committee facilitation work that puts community-driven decision-making into practice. In collaboration with the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, Chuy improved bilingual materials and introduced interactive workshop activities focused on air quality topics. Chuy’s team successfully employed a new facilitation practice to institute clear decision-making and ensure Spanish monolingual residents felt empowered to inform the development of the Portside Community Emissions Reduction Plan.
For more information visit: https://estolanoadvisors.com
Mission Driven Enterprise
Gabe Maldonaldo
Innovator of the Year
About Gabe: Gabe Maldonado has made an incredible impact in his community, and we’d like to take the time to also honor his work. Gabe is CEO of TruEvolution and an alumn of UCR with his BA in Political Science and International Relations and alumn of University of Redlands with an MBA. Gabe was born in Fontana and is fourth generation from the Inland Empire. Gabe founded TruEvolution while in his undergrad at UCR and expanded the organization as a graduate student at the University of Redlands. Gabe is also a former Commissioner for the City of Riverside, Human Relations Comission.TruEvolution is an organization that fights for health equity and racial justice to advance the quality of life and human dignity for LGBTQ+ communities of color. TruEvolution serves San Bernardino and Western Riverside Counties. Gabe has shown innovative work and leadership with TruEvolutions’ Project Legacy, which will be the first LGBTQ+ and youth focused housing projects under project homekey. Project Legacy will also be home to one of the first wrap-around “community campus” in the state of California.
For more information visit: https://www.truevolution.org
Erica Beal
Innovator of Distinction
About Erica: Erica is the CEO and Founder of AVIVV and an alumn of the University of LaVerne with an MBA. AVIVV is a purpose driven firm that believes in impacting military communities through training and hiring veterans and military spouses. AVIVV uses a unique approach through its Impact Now program which approaches military spouse and veteran employment through a holistic lens that fosters strategic partnerships with nonprofits, government, and like minded corporations committed to serving the military community. Erica founded AVIVV with her experience in her engineering career and her background as a military spouse and created the Impact Now program to hire transitioning veterans and veteran spouses into the energy and utility industry. AVIVV has offices in San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Texas, and New Jersey. AVIVV is certified woman-owned and latina-owned as well as the first certified military spouse-owned firm by the US Chamber of Military Spouse of Commerce.
For more information visit: https://www.avivv.com
Corey Jackson
Innovator of Distinction
About Corey: Corey Jackson, as another INNOVATOR OF DISTINCTION in this category. The work that Corey has done in this region is so important. Corey is CEO of Sigma Beta Xi and an alum of Rialto High School, Cal State San Bernardino with a BA in Political Science, and Cal Baptist University with a Masters in Social Work. Sigma Beta Xi serves Western Riverside County and works to break the cycles of poverty through mentoring, education, and community organizing. Created with a fraternity model, Sigma Beta Xi builds strong and long term relationships with its community members. Since 1998, Sigma Beta Xi has provided mentoring and youth development services in the Inland Empire to over 200 youth and their families annually in the communities of Rialto, Riverside, Moreno Valley, Perris, San Jacinto, Hemet, and Murrieta. What started as a high school club at one high school, Sigma Beta Xi Inc has become a leading nonprofit organization that provides an alternative to suspension and incarceration for the most at-risk young men and women in our region.
For more information visit: https://www.sigmabetaxi.com
Accelerator and Incubator
Scott Agajanian
Innovator of the Year
About Scott: Scott is the Director of Economic Development for the City of Murrieta and also facilitates the work of the Murrieta Innovation Center. Scott is an alumn of Cal State San Bernardino with an MPA. The Murrieta Innovation Center has been around for 8 years and is a Life Sciences Incubator. The mission of the Murrieta Innovation Center is to develop life science startups and create new jobs for the region. The Murrieta Innovation Center is currently home to 10 medical technology-based businesses that are incubating to grow out of that space and into the business community
For more information visit: https://www.murrietaca.gov/215/Murrieta-Innovation-Center
Technology Innovation
Leslie Hickle
Shailendra Singh
Innovator of the Year
About Leslie and Shailendra: Leslie is the CEO and Shailendra is the CTO of Farmsense. Leslie received both her B.S. and Ph.D. from UC Riverside and has been an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, mentoring faculty and students since 2013 and also serves on UC Riverside’s CNAS Dean’s Advisory Board. Shailendra is also an alumnus of UCR, earning his PhD in Computer Science in 2015. Leslie and Shailendra co-founded FarmSense with Dr. Eamonn Kogh five years ago which is based in Riverside. FarmSense’s mission is to reduce pesticide dependence by providing real-time actionable data and risk-adjusted treatment outcome options and analysis to growers. Crop Protection is an essential element of sustainable agriculture and Farmsense has been acknowledged as the founders of Computational Entomology, a nexus of engineering hardware, computer software, AI/ML and pest and crop biology. Farmsense’s technology empowers farmers to eliminate broad spectrum pesticide sprays and embrace more environmentally friendly methods of pest management. Farmsense so far has provided services to the US and EU. Shailendra and Leslie have known each other for six years and have worked together for five years.
For more information visit: https://www.farmsense.io
Mohammed Kuko
Innovator of Distinction
About Mohammed: Mohammed was born and raised in the Inland Empire and is an alumn of North High School in Riverside and RCC. Mohammed is Founding Secretary of the Sahaba Initiative, a San Bernardino based non-profit that provides mental health services, financial assistance, and food aid to local communities, as well as a data scientist. Mohammed created and founded Pantri, a web-based, data driven tool that utilizes machine learning and predictive analytics to power food distribution to vulnerable communities. The project came to fruition two and a half years ago after Mohammed needed a more efficient way to provide services to families. Pantri gives any food pantry the ability to predict future visitors using machine learning so they can serve more clients while reducing food waste. Pantri is now used by other food pantries and food services organizations across North America.
For more information visit: https://pantri.com
Joshua Morales
Innovator of Distinction
About Joshua: Josh grew up in Fontana and the greater Riverside area and is an alumn of Jurupa Valley High School, RCC and Norco Colleges. Josh also attended UCR to earn his BA in Electrical Engineering and the majority of his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering. After finishing his PhD from UCI, Josh returned to the IE to launch StarNav LLC in 2020 with two other founders. StarNav is located in downtown Riverside and is committed to bringing high-tech jobs to the region. StarNav’s mission is to provide a reliable and accurate backup to GPS to enable autonomous vehicles and enhance national security. StarNav StarNav’s products use ambient radio signals that were never intended for navigation. These signals include cellular, television, and internet satellite signals. StarNav is a start-up with a group of passionate science nerds, researchers, and engineers. Key members of StarNav spent years in academia studying fundamentals, deriving theory, and presenting preliminary simulation and experimental demonstrations. StarNav was created out of a passion to bridge the gap between academic research and production technologies.
For more information visit: https://starnav.io
Next Gen
Zubin Carvalho
Tenzing Carvalho
SoCal Faceshields for Frontline Workers
Innovator of the Year
About Zubin and Tenzing:
Zubin and Tenzing are brothers and were born in Hemet. Their family has been in the valley for over 40 years. As students at Western Center Academy in Hemet, they saw the growing need for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the height of the pandemic. Zubin and Tenzing started SoCal Face Shields for Frontline Workers in March of 2020 to donate PPE to people who normally aren’t front of the line to receive it. Using a 3D printer, they spent thousands of hours and coordinated with 18 local schools in four school districts during the pandemic lockdown to deliver essential PPE to those that needed it most. SoCal Face Shields for Frontline Workers has expanded to donating 3D printers to local schools who were part of the effort during the pandemic. Zubin and Tenzing also provided PPE to all the election workers for Riverside County, two entire school district’s staff (Hemet and San Jacinto), postal offices, all the nursing homes and assisted care facilities in Hemet, Kaiser, the county hospital as well as Loma Linda VA hospital. Zubin and Tenzing also sent PPE to Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, England, Philippines, and all around the United States. Zubin and Tenzing have worked together with SoCal Face Shields for Frontline Workers for two years but have known each other their whole lives. Zubin and Tenzing prove that innovation is certainly not limited by age.
For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/SoCal-Faceshields-for-Frontline-Workers-109585757404363/
Social Innovation
Ashley Hill
Innovator of the Year
About Ashley: Ashley is the Founder and Executive Director of Magdalena’s Daughters and is an alum of the University of La Verne with her BA in Psychology and Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy. Ashley is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with years of experience in working with foster youth, group homes, and CSEC populations. The mission of Magdalena’s Daughters is to provide therapeutic residential services, life skills, and education to transform the lives of sexually exploited and at-risk female foster youth. Ashley’s vision of therapeutic residential services rethinks residential services for foster and at-risk youth as Ashley notes that foster youth need more consistent relationships and smaller settings to feel safe and heal from trauma. Magdalena’s Daughters’ plans to develop a community where foster youth reside in homes with 2 parents to help with attachment and relationship consistency but also be a part of a community where families can support one another.
For more information visit: https://www.magdalenasdaughters.org
Rakayla Simpson
Dar'rell Jones
Innovator of the Distinction
About Rakayla and Dar’rell: Rakayla is the Leadership Development Coordinator at BluEducational Foundation and was born and raised in San Bernardino as well as alumn from Rio Vista Elementary, King Middle School, and graduated from Arroyo Valley High School. Rakayla did her undergraduate degree in Georgia but returned to the IE and continues to work in the community. Dar’rell is Career Pathways Coordinator at BluEducational Foundation and is also from San Bernardino and considers himself a proud Cardinal and graduate of San Bernardino High School. Dar’rell is also an alumn of Cal State San Bernardino with bachelor’s degrees in biology and business administration. The mission of BluEducational Foundation is to provide educational and human services programming to youth, adults, and organizations in order to build healthy productive communities. At BluEducational Foundation, Rakayla and Dar’rell work collaboratively to serve students through the Social Justice and Philanthropy Pathway and Guided Pathways Student Leadership Trainings. By centering each students’ passions, BluEducational Foundation strives to cultivate and support leaders who have both the motivation and inspiration to implement change. BluEducational Foundations serves students in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Rakayla and Dar’rell have known and worked with each other for three years but Dar’rell notes, have both been part of the San Bernardino Community their whole lives.
For more information visit: https://www.bluedfoundation.org
Suzie Gomez
Innovator of Distinction
About Suzie: Suzie was born and raised in the Inland Empire and is an alumnus of San Bernardino Valley College and California State University San Bernardino with undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Art History and graduate studies in Rehabilitation Counseling. Suzie is the CEO of Inland Empire Community Collaborative which serves San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Inland Empire Community Collaborative supports nonprofits to collectively advocate in making the region more equitable, diverse and just, through capacity building strategies and collaboration. IECC is driven to systematically improve the quality of life for children and families in the IE by advocating for data driven policy and advocacy. Addressing the needs of communities that have been historically marginalized is critical to securing the socioeconomic future of children and families in the region. Suzie believes the only way to achieve these efforts is to grow regional capacity through building a coalition of like-minded organizations and community stakeholders that work toward improving the lives of children and families in the IE.
For more information visit: https://inlandempirecommunitycollaborative.org