Startup Monterey Bay supports entrepreneurs, innovators and the startup community in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties by providing information about local resources, training, workshops, events, competitions, and opportunities to connect and network. This is a great region to live and work and we want to enable local entrepreneurs, innovators and startups to be able to succeed in this region.


Startup Monterey Bay is an institute of the College of Business at CSU Monterey Bay’s Institute for Innovation and Economic Development.

Startup Hackathon contestants

Meet Our Team

Leadership Team

Brad Barbeau, PhD.

Executive Director
Brad Barbeau, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the CSU Monterey Bay College of Business and Executive Director of the CSUMB Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (iiED). As a faculty member, he teaches courses in entrepreneurship and new venture formation and finance, and is faculty lead for the entrepreneurship concentration for the College of Business. As Executive Director for the iiED, he devotes his efforts to building the entrepreneurial ecosystem and developing and accelerating entrepreneurial ventures in the Monterey Bay region.

Jennifer Kuan, PhD.

Associate Director
Dr. Kuan is a member of the CSUMB entrepreneurship and economics faculty with a PhD from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She is currently studying the commercialization of publicly funded R&D and the history of venture capital. Prior to CSUMB, Jenny was a researcher at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research for over a decade. She also has a background in technology, with a decade of experience as an engineer in manufacturing at Apple and Solectron. In addition to her PhD from Berkeley, Jenny holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.

Dan Ripke

Director, Economic Development, Funding & Grants
Over the past 30 years, Dan Ripke has designed and implemented innovative projects, programs, and services designed to improve the economies of California communities. These include events, economic development research, technical assistance and policy presentations to support the creation and expansion of small businesses. Dan was the director of an EDA regional University Center program for 30 years and the director of a regional small business development center network (Northeastern California) for 14 years serving 23 of California's 58 counties. He has secured over $50 million in grant funding for economic development.

Mary Jo Zenk, MBA

Program Manager
As Program Manager of the Institute for Innovation & Economic Development (iiED) at CSUMB, she coordinates workshops, speaker series, competitions, and conferences that foster innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development on campus and in the local region. She also teaches graduate and undergraduate level courses in public and non-profit finance and management and consults in the areas of government budgeting and community, housing and economic development programs.

Lynnette Lathrop

Program Coordinator
Before moving to the central coast of California, Lynnette obtained associate degrees in Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities, and Business Administration from Pasadena City College. She received her B.S. in Sustainable Hospitality Management with a concentration in Sustainable Hotel, Resort and Event Management from California State University, Monterey Bay's College of Business in 2018. Her background includes academic research, hospitality management, revenue management, events management, and project management. Lynnette has worked with the iiED team in the past as a student assistant in 2016 and has returned to work as iiED's Program Coordinator in 2020.

Student Interns

Aya Cabero

Design Intern
Rochelle Ayana Cabero, also known as Aya, is a senior at CSUMB majoring in Communication Design with a concentration of Visual Design. She is a Design Intern who is responsible for print and web design. She implements creative ways that support the marketing team for iiED. Her passion is learning innovative ways that help hone her capabilities as a graphic designer. Recently, she has been approached by FitBit and the Monterey County Youth Museum to assist them. When she's not busy, she loves to walk her dog, play the violin, and paint.

Celina Harris

Assistant to Executive Director
Celina Harris has been an intern with iiED since 2019 where she began her first event, the Startup Investment & Community Capital Expo. The quick start assured her of her interest in the business realm. As she pursues her degree in business marketing, she continues to improve her core skills in management, perseverance, and resilience. She is an honor student and a Pay It Forward Scholar. Celina executes these skills through her roles as a coach, mentor, assistant, and volunteer. With this experience, she plans to become a sports marketer and open a studio gym to pursue her life-long passions for sports and health!

Jeannie Davis

Web Manager Intern
Jeannie is a senior at CSUMB majoring in Computer Science. She specializes in website and mobile app development. She has a passion for building web applications and is an avid gamer. She spends most of her free time playing video games or working on her side projects.

Kenneth Olsen

Marketing Intern
Kenneth is the marketing intern for IIED, as well as the student Co-founder of CSUMB's GetVirtual Branch. This Fall 2020, He will be graduating CSUMB with a Bachelor's in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business & Management. Before deciding to continue his education, he started a small business in Santa Barbara, CA, and was able to sell the company before coming back to Monterey. He has been familiar with the entrepreneurship community and is happy to work for a distinguished organization here on the Monterey Bay Peninsula. As a marketing intern, he has been able to focus his skills in helping build our brand awareness and engagement through our growing social media. After graduation, he plans to continue the entrepreneurship journey, while also getting into real estate. His hopes are to work in commercial real estate in his later years.

Linda Tseng

Events and Research Intern
Linda is the research intern at iiED. Her major is Collaborate Health and Human Services. She is interested in Business Analytics. It is clear that all resources are best spent on data science and business analytics, then can explain and convey our results to the consumers and entrepreneurs by the data and graph, and making sense easier as well. Besides, she is also interested in understanding advanced concepts of business logic from data perspective. Additionally, she is currently the UROC researcher as well, she is equipped with research experience and data management skills. For her plan after graduation, she would like to pursue a Master degree in Business Analysis.

Marta Gubanova

Instructional Design Intern
Instructional Designer with 9 years of intercultural experience in Digital Marketing, Content Development, and IT QA Management. Marta brings a global perspective, her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Translation (English/Spanish-Russian) and a Master’s in Area Studies.
Currently, Marta is finishing up a Master’s program at CSUMB and working on Launchpad Learning - an online learning platform for startuppers in the Monterey Bay area. As an intern at the iiED, she helped to design lessons and workshops on Entrepreneurship and Marketing.
Marta is passionate about delivering great user experience and creating engagement and excitement in training.

Nina Cornelius

Events Intern
My name is Nina Cornelius and this will be my last year at CSUMB. I will be graduating in the Spring! My major is Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and a minor in Spanish. I am currently the Event Management Intern at iiED and I am also the head of all of iiED’s Monthly Tech Meetups. Additionally, I am a Peer Mentor for TRIO Student Support Services. I am pretty involved on campus with clubs and events on campus, as well as I have served on the Dean’s Advisory Council. In my free time, you will find me doing arts and crafts, cooking, creating new fashion and makeup looks, spending time with family, enjoying Disney+ , reading a good book or traveling and taking mini adventures with the people I love! My plans for after graduation include attending graduate school and obtaining my MBA. The ultimate goal is to own my own Event Planning company.

Pernille Dahl

Website Developer Intern
Pernille Dahl is a UX/UI Engineer & Website manager working with CSUMB iiED and GetVirtual. She graduated from California State University Monterey Bay in 2020 with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, concentrating on Software Engineering and with a minor in Web Development. She is also volunteering as a mentor for a capstone project at CSUMB called GAAME.
  • Aya Cabero, Design Intern
  • Celina Harris, Assistant to the Executive Director
  • Jeannie Davis, Web Manager Intern
  • Kathybelle Barlow, Management and Research Intern
  • Kenneth Olsen, Marketing Intern
  • Linda Tseng, Events and Research Intern
  • Marta Gubonova, Instructional Design Intern
  • Nina Cornelius, Events Intern
  • Pernille Dahl, Project Manager and Website Developer

Staff

  • Anjika Grinager, Graphic Design and Web Management
Bread Barbeau

Brad Barbeau, PhD., Executive Director

 

Brad Barbeau, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the CSU Monterey Bay College of Business and Executive Director of the CSUMB Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (iiED). As a faculty member, he teaches courses in entrepreneurship and new venture formation and finance, and is faculty lead for the entrepreneurship concentration for the College of Business. As Executive Director for the iiED, he devotes his efforts to building the entrepreneurial ecosystem and developing and accelerating entrepreneurial ventures in the Monterey Bay region.
Dr. Barbeau holds an undergraduate degree in economics and history from Michigan State University, and holds an MBA, M.A. in economics and Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He has published articles on business model development and is currently working on projects on the process of new business formation, entrepreneurial strategy development, and marketing theory and practice in the internet age.
Brad works with startup companies both in operating capacities and as an outside advisor. He is currently on the board of California Coastal Rural Development Corporation, a lender to agriculture and
small businesses.

Dan Ripke photo

Dan Ripke, Director, Economic Development, Funding and Grants

Over the past 30 years, Dan Ripke has designed and implemented innovative projects, programs, and services designed to improve the economies of California communities.   These include events, economic development research, technical assistance and policy presentations to support the creation and expansion of small businesses.   Dan was the director of an EDA regional University Center program for 30 years and the director of a regional small business development center network (Northeastern California) for 14 years serving 23 of California’s 58 counties.  He has secured over $50 million in grant funding for economic development. 

Mary Jo Zenk photo

Mary Jo Zenk, MBA, Program Manager

 

As Program Manager of the Institute for Innovation & Economic Development (iiED) at CSUMB, she coordinates workshops, speaker series, competitions, and conferences that foster innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development on campus and in the local region. She also teaches graduate and undergraduate level courses in public and non-profit finance and management and consults in the areas of government budgeting and community, housing and economic development programs.

Advisory Council and Committee

Name, Degree, Job Title

  • Bob Margevicius – Executive VP, Specialized Bicycle Components
  • Brad van Dam, CEO, Marich Chocolates
  • Brooks McChesney – Retired CEO and Investor
  • Brigid McGrath-Massie – Author and Professional speaker
  • Carmen Herrera – Director, El Pajaro Community Development Corporation
  • Craig Vachon – CEO, Chowdahead
  • Daniella Russo, CEO, Think Beyond Plastic
  • Dennis Donohue – Director, Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology
  • Doug Erickson – CEO, Santa Cruz Works
  • Doug Yount, Project Director, Marina Community Partners, Inc.
  • Harvey Dadwal – Owner and CEO, Marriott Springhill Suites at the Dunes
  • Ian Oglesby – Mayor, City of Seaside
  • Ignacio Velasquez, Mayor, City of Hollister
  • Jennifer D’Acquisto – SVP, Bank of America
  • Joel Gambord – CEO, Joel Gambord Investments
  • John Dicconson – CEO, Tech Care Now
  • Kelly Crampton, SVP, Indus Corporation
  • Paul Powers, Partner, Paul Power Associates
  • Ray Corpuz, City Manager, City of Salinas
  • Rene Mendez – City Manager, City of Gonzales
  • Rock Clapper, CEO, NGB Markets
  • Sara Isenberg – Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Santa Cruz Tech Beat
  • Scott Komar – SVP, Driscoll’s Berries
  • Shyam Kamath – Founding Dean, College of Business at Cal State Monterey Bay

Associated Professors and Researchers

  • Dante DiGregorio PhD, College of Business
  • Jennifer Kuan, PhD, College of Business
  • Miguel Lara, PhD, School of Computing and Design
  • Angie Nariswari PhD, College of Business
  • Joel Ryman, PhD, College of Business
  • Heiko Wieland, PhD, College of Business

Name, Degree Pursuing, Job Title