2024 Santa Cruz Works Board

LeBaron Meyers

President. LeBaron is a business development executive, leadership and communication coach and huge proponent of raising our collective EQ to best solve today’s greatest challenges. Her career has spanned multiple industries in both the large corporate space of investment management as well as early start-up environments in digital media and tech, with a focus on relationship building, strategic partnerships and brand evangelism. LeBaron Consulting

Jacob Martinez

Secretary. Jacob is the Founder/Executive Director at Digital NEST. Jacob is passionate about supporting young people to become tech leaders. His company is based out of Watsonville. Jacob has a BS in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UCSC and an MS in Instructional Science and Technology from California State University, Monterey Bay.

David Doolin

Treasurer. David has lived and worked in Santa Cruz for 12 years and expanded PP&Co accounting practices. In that time, he has doubled then number of people who work out of the Santa Cruz office where they serve the Santa Cruz community from early venture funded startups to the largest of local businesses. In addition, he has served on the Boards of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County,  Kuumbwa Jazz Society, and Hospice of Santa Cruz County.

Alexi Sevastopoulos

Ex-Officio. Alexi is a Santa Cruz resident, holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and is part of the founding teams at Armature Systems (F2000 technology integrator) and the Santa Clara University Venture Accelerator, and Santa Clara Ventures - a venture capital firm that invests in the top start-ups founded by Santa Clara University alumni, graduate-level students, faculty, and staff.

Allison Steitz

Allison is a Santa Cruz resident and serves as Head of Growth for Paystand, a venture backed fintech company that leverages blockchain technology to make commercial payments instant, automated, fee-less and open for businesses in the US and Latin America. She is excited to bring her experience as a startup operator and venture capital investor across the US and emerging markets to help mission-driven organizations in Santa Cruz grow. She earned her degree in Political Science and Mathematics from Wellesley College.

Bonnie Lipscomb

Bonnie Lipscomb is the Director of Economic Development for the City of Santa Cruz. Bonnie’s work aims to make Santa Cruz a place where people want to work and live. She wants local companies to stay in Santa Cruz instead of going over the hill. She has been instrumental to the county’s affordable housing plan, securing Joby’s headquarters in Santa Cruz, and finding business offices for a number of key companies.

Brad Barbeau

Brad is a 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. As Executive Director for the iiED, he devotes his efforts to building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Monterey Bay region and developing and accelerating entrepreneurial ventures.

Dave Evans

Ex-Officio. Dave is the co-founder of the Stanford Life Design Lab and co-author of the NYT bestseller Designing Your Life and also Designing Your NEW Work Life.  Dave's 5th career as an educator and author follows his 15 years as a tech executive (early Apple, Electronic Arts founding team) and 20+ years of strategic consulting to high growth companies.  An 18 year fulltime resident of Santa Cruz, Dave "gets it" and shares our vision for how the Monterey Bay workforce can uniquely lead the way for the future of work.

Desha Staley-Raatior

Desha Staley-Raatior M.A. has her Masters in International & Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco. She has over 20 years of experience in education and is currently the Director of Career Development at Cabrillo College. She's passionate about supporting students along their path and creating opportunities for them to earn while learning. She has been building relationships with local companies in order to create a pipeline of talent from our community and support recruitment efforts within a variety of industries. 

Drew Meyer

Drew is a semi-retired Amazon marketing whiz, focused currently on Alexa Skills product marketing out of the Santa Cruz Amazon office. He is a strong community leader, and has been a strong contributor in developing Santa Cruz Works marketing strategies to help us deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.

Hilary Bryant

Hilary Bryant is the Donor Services Director for the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Hilary is deeply committed to making Santa Cruz a thriving county for all and believes building and supporting a vibrant tech ecosystem is critical for our community. She co-founded a startup that optimized how we use water, which was acquired in 2019, and was a Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 2010-2014 and served as Mayor in 2013.

James O’Connor

James has been at the forefront of software development in Silicon Valley for over 40 years. He was a principal developer for major corporations like HP and Microsoft where he was instrumental in the evolution of the Mac Office offering. He is the founder of Innovation Within, which has designed a program to help entrepreneurs create groundbreaking, viral products based on qualitative research and the scientific method.

Jason Borgen

Jason has worked in the K-12 environment for close to twenty years. He spent many years supporting school administrators across California with effective ways to leverage technology to lead 21st century schools as part of the statewide Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership (TICAL) project. Currently, Jason is Chief Technology & Innovations Officer for Santa Cruz County Office of Education.

Jon Sisk

Jon serves as Executive VP and Chief Banking Officer for Santa Cruz County Bank. Jon also serves in board, committee and advisory roles with the American Bankers Association, Dominican Hospital/Dignity Health, Dominican Hospital Foundation, Santa Cruz Board Riders Club, Second Harvest Food Bank, and the MAH. Jon is a graduate of Saint Mary’s College where he obtained a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration and recently completed an Advance Management Degree for The Wharton School. In 2009, Jon was recognized by the Santa Cruz County Chamber of Commerce as Man of the Year. He is an avid surfer, paddle boarder, and biker.

Ryan Sharp

Ryan Sharp leads the Innovation and Business Engagement Hub (The Hub) at UC Santa Cruz, which helps support the campus community in bringing to market cutting-edge research and ideas from faculty, students and innovators, expanding corporate philanthropy and partnerships, creating more career pathways for students, and supporting a thriving regional economy.