2025 Innovate@UCLA Career Exchange – Pop Up Virtual Session (February 26th, 2025)
This February Innovate@UCLA hosted a virtual career exchange where guests could hear from experts on the current career marketplace. The event was led by two of our remarkable board members, Bhupesh Arora, CTO of Howard Hughes and Executive Chair for Innovate@UCLA and Ghalib Kassam, CIO for the Los Angeles Times and a member of our Programs Committee. Rory Devine, VP of Technology Talent Solutions at Robert Half shed light on how careers in tech are evolving in 2025. From hiring trends to tips for marketing oneself, everyone had the opportunity to learn about career advancement. Next, Mark Smith, CIO and CISO at Secure CIO Solutions, pivoted the conversation to cybersecurity and explained his career journey along with tips for the audience to navigate their career paths.
Women in Technology (WIT) Virtual Workshop – Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Finding Your Voice (March 11th, 2025)
In March Innovate@UCLA Women in Technology hosted the first of our virtual workshop series for the year 2025, with the theme of overcoming imposter syndrome and finding your voice. Inspired by a 2020 KPMG study finding that 75% of female executives across industries have experience imposter syndrome, Innovate@UCLA WIT felt that this was an important topic to address and we are thankful to have experienced industry professionals to share their advice. Cindy Mckenzie, Retired CIO, VP & Co-Founder of STEM Advantage and Melanie Hildebrandt, EVP and CIO of Endeavor and TKO led the audience through an insightful conversation and provided several useful tips for professional confidence and preparedness.
Our speakers emphasized recognizing your feelings, replacing negative self-talk with facts and achievements, and seeking a mentor at work as key steps to overcoming imposter syndrome. Furthermore, pre-meetings and advanced practice were discussed as notable ways to express your voice during larger meetings with confidence. Our talented speakers left the audience with solid advice and even a few personal examples and takeaway readings. Melanie shared her template for writing a Personal Business Case for promotion and Cindy provided her blog for the 2024 Women’s History Month.
Spring CxO Exchange – For Whom the Bells Tolls? Implications of Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Managers (March 18th, 2025)
This Spring, we hosted our CxO Exchange, focused on exploring the transformative impact of AI on management, at the University of Southern California (USC). The event was graciously hosted by USC, providing an excellent venue for this engaging discussion .After a brief networking period Jim Rinaldi, Executive Director for Innovate@UCLA, welcomed our members and our sponsor, Intuitive.Cloud. Cathy Bindewald, the CIO for USC Marshall School of Business then introduced our esteemed speaker, Nan Jia, Associate Professor of Strategic Management at USC Marshall.
Dr. Jia guided the audience through an interactive and engaging discussion about how AI can support those in managerial roles, in particular our C level executives who were attending this event. She shared valuable insights from her own personal research demonstrating that AI has several proven advantages towards employee’s job performance. In particular she shared evidence that employee performance flourishes when AI used to harness data and generate feedback is used in combination with human managers that possess strong people skills.
This event would not be possible without our sponsor Inttuitive.Cloud, an innovation-led engineering company that delivers measurable business outcomes for hundreds of enterprises globally.
Annual Economic Outlook (April 30th, 2025)
In April, Innovate@UCLA hosted its annual Economic Forecast, featuring Dr. Thomas Ash, Research Economist in the historic Trophy Room at UCLA’s J.D. Morgan Center – an inspiring setting surrounded by decades of Bruin achievement. Dr. Ash delivered a timely and insightful presentation on the growing uncertainty shaping today’s economy—highlighting how tariffs, climate impacts, and shifting policy under a new presidential administration are contributing to a sense of ambiguity, even as traditional indicators suggest stability.
Focusing on California’s unique position compared to states like Texas, Dr. Ash encouraged attendees to view this moment not as a call to immediate action, but as a time for strategic observation. He also identified technology and climate-resilient industries as areas poised for growth, supported by recent academic research and forecasting tools.
The evening concluded with a panel discussion on “Tech for Housing Resilience & Rebuilding Post-Wildfires,” moderated by Innovate@UCLA’s Executive Chair Bhupesh Arora and featuring CIOs Phillip Leclair (City of Pasadena) and Greg Moore (KB Home). This panel explored how technology leaders from public and private sectors use innovative solutions to enhance resiliency, accelerate rebuilding, and create sustainable, affordable housing in wildfire-affected communities.
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