Membership FAQ

Innovate@UCLA leads the SoCal technology community with exceptional networking, quality professional education and informed insights into innovative and disruptive technologies. Innovate@UCLA’s programs are delivered through close collaboration with world-renowned UCLA faculty, Silicon Beach entrepreneurs and tech leaders from member organizations.

Membership benefits include the following:

• Staff Development: Corporate membership provides a unique staff development opportunity for Technology leaders to allow their direct reports and other high-potential staff members from the entire organization to interact with their peers and leaders across diverse industries.
• UCLA: A connection to, and an affinity with, one of the world’s leading teaching and research Universities, and supporting its mission of Education, Research and Service, through collaborative initiatives.
• Faculty: The ability to participate in leading-edge engineering research projects, and to partner with University resources to co-develop innovative solutions for your business/industry.
• Students: The ability to engage with high-potential students in the engineering, data analytics and business process disciplines, to help solve business problems, and to participate as mentors and judges in student workforce development programs, such as the Young Tech Professionals Bootcamp.
• Education: Technology executives and thought leaders share experiences and gain insights to understand the relevance of emerging tech solutions, and how to guide and implement them in their rapidly transforming business environments.
• Networking:  Friendly, collegial settings where you and your team can network and collaborate with an engaged SoCal community of leading technology practitioners and providers, world-class University educators and researchers, emerging technology originators, and a talented student population.

Innovate@UCLA offers a diverse mix of annual programming designed for technology professionals, students, and executives. These include:

• Annual Economic Forecast – A deep dive into California and U.S. economic trends—technology, policy shifts, and market impact
• Career Exchange Event Series – A peer-driven support group designed to build connections and help members navigate career transitions
• CxO Exchanges – Quarterly gatherings for senior executives—featuring guest speakers or peer-to-peer networking in a private, curated setting
• Executive Leadership Awards (ELA) – Our flagship event—honoring SoCal innovators with an awards dinner, keynote, and panel
• Partner Events – Co-hosted programs with partners like Women in Technology Hollywood (WiTH) and Gartner to expand value and reach
• Pop-up Event Series – Timely sessions responding to major industry developments (e.g., our CloudStrike discussion following last year’s breach)
• Summer Solstice – Our half-day annual summit that includes keynotes, panels & networking
• Women in Tech Event Series – Biannual virtual series highlights women leaders in tech and shares insights that support career growth, leadership, and inclusion
• Young Tech Professionals Bootcamp – A 10-week Spring program where students build MVPs with coaching from industry mentors

The Young Tech Professionals (YTP) program develops the next-generation technology workforce by educating undergraduate and graduate students on business and digital skills. It features a 10-week Spring quarter Design Thinking bootcamp that culminates in a Demo Day, where students present their MVPs to a panel of industry judges. UCLA students can participate in the Spring quarter YTP bootcamp through UCLA Engineering 170 – Project Based Bootcamp for Social Impact, which is offered once a year.

The SoCal Community can engage with UCLA via either becoming a corporate member of Innovate@UCLA; sponsoring Innovate@UCLA programs and conferences; volunteering to speak at events and conferences; volunteering to coach Innovate@UCLA Tech Bootcamps for students and participating at other Innovate@UCLA sponsored programs such as Datafest, LA Hacks, etc.

Membership at Innovate@UCLA is open to organizations/corporations, VIP, and individual members. As part of the corporate membership, organizations and corporations can enroll their employees to access all events, workshops, and programs at no additional cost. Individual professionals can also join independently. CXO Exchange events are invite only for VIP representatives of corporate memberships and individual VIP members. Membership levels and eligibility criteria vary based on whether the member is a practitioner, provider, non-profit, or VIP. To become a member, please visit our Membership page and complete the membership application.