OC Business Journal

2022 INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD NOMINEES

California Institute of Technology and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Menlo Micro, Irvine Chris Giovanniello, Co-Founder & CVB of Worldwide Marketing

Chris Giovanniello is co-founder and SVP of Worldwide Marketing for Menlo Micro. He oversees all aspects of technology innovation and leads product development efforts. Giovanniello is the market and business development guru who saw the potential in the technology while working at GE Ventures and helped convince GE to let the tech get outside the walls of GE and flourish in a truly innovative startup environment. He defined the products and the go-to-market strategy. The combined industry knowledge, technology innovation, and product development expertise of Giovanniello have helped transform switching into a scalable, commercially viable process. A few of his significant achievements and successes this year include Menlo’s comprehensive patent portfolio, proven technology, and the planned introduction of six new Ideal Switch products place Menlo Micro for another significant growth phase in 2022. In addition, Menlo Micro increased its production capacity 1000x last year, fueling the company’s continued growth throughout the decade.

Movandi, Irvine Maryam Rofougaran, Co-CEO

Maryam Rofougaran is founder and CEO of Movandi of Irvine-based 5G mmWave startup, Movandi. She is a leading pioneer, engineering executive, and entrepreneur in wireless system design. She is named and part of the CNBC CEO Council of the top 50 CEOs in the world that are the next generation of companies to disrupt the world. Through Rofougaran’s leadership, Movandi was named to the coveted 2021 and 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, a collection of the most innovative and game-changing private companies shaking up the business landscape and forcing incumbents to react and change. The CNBC Disruptor 50 accolade follows Movandi’s recent news of partnering with Qualcomm and Verizon to expand 5G mmWave coverage, and recognition as a CNBC 2Upstart 100, and Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Startup of the watch, Fast Company 2020 innovative startups to watch and one of the most disruptive technologies in 5G.

Obsidian Security, Newport Beach Glenn Chisholm, Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Product Officer

Prior to Obsidian, Glenn Chisholm was EVP and CTO at Cylance, where he led the product and engineering team that pioneered the use of machine learning, statistics, and AI to identify malware. Previously, as the first CISO at Telstra, the leading Asia-Pacific telecommunications company, Chisholm built the company’s internal and external security practices from the ground up. Chisholm began his career in engineering at Cisco and as a research associate at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. Now, Chisholm is the co-founder and chief product officer of Obsidian Security, the leader in SaaS security. Chisholm and his team of industry veterans have raised a total of $119.5 million from leading investors including Greylock, Wing, GV, Norwest, IVP, and Menlo Ventures, while seeing five times growth in deals over $100,000. Under Chisholm’s leadership, Obsidian continues to innovate and lead in the emerging SaaS security industry with the first and only comprehensive security platform built for business-critical applications of today’s enterprises.

Oncocyte, Irvine Ronald Andrews, President & CEO

Ronald Andrews has over 35 years of experience in the Global Clinical and Molecular Diagnostics industry. He’s served, since 2018, as the president and CEO of Oncocyte Inc., a precision diagnostics company with a mission to improve patient outcomes by providing personalized insights that inform critical decisions throughout the patient care journey. Through several successful fundraising efforts, the acquisitions of Razor Genomics, Chronix Biomedical and Insight Genetics, and the initiation of collaborations with Fondazione Michelangelo and Thermo Fisher, Andrews guided Oncocyte through several stages of growth in size and status. Under his stewardship, Oncocyte also relocated its headquarters from Alameda in the Bay Area to Irvine in Orange County, CA. Most significantly, Andrews has directed the launch of DetermaIO, a proprietary gene expression test that assesses the tumor microenvironment, and secured Medicare coverage for DetermaRx, a molecular stratification test to identify patients with IA-IIA non-squamous nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who may be at low- or high-risk of having a recurrence.

Overair, Santa Ana Benjamin Tigner, Chief Executive Officer

Ben Tigner is the CEO and co-founder of Overair, the advanced air mobility spin-off of Karem Aircraft that is developing and commercializing its all-electric Butterfly eVTOL. Prior to leading Overair, Tigner pioneered the development of innovative fixed and rotary wing aircraft, both manned and unmanned, including as the president of Karem Aircraft, the chief engineer of the Boeing A160 program and the vice president of Engineering at Frontier Systems. In addition to several patents, Tigner holds a PhD in Physics and an MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, as well as a BA in Physics from Cornell University. He is also a private pilot.

Pacsun, Anaheim Shirley Gao, Chief Information Officer

Shirley Gao is the chief information officer at Pacific Sunwear, an apparel brand dedicated to delivering an exclusive collection of the most relevant brands and styles to a community of inspired youth. Gao previously served as the CIO for PSEB LLC, which was a group company including both Pacific Sunwear and Eddie Bauer. Prior to joining PSEB, Gao held the position of SVP and CIO at Young’s Market Company for four years and led the digital transformation for the $3.5B revenue wholesale distribution business. Gao advanced her career to global chief information officer during her 12 year service at Guess?, Inc. Gao’s areas of experience include Information Technology, Information Security, Retail, Wholesale, Warehouse Management, Loyalty and CRM, Planning and Allocation, e-Commerce and Omni-channel, Financial and HR systems, and IT Compliance. She successfully led multiple digital transformations, enterprise carve-outs, and business integrations. Gao has been leading the companies’ technology integration and optimization throughout the pandemic challenges.

Parentis Health, Laguna Hills Tarek A. El Nabli, Founder & CEO

After nearly two successful decades in the insurance and financial planning industries, Tarek El Nabli founded Parentis Health to empower seniors and their families through education, advocacy and coordinated care services. Over the past two decades, he has grown Parentis Health from just three residential care homes to the only healthcare company In Orange County that offers services spanning the full continuum of care, including Home Health, Hospice and Home Care services, including medical transportation and short-term care offerings. As a co-founder and CEO of Parentis Health and Verona Court residential care facilities, El Nabli personally sees to it that patients and families experience the highest possible level of care regardless of circumstances or income level. El Nabli and Parentis Health co-founder Arda Kardjian also founded the Parentis Foundation, a non-profit intergenerational literacy organization. Parentis Foundation changes lives by positively and significantly impacting both older adult volunteers and the future generation of young readers.

PrimaHealth Credit, Newport Beach Brendon Kensel, CEO & Founder

Brendon Kensel is the founder and CEO of PrimaHealth Credit, a fintech company democratizing access to healthcare through honest, gotcha-free financing. For the first time, most patients can get the care they need thanks to straightforward and affordable payment options with Prima. While building and operating a medical services organization that managed orthodontic offices in Southern California, Kensel had seen the payment struggle first-hand and was inspired to develop the innovative fintech company he wished he had then. He founded Prima with a vision to help more patients access the health care they need by offering affordable monthly payments. Prima picks up where other finance companies leave off, supporting patients and healthcare providers who need to assess ability to pay, collect recurring payments, and manage accounts receivable. In 2021, in partnership with Citizens Bank (specifically Citizens Pay), Prima launched Greenlight to help partners approve up to 80% of applicants and provide more care for more people.

Project Hope Alliance, Costa Mesa Jennifer Friend, Chief Executive Officer

Jennifer Friend, J.D. is chief executive officer of Project Hope Alliance (PHA), an organization that works to end the cycle of youth homelessness, using a long-term, site-based model of providing whole-person care for youth experiencing homelessness in Orange County. When Friend became CEO in 2013 after serving on PHA’s board for many years, the organization supported one school and 65 kids. Under her leadership, PHA now serves more than 297 youth attending 43 schools. PHA has built a nationally recognized model for ending the cycle of youth homelessness and has achieved a high school graduation rate for its participants more than 20% above the national average. Friend’s personal experience as a child who experienced homelessness, fuels her passion for ensuring no child is limited by their parents’ economic circumstances. Prior to joining PHA, Friend was a partner at a large law firm practicing civil litigation and transaction law. She holds a J.D. from Whittier Law School, a B.A. in Criminology, Law, and Society from UCI and is a graduate of “Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management” from Harvard Business School.

Rallio, Irvine Chuck Goetschel, CEO

Chuck Goetschel is the co-founder of Rallio. Rallio is a powerful SaaS platform combining cloud-based social media technology, artificial intelligence and employee advocacy. As the supplier of choice for franchise organizations and small businesses, Rallio enables multilocation brands and SMB operators to optimize their social media engagement, while managing their entire social media presence, online reputation, and online directory listings in one dashboard for all locations. Notable achievements include rankings on the Inc.com 5000 national and regional listings of the Fastest Growing Companies, the Entrepreneur magazine Top Franchise Supplier listing for four years running, the Financial Times Fastest Growing Companies in the Americas listing, and the Outstanding Small Technology company award from Octane in 2021.

Revive Real Estate, Irvine Michael Alladawi, CEO & Founder

Michael Alladawi is a Southern California real estate veteran with a proven track record as a builder, investor, and respected home flipper. Alladawi created Revive Real Estate to share his industry knowledge and help homeowners maximize their profits when selling their homes. When the U.S. financial turmoil hit in 2008, he leveraged his crisis and cash management skills. He protected his family’s investments, moving them from banks into real estate. In 2009, single-family homes were auctioned off on the courthouse steps. Alladawi saw an opportunity to fix and flip houses. He teamed up with former Blackstone employees to create Umbrella Capital Group. He eventually would help flip more than 1,000 homes. After watching friends and family struggle with home remodeling projects, Alladawi realized the home renovation industry was ripe for revolution. He partnered with entrepreneur and tech wunderkind Dalip Jaggi and Revive was officially underway. Revive does more than help homeowners create generational wealth. Alladawi explains that Revive often makes a life-changing impact when homeowners can renovate before selling and increase their profits significantly.

INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS

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2022-08-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://ocbusinessjournal.pressreader.com/article/282209424621059

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