Chicago's Mayor Daley to speak at State of the Valley

Richard M. Daley, Chicago's longest serving mayor and one of the nation’s top urban executives, will be a keynote speaker and panelist at Joint Venture’s State of the Valley conference on February 10. Daley will discuss the greening of America’s cities and will participate on a panel with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and other “green” thought leaders.

Mayor Daley’s innovative programs addressed the key challenges facing America today – diversifying the economy through green technology and clean energy; tackling quality of life issues through public-private partnerships; and investing in workforce preparation for the realities of the 21st century economy.

The State of the Valley conference, Silicon Valley’s annual “town hall” meeting, takes place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. It will also feature That Used to Be Us co-author and professor Michael Mandelbaum and other speakers, as well as panels on jobs and competitiveness and Silicon Valley’s role in leading America to a new energy future.

To register for State of the Valley, click here.

To read a Time magazine article on Mayor Daley’s leadership in the “Greening of Chicago,” click here.

Joint Venture disaster project becomes National Disaster Resiliency Center

Joint Venture has successfully transitioned its Disaster Preparedness Initiative to a freestanding National Disaster Resiliency Center based at Moffett Field, the first collaborative facility of its kind on the West Coast.

Incubated for the past three years by Joint Venture with seed funds from the Department of Homeland Security, Santa Clara County and the California Endowment, the new NDRC is located at the NASA Research Park. Joint Venture's Steve Jordan becomes the inaugural CEO and Raelene Wong, director of global business continuity for Applied Materials, has been seated as the board chair.

Read the complete news release here.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren headlines Wireless Symposium

Silicon Valley Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and key telecommunications industry leaders advocated a stronger wireless infrastructure last month at a Silicon Valley Wireless Symposium organized by Joint Venture.

More than 75 people in attendance at Santa Clara University for the November 9 event heard Rep. Lofgren advocate better online piracy security and her bill to freeze broadband access taxes for five years.

Other speakers included Wireless Communications Alliance president David Witkowski and Mark Nagel of the AT&T Foundry innovation center.

To see the slide presentations from the symposium, click here.

December on “Inside Silicon Valley”

December guests on “Inside Silicon Valley,” Joint Venture’s weekly public affairs radio program on 1590 KLIV, include Bobby Ram of SunPower Corp., the San Jose Mercury News’ “Mr. Roadshow,” Gary Richards, and Silicon Valley Community Foundation President and CEO Emmett Carson. Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock hosts the hour-long program, which airs every Friday at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday at noon on 1590 KLIV.

Click here to listen to podcasts of previous programs.

Articles of the Month
“Silicon Valley empowering the world”

As a holiday bonus, we offer a 2-for-1 this month: an essay by New York Times columnist Thomas J. Friedman on how the technology revolution in Silicon Valley is making the world “hyperconnected” and “superempowered,” and a related San Jose Mercury News editorial lauding Friedman’s observations and urging Congress to help by extending the R&D tax credit.

Read the Friedman column here.

Read the editorial here.

Our December Spotlight
CHUCK WEIS
Santa Clara County Office of Education and Joint Venture Board member

For a Southern California beach boy who got tossed out of UCLA because he cut too many classes to go surfing, the tide certainly has shifted for Chuck Weis.

Set to retire next June as Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools after a 40-year career in administration that stretches to an 11-page resume, Weis is riding a wave of success right back to the beach.

To read his full profile, click here.