James Brescia is the San Luis Obispo County Superintendent of Schools and a clinical faculty member in the Educational Leadership and Administration Program at Cal Poly. James has served as a teacher, principal, and district superintendent in North County since 1989. Dr. Brescia’s writing and research interests include school leadership, instructional leadership, and organizational problem-solving-based-leadership. 

With over two decades in education leadership and experience, Michael Specchierla is an Executive Director for the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education and the founder of the SLO Partners program. An entrepreneur at heart, Michael promotes the importance of innovation and hands-on learning, which is reflected in the programs he oversees.

With over two decades of experience as an educational leader in school districts and communities, Paul has dedicated his career to serving diverse populations and revolutionizing traditional approaches to career learning. As the Director of Business Relations, Paul develops and implements upskilling opportunities and programs to support our growing business community.

Michael has more than 30 years of industry experience in media and communications, with a focus over the past 20 years on educational technology. As Project Manager, Michael facilitates the planning, organization, execution and tracking of numerous deadline-based team projects and tasks.

Josh Tang is a director of technology at Amazon, leading teams building software for Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing service, Print-On-Demand technology, and other foundational technology to empower sellers around the globe to earn a living with their craft.  He is a site lead for Amazon in San Luis Obispo, playing a leading role in the establishment and growth of local Amazon offices.  He serves on the Board of Directors for the Central Coast Economic Forecast and is committed to the economic success of the central coast region, particularly through investing in the diversity and size of the local tech workforce.

Loreli Cappel serves as the Deputy Director of Economic & Community Development for the City of Atascadero supporting economic development efforts such as local business growth and expansion as well as new business location. A graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Loreli brings over 20 years of experience in Community Planning to the world of Economic Development. Her current professional focus includes supporting Atascadero’s General Plan Update, growing head of household jobs, and diversifying the economic makeup of our the City and the greater region.

Lee combines his management experience and his background in manufacturing, solar, consulting, and international business to direct the Economic Development activities of the City of San Luis Obispo. He draws on 20+ years of experience in international business.  Lee’s local experience includes his time as partner at Collaboration, LLC, a management consulting firm,  President and CEO at Mainstream Energy and its subsidiaries REC Solar and AEE Solar. Most recently, Lee worked as the CEO AccuAir Control Systems LLC, a high-performance suspension manufacturing company with more than 70 employees.

Matt West is the Software Engineering Manager for Wildnote, Inc. and the Founder of CodeSLO, LLC. He is passionate about technology education and helping people improve their quality of life. He lives in Atascadero with his wife, Lynne, and their children.

With over ten years as a Human Resources professional in a manufacturing & engineering environment, Naoko Ott is currently the Human Resources Business Partner at Entegris. Headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, Entegris employs approximately 5,100 people worldwide, with a facility located in San Luis Obispo, CA. Entegris provides customers with innovative, science-based solutions to their toughest technology challenges.  A champion of company culture, and accomplished at strategically aligning human capital support and guidance with the key priorities of business, Naoko focuses on mitigating risk for the company, and elevating the performance and job satisfaction of a business’s most valuable asset – their employees