VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. Stay tuned for the Top 7 finalists tomorrow!
Folks, here are the lovely movers and shakers y'all nominated for our annual Hot 20 Reader's Choice award. The lucky luminary with the most votes will appear in 7x7 Magazine's October "Hot 20" issue. Vote here for your favorite until 5 p.m. August 9!
Andrew Dreskin - In 2008, Andrew co-founded Ticketfly, which has disrupted the ticketing industry. Ticketfly recently won the SF Business Times Tech and Innovation award for fastest growth. In addition to Ticketfly, Andrew is also the co-founder and producer of the Virgin Mobile Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, and he serves on the Board for numerous organizations including Headcount, a non-profit voter registration organization.
Anya Fernald has most recently become the CEO of Belcampo Group, Inc., a new incorporation dedicated to sustainable agriculture and authentic food experiences. She is redefining local foodsystems, celebrating cultural foodways and bringing real food to the masses.
Bacca Da Silva launched his cutting edge fashion brand in 2006 here in San Francisco out of his home and opened his first store in 2008 at the corner of Sutter and Mason. He personally designs all of the pieces in his collections and a large portion of the production occurs right here in SF. He donates his time at the local arts colleges several times a year to discuss the business of fashion and how to turn one's creativity and dreams into reality.
Bastian Lehmann is the owner of a local delivery startup in San Francisco, Postmates. BusinessInsider deemed him one of Silicon Valley's hottest CEOs.
Caroline Moriarity-Sacks - Her daily grind as the Director of The Commonwealth Club's INFORUM consists of keeping The Club's program structure dynamic and its content both modern and topical. She brings all things unique and experimental to the 100-year old Commonwealth Club, as she rolls the best of our city’s high intellect and down and dirty culture into one SF super burrito.
Daniel Gross and Robby Walker - These two up-and-comers are behind the recently launched service, Cue, that helps you get the most out of your day. Cue, available on phones and on the Web, links together all of your accounts (email, calendars, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) and then surfaces an intelligent snapshot of your day.
Daniel Stein is at the helm of Evolution Bureau, a creative marketing agency that designs innovative, integrated, instant brand campaigns that travel to billions of consumers around the globe. At EVB, Stein is proud of the work his team creates as well as its culture, which inspires employees to collaborate without ego as they make their mark on popular culture.
Emmanuel Eng - Working at some of the most influential restaurants in the country, including Aqua, Quince, Boulevard, and Sons & Daughters, Emmanuel credits many of his mentors at these restaurants as helping him to mature as a chef. In late 2011, Emmanuel was brought in by owners Scott Youkilis and Michael Pierce as the new Chef de Cuisine at Maverick, and after only four months in the position was quickly promoted to Executive Chef.
Greg Bass - A pioneer in his own right, Bass’ bag designs for The North Face, Inc. and Timbuk2 have garnered numerous awards and distinctions including two "Gear of the Year" awards from Outside magazine. Most recently at Timbuk2, he led the development of the first series of purpose-built bags with a power supply to charge a variety of electronics while on the move, the Power Commute and Power Q, launching this October.
Herve Ernest took the Jazz Fest through its first 8 years, and is currently the founder and Executive Director for sf|noir. He has been a visionary in SF trying to keep a focus on arts-n-culture from an African American perspective in SF proper. He is well known through-out the city in the arts-n-culture circles and was recently involved with Intersection for the Arts and the 5M initiative in SOMA.
Jeff Henry has designed some of the most preeminent spaces over the past 30 years. In 2005, Jeff made his first foray into transportation design with the renovation of Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport. His design of Terminal 2 garnered universal acclaim as the future of airports.This past January, Jeff was inducted into the Retail Design Legion of Honor by the Retail Design Institute. Other organizations that have recognized his projects with awards include the International Interior Design Association, the Chicago Athenaeum, Lodging Hospitality Magazine, Neocon, and the American Institute of Architects.
Jeremy Shaw of the Mission Community Market is a weekly, non-profit marketplace that aims to celebrate the glorious diversity of the Mission--arguably the heart of San Francisco--with an emphasis on local businesses, a farmer's market, and youth, in a safe public space. One of Jeremy's most recent ideas for bringing SF's communities together through food is the Chef's Market Box, which offers MCM patrons the opportunity to get a CSA-style box that contains all the ingredients needed for a recipe designed by a local chef.
Kathryn Kalabokes has taken her initial vision of a small party planning business and built it into one of the elite wedding planning companies in San Francisco. Kathryn created the Dream a Little Dream Bridal Tour in which newly engaged women spend a day being chauffeured by chartered transportation to many of the top SF vendors covering every aspect of the wedding process from rehearsal dinner ideas to florists. Kathryn's mentor program allows eager college students or job seekers the opportunity to see the event industry from the inside, seek knowledge from professionals in the business, and start gaining contacts and a network.
Kim Nalley has already been touted as a "living legend" in her field, as well as the Bay Area's most influential African American. She formerly took over Jazz at Pearl's in North Beach (which is now, unfortunately, closed) with an amazing renovation of the space while maintaining the high caliber of jazz entertainment alive in the neighborhood. She juggles her singing career (with residencies at The Rrazz Room and the Fillmore Jazz Festival) with her new family, while also earning her doctorate.
Mike Kim - While a student at UC Davis he founded University Passport, an all inclusive college touring company to help parents and students find the right fit through highly interactive and engaging college visits.Upon graduation he founded Yollege.com, a student driven college review site, which was voted as one of the Top 5 Newcomers to the Web by BusinessWeek.In January 2011, Mike was elected by the voters of Assembly District 13 as a Delegate to the CDP. He currently manages Business Development for LinkedIn's Higher Education/Student Initiative.
Mike Wallenfels is on a mission to get people off of their butts and on their bikes. He is an avid biker and often seen bike commuting 38 miles from his home in Marin County to the Timbuk2 office in San Francisco's Mission District. Mike often leads seminars called, "Taming the Bike Commute," offering tips and tricks to start bike commuting, focusing on the right gear, apps, and tools required for a bike commute free of road rage. Most recently he was brought out to lead a seminar on bike commuting at the inaugural Bike Expo NY, and he regularly leads these seminars in San Francisco.
Mynx D'Meanor - She is single-handedly building a burlesque community in San Francisco that one can be proud of. A scintillating performer in her own right, she's grooming the next generation of dancers to come into their own on the stage in a fun, friendly, and welcoming environment at The Fishnet Follies).
Neal Gottlieb - In just seven short years, Neal has transformed what began as a whim into a local fan favorite in Three Twins ice cream with 4 scoop shops in the Bay Area, 13 flavors – including three new ones – a factory in Petaluma and 50 employees. Neal continues to be an advocate for Bay Area farms and California businesses, sourcing fresh and organic ingredients for his ice cream from within 17 miles of the factory.
Pete Mrabe - Not only has Pete pushed the limits of small kitchens and pop up restaurants he seems to make it look easy. In what was a dying North Beach food scene in 2009 Pete took over El Raigon restaurant and turned into a bustling Modern Mexican Haven of amazing food with a comfortable feel.
Ruchi Sanghvi oversees Dropbox's growth and recruitment. She holds the distinction of being the first female engineer at Facebook and was instrumental in implementing the first versions of key features such as News Feed. She then led product management and strategy for Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect. Sanghvi is also the recipient of the prestigious TechFellow award for engineer leadership and was interviewed by Huffington Post regarding the challenges of being a female engineer
Sam Zaid and Jessica Scorpio - After learning that there are one billion cars in the world, and each car sits idle 92% of the time, Getaround’s founders decided to focus on something that affects seemingly everyone across the world: transportation. Instead of adding new cars into the world, they decided to maximize what is already available – and Getaround was born. In May 2011, Getaround officially launched and was named winner for the “most disrupting” technology at TechCrunch Disrupt 2011.
Sol McKinney works for Mission Science Workshop as a teacher/soul inspirer/friend to kids of all ages. MSW is a non-profit that seeks to spread knowledge and expose children, specifically underprivileged children, to all things science. He has worked tirelessly to inspire kids to explore and appreciate the importance of science.
Steven Franklin had a goal to help people organize their space, to de-clutter their homes and to offer suggestions and advice if needed. He now runs the Organizer Guys, who specialize in residential organizing, estate organizing, packing, moving, downsizing and commercial solutions.
Susan Sarich - The idea for SusieCakes was born from Susan’s desire to create a business model that allowed women to have progressive careers in food service, combined with her drive to create a bakery that would offer the kind of old-fashioned, from-scratch desserts. With a simple mission, “Connecting through Celebration,” Susan has opened seven retro-chic Northern and Southern California locations from 2007 to 2012, offering sentimental dessert favorites including decadent custom layer cakes, whoopie pies, cupcakes, brownies, bars, and seasonal pies, including four locations in the Bay Area.
