We asked you to tell us about the Bay Area's coolest, best, and brightest. Now, we've narrowed the field down to the Top 20 and it's time to vote!
Whoever receives the most votes will be added to 2013's prestigious list of honorees with an advertorial in the October issue! Who do you think deserves to be in this year's Hot 20? VOTE at the end of the post! One lucky voter will also win a pair of tickets to our annual Hot 20 issue launch party!
Sherri Franklin - The founder and leader of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, Sherri has dedicated her life and home to saving homeless and often unwanted senior dogs and helps them find new homes.
Jake Wall - Co-founder and chief designer of the Artful Gentleman, Jake is rethinking fashion in San Francisco. He blurs the lines around gender by creating custom suits and style for the City's men, women, and gender-queer. Not only a fashion innovator, Jake is also a huge supporter of the LGBT community.
Béatrice Amblard - A master leather artisan, Béatrice owns April in Paris, where she handcrafts custom accessories using centuries-old traditional methods. Best known for her gorgeous handbags, she is the only Hermés artisan designing under her own label in the United States.
Dave Kleinschmidt - "The Schmidt" went from booking some of the hottest artists to becoming one of the hottest up-and-coming DJs. In addition to creating good vibes all over the city, he donates his time and energy to various philanthropic events.
Lisa Lee – Lee is changing the way Asian-American women deal with body image through her website Thickdumplingskin.com. Along with colleague and actress Lynn Chen, she's devoted to fostering positive body image within the Asian-American community through reader-submitted photos and essays, interviews, and their own thoughts on food and body image. To help build an audience, they promote the site on Twitter and Facebook—where Lee works as a diversity program manager. She's won praise from the national press, including NPR and Marie Claire.
Joe Landini - Founder and director of The Garage in SoMa, an independent theater that offers free space to women and LGBT artists, Joe is also an innovative programmer and anchor of the dance community, bringing in some of the best new talent in the Bay Area dance scene.
Avital Ungar - An expert in the cocktail and food industry, Avital founded Avital Tours, a series of neighborhood behind-the-scenes culinary tours that give locals and tourists back door access to some of the best food and drink spots in the city.
Corey Rosenberg - Cory has an impressive resume. He boasts many years of ad copywriting, teaches advertising, and authored The Gay Man's Guide to Timeless Manners and Proper Etiquette. Cory also co-founded of Horizons Young Professionals for Equality (HYPE) a charitable organization that makes philanthropy accessible to young professionals in the Bay Area.
Rebecca Alonzi - Ever been to a great company party or wedding that had unforgettable food, drinks, and ambience? Rebecca Jean Catering probably made it happen. This gal and her team creates eats (and does event planning!) for high-profile clients such as GAP, Pinterest, Google, Square, as well as weddings and other private soirees.
Gi Paoletti - Gi is a talented architect and designer and owner of Gi Paoletti Design Lab, a firm with a well-rounded portfolio of residences and commercial spaces in the Bay Area including Bloodhound Bar, Noir Lounge, the Tipsy Pig, and Maven.
Kyle Itani - Kyle is a phenomenal, passionate chef who truly highlights the diverse food culture of the Bay Area at his massively popular Oakland restaurant Hopscotch. His experimental, Japanese-inspired American food has garnered praise from the press, and has helped make uptown Oakland a vibrant place to play.
Ryan Nolan / Ry Toast - Ryan is a hip hop DJ who combines her turntablism with yoga– to her, yoga and hip-hop are inextricably linked, like an urban yin and yang. This musically blessed gal puts her heart into her work, gets the party started, and helps the masses toughen and tone their bodies and souls.
Casey Chafkin - Casey is the co-founder of Skillz Gaming, the world’s first cash tournament SDK, designed to make gaming more fun and game development more profitable. His innovative product can be integrated into almost any mobile game, enabling an added layer of tournament play which allows gamers to play their favorite games for cash and prizes. He definitely embodies a Bay Arean who is disrupting an entire industry.
Julianne Morales Walsh - Julianne knows what's important to San Franciscans: their pets and a sense of eco-friendliness. As the founder of GreenPawz, Julianne has built her company into the only certified green pet boutique in the city, and it's garnered legions of fans for its expert dog grooming practices.
Kais Bouzidi - Owner of Sens restaurant since he was a mere 22 years-old, the native Frenchman operates one of the most successful (and gorgeous) happy hour spots with one of the best views in the Financial District.
Andrew Grauer - Grauer is helping us all expand our minds as the founder of Course Hero, a website of study guides, class notes, flash cards, tutoring services, and courses for college students. At 26, Andrew is the CEO of Course Hero, a Bay Area start-up with an impressive mission: making education more accessible. Can't argue with that!
Brad Goya - As the owner of SF Green Spaces, this SF native beautifies our gorgeous city with his landscape design and construction company. His work emphasizes self-sustainable, sensible, and stylish design and landscaping, superior construction, high quality and environmentally-friendly materials. His incredible work covers all corners of the city.
Adam Fong – Adam leads the Emerging Arts Professionals, a network focused on empowerment, leadership, and growth of next generation arts and culture workers in the Bay Area, with passion, creativity, and humility. He helps foster a sense of cultural diversity that manifests itself as art all over our city.
Daniela Lencioni - An SF native born and raised in the Mission, Daniela is an artist and designer who creates handmade pieces for the men's accessory line and lifestyle brand Noble Breed.
Karl the Fog - The oldest of the Hot 20 nominees, Karl has been gracing San Francisco with its presence on an almost daily basis for longer than anyone has lived in San Francisco. Most prominent in the summer months, the Fog has a rampant Twitter and Facebook following as well as its own website.
Voting ends at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31.
