Best in the Biz
The Orange County Business Council (OCBC) announced its 2022 board of directors at its annual dinner on April 7 at the Disneyland Hotel. Nearly 700 Orange County business and community leaders attended the event.
The evening welcomed Jeff Ball, president and chief executive, OCBC, who assumed the position in January. He replaces Lucy Dunn, former OCBC president and CEO, who retired after 16 years leading the organization.
Dave Bartlett, vice president of land entitlement, Brookfield Properties, was installed as the incoming 2022 board chair. The program also recognized Jena Jensen, chief government relations officer, Children’s Hospital Orange County and outgoing 2021 OCBC board chair.
Fifty community and business leaders representing a diverse set of industry sectors such as housing, healthcare, tourism, hospitality, academia, transportation, engineering, construction, life sciences, energy, telecommunications, and banking took an oath and were installed to the board of directors for the 2022 calendar year.
Mike Massimino, Ph.D., Columbia University professor, former NASA astronaut, television personality and New York Times bestselling author, served as featured keynote sharing the story of his selection as an astronaut for NASA missions.
The event’s major sponsors included the Orange County Register, Amazon, University of California, Irvine; Brookfield Residential, Disneyland Resort, Experian and Five Point Holdings. Additional sponsors were: Automobile Club, Bank of America, Building Industry Association, Boeing, City of Hope Orange County, Clay Lacy Aviation, HNTB, Kaiser Permanente, US Bank, Anaheim Public Utilities, AT&T, CalOptima, California State University, Fullerton; Charter Communications, Cox Business, Holland & Knight, Idea Hall, Jamboree Housing, MemorialCare, Nossaman LLP, Orange Catholic Foundation, Orange County Department of Education, Tri Point Homes, UPS and Wells Fargo.
Adventures in Golf
Tilly’s Inc. raised more than $200,000 and donated 100% of the proceeds to Tilly’s Life Center (TLC) during its 15th Annual Charity Golf Tournament, Tillyana Jones, held at Mission Viejo Country Club.
The event featured community members from across Orange County coming together for a day of friendly competition while supporting TLC’s mission to empower all teens with a positive mindset and enable them to effectively cope with crisis, adversity and tough decisions.
The event, inspired by the Indiana Jones film franchise, brought together 144 golfers from the action sports, construction and banking industries, as well as entrepreneurs and CEOs. Participants had opportunities to win prizes in several contests including: longest drive, closest-to-the-pin, straightest drive, putting and more. JStar and Liquid Graphics provided golfers with a hole-in-one chance to win a Jeep Wrangler Sport S and Elephant Cooperation sponsored an air cannon to give golfers an opportunity for better ball placement.
Sponsors included Roxy/Quiksilver, Oakley, Stance, Sun Bum, Ethika, Volcom, The Medicine Woman, and Palm Golf Co., as well as sponsored food and drinks from local vendors such as Wahoo’s Fish Taco, Dang Brother Pizza, Starfish Laguna, Waterman’s Harbor, Sunsets Capo Beach, Stillwater Dana Point, Bagels & Brew, Chronic Tacos, Yogurtland, Archie’s Ice Cream and others. Additional support came from The North Face, Check Capital Management, DD Apparel LLC/Oliver Logan, Last Call Co. and other philanthropically minded companies.
Celebration, Polynesian Style
The inaugural We Are Sāmoa Diamond Gala celebrated Jerome Fa’anānā Grey, the Orange County-based legendary Sāmoan musician, and supported the Pacific Islander community. The Polynesian-inspired event took place on March 26 at Fete The Venue in Costa Mesa and raised more than $142,000 to support the Pacific Islander community and the National Pacific Islander Education Network.
The funds will be divided equally among three initiatives going towards academic scholarships through the National Pacific Islander Education Network, performing arts scholarships through the Jerome Grey Performing Arts Fund and creating programs for diabetes and heart disease awareness.
Sponsors included Isle Entertainment Inc., Next Alliance Security, Pacific Life, Aumaga Inc., Beach Hut Deli, Empower Logic, Good Choice Sushi, Raising Champions, Tai Mariner Productions LLC/REAUX, Tua Foundation, Ink’d Ambition, Beauty with a Mission and Tihati Productions.
Far-Reaching Impact
Cox Enterprises has laun-ched 34 by 2034 Act to Impact Tour, a nationwide, social service endeavor designed to empower 34 million people to live more prosperous lives by 2034 by taking meaningful action in communities where the company’s employees live and work.
The eight-month roadshow features one-day events in 10 cities across the country designed to create resilient and equitable communities and focusing on six key areas: technology access, access to lifelong education, employment skills, social equity, environmental sustainability and good health. At each stop, Cox employees provide volunteer support with Cox Enterprises making a major donation to a charity in the community.
On April 21, Manheim California in Orange County was the latest stop on the Impact Tour. Manheim is part of Cox Automotive, an operating subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. On that day, more than 700 team members from Cox Automotive and Cox Communications took part in a day of service that included assembling 2,000 wildlife education kits, including a bag, magnifying glasses, binoculars and notebook, for Inside the Outdoors. The nonprofit serves more than 120,000 students each year, providing experiential programs that empower them to explore the natural world while expanding their knowledge and understanding of science and social sciences. Cox’s donations to the charity included a $15,000 cash donation along with a $10,000 in-kind gift to purchase supplies for the wildlife education kits and a $5,000 grant to fund the program’s technology needs.
Bits & Pieces
On April 27, the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) hosted Help Them Home, a collaborative Giving Day, raising $2.4 million from 2,654 donors to support 24 Orange County nonprofits working to combat homelessness and its impact on the community. … Human Options has been awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the amount of $750,000 over the course of two years, the first time an grant of this type has been awarded specifically toward helping those that are homeless as a direct result of domestic violence.
