Entrepreneur Patricia Garcia, Founder of Unithrifts, on Her Secrets to Pitching Success, and More

John Maceri, CEO, the People Concern, a nonprofit provider of solutions to homelessness

y investing in solutions for the unhoused, communities can reduce emergency service costs, increase workforce participation, and enhance overall economic productivity. Homelessness is also closely linked to public health issues, e.g., mental health problems, substance abuse, and the spread of infectious diseases. Providing stable, permanent housing can improve overall community health and reduce healthcare costs, which are astronomical and rising. Most importantly, every person deserves a safe and stable place to live, especially in the richest country on earth. Solving homelessness ensures that humans have access to basic needs, which is a fundamental human right. One-third of America's homeless live in California. L.A. real estate developer, Edgar Baek, sat down with John to hear his thoughts on L.A. Mayor Karen Bass's plans to end homelessness, and his organization's solutions to this growing crisis. This interview was filmed shortly after Mayor Bass was elected in 2022.

Dr. Mandela Patrick, CEO of AI photo app, Vybe, on the fairness, inclusion and future of AI.

Wanna go wild with your selfie? Vybe's got you and your crew. Dr. Patrick, who is also a calypso singer and aficionado, shares his thoughts on product-fit, running and funding his start-up, and much more. The Rhodes Scholar earned his undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Harvard University and his PhD in Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems CDT from the University of Oxford. He discusses his journey from being an international squash champion and college varsity athlete to joining Meta AI and ultimately becoming the CEO of his startup, which is less than two years old. Since the taping this interview, Vybe has closed on a $4.75 million seed round, and he and his co-founder have been featured in TechCrunch magazine. During the C4C interview with Google exec Chelsea Ziadie, Dr. Patrick shares how the AI industry can overcome the challenges of creating inclusive and equitable AI systems, his thoughts on where AI is going over the next six months to five years, and the lessons he's learned from his early days growing up in Trinidad to now being a CEO.

Entrepreneur Patricia Garcia, Founder of Unithrifts, on Her Secrets to Pitching Success, and More

Subject Areas: Tech (sustainability) + Gen Z Entrepreneur Patricia Garcia is the founder of Unithrifts, which she started in her college dorm room at Florida International University and continued at the University of Southern California. She has won over 25 student pitch competitions, thousands in investment funding, and numerous national and international awards for entrepreneurship. C4C Correspondent and Google Account Executive, Chelsea Ziadie, interviewed her to learn her secrets to pitching success, why she turned down financial giant Blackstone to follow her entrepreneurial dream of scaling Unithrifts (the sustainability platform enabling a circular economy on college campuses), and how her family and humble beginnings inform her approach to her life and career. A native of Miami's Little Havana, Ms. Garcia earned her B.S. in Mechanical/Interdisciplinary Engineering from Florida International University (a leading Hispanic Serving Institution or HSI). The GEM Fellow went on to graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) with a Master's in Product Development Engineering and Product Development Systems. USC's School of Engineering selected Ms. Garcia as its 2022 commencement speaker. Since our 2022 interview, the former MIT researcher has won the Fulbright Entrepreneurship Award, which is awarded to only one student annually, and covers tuition and fees for the MSc in Entrepreneurship at the UCL School of Management. The Fulbright is one of the most prestigious awards in the world.

Kiesha Nix, Los Angeles Lakers, V.P. of Charitable Affairs and Executive Director of the Lakers Youth Foundation.

The Los Angeles Lakers is one of the most iconic brands in all of global sports. At the intersection of professional sports, Hollywood, politics, and community service is Kiesha Nix. The L.A. native and former banker became the Lakers' first Black woman Vice President in 2022. Prior to becoming the Lakers' VP of Charitable Affairs and Executive Director of the Lakers Youth Foundation, Ms. Nix had already paved her road to divinity with countless hours devoted to improving the lives of residents in the City of Angels. U.S. citizen Andre da Costa was born in "The City of God," and witnessed firsthand the impact of local nonprofit organizations while growing up in Rio. The former soccer player sat down with the sports executive to listen to her advice on leadership, how to succeed as a working mom, how we can all have greater impact in our local communities, and how she measures her impact efforts.