Events

Jan has over 30 years of energy and utility experience, with a focus on renewable energy contracting and financing. She formerly worked at Silicon Valley Power, and has founded four energy-related start-ups.

Jan was elected to the city council of Los Altos in 2012 and served as Mayor from December 2014 to December 2015. She was re-elected in 2016 for a second four-year term.  She served on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District from 2013 to February 2017.  She earned a BS in civil engineering and an MBA, both from Stanford University. Jan is a registered professional engineer in California.

At APX, she developed and pioneered the first use of renewable energy credits, which are now the standard currency for trading and tracking renewable power. At Clean Power Markets, her company designed and implemented the successful Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program for the State of New Jersey.

San Mateo’s Rob “Birdlegs” Caughlan has written a memoir, “A Surfer In the White House,” and it is warm, funny, optimistic, and a primer for those who want to turn their personal passions into social progress and a career. In addition to life on the waves, Rob has spent decades working with a who’s who of American and Peninsula politics, including President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

The Port of Redwood City is located 18 nautical miles south of San Francisco and is the only deepwater port in south San Francisco Bay. Its strategic location between San Francisco and Silicon Valley, as well as its connections to Highway 101 and the Union Pacific railroad make it a transportation hub serving several industries. including construction materials, recycled metals, etc. The Port specializes in bulk, neo-bulk and liquid cargoes. The Redwood City channel is a federally-authorized navigation project maintained at 30 ft. depth. In addition to cargo facilities, the Port has recreational boating facilities. Founder of the Redwood City PortFest, a community outreach event that attracts thousands of visitors to the Port of Redwood City and has received the Award of Recognition from the American Association of Port Authorities.

Despite its positive origins, the term hacker has taken on a negative connotation over the past 20 plus years. But over the past ten years, organizations have increasingly tapped the creativity of humans to try and break into their systems before the bad guys do. These so-called ‘white-hat hackers’ are racing against the bad guys - the black hats - to try and make the internet a safe place again. With all the advances in security technology, there are some things that humans can still do best. This talk will describe the origins of hacking, how the concept of paying hackers for good came to be, and how the U.S. government is leading the charge to get everyone to do it.

DO NOT miss this program! Jim Weil, president and host of the MPSF Speaker Series, will give us a brief overview of the MPSF Speaker Series. Then, he will open things up for our questions. He’s happy to tell us about his experiences with speakers on and off stage.
 
For those who don’t know the MPSF Speaker Series, founded in 1990, is the largest community speaker series in the United States. It brings nationally recognized speakers to San Mateo, Marin, and Oakland. This season’s line up includes Jane Goodall, Wynton Marsalis, W. Kamau Bell, Kara Swisher, Rick Steve, Theresa May, and Michael Pollan. 

Jeff Krolik served as President, FOX Sports Regional Networks, where he oversaw the day-to-day operation of FOX Sports’ 22 regional sports networks, the largest such RSN group in the country.  In this role, Krolik managedvrelationships with 44 NBA, NHL, and MLB team partners and was responsible for a business that produced more than 5,000 live sports telecasts annually.  

Previously, Krolik served as Executive Vice President, FOX Sports Regional Networks since 2007.  Before that, he served as General Manager of Fox Sports Bay Area from 1995 – 2007, where his responsibilities included overseeing all operations of the network, including affiliate relations, advertising sales, programming, production, marketing, and public relations.  During his tenure at Fox Sports Bay Area, Krolik led the effort to convert the network from a premium channel to a basic cable channel.  

Before joining FOX Sports, Krolik spent 15 years at HBO.  His last role was as vice president of HBO International, where he was responsible for identifying and developing pay-TV channels and other media ventures in key global markets.  Among his notable achievements was the successful launch of HBO in Brazil.  Earlier in his career at HBO, Krolik held a series of positions in sales and marketing in New York, Florida, and California.  Krolik began his professional career in government as staff assistant to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller.   

A native of New York City, Krolik graduated from Dartmouth College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English.