Community, Collisions, & Camaraderie: The 2022 Activate Summit
June 25 was a banner day for the Activate community. For a few jam-packed hours, we reconnected with friends and partners, celebrated the graduating Cohort 2020 fellows, welcomed the incoming 2022 fellows, and marveled at the gorgeous San Francisco Bay from our perch at the Exploratorium. It was our first Activate Summit since 2019 and it included a very special guest. More on that below…
We were honored to welcome Arati Prabhakar, President Biden’s pick to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and serve as his top advisor on science and technology—and a longtime friend of Activate. She and our CEO Ilan Gur discussed the state of science innovation in the U.S. during a riveting on-stage chat. Given Arati’s bona fides—she is the former head of DARPA and NIST, worked in venture capital, and recently launched a startup—Ilan said it best: “There is no better voice to speak to our community.”
Arati Prabhakar, nominated to direct the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), speaks with Ilan Gur, Activate’s CEO.
A handful of graduating 2020 fellows also shared brief TED-style updates on their startups.
![Leah Ellis](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657669119273-52AXVBQYDZHX023TTZVK/11804_NH_0503.jpg)
![Chris Eiben](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657669120313-WT3Q7LA7D8L740IJP1DT/11804_NH_0517.jpg)
![Cheri Ackerman](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657669154668-3X1N68PX4AJT6YOK2Y7E/11804_NH_0531.jpg)
![Carl Hoiland](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657669204043-RIG1692PY2EM9JKPYGDM/11804_NH_0614.jpg)
![Brendan Smith](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657669242772-2VV71M86VJKT4OVXNOGK/11804_NH_0627.jpg)
![Noemi Bonessio](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657669211025-08CZ5D1N5GAECTZ7TKO0/11804_NH_0625.jpg)
And Andrew Ponec (Cohort 2018) updated the community on Antora Energy’s remarkable progress since he, Justin Briggs (Cohort 2018), and David Bierman (Cohort 2017) co-founded the startup. ”Antora Energy would not exist without Activate,” he said.
This was also our first Activate Summit since we expanded our reach and impact from Berkeley to Boston, to New York, and to fellows across the country through the Activate Anywhere Community. What a thrill to welcome and introduce our team of stellar managing directors, including our newest: Jill Fuss, a Cohort 2018 fellow who is now back, leading the Activate Berkeley community as managing director!
![“I've known since I was a fellow that Activate's community is its superpower, but I felt it acutely when I heard the cheers and whoops after announcing I was the new Berkeley MD,” Jill Fuss says.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657676065699-0HH49DHS56TL4237T0CE/11804_NH_0264.jpg)
![Randy Allen joined Activate as executive-in-residence and is now the managing director for Activate Boston—a huge win for Activate and Activate Fellows.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657676046100-KZABITQG53192BUMXSI5/11804_NH_0247.jpg)
![Executive managing director Aimee Rose celebrated her world-class team of managing directors and, in absentia, Hannah Murnen, MD of the Activate Anywhere Community.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657676008204-5QZ8GQ0WS5TXN020O67A/11804_NH_0239.jpg)
![Andrew Chang, managing director of the Activate New York Community, described the important innovations that the first fellows to join this new community are advancing.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae618d90f904501539d608/1657676044097-M4S395EHWN0N5JPNYOP1/11804_NH_0254.jpg)
There was so much to celebrate. Here’s to a safe and fruitful year—until we meet again.