Steve Poizner is a highly successful high tech entrepreneur with over two decades of starting and running technology companies in Silicon Valley. Poizner founded and served as CEO of Strategic Mapping Inc., a software company that developed a program to display geographic data on digital maps. He then founded SnapTrack, Inc., which pioneered technology that put GPS receivers into cell phones.

Poizner turned his focus to education and public service, co-founding EdVoice, an educational non-profit organization dedicated to improving public schools and serving the interests of K-12 children in California. He also served as a volunteer teacher in San Jose’s Mount Pleasant High School teaching 12th grade American Government. In 2003, Poizner co-founded the California Charter Schools Association. Poizner was later elected statewide and served as California’s Insurance Commissioner from January of 2007 through January of 2011.

UCLA Extension is the continuing and professional education division of the University of California at Los Angeles. UCLA Extension offers a broad spectrum of courses and certificates for professionals in business, management, engineering, information systems, entertainment studies, public policy, public health, the humanities and many other fields. UCLA Extension is a completely self-supporting enterprise, receiving no state or campus funds. Excelling in its quality, innovation, and impact, UCLA Extension is considered one of the top programs of its type in the U.S. As one of the early adopters of online learning for continuing education, nearly one-fourth of the 90,000 annual enrolled students are receiving their education online through UCLA Extension programs and conferences. To learn more about UCLA Extension click here.

Granite Ventures has been helping early-stage technology companies build solid foundations for success since 1992. Granite has managed over $1 billion in venture capital and has invested in more than 100 private companies. They partner with promising and successful entrepreneurs to create businesses that have a competitive edge, and help those businesses achieve category leadership. To learn more about Granite Ventures click here.

As VP of Engineering at Empowered, Dave says his most important professional skill is listening. “It’s simply astounding what we can learn from others in a given day, how that can shape our thinking, and what can spring from letting that happen by just listening carefully,” he says. This helpful skill transcends boundaries and applies to any position in any company.

Before coming to Empowered, Dave served as the Chief Technology Officer for Western Governors University, where he created and led game-changing initiatives to solve some of the most complex problems facing online education. Prior to that, Dave was CTO/CIO for an advanced medical laboratory, and VP of Engineering for a very early social networking startup. Equipped with over twenty years of experience in application design, software engineering, and senior leadership in technology, Dave is now building a bleeding-edge technology program at Empowered. Dave holds a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clarkson University.

Dave enjoys being at Empowered because he works with “highly creative, motivated, smart and experienced people who genuinely want nothing more than to find the best way to help our customers succeed at one of modern life’s greatest challenges. Every day (even the long ones) is a joy.”