April was a super busy month for everyone at Sunstone – no foolin’.
University Partnerships
Two major programs Sunstone sponsors with the University of Southern California and California State University, Long Beach, respectively, reached their climaxes in April with final presentations and plenty of prize money for the students involved.
On April 17, we trekked up to the USC campus in downtown Los Angeles to see the business development plans five student teams put together for partnering cities and towns as part of the Sunstone Economic Development Challenge @ USC Price. Team Carson took home the $5,000 first prize, Team Glendora was second ($3,000) and Team Santa Clarita took third ($1,500). We partnered with the USC City/County Management Fellowship (I’m the board treasurer) to put the event together for the third year.
Less than a week later, April 22, we were on the Cal State Long Beach campus for the CSULB Sunstone Innovation Challenge, organized by the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. This is the 15th year of the challenge and the seventh year Sunstone has been the title sponsor. Teams competed in two tracks, with Curavoice, a communications tool for health care students and professionals, taking home the top cash prize of $15,000. A total of $33,000 in cash prizes were distributed to student entrepreneurs that evening.
These and other programs with universities are good examples of our emphasis on Public-Private Partnerships (P3). Working together adds great value to the institutions and the young entrepreneurs.
It was a Dream
Jayro Sandoval, Jennifer Huang and other organizers have been working for months to put on the second annual Irvine Dream Run, sponsored by Sunstone and American Lending Center. The work paid off bigtime, with nearly 500 runners registered for the 5K and 3K on April 26, and a hundred volunteers helping to make the event at Great Park Live a complete success.
Several unicorns were spotted warming up with the crowd, and a couple even ran the course in the Great Park. The morning was cool, but the rain held off until after the last runner crossed the finish line.
Final figures still are being tallied, but with 33 sponsors and so many runners it seems like a good bet that the proceeds going to the Sunstone Community Fund will be significant. Congratulations, everyone!
Business Moves On
April is the beginning of the second business quarter of the year. I’m proud to say that before the month was over, more than $1.2 million in interest payments had been delivered to Sunstone Fixed Income Fund investors. Well done.
Sunstone Cities completed a partnership agreement with the Alliance for SoCal Innovation in April to help municipalities and special districts develop economic development strategic plans and other forward-looking planning. I was honored to be added to the prestigious Alliance for SoCal Innovation Board of Directors.
Yes, I said partnership. Joining this alliance multiplies the opportunities to use P3 and enrich our communities.
Our financial gurus, Michelle Cahill and Justin Pham, along with help from the incredible Jessica Dela Rosa, completed audits for all seven of Sunstone’s VC Funds – an achievement, to be sure.
That’s it for April From the CEO’s Desk. Thanks for all the hard work and wonderful partnerships.
And remember, always be a Sunstone!
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
©Sunstone Management, Inc. 2025