October was another incredible month of travel, meeting new friends and making new partnerships.
After travelling across the country and across the world in September, the Sunstone team crisscrossed our home state of California to attend multiple conferences and meetings. It all started with the League of California Cities’ Annual Conference in our second home – Long Beach.
All About Cities
We participated in one panel, watched several others, had a booth on the exhibition floor next to the state’s IBank booth and co-hosted a reception with P3 heavyweight Schneider Electric at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Getting up close and personal with the sea otters there was a memory-maker, for sure.
We were back in Long Beach the following week for the 88 Cities Summit, a day involving all 88 cities in Los Angeles County. It was hosted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, and I had the privilege to be a part of the well-attended panel talking about Scaling Public-Private Partnerships: From Funding resilience to Industry Cluster Development.
The summit brought together the core customer group for Sunstone Cities, and the connections made were very valuable.
Then we traveled a bit further for the California Jobs First regional economic summit in the Antelope Valley. Remember that California Jobs First is a signature program of our state partner GO-Biz.
Team Effort
I was personally involved in those meetings, but there were several other events that the Sunstone team attended and played a significant role. During LA Tech Week in the middle of the month, we organized and co-hosted two great events, partnering with Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California.
That type of presence is incredibly important to the Sunstone brand. It couldn’t happen without the hard work of Jennifer Huang, Julie Ta, Ryan Phong and Giselle Melendez-Cruz. They have become so expert at putting these events on they could launch an event-planning business!
Sunstone Stage
Activities at Sunstone headquarters weren’t ignored either. October began with the annual Mooncake Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, and we hosted a very successful second annual Fall Flower Arranging session for investors and their friends. Cindy Lin knocked it out of the park with this event, and managed to get mooncakes out to our partners as well!
The P3 Strategy Series continues to attract amazing speakers. We were honored that one of Andy Nakahata’s first speaking engagements after being appointed Executive Director and CEO of the state IBank was on the Sunstone Stage. Then Scott Taylor, the new Director of the California State University, Fullerton – Conrey Center for Entrepreneurship, offered his vision, followed by Brian Coleman’s tutorial on how to take advantage of the many programs at GO-Biz. Brian is the Project Financing Manager at that important organization.
After all that work, it was time for some play. Halloween is a good time for some fun and the Sunstone team takes full advantage. This year’s Harry Potter theme brought the competitor out in us all, and we had a great time trying to best each other with costumes, decorations and more.
October is traditionally harvest season on the farms of the northern hemisphere, and we have begun our harvest of connections, partnerships and work to improve our communities. I’m so glad you have come along with us for that important work.
Thank you.
And remember, always be a Sunstone!
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
©Sunstone Management, Inc. 2025