San Diego Business Journal’s 2023 CEO of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award winner Debra Rosen is not ready to hang up achieving.
The former president and CEO of the North San Diego Business Chamber, CEO of the Downtown Business Association of Escondido and strategic manager at the San Diego Union-Tribune has taken a new leadership role – executive director of the San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA). Her new position took effect Aug. 5.
Rosen was chosen for the executive director role after a months-long, cross-country search.
SDCBA President Stacey Kartchner said Rosen was “the perfect person” for the position and noted that she is joining as the SDCBA is celebrating its 125th anniversary and is opening a new downtown Bar Center.
Rosen described the SDCBA as a “nothing short of fabulous” organization with “a dedicated internal team, a strong board of directors, and a richly diverse membership.”
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Rosen isn’t the only achiever ready to achieve some more. RayzeBio President and CEO Ken Song – who left the position in February this year following the company’s massive $4.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb – is already back at it with a new company.
According to Song’s LinkedIn page, he has been taking on the president, CEO and board chairman roles at a company called Candid Therapeutics, which he describes as “a newly formed company focused on developing innovative therapeutics that can materially improve the lives of patients.”
“Stay tuned for more updates,” he said in his description.
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Jewish Community Foundation San Diego hit a major milestone last week – facilitating more than $2 billion in grants since the nonprofit began in 1967.
“The multiple generations of donors that have been a part of JCF for the past 57 years have demonstrated their commitment to the community by partnering with us for their generous philanthropy,” said JCF President and CEO Jeremy Pearl.
JCF is one of San Diego’s largest charity organizations, with nearly 1,000 fund advisors who have helped it give its more than 135,000 grants to over 9,000 local, national and international nonprofits, funding arts, education, social services and more.
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Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s outdoor taproom has tested negative. The brewery closed The Outpost at San Marcos, which it described as a “test concept,” on Aug. 11. The Outpost concept was a scaled down from an earlier vision following pandemic challenges to the brewing and dining industries. It opened in November of last year.
Karl Strauss VP of Brewpubs Fred Glick said the brewery planned to evolve this concept but was challenged with operating a fully outdoor space and faced “hurdles” in developing the project further, adding that the decision to end the experiment was “difficult.”
“While we loved sharing our beer in an outdoor tasting room environment, the reality is that our full-service brewpubs really allow us to better connect with our guests through our award-winning beers and outstanding service,” he said.