Impact Award

Mitch Mitchell

Chair, San Diego Housing Commission
Past Chair, San Diego Food Bank
Board Member, Sharp Hospital
Board Member, Lucky Duck
Board of Trustees, University of Redlands & Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Corporate Governance

Dr. Enoch Kariuki

President, Endeavor BioMedicines

Board Director Positions: Imago BioSciences (acquired by Merck), ProfoundBio (acquired by Genmab), Pheon Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals

Board Strategic Advisor Roles: OnCusp Therapeutics

Dr. Enoch Kariuki is President of Endeavor BioMedicines. He is an accomplished life sciences executive with extensive strategic, operational, and financial experience. Dr. Kariuki has completed strategic financings and acquisitions for life sciences companies with an aggregate transaction value of over $10 billion. Most recently, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Lengo Therapeutics (acquired by Blueprint Medicines). Previously, Dr. Kariuki served as the Chief Financial Officer of VelosBio (acquired by Merck), where he led all finance-related and investor relations functions. Prior to joining VelosBio, he served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, at Synthorx, where he led the company’s IPO, managed relationships with bankers, sell-side equity analysts and investors, and headed the business development process that concluded with the acquisition of Synthorx by Sanofi.

Dr. Kariuki currently serves as Board Director and Chairman of the Audit Committees of Pheon Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ZNTL). He is also a Strategic Advisor to the Board of OnCusp Therapeutics. He previously served as a Board Director of Endeavor BioMedicines, Board Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Imago Biosciences until it was acquired by Merck, and Board Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of ProfoundBio until its acquisition by Genmab.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Kariuki was Vice President at H.I.G. Capital, a $60 billion+ private equity firm, where he invested in and served on the boards of multiple life sciences companies. Dr. Kariuki earned his PharmD from Texas Southern University, his MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in R&D Strategy and Analytics at Bristol Myers Squibb.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Rich Sulpizio

Rich Sulpizio has served as a ResMed director since August 2005. He is chair of the nominating and governance committee, and a member of the audit and compensation and leadership development committees.

Mr. Sulpizio retired as president and chief operating officer of Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) in 2001. He served on Qualcomm’s board of directors from 2000 until 2007. Mr. Sulpizio joined Qualcomm in 1991 and in 1994, was appointed president of Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions. Four years later, he became Qualcomm’s president and chief operating officer. In 2002, he rejoined Qualcomm to serve as interim president of Qualcomm China and then took the helm of Qualcomm Europe in 2004. He was appointed as president in 2005 of MediaFLO USA, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, and was chartered with overseeing the development and deployment of MediaFLO technology and bringing multimedia services to the wireless industry. His last assignment, from December 2009 to November 2013, was president and chief executive officer of Qualcomm Enterprise Services (QES), which was sold to a private equity firm.

Before joining Qualcomm, Mr. Sulpizio worked at Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) and Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR).

From 2009 through 2018, Mr. Sulpizio served as a director of CA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CA), an information technology management software company. He currently serves as an honorary board member of the advisory board of the University of California San Diego’s Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Master of Science in systems management from the University of Southern California.

Enhancement of Culture & Inclusion

Lara Lee

Independent Director, WD-40 Company, Rather Outdoors, Liberty Safe and Advisor, The Regenerative Capital Group

Lara Lee is an experienced independent director, board and committee chair, chief executive, and Fortune 50 public company officer with extensive international experience across Europe and Asia-Pacific, and a focus on culture and sustainability as drivers of growth. She is a recognized expert in strategic marketing and innovation and an operator who has delivered P&L impact from strategy through execution in high-growth, restructuring, and turnaround situations.

Lara has served on the boards of innovators, sustainability leaders and beloved brands including WD-40 Company, Marrone Bio Innovations, Organically Grown Company, The Sill, Liberty Safe, and Rather Outdoors. She has chaired boards and compensation and governance committees, served on public company audit committees, and led board-level ESG oversight. A former division head and president with Harley-Davidson and Lowe’s Home Improvement, Lara’s multi-industry experience dealing with channel, market, and digital disruption and driving growth through innovation, international expansion, and new market entry delivers value to private and public company boards at all life stages.

Lara has been recognized as a “Director to Watch” by Directors & Boards, “Businesswoman of the Year” by The Silicon Valley Organization and “Master of Innovation” by Businessweek, and her Harvard Business Review article “Getting Brand Communities Right” is featured in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategic Marketing. She serves as a mentor for the Black Corporate Board Readiness Program at Santa Clara University and is on the board of BizStarts, an entrepreneurship accelerator aimed at building wealth, economic vitality and flourishing communities within underserved populations.

Lara is NACD Directorship Certified and holds a B.A. in Chinese Language from Brown University, a Master’s in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from The Wharton School. She is a frequent speaker on branding and customer experience, intrapreneurship, value-adding governance and ESG as a catalyst for growth.