In this episode, we speak with ab banks, a leader at Oxford Tract Farms. ab works with the Berkeley Food Institute and on the ground with Berkeley Student Farms. An Oakland native, ab banks serves as garden lead for People’s Programs in West Oakland, grows food and ensures produce goes from the urban garden into the hands of under-resourced community members. ab was the first member to join People’s Programs. The People’s Garden was created to advance food autonomy for Black people in ab’s hometown and increase access to healthy food – including hot-meal deliveries for unhoused neighbors every Sunday and family grocery deliveries twice a month. With ab serving as garden lead, stewarding the land and harvesting crops, in 2022, the program distributed more than 800 pounds of produce to families and unhoused neighbors in West Oakland.

ab’s farming work is intertwined with wellness for people and the planet. In addition to leading the People’s Garden, ab started the (Free) Community Health Clinic, which opened in 2021 to address needs identified during weekly food delivery. ab is also the Agroecology and Wellness Coordinator at the Berkeley Food Institute (BFI). Here ab conducts participatory research on agroecology practices rooted in soil care and healing communities that have been generationally underestimated and silenced. BFI supports outreach, events, and academic opportunities at more than 10 urban gardens producing food and preserving native ecosystems. ab continues to learn, grow, and share their work in healing and meditation.

In 2022-2023, ab was a Just Leader Fellow with the Cooperative Food Empowerment Collective. Their work is aimed at a cooperative food economy powered by the visionary leadership of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous People of Color.

Power of Listening

When you’re interacting with a lot of different people with a lot of different backgrounds, especially backgrounds that you aren’t familiar with, there will be a lot of listening involved. That is a key part of being a leader.

Community Resource

In the beginning of me coming to Oxford Tract and Berkeley Food Institute I had numerous conversations with different stakeholders like students, community members, and people we serve. All of the ideas that I have about the future are definitely linked to those initial conversations I had and ongoing conversations. So again listening to what people need from Oxford Tract. It boils down to my goal of being a resource for community members and the students.

• From the Field: The Vibrant Student Community at UC Berkeley’s Oxford Tract Farm
• BFI News: BFI’s ab banks Wins 2023 Maxwell/Hanrahan Award in Food

On this episode of the Here@Haas podcast, we sit down with Ana Carolina “Caro” Mexia, Co-Founding Partner at Nido Ventures and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Caro blends her roots in computer science and product leadership with an MBA from Stanford to spot and support the next generation of transformative B2B technologies.

Nido Ventures was founded to bridge the technology gap between Silicon Valley and Mexico's foundational industries. What began as an angel syndicate has evolved into a pre-seed fund backing B2B startups at the intersection of U.S. technical innovation, Mexico’s industrial strengths, and the region’s growing nearshoring opportunities.

In this conversation, Caro joins Haas MBA student Taylor Dahlgren as they dive into how venture capitalists identify and evaluate the qualities that inspire confidence in founders and dig into what great leadership looks like from an investor’s perspective.

*Here@Haas Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

On The "Healthy Delusion" of Founders

We have to find founders that have a healthy dose of delusion, but that are also rooted in the reality of the operation of what has to be built... We are always looking for the kind of leadership that that particular industry needs.

On Team Dynamics and Red Flags

One common pitfall is founders that have a team that they don't respect. If they don't respect the rest of the team, it becomes a one-man show. If I were to have tried to do everything myself, I would have died. You have to be able to trust.

Advice for MBAs: Keeping Your Authenticity

I lost a little bit of what I would say was my essence during the MBA. Be truthful to yourself of what it is that you want to get, because you can end up becoming more lost than finding things.

• Caro’s LinkedIn

On this episode of the Here@Haas podcast, meet Dave Alberga, a former Army officer and successful founder, CEO, and investor who sits on several boards.

Dave has assisted in the launch of numerous start-up organizations and in their growth into large companies, including leading The Active Network from pre-revenue to $480M in annual sales, and a $1B exit for investors. Prior to Active, Dave served as the COO of the CitySearch cityguide business from just after startup to a successful IPO and investor exit. Dave currently serves as a Board Director of GovX, Firestorm Labs, and Trimark Associates, ( A Renewable Power Controls Company). Dave has independently invested in a number of additional private companies including Peloton, Semantic AI, The Rise Festival, and Lennd, among others.

Dave joins Haas MBA students Lee Kantowski and James Takami to discuss the leadership lessons he’s learned throughout his career and give advice on driving organizational culture, giving feedback to employees, and how to best utilize professional networks.

Prioritizing People for Greater Organizational Success

"I'm suggesting that if you focus on the success of your employees, you're actually going to deliver more effectively to your shareholders than if you don't."

The Leader’s Job in a Growth Organization

"I viewed my job as number one raising money, number two trying to do my best to paint a target for people and for the organization. And number three, which is the thing I spent more time on than any of the other two, was actually spending one-on-one time with as many people in the organization as I possibly could to understand how they define success for themselves."

Creating a Difficult-to-Replicate Work Environment

"It was my job as the CEO to make finding a better option really, really difficult. That was my job. To create an environment that was going to be very hard for people to replicate elsewhere in the form of professional development, satisfaction, feeling mission-driven, compensation..."

Transparency and Accountability in Performance Feedback

"The reality is if I always felt like if I'm delivering news in a formal performance review that I hadn't given informally multiple times before, that was on me. That was my screw-up... There should be no surprises in a performance review ever."

• David Alberga LinkedIn Profile