Letter from the Chairman

When there seems to be a lot of inane stuff grabbing too many headlines these days, it is an honor to be part of an event which celebrates the achievements of young business and civic leaders in whose hands lie San Diego’s future.
Ten years ago, San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, which we also publish, set out to annually recognize 40 outstanding young San Diegans, all under the age of 40.
This year’s class, who were chosen from more than 100 applicants, was no exception. While all of them are in the early stages of significant careers, each finds time to give back to a wide range of charitable and nonprofits throughout San Diego. They were chosen by a panel of judges, who came from  academia, government and private business.
Among those honored this year were Matt Gordon, the very talented co-owner and executive chef of Urban Solace, and Colin Parent, a North Park attorney who is an up-and-coming political leader in San Diego.
Matt is one of the reasons why North Park’s 30th Street has become the new urban chic restaurant destination in San Diego.
He’s a 17 year veteran of the restaurant industry and self-trained star in the kitchen. He has headed several kitchen operations ranging from formal fine dining to bustling high-volume corporate restaurants.
Gordon was also the executive chef and food and beverage director of Hospitality Inc., one of San Diego’s top catering companies that include Festivities Catering and Picnic People.
Matt is an active member of the North Park Business Owners Association and North Park Main Street and a generous in-kind contributor to Dining Out for Life,  Mama’s Kitchen, the American Liver Foundation Culinary Gala and the Wine and Roses fund for Camp Oliver for underprivileged children.
Colin’s star rises in the legal world. He is an attorney with DLA Piper, where he focuses on commercial litigation and professional responsibility law.
Outside of law, Colin’s love is politics and the environment. He serves as the spokesperson for the League of Conservation Voters and is an active member of the North Park Planning Committee.
In last year’s City Council elections, Colin was very active in Todd Gloria’s successful campaign as well as co-organizing two fundraisers for President Obama’s presidential campaign.
He is a very important strategist for the Young Democrats of California and is the founder and president of the American Constitution Society, San Diego chapter.
In this year’s group of the 40 honorees, five immigrated to the United States from Vietnam, Belgium, Somalia and the Ukraine knowing of the promise and opportunity which only this great country offers.   For those of us who live near an international border, is it any surprise that  immigration in our backyard is exclusively northbound.
Elizabeth Bui, at the age of 5 found herself with a bullet wound in her foot and tossed with her sister onto a small fishing boat to escape Saigon in 1975.  Today, she is director of intellectual property at Novocell Inc..
Hamse Warfa had to flee a civil war and three years of living in a refugee camp in Kenya before finding his way to San Diego.
Oleg Cross moved to San Diego three years ago but his early years were spent in the Ukraine as was true for Natalie Prescott.  Natalie was a TV newscaster and journalist in Odessa, Ukraine, before coming to the United States.  Both Oleg and Natalie are graduates of Duke University’s Law School.
Kobe Bogaert moved to San Diego from Belgium and is now a principal of Strategic Momentum Inc., a company that helps its clients improve the productivity of its people doing business with people.
You get a strong sense of the commitments these young folks make to giving back when reviewing the plethora of non profits and charitable organizations to whom they give much of their time, efforts and financial contributions.
The list includes adoption programs to help special needs foster children, guiding working mothers, mentoring nonprofit executives, raising funds to rebuild earthquake-stricken schools in Asia, partnering with the San Diego Youth Services, sponsoring benefits for an autism foundation and providing legal assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure of Cancer, the Angels Foster Family Network, the American Red Cross and the SIDS Foundation are other noteworthy charities with whom this impressive list of young people devote their energies.
We salute them all.

Bob Page, chairman of the board, REP Publishing