Brenda’s career in education began at a northern California magnet school for gifted and talented learners. It was there she introduced a curriculum in inventions to her 3rd and 4th grade students that spread throughout the district. She later became principal at a K-8 project-based learning school in Sonoma County, followed by principal of Natural Bridges Elementary School in Santa Cruz, assistant principal at Mission Hill Middle School, and finally principal at Main Street Elementary School in Soquel Union Elementary School District. In fall of 2015 she served as interim superintendent/principal at Pacific Elementary School District in Davenport. It was there that she brought Invention Education full circle back to the 5th/6th grade students at Pacific School, where 4 of the winners from that event continued on to the National Invention Convention Entrepreneurship Expo competition that took place at the US Trade and Patent Office in Alexandria Virginia. Since September, 2016 she has led the first state California Invention Convention competition and has continued to provide fund development, program development, professional development and support to teachers and districts. Brenda’s goal is to bring invention and entrepreneurial skills education to students throughout the state of California.
Tom served for six years on the School Board of the Bonny Doon Elementary District in Santa Cruz County, two years as president. He is the founder and owner of Experienced Safety Educators which provided training and consulting throughout Silicon Valley. He was a fire captain for the City of San Jose for 27 years and has been an instructor for the Center for Domestic preparedness in Anniston, AL. Most recently, he provides safety audits and training for Booster Fuels, Inc. Tom has authored articles on emergency response and safety and has been an invited speaker on safety issues. In addition to his expertise in safety issues, Tom has also been a facilitator for the Franklin Covey Leadership Center.
Sonya was one of the founders of The STEMIE Coalition, which ran the first K-12 National Invention Convention to further share and elevate students’ inventions of promise with peers and professionals. She is proud to work with the dedicated California Invention Convention colleagues and teachers who share the belief that all students are enriched through invention and deserve a forum to display their original thoughts and problem-solving skills. She works as a grant writer, with a focus on K-12 and higher education.
Joyce is the Principal at Matlack-Van Every Design, which specializes in creative orthodontic and dental office design. Joyce has specialized in orthodontic and dental office planning and design since 1988. As a licensed interior designer, and dental hygienist, she speaks at conferences and dental graduate programs throughout the country, as well as contributing to newsletters, design manuals, articles and online resources. She was intrigued early on by the work of the California Invention Convention and sees it as an important component of creating the problem-solvers we will need in our future.
Donald R. Boys founded Central Coast Patent Agency in 1992 to create cost-effective, valuable patent portfolios for funded start-ups and independent inventors. He has guided over 1,000 patents to issue for clients in the United States and many foreign countries, as well. Don supervises the preparation of all patent applications, as well as claim drafting. He also supervises all formal responses to actions from the USPTO and examination authorities in foreign cases. Formal responses to date total more than 3,600. Don served on the California Invention Convention Board for 8 years and most recently serves in the role of Advisor. Every year at the state North / Central convention, he reviews submitted inventions and is part of the team selecting the Most Marketable invention. He and his firm generously guide the winner through the patent process.
His entrepreneurial spirit and passion for education developed through his own educational experiences with a school system relatively inflexible using standardized learning modalities that did not much suit dyslexia, auditory processing and other learning differences. His learning challenges and struggles with schools/teachers inspired him to build DagM8, a student focused learning and collaboration tool for college students to get more from every day – a tailored platform to better combat the rampant one-size-fits-all education model experience. DagM8 connects friends and classmates for social and educational collaboration and celebration, empowering each and every student to get the most out of their time at college – helping every student to have more fun and get better grades. His passion for Technology and Education has ignited his interest into contributing his experience to the California Invention Convention at the intersection of innovation and education — helping kids invent their futures.
Sean is an Engineering Director with experience leading teams to accomplish goals, as well as having extensive experience with more than 20 years in in systems engineering for aircraft programs. He works closely with customers to identify their needs-- accurately configuring and designing systems to meet their requirements. His experience with the Engineering Cycle of problem identification, designing, building and testing solutions gives him a unique understanding of the invention process as taught by the Californina Invention Convention. He has served on the Board of the Ohio Invention League as well as being a mentor and invention judge for grades k-12.
Myra Saxena is a middle school student researcher and founder from Palo Alto, California, whose passion for scientific discovery and community impact began long before she ever heard the word "invention." From a young age, Myra was constantly building, tinkering, and inventing solutions to help the people around her. As founder of her non-profit initiative, Sparklez, Myra brings translational health literacy and STEM opportunities directly to younger students. When Myra first qualified for the National Invention Convention, she was the sole representative from the Palo Alto Unified School District. Seeing the program's transformative impact, she made it her goal to inspire her peers and this past year, PAUSD proudly represented 3 students at RTX Nationals at Henry Ford. As a CAIC Student Ambassador, her goal is to demystify the innovation process, showing kids that inventing isn't about rigid formulas or complex lab equipment, but about curiosity, empathy, and having fun. She is dedicated to making the invention journey welcoming and accessible to all children so they can discover their own creative confidence early in life.
Marissa has been a Science Educator in Torrance Unified School District for 18 years. She began as a 7th grade science teacher for 10 years at Madrona Middle School in Torrance, CA where she served as the department chair, coordinator of ASB, and Science Olympiad coach. Reluctantly she left the classroom to serve as a mentor in the induction program, helping new teachers tackle their first years. For the past 7 years she has served as a Science TOSA, rolling out the Next Generation Science Standards while creating meaningful professional learning experiences for TK-12th grade science teachers throughout the district. Marissa holds a Doctorate in STEM Leadership, a Masters in Science Education from Cal State Long Beach, an Administrative credential, and is STEM Certified from the National Institute for STEM Education. She is passionate about making STEM exciting and accessible to all students. She saw engagement in STEM increase with the introduction of the Invention Convention in her district. In 2021 Marissa and her colleague, Adam Daley, sent Torrance student inventors to the California Invention Convention and have since grown their local program into a regional competition inviting surrounding school districts to vie for a spot at the state competition. The students’ energy and creativity surrounding the process has been inspiring to everyone involved.
Lawrence is an entrepreneur, technology commercialization executive, intellectual property strategist, innovation ecosystem architect, educator, and board advisor whose career spans more than six decades. He has founded, co-founded, advised, or governed more than thirty organizations across technology, medical innovation, intellectual property, research commercialization, education, and entrepreneurial development. His career has been defined by a singular strength: connecting inventors, researchers, corporations, investors, government agencies, and institutions to transform innovation into measurable economic and societal impact. Across every chapter of that career —as a founder, chairman, executive director, and advisor — the throughline has been the same: taking on an active operating or governance role inside anorganization and leaving it measurably stronger, better funded, better protected, or better connected than he found it.
Jerry has practiced law for over 45 years, mainly in San Mateo County. He first became involved with the California Invention Convention as a judge at the state Convention and was impressed and inspired by the energy and creativity of the young inventors.
Jennifer has been an innovative educator for over three decades. Her goal is to teach students through cooperative learning, critical thinking, and innovation. Jennifer created the dynamic InventionLIT.org program with the mission to use children’s literature as the launch point to light up teachers’ passion for invention and STEAMie education while igniting K-5 students’ capacity for inventing. Jennifer’s service has been recognized with several awards, including 2020 Teacher of the Year from Junior Achievement of Northern California, the 2020 Lemelson-MIT Excite Award, and first place in the 2019 Henry Ford Teacher Innovator Awards. Jennifer’s passion for innovative learning has fueled her continuous involvement with the California Invention Convention, starting in 2018.
Anne previously worked in the high-tech sector both in major companies and as a consultant in marketing and sales, product development, and business development until she retired in 2006. She came out of retirement to work with the United Way of Santa Cruz County as Co-Director of Marketing and Community Engagement. In 2013, she retired (again!), until becoming involved with the California Invention Convention in spring of 2016. Her duties include creating and maintaining the web site, creating brochures and other marketing materials, assisting with running the Northern / Central Regional Invention Convention by supporting online registration of students, judges and volunteers and creating materials for the Awards Ceremony, as well a managing the onsite event.
The California Invention Convention is a registered 501(c)(3) with a tax-exempt EIN 84-3492216. We currently do not charge the schools for the curriculum. We rely strictly on sponsors and donations for which we are most grateful.
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