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We trace Jacob Martinez’s path from outsider to builder and unpack how Digital NEST turns first-gen talent into confident leaders through transparency, training, and courageous asks. Real talk on hiring, culture, and stress gives a grounded playbook for turbulent times.

• founding story shaped by class contrast and belonging
• embedding leadership training for staff and youth
• professional development funds and clear advancement
• nonprofit hiring realities and people decisions
• COVID pivot to online tools and community support
• post-pandemic outreach to bring youth back
• radical transparency with finances and access
• compensation strategy tied to equity and runway
• fundraising courage and mentorship on the ask
• stress management, sabbaticals, and boundaries
• advice for emerging and seasoned leaders

Support & Hire the youth! Find us at digitalnest.org and on socials. Email Jacob at jacob@digitalnest.org

Bio

Jacob Martinez, founder & CEO of Digital NEST, is a social entrepreneur, tech educator, keynote speaker, and cutting-edge community collaborator. His mission is to bridge the digital divide and create opportunities for young people in rural communities to access the economic and social benefits of technology.

Recognition for Martinez's work includes: 2020 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Entrepreneur Fellowship, 2024 UC Santa Cruz Alumni Achievement Award, and the 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year for Santa Cruz County, among others. He speaks frequently about his work at events, including TEDxSantaCruz and the 2015 White House Tech Meetup.

He sits on the boards of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation and the Center for Rural Innovation. He is an External Special Adviser to the UCSC Chancellor as well as an Advisor for Reservoir Ventures, a modern investment firm focused on supporting entrepreneurs in Central California and the Monterey Bay Area. When Jacob is not making sure youth in rural communities are ready for big careers, he spends time with his wife and three kids, and enjoys gardening and traveling.

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We explore people-first leadership with Casey Coonerty Protti of Bookshop Santa Cruz, from family roots in service to making brave, values-led decisions through crisis. COVID recalibrates pace, transparency meets limits, and empathy becomes a daily practice on the sales floor.

• family culture of service shaping leadership style
• upfront vs behind-the-scenes leadership trade-offs
• slowing down decisions during COVID for safety
• centring core values when answers are unclear
• balancing mission and financial sustainability
• training new staff on history and expectations
• transparency, what to share, and unionization
• anxiety, boundaries, and practical coping habits
• controversial books and courageous curation
• communication modes and avoiding performative input
• why fiction grows empathy and better leadership
• Readers Club details and community gratitude

Bio

Casey Coonerty Protti is the second-generation owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz located in the heart of downtown Santa Cruz for over 59 years. Casey received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley, a MPA from Harvard University and a MBA from Northwestern University. Casey returned to Santa Cruz to run daily operations of Bookshop Santa Cruz in 2006 after working in the nonprofit field and serving as a consultant for the American Bookseller’s Association. Besides raising her two children and trying to read and travel as much as possible, Casey served on the Downtown Commission of Santa Cruz and the boards of the Santa Cruz Downtown Association, the Santa Cruz Education Foundation, The Independent Booksellers Consortium, The Women's Educational Success Program at Cabrillo College and the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs.

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We trace Justin Cummings’ path from early leadership training to steering Santa Cruz through a pandemic, fires, and a fragile housing landscape. Practical stories show how to connect experts, cut red tape, protect renters, and stay grounded without losing joy.

• early leadership roots in camp programs and team captaincy
• becoming mayor during crisis and defining the role
• building information bridges across sectors
• doubling local COVID testing capacity through escalation and certification
• handling criticism with clarity and boundaries
• self care, time management and public visibility
• housing instability as the central community risk
• tenant protections and a funded attorney resource
• transparency versus strategy in public communication
• culture setting through joy, humor and choosing issues not sides
• advice for emerging leaders on listening and sharing the stage

Bio
I moved to Santa Cruz from Chicago in 2007 to pursue a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology with a designated emphasis in environmental science from UC-Santa Cruz, which I received in 2013. My work has largely focused on invasive species eradication in places such as Panama and the Galapagos, sustainable fisheries science, tropical forest restoration, assessing the impacts of climate change on the environment, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in environmental conservation. After a brief post-doc in Miami, I returned to Santa Cruz in 2015 to co-found and direct the UC-Santa Cruz Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program, whose mission is to prepare college students from diverse backgrounds to become the next generation of conservation leaders.

In Santa Cruz, I witnessed and experienced the impacts of the exorbitant housing market. I got involved in a rent control measure campaign and was one of the highest signature gatherers to place the measure on the 2018 ballot. This, along with a commitment to community engagement, prompted me to run for city council. In 2018, I was the highest vote recipient and became one of two African American men voted onto the Santa Cruz City Council for the first time in history. In 2020 I became the first African American man to serve as Mayor of the City of Santa Cruz. In 2022, I was elected to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors as the Third District Supervisor.

During my time on the council, I focused on sustainable community growth, increasing affordable housing, reducing carbon emissions, public safety reform, amplifying the voices of marginalized community members, connecting people to resources during the pandemic, and most importantly bringing our community together to make Santa Cruz better for everyone.

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