1. Describe MCRC in 1 word or sentence.
Accountability
2. What is your role at Mi Casa?
I am the administrator of the Patent Program, established by the America Invents Act in 2011 and sponsored by the United States Patent & Trademark Office. I qualify and introduce low-income inventors, to volunteer patent attorneys, working at most of the major law firms across the United States.
3. Proud moment in your career (at or before MCRC)?
In 2022, my research to develop artificial intelligence technology was awarded a USDA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant. The following year, after demonstrating our success, my business was awarded a National Science Foundation Phase II grant suggesting the importance of commercializing the technology, which awards are intended to make America more competitive globally. I was a named inventor in patent applications and was involved in filing trademarks and international PCT patent applications to protect proprietary technology.
4. Advice to entrepreneurs?
I would give entrepreneurs the same advice I have given my daughters, that is, life can be challenging, but you have to keep moving forward. In 2010, unintended consequences of federal regulations responding to the 2008 recession caused the closure of an investment fund where I was the Managing Partner. I had been directly involved in funding several hundred million dollars of product development and manufacturing. Since then, I have learned how to fund technology in a totally different method and have been awarded 8 consecutive academic, state, and federal grants working with scientists at multiple major universities in the United States.
5. What do you wish every person knew about Mi Casa?
Mi Casa has supported the Patent Program since 2015 with matching funds and human resources, in which almost 40 million dollars of donated legal services have been provided to under-resourced inventors. In 2023, Mi Casa invested personnel and substantial financial resources to migrate the Patent Program into a “cradle-to-grave” system in Salesforce.
6. Why give to Mi Casa?
To perpetuate almost 50 years of demonstrated success of the Mi Casa Resource Center to train individuals to be self-reliant, and take economic control of their lives, which, as a father, is the primary goal I have for my daughters and the reason, I am here at Mi Casa.
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