40 UNDER 40 — CLASS OF 2020
Stephanie Kanaski, director of institutional planning at The Academy of Our Lady of Peace, is a 40 Under 40 honoree.
Introducing the 40 Under 40 Winners for 2020
40 Under 40 is San Diego’s premier event honoring outstanding young leaders.
Sponsored by SD METRO Magazine, 40 Under 40 began in 1999, making this the 21st consecutive year. Over this period of time, 840 of San Diego’s most outstanding young people have been honored.
Sheena Peoples
Sheena Peoples is a senior vice president, Call Center for the San Diego County Credit Union. In her 15-year career in management, she has been involved in many projects that have led to the monumental growth of the credit union. In 2018, she led an initiative to take a closer look at historical data and evaluate patterns in call time and peak hours. As a result, the average answer speeds improved over 1,000 percent and the percentage of calls answered within 45 seconds increased by 97 percent. Additionally, Peoples led the implementation of a self-service authentication project, which allows customers to self-authenticate by confirming their identity within an automated menu before talking to a call agent. She was also integral in the rollout of the launch of SDCCU’s online banking platform in late 2019. Her commitment to leadership and to the credit union has been vital to it overall growth, reaching $8.78 billion in assets and more than 425,000 members. SDCCU is an engaged community partner, participating in over 500 community events each year. Peoples is a certified sign language specialist which means she helps with any transactions with which deaf members need assistance.
Jessica Williams
Jessica Williams joined Gomez Trial Attorneys in 2012. She started as a receptionist/intake specialist and a paralegal. In 2013, she began attending California Western School of Law. Shortly after starting law school, she began with the Complex Litigation department, specializing in mass torts, class actions, and environmental law. She continues to work in Complex Litigation assisting with cases such as car, truck and motorcycle accidents, brain injury and wrongful death. She is also a member of the firm’s Coronavirus Litigation group which focuses on business interruption insurance litigation for affected businesses. Williams is a graduate of San Diego State University with a B.A. degree in English Literature. She is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego County, Lawyers Club of San Diego, Federal Bar Association and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and the American Association for Justice. As a Complex Litigation attorney, she is able to help numerous people across the entire country.
Stephanie Kanaski
Stephanie Kanaski is a member of the Academy of Our Lady of Peace executive leadership team as the director of Institutional Advancement. She is playing an important role in the school’s transitions in response to COVID-19. In addition to working in a 48-hour transition to a distance learning platform, Kanaski and her team were on the front lines of supporting student needs. A number of families were economically impacted by the effects of COVID-19 and, under her guidance, a campaign was launched to raise over $40,000 in support of these students. Her volunteerism and community activism have been longstanding cornerstones of her life, focused heavily on work with San Diego youth. In recent years, she created art exhibitions to showcase the art of at-risk youth in San Diego. Art was auctioned to benefit critical community programs. She has worked with San Diego students on a program called Project Smiles, which benefits children of families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Kanaski also is in the process of writing her first book, a memoir of a well-known cancer survivor turned into Iron-Man athlete. Her leadership has helped launch AOLP’s first ever capital campaign to renovate two historic buildings on the campus and to create a new state-of- the-art library and performing arts complex.
Jorge Enrique Diaz De La Fuente
Jorge Enrique Diaz De La Fuente is the owner and president of De La Fuente Construction Inc. He was born in San Diego, went to school in Tijuana and then returned to continue his studies at Southwestern College and later at San Diego State University, where he graduated with a B.S. degree in civil engineering. De La Fuente Construction is a general contracting company with offices in California, Texas and New Mexico, and contracts with many federal agencies such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, GSA, Custom and Border Protection. The company has contracts throughout the Southwest as well as in Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. It has also worked with U.S. military bases in Spain, Greece and Italy. And it has worked with different school districts throughout San Diego County, as well as the Port of San Diego. De La Fuente has managed to grow the company exponentially from the low $100,000 to $30 million. With the Army Corps of Engineers, the company participated in building a town in the Middle East for American soldiers. De La Fuente Construction was founded in 2008.
Jillian F. Hayes
Jillian Hayes is an attorney with CaseyGerry. A top young litigator, her practice concentrates on serious personal injury and sexual assault cases. She has a reputation for being a tenacious and bold attorney determined to get the best results for her clients. She is always willing to go the extra mile and is eager to get into the courtroom any chance that comes her way. Hayes earned her B.S. degree in sociology at Arizona State University and her law degree at California Western School of Law. While at California Western, she served as an instructor for the school’s Street Law program, helping high-risk youth throughout San Diego to understand their legal and constitutional rights. Hayes has handled a diversity of high-profile and complex cases, such as when she represented a woman whose car was hit at 45 miles or more while she was stopped at a red light, and when she represented a young woman who was raped by a Marine. With other CaseyGerry lawyers, she successfully attained justice for a pedestrian who suffered catastrophic injuries after he was hit by a car while crossing the street at a designated crosswalk.
Laura L Nicholas
Laura Nicholas recently moved her well established practice from SCHMV to Buchalter Law where she is now a stakeholder and helping to grow the firm’s trust and estate practice group. She is a certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Administration; Accredited Estate Planner by the National Association of Estate Planning Council, past president of the Estate Planning Council of San Diego and has been a notary for 15 years. She is a member of the Financial Roundtable of San Diego and a member of Rady Children’s Executive Committee. She is a former adjunct professor at California Western School of Law. She is married to Tyler Nichols, a financial adviser at Northwestern Mutual and the mother of Reese, age 5, and Addison, age 3.
Sarah Buchanan, Amanda Nelson, Laura Nunn
Sarah Buchanan, Amanda Nelson and Laura Nunn are the three women of influence at the San Diego Housing Federation. Buchanan is director of events and marketing, Nelson is communications director and Nunn is director of policy and planning, Buchanan has helped elevate events through detailed planning and she continues to provide high-quality events on a nonprofit budget that feels inclusive, vibrant and inline with the San Diego Housing Federation. She is on the board of Christie’s Place and is involved with San Diego LGBQ Center. Under her guidance the housing federation’s membership has grown to 300. Buchanan is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.
Nelson is communications director. She started her own video production company and later founded a grassroots organization, Uptown Housing Advocates. She volunteers for San Diego Pride and San Diego Film Festival. She is a graduate of the University of San Diego.
Nunn has spent nearly a decade advocating for affordable housing. She supports Homeless Experienced Advocacy and Leadership Network. She continually provides inspiration for her team, the affordable housing sector and her two young daughters. She is a graduate of the University of San Diego.
Brian Malloy
Brian Malloy is of counsel at RJS Law, and co-chair of its trusts and estate practice group. Over the course of his career, he has developed a well-rounded breadth of experience in trusts and estates, corporate and real estate transactions and general business matters. He counsels families, business owners and successful individuals in all areas of estate planning. His practice has focused on sophisticated family wealth and transfer tax planning, asset protection, complex trust and probate administrations, business succession planning, fiduciary representation, charitable planning giving and nonprofit tax exempt organizations representation. Malloy also advises private and public companies with respect to entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, private capital, financial transactions, real estate matters and commercial transactions. He is a graduate of California Western School of Law and holds a B.S. degree in business administration and finance from the University of Arizona.
Shibani Patnaik
Shibani Patnaik is the chief operating officer of Applied Data Finance (ADF), a leading technology-enabled lender that has originated more than $500 million in loans over the past five years. Founded in 2014, ADF has grown to 280 employees with locations in San Diego and India, as well as a 60-member call center team split between Panama and Jamaica. A world class COO, Patnaik has that rare set of skills that bridges the space between the company’s big picture goals and detailed operational execution of the company’s strategy. With her amazing ability to execute, she has been instrumental in turning ADF’s strategy into operational and financial success. Over the past 15 years she has been leading and developing teams cross-functionally as well as cross-culturally with great success. She also is a highly accomplished professional Indian classical dancer and has spent the last 30 years learning the art form of “Odissi.” She has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and participated in dance festivals all over the world. She holds a B.S. degree in computer science from Stanford University. She is the mother of three children.
Chanel Georges
Chanel Georges is the executive director of operations at Host Health Care. Host is a travel nurse company, a three-time Inc. Magazine 5000 company that has won numerous awards for its employee culture. Georges is very active in her Chaldean community, and actively mentors other young businesswomen. She has grown and led the operations department from scratch to the 30-person team it is today. She is an active adviser to the CEO and manages many of his affairs that are delegated to her so he can focus on larger issues. She is a graduate of San Diego State University.
Manny Hernandez
Manny Hernandez is the vice president for North America, overseeing the billion-dollar market for GPS and telematics at Queclink Wireless, one of the world’s largest producers of telematics and GPS devices. He served in the Marine Corps, serving in multiple combat operations with the First Marine Expeditionary Forces and was honorably discharged in 2004. He holds an undergraduate degree in information technology from the University of Northern Virginia and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University. In 2008, he was responsible for the first 4G mobile-broadband product launch in the United States with Franklin Wireless. This year, he helped to launch internal company programs to help in the fight against COVID-19, bringing partners together to launch COVID LOT Alliance and deploying tracking solutions to help track medical equipment for hospitals and government projects.
Suzanne Brose Gagui
Suzanne Brose Gagui is senior vice president at J Public Relations, a global PR and social agency specializing in luxury hospitality hotels and brands. She has been instrumental in the agency’s global expansion, staff development, client success, culture, revenue growth and new business wins which now include an international clientele that expands across five continents. She is a PR powerhouse from spreading headline-worthy media strategies and destination campaigns for the Utah Office of Tourism and Baja California Tourism as well as leading countless marquee West Coast hotel openings and major relaunches including Lido House, Marriott Irvine Spectrum, NOBU Hotel Palo Alto, the Grand Hyatt at SFO and Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani. She has supported JPR’s Give Back program involving with Dress for Success, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, Make-A-Wish San Diego, American Cancer Society and the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter. She is a graduate of San Diego State University and a mother of two.
Dusan Selezan
Dusan Selezan is a virtual design and construction manager at Balfour Beatty. He has played a significant role in helping the company deliver over $1.8 billion worth of construction projects ranging from hospitals, universities, residential towers, criminal justice facilities and school and office space. He is co-developing and implementing the new Presentation Training Series for Balfour Beatty employees. He is a part time professor at the New School of Architecture & Design and has been an adjunct professor at San Diego State University’s College of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Selezan is a volunteer and vice president for the Serbian Orthodox Church, where he helped to raise over $120,000 each year for the parish. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s in construction engineering from San Diego State University.
Kyle Overs
Kyle Overs is a leader at Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP, an impactful attorney who is committed to the San Diego community. As an advocate for his clients, he works to help them achieve their business goals and obtain their results. In addition he mentors younger colleagues as they strive to grow their practice, exemplifying a dedication to the future of the firm. He brings creative legal strategy to the teams of attorneys he collaborates with daily. Overs earned his law degree cum laude from the University of Arizona, where he was a Dean’s Scholarship recipient and participated on the ABA Moot Court and Environmental Moot Court Team. He earned his B.S. in business management from Wake Forest University where he was on the Dean’s List and president of the Mock Trial Team. He has received an Outstanding Service Medal from the Legal Aid Society of San Diego and the Wiley M. Manuel Certificate for Pro Bono Legal Services from the State Bar of California.
Kaitlin Chell
Kaitlin Chell is the new senior director of public affairs at UC San Diego, where she leads UC San Diego and UC San Diego Health’s government and community relations teams in all state and local public policy and community engagement efforts. She returned to San Diego after serving as the director of federal relations at UC Riverside. She is a LEAD San Diego IMPACT graduate and serves on both the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s public policy and health committees. Prior to UC Riverside she was with Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, a lobbying and consulting firm, and at the American Geophysical Union, a scientific society representing the Earth and space physical sciences. She is a native San Diegan who graduated cum laude with a B.A. in International Studies and Spanish at Randolph-Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Va., and she holds a master’s degree in environmental sciences and policy from John Hopkins University.
Ian Clampett
Ian Clampett manages state and local government relations for UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. As a native San Diegan, he grew up surfing and free diving at Scripps Pier before going to earn his B.A. in political science at UC San Diego. He utilizes his political proficiency and passion for the ocean to secure political and budgetary support for the ocean researchers. Since 2016, he has served as a board member on the Serra Mesa Community Planning Group. He is also an ex officio member of the public policy committee of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Alex Brizolis
Alex Brizolis is an attorney at Procopio who represents clients in various complex business and employment litigation matters. He drafted all briefings on a successful writ of mandamus before the Ninth Circuit reinstating his client’s right to a jury trial. He obtained a $26 million settlement as a member of a trial team for breach of contract litigation against a multi-billion dollar foreign software company. He won binding arbitration compelling a former officer to return trade secrets and other materials to the corporate client. Brizolis represented a client charged with vehicular manslaughter, resulting in the dismissal of all charges. He is a top-rated business litigation attorney, and has been named a Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star for five years in a row. He launched his legal career as an assistant city attorney for the City of Escondido after graduating from the University of San Diego School of Law. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from UCLA.
Francine Maigue
Francine Maigue is the district director for California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales. She has established and continues to execute programming to connect 500,000 constituents to vital resources, provide information regarding state policy, mentors countless youth from challenged communities who have gone on to graduate or are currently at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. She is an active advocate for equitable resources and opportunities, especially for women and communities of color. She is a stage 4 lung cancer survivor whose Lung Force team was recognized as a 2020 Top Team by the American Lung Association. She writes a weekly column for the Filipino Press and is a former president of the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce. She holds a B.A. degree from UCLA with a master’s degree from Harvard. She has been named one of the Most Influential Filipinas in the World.
Zachary Myers
Zachary Myers is the “go to” attorney for San Diego’s private and public companies in the technology and life sciences sectors, especially biotechnology and medical device companies, in complex high-value transactions. His practice allows him to work with companies ranging from startups to large public companies. He represents private companies in venture capital financings, helping companies raise millions of dollars needed to fund, grow and expand their businesses. He has assisted numerous clients that have gone public, listing them on the NYSE and NASDAQ. He often represents clients in the purchase and sale of their business. As a former CPA he appreciates clients’ business cycles and interacts seamlessly with them. He is a fixture in the San Diego entrepreneurial community and actively volunteers his time to support the local startup community. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a B.A. in economics and holds a J.D. degree from the University of San Diego.
