DIANE BIRNIE BOCK- Chairman of the Board
Diane Birnie Bock grew up in California and graduated from USC with a degree in Business. She started her career in the Marketing Department of Carnation’s London office and then relocated to Grey Advertising, Los Angeles. Next, she served as Executive Publisher of Performance Racing Industry, a trade magazine for the auto racing industry and produced a corresponding trade show. While she and her husband, Larry Bock, raised their two daughters – Quincy and Tasha –  she founded Community Cousins, a non‐profit aimed at fighting racism by matching families of different races to become “Cousins” as a means toward Re‐Defining US and THEM.  And she has enthusiastically supported her husband’s efforts to Celebrate Science- now serving, in his absence, as Chairman of the Board of the USA Science & Engineering Festival.

QUINCY BOCK
Quincy Bock is a lifelong science lover and technology enthusiast. In fifth grade, she taught her class how to clone a sheep for her “How To” speech, inspired by Dolly and her Dad’s perpetual love of all things cutting edge. As she grew up, Quincy found she thrived most when applying her creative streak to projects and assignments. Her senior year of college, she realized things had come full circle when her sculpture explaining Watson and Crick’s famous Photograph 51 won Harvard’s James Bryant Conant Prize for the best undergraduate coursework on a topic of scientific interest – the first ever non-written work to win. Clearly, Quincy was strongly influenced by her Dad’s passion for making science interesting, fun and exciting.

After she earned her BA in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 2011, Quincy studied programming and design at Parsons in New York City ( MFA in Design and Technology 2014 ). As an interaction designer at Unified Field, she helped make digital museum exhibits and installations for clients like the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center, Graceland Mansion, JetBlue and the National World War II Museum. Quincy now lives in Southern California, where she works as a Creative Director at the Discovery Cube Science Center and teaches a Girls Who Code Club at the Silverlake Library. OC STEM Initiative named her an “Outstanding STEM Innovator” in Virtual STEM Instruction.

TASHA BOCK
Tasha Bock is a fifth generation Californian. Her roots are in San Diego but she has been fortunate to travel, study and work around the world. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a History major modified with Comparative Literature and Anthropology. She augmented her studies by attending the University of Auckland in New Zealand and Semester at Sea (on which she explored 16 different countries around the Atlantic).

She has a diverse work background that is connected by her love of the creative process and project implementation. Tasha published “Feminist Felines” a “tail” that teaches the importance of equality and “purrpetuating pawsitivitiy.” She loves educating and empowering children, especially girls, to achieve their dreams.

JOHN STOKES
John Stokes had the good fortune to watch as Larry Bock, the Festival’s founder, turned his idea for a local celebration of science and technology into the Superbowl of STEM.  At each Expo since the Festival’s inception in 2010, John has been inspired to see hundreds of thousands of children exploring the world of science-inspired themselves by the wonders the Festival has to offer.  Needless to say, he is honored to serve on the Festival’s board.

John grew up in Norfolk, Virginia.  He earned his BA in Linguistics (the science of language) from Harvard, where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.  John then attended Yale Law School and served as a law clerk for the federal district and appellate courts.  He now works at Stris & Maher LLP, a boutique law firm in Los Angeles with a focus on appellate and Supreme Court litigation.

MICHAEL O’DONNELL
Michael O’Donnell is a lawyer specializing in serving biopharmaceutical and other life sciences companies. He is a partner at Orrick’s Silicon Valley office and was the founding attorney and lead attorney on the initial public offerings for companies such as Illumina, Pain Therapeutics, Cytokinetics, NeurogesX, Neurocrine Biosciences, Sequana Therapeutics, Ciphergen Biosystems, Argonaut Technologies, and Microcide Pharmaceuticals.Mike holds an undergraduate degree from Bucknell University and a JD from Harvard Law School. He is an avid sportsman, enjoying tennis, mountain biking, and lacrosse.

ADAM KALISH
Adam Kalish is a General Partner at Lux Capital, an early stage emerging tech venture capital firm. He is responsible for establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with investors. He is also a valuable advisor and super-connector for Lux’s companies, helping them find new ways to increase revenue and raise capital through high-value introductions and partnerships. Prior to joining Lux, Adam served as a Director at Everest Capital, a multi-strategy, opportunistic hedge fund with several billion in assets, and worked at Quellos Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar alternative investment firm. He also worked at DreamWorks SKG in Los Angeles, where he reported directly to the President of the Studio. Adam graduated from the University of Miami with dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Communications and Economics. He also studied Finance and Economics at the University of Westminster in London, England. He has lectured at Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania. He served on the Communications Committee for The Prostate Cancer Foundation and is a supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He is happily married and the proud father of two beautiful girls.  He’s an avid SCUBA diver and maintains a 360-gallon saltwater fish tank.

AGGIE KOBRIN
Aggie Kobrin is founder and director of CEC Global Events with expertise in planning conferences, corporate events, nonprofit and association events locally and globally for hundreds of clients and hundreds of thousands of participants. She has planned dozens of events for the National Space Society and is Director of Publications for the society and Managing Editor of their Ad Astra Magazine. She is also a partner in e360tv, a broadcast network across multiple social media platforms, producing live shows and live events.Aggie grew up in Toronto, Canada and has degrees in Psychology and Business from York University, Toronto. She lives in Southern California with her husband and adult children nearby.

MARY MEIGS
Mary Meigs grew up in East St. Louis, IL, one of 10 children of first-generation parents who stressed education.  She graduated from St. Louis University with a degree in Mathematics and a secondary education teaching credential in Mathematics.  After teaching high school math in Great Neck, NY for 3 years, she moved to San Diego, earned an MBA in Accounting at San Diego State University and worked as a CPA/Tax Accountant for a national firm.  Upon starting a family, Mary returned to teaching, this time at SDSU School of Accountancy.  She taught Accounting for over 15 years, all while participating in the Meigs & Meigs series of Accounting textbooks and raising 4 children.  Currently, Mary and her husband Robert serve as Directors of the Meigs Family Foundation supporting a variety of philanthropic projects, most in the areas of education or the arts.  Mary also serves on the Board of Nativity Prep Academy which provides an 11-year support system for first-generation students to ensure they can live lives of opportunity, choice, and service—with emphasis on college completion.  Mary sees STEM education as the key to unlocking opportunity, and fully embraces the “Larry Bock approach” of making STEM subjects engaging –and fun!