InOak, an emerging collaborative for innovative, technology driven businesses in Oakland hosted its second annual end-of-the year awards event on Oct. 27 at the Rooftop Garden at Kaiser Center.

More than 300 participants gave their warm approval to the presentation of the first annual InOak Innovator awards:

Accepted by Danny Kennedy, founder and president of Sungevity: InOak Clean Tech Innovator Award, Excellence in Job Creation through Innovation and Technology

Accepted by Joe Kennedy, CEO of Pandora: Excellence in Job Creation through Innovation and TechnologyAccepted by Ellin O’Leary, founder and president of Youth Radio: InOak Digital Media Innovator Award, Excellence in Preparing Our Youth for the Technology Workforce of Tomorrow

Accepted by Nancy Pfund and Cynthia Ringo, managing partners of DBL Investors: InOak Investment Innovator Award, Excellence in Double Bottom Line Investments that Benefit Oakland Business

Accepted by Susan Mernit on behalf of the collaboration team that hosted a one-day workshop on June 6 to provide local solutions to the national Apps for Communities challenge  (www.appsforcommunities.challenge.gov).  The team included the city of Oakland, Urban Strategies Council, Tech Liminal and Oakland Local: InOak Open Source Innovator Award, Excellence in Promoting Open Government through the Power of the Web

Sungevity, Pandora and Youth Radio alone employ almost 700 people in Jack London Square and Oakland, representing a 116 percent increase in Sungevity and Pandora jobs since 2010. 

Why locate in Oakland?

“It was said we needed to be located in SOMA in San Francisco and we looked all over there. Then we looked at Oakland’s Jack London Square," founder of Sungevity Danny Kennedy told the InOak crowd. "It’s on the water, a beautiful location, easy access, I thought ‘This will be expensive!'  It was HALF the cost of San Francisco and great weather with no fog, a ferry terminal, a train station to easily ride to San Jose or Sacramento, nearby airport, free bus service to downtown areas. Deciding to locate in Oakland and to expand our business here was an easy decision to make.”

Nancy Pfund of DBL Investors, which has provided venture capital funding to Brightsource Energy, Pandora, Revolution Foods, Livescribe and newcomer EcoLogic, accepted the InOak Investment Innovator Award with words of “continuing commitment” to supporting investment in Oakland businesses committed to growth, job creation and community involvement.

Welcoming remarks were given by Oakland Councilwoman-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan and were almost drowned out by the circling news helicopters covering the nearby Occupy Oakland events. Kaplan assured the InOak throng that the growth of the innovative technology industries in Oakland represents a key job creation element to address the social upheavals being experienced here in Oakland and across the United States.

Deborah Acosta, co-chair of InOak, announced that InOak events being scheduled and under consideration for 2012, which will include:

• InOak Tech Innovators Networking Lunch Series - beginning on Nov. 10 at the law offices of Wendel, Rosen, Black and Dean. Specifics of this first Networking Lunch were announced Monday, Oct. 31 Eventbrite.
• Industry Speaker Series - The first speaker event has been confirmed for March 8 with Adam Metz, author of the just released, Amazon bestseller “The Social Customer.”
• Tech-industry focused Job Fairs.  

InOak is sponsored by The Downtown Oakland and Lake Merritt/Uptown District Associations and Comcast. The InOak Planning Committee also includes representatives of Pandora, Skytide, Oakland Local, TechLiminal and iDOTconnect.

For more information, visit inoak.net.