2022 California Small Business Forum and Workshop

Fiona Ma

California State Treasurer

Carlos Gutierrez

Deputy District Director for the San Francisco District Office of the Small Business Administration

Carlos Gutierrez serves as Deputy District Director for the San Francisco District Office of the Small Business Administration.  Prior to joining the SBA, he served with the Department of Energy (DOE) as a Business Program Manager in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity.  Additionally, he has also held positions with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), a bureau of the Department of Commerce, as a Strategic Alliances/ Innovation Ecosystem Specialist, and as the Director of The Veterans Business Outreach Center for region VI.  Mr. Gutierrez holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from The University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, a Master of Science in Technology Commercialization from The University of Texas at Austin, and is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

Blaine Laney

Consultant with NorCal FDC, Oakland

Teresa Macias-Ruiz currently serves as a Bilingual Business Outreach Liaison at the Office of Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Services, California Department of General Services. In this role, she educates business owners about the benefits and opportunities of pursuing a Small Business (SB) certification, Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) certification, and contract opportunities with the state of California. Teresa worked in various capacities in banking for about 20 years. Later on, Teresa worked as a substitute teacher for 5 years at Washington Unified School District.  Her background is in business, and she holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Sacramento State University.

Teresa Macias-Ruiz

Bilingual Business Outreach Liaison at the Office of Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Services, California Department of General Services

Teresa Macias-Ruiz currently serves as a Bilingual Business Outreach Liaison at the Office of Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Services, California Department of General Services. In this role, she educates business owners about the benefits and opportunities of pursuing a Small Business (SB) certification, Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) certification, and contract opportunities with the state of California. Teresa worked in various capacities in banking for about 20 years. Later on, Teresa worked as a substitute teacher for 5 years at Washington Unified School District.  Her background is in business, and she holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Sacramento State University.

Porter Wong

Senior Consultant of MBDA San Jose Business Center

Mr. Wong is business consultant of the US Department of Commerce MBDA (Minority Business Development Agency) San Jose Business Center and Asian Inc.    He is a board member of the Western Region of USPAACC (U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce.).  He is on the advisory board and corporate board of several deep tech startups. Mr. Wong is mentor of Clean Tech Open, Plug and Play Tech Center, the U.S. National Lab Entrepreneurship Academy, the University of California Entrepreneurship Academy, USC Viterbi Startup Garage and EU Enrich.   He was executive in residence of Alley / Verizon Ventures Palo Alto and served as Chairman of IEEE Computer Society Santa Clara Valley Chapter.

Eric Zhang

CPA. EA. PFS. MST, Eric Zhang & Associations LLP

President of Sino-American Public Accountants Association

Joyce Liang

Founder of CBC Life Financial Services

9 Fortunes Co-Founder

Investment Advisor

Mentor of Insurance Agents

Xiaoyan Zhang

CEO of KIT Solutions

Dr. Zhang is an entrepreneur, data scientist, and executive in residence for start-up companies. He was the CEO of KIT Solutions® LLC, a computer software company providing data-driven decision support service in the field of substance abuse prevention (1996 – 2014). As the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, he served on the National Advisory Council for NIDA (National Institute for Drug Addiction) between 2007 and 2010. He received several SBIR/STTR Phase I, Phase II, and Fast-track grants in the past 20 years, and served as the chairperson for a recent SBIR grant review panel. Currently, Dr. Zhang serves as a senior business adviser to 3 start-up companies in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and augmented reality (AR). He is also leading a data informed decision support project funded by a Phase II SBIR grant from CDC for combating the Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) crisis.

Christopher Earl

Deputy Director and S.Cal. Regional Advisor 

Office of the Small Business Advocate

Christopher Earl, of Rialto, was appointed at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development in 2020 and currently is the current Acting Deputy Director and Southern California Regional Advisor for the Office of the Small Business Advocate within the GoBiz. Earl is a Civil Engineer by trade and has a background in technology transfer & commercialization along with an extensive history is economic development; Innovation; grant writing and administration; procurement and contracting; and small business technical assistance.

He was most recently executive director of economic development & entrepreneurship, at Riverside Community College District from 2019 to 2020, where he held several other positions from 2012 to 2019, including, Statewide Director of the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program, Executive Director of the Office of Grants and Contracts, and Assistant Director of TriTech Small Business Development Center (SBDC).