Half Moon Bay Brewing to Host Brews and Views in May

Half Moon Bay, Calif. — The Half Moon Bay Brewing Company invites members of the community to join celebrated guest panelists for Brews and Views on May 1 and May 15 for free public forums discussing important issues facing Bay Area residents. Created in November 2009 by Lenny Mendonca, co-owner and founder of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, Brews and Views is a monthly and sometimes bi-monthly discussion that is open to the public and might concern everything from economic development to social issues.

On Thursday, May 1, Brews and Views will welcome Jos Hill, executive director of Olazul, for a discussion with moderator Susan Stuart, a retired research scientist who spent decades in the public and private sector. Headquartered in San Francisco, Olazul designs and implements coastal livelihoods that drive marine ecosystem restoration in developing countries. Hill’s discussion with Stuart will explore the story behind the colorful fish kept in aquariums and the coral reef-side communities that bring them to market. In Indonesia, Olazul works with fishing communities to develop sustainable methods for producing marine aquarium fish, while their team in Mexico partners with fishermen to grow healthy seaweed for consumer markets. The organization’s goals are to provide marginalized coastal communities with profitable alternatives to destructive fishing practices and create economic pathways toward conservation and recovery of fisheries.

Thursday, May 1, 6-8 p.m., Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, 390 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay; Admission and snacks are complimentary; beer, wine and full menu available for purchase.

On Thursday, May 15, Brews and Views will welcome Jane Gardner and Joe Rodriguez, partners with Harbour Consulting, a San Francisco-based strategy and marketing consulting group, who are currently working on The Big Lift, a San Mateo County education initiative. Gardner and Rodriguez will be in discussion with moderator Lenny Mendonca, director emeritus from McKinsey & Company and owner of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. The Big Lift is a San Mateo countywide effort developed in response to research that shows students who are not at the proper reading level by third-grade will struggle academically and are unlikely to be qualified for knowledge-based jobs. The discussion will focus on the importance of providing universal preschool and how to continue the momentum behind the initiative.

Thursday, May 15, 2014, 6-8 p.m., Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, 390 Capistrano Road, Half Moon Bay; Admission and snacks are complimentary; beer, wine and full menu available for purchase.

Ten percent of the proceeds from all dinner sales at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company for these events will be donated to the Cabrillo Education Foundation.

Speaker Biographies:

Jos Hill is Executive Director of Olazul, a marine ecologist and entrepreneur with more than ten years of international practice in conservation. She has worked on sustainable seafood issues, designed conservation programs, advised on incentive-based resource management initiatives, supported business and operational planning for sustainably-minded organizations and has led capacity-building workshops on coral reef monitoring and protected area management in the Indo Pacific and Caribbean. Hill is also a two-time Packard Environment Fellow and a Kinship Conservation Fellow. Before joining Olazul, Hill founded and led Reef Check Australia, an award winning non-profit that engages the general public in coral reef monitoring and education. Hill holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors in Biology from the University of Leeds in the U.K., a Masters of Applied Science in Natural Resource Management from James Cook University in Australia, and an MBA in Sustainable Business from Presidio Graduate School, USA.

Jane Gardner is a partner with Harbour Consulting, a San Francisco-based strategy and marketing consulting group. Previously, she was an executive at Foote, Cone & Belding, one of the world’s largest advertising firms. For twenty years, Gardner led teams in developing highly successful marketing communications strategies for the firm’s clients, including Amazon, Janus Mutual Funds, Novell, Pacific Bell and Clorox. She was Chairman of the Board of Children Now, a children’s advocacy group, for 11 years, and she also served on the boards of Williams College and San Francisco University High School. Gardner holds a B.A. from Williams College and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Joe Rodriguez is a partner with Harbour Consulting, a San Francisco-based strategy and marketing consulting group. Previously, he was a senior executive for companies in the forefront of the PC, Web 1.0 and 2.0 revolutions. He held marketing roles for established companies like Novell and Macromedia, as well as being part of the founding teams for several Web start-ups. Rodriguez is an experienced practitioner in international marketing, product positioning, organizational development, and leadership issues. He was classically trained in marketing consumer packaged goods, including Clorox, Frito-Lay, Yoplait, and California Raisins, while working for Leo Burnett, DDB Needham, Saatchi and FCB advertising agencies. Rodriguez holds a B.A. from University of Maryland in Economics and an M.B.A. from University of Wisconsin.

Moderator Biographies:

Susan Stuart is a scientist, now retired from bench work, having spent decades in the public and private sector performing molecular biology/tumor cell biology research and assay development. She is most proud to have lead the commercialization of the first FDA-approved biologic drug, Herceptin, marketed by Genentech, to treat a specific form of breast cancer. Susan has been a member of the Cabrillo Education Foundation and continues to organize the judging activities of the Cunha Intermediate School Science Fair after nearly two decades. She holds an AB in Biology from Colgate University, M.S. and Ph.D in Genetics from the University of New Hampshire; and received postdoctoral training at the Einstein College of Medicine in Cell Biology and the DNAX Research Institute in Molecular Biology. Susan and her husband moved to Montara from the East Coast nearly 30 years ago to pursue jobs in the biotech sector and most importantly, to live by the beach.

Lenny T. Mendonca is a director emeritus (retired senior partner) from the Washington D.C. and San Francisco offices of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Mendonca founded McKinsey’s U.S. state and local public sector practice. For many years Mendonca led the Firm’s knowledge development efforts overseeing the McKinsey Global Institute and the Firm’s communications, which includes the McKinsey Quarterly, and served for a decade on the McKinsey Shareholder Council (its board of directors). His client work focused on service to public sector organizations, and over the course of his career he helped dozens of government, corporate, and nonprofit clients solve their most difficult management challenges. Mendonca is the Chair of Children Now, co-Chair of California Forward, and founder and Chair of Fusecorps. He is the Chair Emeritus of the Bay Area Council and the Economic Institute of the Bay Area, and was vice-chair of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. He serves on the boards of The New America Foundation, The Committee for Economic Development, Common Cause, the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium, and The California Business for Educational Excellence Foundation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Board of Trustees for Junior Statesmen of America. He received his MBA and certificate in public management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds an AB, magna cum laude, in economics from Harvard College. Lenny lives on the Half Moon Bay coast, south of San Francisco, with his wife and two daughters, where he is the founder and owner of the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.

ABOUT THE HALF MOON BAY BREWING COMPANY

Recently selected by Men’s Fitness as one of America’s Top Ten Craft Breweries and by Travel + Leisure magazine as one of America’s Best Beach Bars, the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is situated on picturesque Pillar Point Harbor overlooking the Marina in Princeton-by-the Sea. The Brewing Company expertly pairs a family-friendly, come-as-you-are atmosphere with a winning combination of fresh, sustainable seafood, craft beers, live music and an expansive, dog-friendly patio area with blazing fire pits to keep patrons warm on the waterfront. The Brewing Company is a casual coastal venue that has become an institution in the Half Moon Bay area for locals and visitors alike since opening in 2000. With its warm, wood-toned interior, expansive windows to the ocean, and walls dotted with surf memorabilia, the 6,000-square-foot restaurant and bar is reminiscent of a typical California surf shack. Behind the restaurant lie the 1,200 square-foot Mavericks Beer Garden and on-site brewery, where hand-crafted, award-winning Mavericks┬« Beers & Ales are piped directly to the bar. The Mavericks Amber Ale won a bronze medal in the 2012 World Beer Cup, and the Ocho Barril Saison won Best in Show for session beers and the gold medal in the Wood/Smoke Ale category at the California State Fair in June, 2013.

The Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is located at 390 Capistrano Road in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 11:00 a.m. to close; Saturdays and Sundays, 9:00 a.m. to close. To book a reservation, please call 650-728-BREW (2739) or visit OpenTable.com. Additional information may be found at www.hmbbrewingco.com.