Innovators Circle
Welcome to the Innovators Circle at UC Santa Barbara — your campuswide gateway to a community of entrepreneurs and innovators who collectively pool their talent, networks and capital to support one another, the university and an ecosystem dedicated to elevating innovation.
In partnership with campus and corporate participants from UC Santa Barbara Innovation + Entrepreneurship, members gain access to lectures and webinars from some of our most brilliant minds, diverse talent pools, ideas, networking receptions, mentorship opportunities, student start-up competitions, and much more.
As your business evolves, you will have a network of university resources for recruitment, visibility, peer connection, and startup support. In addition, we will help you discover the areas you are most passionate about at UC Santa Barbara. By joining this group, you are helping to build a culture of giving back and will inspire others to do the same.
Take the Founders’ Pledge
The next exciting chapter in your entrepreneurial journey awaits and joining is simple. Make your Founders’ Pledge — a personal, non-binding pledge to philanthropically support UC Santa Barbara at a meaningful level — and let the journey begin.
For questions or to request more information, please contact Mehgan Tanner at mehgan.tanner@ucsb.edu or 805-893-5650.
Meet Founding Member Ian Duncan
Healthcare represents 17% of the United States economy — a large market for entrepreneurs developing solutions and services. Dr. Ian Duncan, adjunct professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Statistics and Applied Probability, has sold four companies that provide healthcare data analytics software. He established the Janet and Ian Duncan Chair in Actuarial Science and is a founding member of UC Santa Barbara’s Innovators Circle.
Founders’ Pledge
UCSB Innovator Interested in Giving Back?
You are an innovator or an entrepreneur an you want to support UC Santa Barbara in the future.
Engage with the UC Santa Barbara Community.
Meet UC Santa Barbara leaders, faculty, and students; engage with UCSB’s entrepreneurial ecosystem; connect with other alumni and entrepreneurs.
Make the Founders’ Pledge.
You lead the path forward and make a meaningful pledge to contribute to UC Santa Barbara.
Create an Impact.
Your gift of cash or publicly-traded shares benefits a university program that is meaningful to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
By uniting with shared values, our founders will be able to participate in ecosystems with entrepreneurs, founders and visionary leaders at all levels to gain expertise, experience and guidance from each other. Their shared knowledge and resources are brought together with a shared connection around UC Santa Barbara. The University will organize programs with meaningful and relevant content and dialogues to augment these connections and conversations.
We encourage you to participate in our events and networking at a level that works for you. We expect that your time commitment correlates with you gaining meaningful relationships that will contribute to your professional and/or personal growth.
No. You are agreeing to support UC Santa Barbara when the time is right for you. By participating in the Founders’ Pledge you show your intention to consider UC Santa Barbara as a primary recipient of a significant philanthropic contribution. Of course, we encourage giving at all levels and at any time to support areas that are meaningful for you.
There is no timeline for your gift commitment. When the timing is appropriate for you and your financial situation, we hope you will consider UC Santa Barbara in your philanthropic impact. In addition to annual giving, this could be a percentage of a liquidity event, stock shares or a gift that is significant to you.