Success Story: SOL Learning Institute 

Location: Northern California – Nevada City

Small Business Featured: SOL Learning Institute

Assistance Received: Training

CalOSBA had an opportunity to catch up with Travis Duckworth, the director of SOL Learning Institute, which has a year-round, skill-based enrichment program designed to introduce young adults to the three pillars of sustainable agriculture, architecture, and economics.

Director Duckworth explained how his organization’s program was formed out of the desire to address the homeless and affordable housing crisis. SOL’s program teaches youth how to build a tiny house from the ground up. He also credits Sierra Commons, and advisor Robert Trent’s Business Igniter Course, for providing them with resources on how to balance their books, marketing, and more.

To elaborate, what is also amazing is how Director Duckworth was able to raise nearly a quarter million dollars for SOL through crowdfunding from folks in the local community who believe in his vision.

Learn more about SOL Learning Institute here.

View More Small Business Success Stories

California Office of the Small Business Advocate
1325 J Street, Suite 1800
Sacramento, CA 95814
Email CalOSBA
About Us

Access Resources
Find a Local Small Business Advisor

Stay Informed! Sign Up:
Newsletter

State Programs
CA Grants Portal
Grant and Funding Opportunities

Danetta Jackson
Statewide Supplier Diversity Program Manager

As Statewide Supplier Diversity Program Manager within the California Department of General Services (DGS) Procurement Division (PD), Danetta Jackson is a member of the PD executive team focused on developing and implementing statewide strategic objectives, supported by data to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in state contracting. In Jackson’s previous role as the state’s Business Outreach Program Manager for 13 years, she oversaw outreach engagement strategies, external partnerships, communications, state contracting goal compliance, as well as the department’s Small Business Advisory Council. Ms. Jackson has over 30 years of public service.

Jackson is a passionate leader committed to breaking down barriers in state contracting for California’s diverse small business sector and finding ways to create more opportunities for underrepresented, marginalized micro businesses. She has formed strategic collaborations with diverse business organizations throughout the state at the private, local, state, and federal levels and has led other government entities in the development of their respective supplier diversity programs. In September 2021, Jackson was influential in the University of California’s (UC) adoption of their 25 percent diverse business contracting goal and development of their Small Business First Program and certification reciprocity partnership with DGS.

Since Jackson has assumed her leadership role in supplier diversity, she is co-leading the development and implementation of a comprehensive technical assistance and training program to help diverse small and disabled veteran businesses navigate the state’s contracting process specific to procurement and bidding requirements that will launch in the Fall of 2023. In April 2022, she led the implementation of a voluntary supplier diversity data collection in the state’s Cal eProcure system aimed to capture the demographics of state bidders and suppliers that will help inform where outreach and support is needed among various communities.

Jackson serves on various collaborative workgroups, such as the UC Supplier Diversity Advisory Council, Governor’s Minority Small Business Procurement Task Force, California Statewide Coalition on Diversity Initiatives, and the Health in all Policies Task Force. Jackson’s education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from CSU, Sacramento and certificate in their Management and Executive Leadership Programs. Jackson currently serves as a subject matter expert panelist on the Source Diverse Source Local Initiative administered by California Office of the Small Business Advocate.

This will close in 0 seconds

Gurbax Sahota
President & Chief Executive Officer,
California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED)

Gurbax Sahota has led the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) – California’s largest economic development association – for the last ten years and believes in the importance and need to collaborate and create meaningful partnerships in order to accomplish the goal of creating healthy, wealthy communities. She turns this belief into action by bringing together and leading multiple organizations aligned with the goal of helping businesses thrive in order to create economic opportunity for California’s residents. Gurbax holds senior positions with CALED, the California Academy for Economic Development, and the California Enterprise Development Authority. She uses her commitment to thoughtful leadership and organizational knowledge, as well as collaboration with her 800 economic development member peers throughout California, to support the start, growth and sustainability of private enterprise in California.

Having worked her way up through CALED, Gurbax has either worked on, created, or had a significant role in most of the organization’s successes over the past two decades including the creation of key tools to support economic development in California. Most notably, she:

Originated and implemented the creation of meaningful publications with practitioner-based best practices to support economic development in California, including:
- The Economic Development Recovery and Resiliency Guide
- Growing Thriving Rural Economic Development Corporations
- Primer on California’s New Tax Increment Financing Tools
- California Rural Infrastructure Financing Guide

Led the development & launch of a California-specific Economic Development Certification – the Accredited California Economic Developer Certification (ACE), which includes a focus on entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy.
Fostered the growth of the California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA) by building and maintaining relationships with strategic business partners to support financing for growing California manufacturers and nonprofits.
Created a strategic and effective approach that has led to multiple legislative successes to support the work local economic developers do to grow the economy.

As CALED’s President & CEO, she is focused on helping communities as they adapt their economic development strategies to stay ahead of the a changing economy as well as on building strategic partnerships to promote the value of economic development. Gurbax believes by creating a stronger voice for economic developers at the state and local level, she can share and champion practical solutions that grow the economy in a way that creates opportunity for all.

This will close in 0 seconds

Jason Paguio

Jason Paguio is the President and CEO of the Asian Business Association San Diego and the Asian Business Association Foundation. Jason was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to the City of San Diego Small Business Advisory Board and the Asian Pacific Islander Advisory Group. As a recognized leader, Jason brings vision and expertise across a multiplicity of sectors, including development of minority-owned business; establishment and coordination of high-impact multi-agency collaborative efforts; advocacy for the state’s many diverse communities; and first-hand experience as a first-generation Filipino-American.

Since leading the Asian Business Association organizations, Jason has grown them to their largest in more than 30 years, expanding their collective impact through community-based outreach and partnerships while more than tripling its office size to provide a free cultural co-working hub for local Asian and Pacific Islander nonprofits. In 2021, Jason helped to formally designate the Convoy District in Kearny Mesa as the “Pan Asian Cultural and Business Innovation District” in the City of San Diego.

In an historic effort, Jason partnered to establish the Strategic Alliance, comprised of San Diego’s three largest ethnic chambers of commerce: the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the County of San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce and Asian Business Association. As the Strategic Alliance, this trio of agencies operate as the Alliance Small Business Development Center (SBDC), focusing on delivering a comprehensive array of services to minority-owned small businesses. Focusing on economic equity for the region’s underserved communities, Jason led his organization through the recent pandemic by assisting thousands of minority-owned small businesses, helping them receive no-cost technical assistance and tens-of-millions of dollars in COVID-19 disaster relief capital.

Jason’s additional civic commitments include the Board of Directors, NTC Foundation (Arts District Liberty Station), LEAD San Diego, San Diego Community Housing Corporation, and serving as a volunteer member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. He is a resident of Coronado and serves on the City of Coronado Mobility Commission.

Jason was twice named “CEO of the Year" by the San Diego Business Journal and the youngest person recognized as one of "San Diego's 500 Most Influential People''.

This will close in 0 seconds

Success Story: SOL Learning Institute

Lenny Mendonca

Maria S. Salinas

Gurinder S. Ahluwalia

Success Story: SOL Learning Institute 