Biotech Partners Past Events

Check Our Past Events


BRAVO! 2019 Poster Exhibition & Celebration
Students overcame their varied academic challenges to earn a paid 8-week Summer internship within local bioscience industries. Interns representing Berkeley High, Oakland Technical High, and San Marin High Schools energetically showcased their internship projects, knowledge, and skill at the BRAVO! Poster Exhibition on Saturday, August 10, 2019.

During this year’s poster competition, over 50 different volunteers from throughout the Greater Bay Area with science, medical, public health, finance, law, IT and business backgrounds participated as judges and evaluated the exciting showcase of48 internship projects proudly presented by the Biotech Academy interns.


Biotech Partners’ 2019 Annual Gala Celebration
Biotech Partners celebrated 26 years of transforming lives within the Bay Area on April 6, 2019 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in Chinatown, Oakland. The Gala benefit and awards ceremony was attended by 200 guests who had the opportunity to learn from the organization’s Biotech Academy and Bioscience Career Institute students about their life experiences in the academic and on-the-job training program.

Awards were presented to honor those who helped our students and to recognize their efforts that have resulted in so many stories of student achievement and success. Amazing Alumni Award was presented to Gennel Wade, BCI Class of 2002. The Exceptional Mentoring Partner Award went to Dana Foss of U.C. Berkeley. The Outstanding Industry Partner Award was accepted by Jim Koman of Ripple Foods.

Many thanks to all our teachers, corporate partners and mentors, businesses, donors, special friends, and you for your generosity and support of Biotech Partners. Your contributions continue to help us positively affect the lives of our students, their families and their communities in which they reside.

Event Sponsors for this event included Platinum sponsor Gilead; Gold sponsors Bayer and CytomX; Silver sponsors Nektar and Morgan Stanley; and Bronze sponsors Aduro Biotech, Ardelyx, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Five Prime Therapeutics, Global Blood Therapeutics, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Table Sponsors were Celeste Brooks, Teresa Calarco, Calithera, Bak & Betty Chan, Lynda Gayden, Caroline Kane, Madeleine Kane, Jason Kantor, Terry Rosen, Kenneth Saffier, Gennel Wade, and Jennifer Wade.


BRAVO! 2018 Poster Exhibition & Celebration
Interns representing Antioch, Berkeley, and Oakland Technical High Schools zealously showcased their internship projects, skill, and talent at the BRAVO! Event, Saturday, August 11, 2018.

Over 50 volunteers from throughout the Greater Bay Area with science, medical, public health, law, IT and business backgrounds convened at Berkeley High School for BRAVO! 2018 to view the exciting showcase of 61 internship projects presented by the Biotech Academy interns.


25th Anniversary Gala Celebration
Biotech Partners celebrated 25 years of transforming lives within the Bay Area on May 12, 2018 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in Chinatown, Oakland. The Gala benefit and awards ceremony was attended by over 210 guests who had the opportunity to learn from the organization’s Biotech Academy and Bioscience Career Institute students about their life experiences in the academic and on-the-job training program.

Awards were presented to honor those who helped our students and to recognize their efforts that have resulted in so many stories of student achievement and success. Amazing Alumni Award was presented to Michael Mendoza, who graduated BCI in 2003; the Exceptional Mentoring Partner Award went to Irina Silva of the Joint BioEnergy Institute; and the Outstanding Industry Partner Award was given to Debra Charlesworth, BioMarin. A Very Special Award was presented to Joerg Heidrich, Head PH PS Biotech & External Manufacturing, Berkeley Site Head, Bayer.

Awards were presented to honor those who helped our students and to recognize their efforts that have resulted in so many stories of student achievement and success. Amazing Alumni Award was presented to Michelle Condon, BCI Class of 2002. The Exceptional Mentoring Partner Awards went to Peggy Lemaux of UC Berkeley and Hendri Tjandra of Bayer Pharmaceuticals.

Many thanks to all our teachers, corporate partners and mentors, businesses, donors, special friends, and you for your generosity and support of Biotech Partners. Your contributions continue to help us positively affect the lives of our students, their families and their communities in which they reside.

Event Sponsors for this event included Platinum sponsors Bayer and Gilead; Gold sponsor CytomX; and Bronze sponsors Aduro Biotech, Ardelyx, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Boehringer Ingelheim, Five Prime Therapeutics, and Global Blood Therapeutics. Table Sponsors were Celeste Brooks, Teresa Calarco, Bak & Betty Chan, DuPont Pioneer, East Bay Community Foundation, Lynda Gayden, Caroline Kane, Madeleine Kane, Jason Kantor, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mechanics Bank, Rotary Club of Berkeley, Kenneth Saffier, Jennifer Wade, and Wells Fargo Bank.

BRAVO! 2017
55 Rising seniors from across the Greater Bay Area completed the Biotech Partners 2017 Summer Internship Program. During the BRAVO! poster competition, interns representing Antioch, Berkeley, and Oakland Technical High Schools, excitedly showcased their projects to over 225 attendees.

70 Volunteers with science, non-science, medical, public health, law, IT and business backgrounds participated on our prestigious panel of judges to select the awardees, honoring students for their achievements in the categories of: Best Oral Presentation, Most Creative Poster, Most Educational Poster, and Best Overall Poster.

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2017 Gala Celebration
Biotech Partners celebrated 24 years of transforming lives within the Bay Area on May 31, 2017 at the City Center Marriott in Oakland. The Gala benefit and awards ceremony was attended by over 210 guests who had the opportunity to learn from the organization’s Biotech Academy and Bioscience Career Institute students about their life experiences in the academic and on-the- job training program.

Awards were presented to honor those who helped our students and to recognize their efforts that have resulted in so many stories of student achievement and success. Amazing Alumni Award was presented to Michael Mendoza, who graduated BCI in 2003; the Exceptional Mentoring Partner Award went to Irina Silva of the Joint BioEnergy Institute; and the Outstanding Industry Partner Award was given to Debra Charlesworth, BioMarin. A Very Special Award was presented to Joerg Heidrich, Head PH PS Biotech & External Manufacturing, Berkeley Site Head, Bayer.

Many thanks to all our teachers, corporate partners and mentors, businesses, donors, special friends, and you for your generosity and support of Biotech Partners. Your contributions continue to help us positively affect the lives of our students, their families and their communities in which they reside.

Event Sponsors for this event included Presenting sponsor Bayer, Innovative Mentor sponsor Etchwave Consulting, and Star Educator sponsors Aduro Biotech, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Boehringer Ingelheim, Genentech, Morgan Stanley, and NorthCoast Associates. Table Sponsors were Elisabeth Andreason, Terry Calarco & Scott Garey, Bak & Betty Chan, Cytokinetics, Tina & Dennis Etcheverry, Lynda Gayden, Terry Hermiston, Caroline Kane & Mike Chamberlin, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Rotary Club of Berkeley, Wareham Development, and Jennifer Wade.

See Event Photos


BRAVO! 2016
Our 5th annual BRAVO! Event. Celebrated Biotech Partners student at Berkeley High School on Saturday, August 12th, 2016

BRAVO! 2016 event underscored our success in launching the Biotech Academy in our expansion sites and connecting with over 30 new industry-based internship hosts to support our 2016 Summer Internships Program.   66 Students celebrated the completion of Biotech Partners’ 2016 Summer Internships, with our first cohort of students from our expansion public school high schools, Antioch and South San Francisco, joining the ranks of our legacy schools, Berkeley and Oakland Tech.

51 Volunteers (including industry partner employees) from the Greater Bay Area regions with science, medical, public health, law, IT and business backgrounds served as judges to select the awardees for the following categories: Best (Overall- includes all the other 3 categories), Most Educational, Most Creative, and Best Oral Presentation. Berkeley and Antioch high school students were awarded and recognized for the categories.

We also take this opportunity to recognize and thank our funders, intern hosts and mentors, such as you, and other partners.