Local Hero Coffee Break

Episode 8: 8. California Office of the Small Business Advocate, Clair Whitmer | From Silicon Valley to the public sector

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Clair Whitmer works at the California Office of the Small Business Advocate, part of Go-Biz in the State of California. She is the North California Regional Economic Advisor. Clair is an Economic development consultant passionate about applying design thinking and strategic doing to problems of economic inclusion. After 20 successful years as a product and operations manager for major Silicon Valley brands, Clair found her mission in helping local economic development agencies drive the creation of community wealth in underserved communities. 

In this episode we talk about:

  • How Clair made the jump from Silicon Valley to the public sector through FUSE Corps. 
  • How Clair found her mission to support local businesses as part of her FUSE Corps fellowship in the City of Fresno.
  • The learning curve of joining the public sector 
  • Opportunity Fresno - how to maximize the impact of federal grants on the community 
  • Why it's challenging for governments to innovate
  • How the State of California is working to create a network to provide a rapid response to businesses that need it most 
  • Why digital solutions are not enough - the importance of boots-on-the-ground and why local partners are so important



    • For more information about FUSE Corps: see here: https://fuse.org/


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    Local Hero Coffee BreakBy Michael Mazur
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