GlobalSF congratulates the people of Uruguay on the occasion of their National Day, which was on Wednesday August 25. In today’s episode, we are excited to have the Honorable Mr. Ignacio Gonzalez, Consul General of Uruguay in San Francisco.

The Uruguayan Consulate in San Francisco was established in 2019. The office intends to act as a bridge not only between Uruguay and the United States but also technology & software innovation spaces as well. Listen in as the Consul General introduces Uruguay in a broad dimension and reveals his goals for one of San Francisco’s newest consulates.

San Diego may be well known for its beaches and wonderful weather, but some may not know that it is also a hub for biotech, pharmaceutical research and innovation.

In today’s episode, we have Dr. Mary Walshok, Associate Vice Chancellor of Public Programs at the University of California San Diego, who also concurrently serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Sociology. Dr. Walshok joins Dr. N. Bruce Pickering, Senior Policy Advisor of GlobalSF to share with us their thoughts on San Diego. Dr. Walshok also explains how California has become a future-focus state.

In the previous weeks, the Chinese government made several announcements that it would have firmer control over its Finance, Energy and Tech industries. The crackdown of technology giants, for instance Tencent and DiDi has been a controversial topic all around the world.

In today’s episode, we have Dr. N. Bruce Pickering, Senior Policy Advisor of GlobalSF to share his view on China’s economy. Darlene and Bruce also discussed China’s challenges with its "free market economy". We continue to watch how everything will play out.

GlobalSF congratulates the people of Peru on the occasion of their National Day, which this year July 28, commemorates the Bicentennial since Peru's proclamation of Independence. In today’s episode, we are excited to have the Honorable Mr. Hernando Torres-Fernández, Consul General of Peru in San Francisco.

Listen in as the Consul General reveals his goals and mission which would be accomplished in multi-dimensional fields across the consular jurisdiction. The Consul General also shared his view on the similarity between San Francisco and Lima, which is the capital and the largest city of Peru. Learn about some of the interesting facts you might not know about Peru and its connection to San Francisco.

GlobalSF and Nestlé have aligned the City of San Francisco's goal to reduce landfill waste by 50% by 2030 with Nestlé’s ambition for none of its packaging - including plastics - to end up in landfill or as litter by 2025.

The pressure is on for companies to find transformative sustainable packaging solutions that customers want to use. In this episode, we hear directly from Allie Buff, Sustainability Marketing Manager, Nestlé and Marian McMillion, Global Digital Innovation - Nestle’s Silicon Valley Innovation Outpost about Nestlé’s vision for a circular economy and how they plan to reach their ambitious sustainability goals through collaboration and innovation.

Nestlé is partnering with GlobalSF as part of our Waste Reduction Pilot which seeks visionary startups minimizing food and plastic waste.

The Deadline to apply is August 3 11:59pm pst.  Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so companies are encouraged to submit applications early! https://www.globalsf.biz/grand-challenge-application.

Regarding California’s economic development the office of the Treasurer always takes a vital role as the state’s banker that protects our communities. In today’s episode, we are excited to have the Honorable Fiona Ma, CPA, California State Treasurer as our guest speaker joined by  Dr. N. Bruce Pickering, Senior Policy Advisor, GlobalSF.

Treasurer Ma shared several concurrent projects which the California government is undertaking, including the infrastructure, electric car charging stations, and affordable housing projects in order to maintain the competitiveness of California against other states. Treasurer Ma also shared with us her vision of an integral high-speed rail transportation system in California, which would be able to connect the major hubs.

The GlobalSF team was back in the office for the first time since the pandemic. It was great to have the team meet face-to-face, brainstorming and connecting with each other. However, as the world moves forward, the future of the workplace is looking more like virtual offices.

In today’s episode, we have Dr. N. Bruce Pickering, Senior Policy Advisor of GlobalSF to share the accelerating trends of the new post-pandemic workplace in terms of mobility, form of meetings and workers’ health & well-being. Advantages and drawbacks of the post-pandemic offices were also discussed.

California has always been a State on the forefront of innovation and technology. However, California faces many challenges in terms of legislation, economy, society and environment. There is still a great disparity between the rich and the poor, a shortage of affordable housing, and climate change seems to bring about more devastating fires.

In this episode, we have Dr. N. Bruce Pickering, Senior Policy Advisor of GlobalSF to share his view of California's current challenges and the reasons why those issues exist. To further study about what California is encountering, the six-session GlobalSF New Economy Conference, which concluded last month, had also explored the unique challenges and opportunities California is facing in the post-pandemic world.

Georgia, one of the oldest countries in the world, is also a rising hub for trade and commerce. GlobalSF welcomes the Consulate General of Georgia in San Francisco which officially opened in September 2020. In today’s episode, we are excited to have the Honorable Levan Beridze, Consul General of Georgia in San Francisco, with us. Consul General Beridze introduced Georgia by providing an overview of Georgia's economy and a brief history. He further shared the goals and future plans of the Consulate General of Georgia as being the first representation of Georgia in the West Coast of the United States.

With the reopening of California and rebouncing of the economy, services and events of the Consulate General of Georgia in San Francisco are back on track. For instance, on July 1, the Consulate General of Georgia in San Francisco hosted a virtual roundtable discussion dedicated to further enhancing U.S.-Georgia business cooperation in the information and communication technology (ICT) sphere. Darlene Chiu Byrant, Executive Director of GlobalSF joined the roundtable discussion as one of the panelists.

In today’s episode, we are so excited to have the Honorable Mr. Neil Frank R. Ferrer, Consul General of the Republic of the Philippines in San Francisco with us. Aligning with the reopening of California last week, The Consul General announced that the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco has resumed most of the in-person services, as well as consular outreach services across the consular jurisdiction. He liberally shared his future plans within his upcoming term of service, including the partnership with GlobalSF assisting start-up businesses and interested investors from the Philippines to grow in the U.S., and vice versa.

To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the United States, Consul General Ferrer introduced a virtual celebration on the consulate’s Facebook account @PHinSF.  "Kalayaan 2021: Celebrating Partnership and Humanity” to us, which features talented Filipino and American artists and timely messages of Philippine and U.S. officials.