From left, State Center Community College District Carole Goldsmith, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, The Penstar Group’s Scott Anderson, Sen. Alex Padilla and Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval look over plans for the Bank of Italy building, planned home for F3 Innovate. Photo by Gabriel Dillard
Written by Frank Lopez
A local nonprofit tasked with creating local jobs has announced the appointment of its founding executive who comes to Fresno with quite the educational pedigree.
F3 Innovate, a hub for climate-smart agrifood technology and engineering, has appointed Priscilla Koepke as its founding CEO.
F3 Innovate in September 2022 secured $65.1 million in federal funding to create a cluster for ag and food tech innovation led by local universities and community colleges. Ashley Swearengin, president and CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation, said the effort will result in a 40% increase in regional gross domestic product.
Part of the F3 initiative would be the establishment of the Innovation Center for Research and Entrepreneurship in Ag Food Technology & Engineering (iCREATE).
The nonprofit’s partners include UC Merced, Fresno State, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and CVCF.
Koepke has a background in climate-smart tech innovation, cybersecurity and global policy.
“Our work will be crucial in driving innovations across the industry…as a global leader, ensuring the resilience and security of our nation’s food systems. I am incredibly excited to collaborate with the talented F3 team and partners to drive forward-thinking solutions that foster sustainable innovation and promote inclusive economic growth in the Central Valley and beyond,” Koepke said.
She has worked as head of global mission solutions at Hayden AI and served as CEO of Vesper AI, leading the development of an AI-powered mobile platform to support global climate resilience and security missions.
Koepke also served as head of strategy & product and chief of staff at Conduent, advancing sustainable transportation solutions and cultivating key government partnerships.
She has also served as legislative director for the U.S. House of Representatives, intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency, and chief of staff and mergers and acquisitions leader at IBM.
Koepke organized MIT’s first FinTech Hackathon and has participated in the Women in Tech event at UC Merced.
Koepke holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University of Chicago (2008), an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT (2017), a Military Strategy Certificate from the U.S. Air Command and Staff College (2012), and an Intelligence Analysis Certificate from the NSA National Cryptologic School (2011).
“The Board of Directors and partners of F3 Innovate welcome Koepke to the team and look forward to her leadership in driving innovation, sustainability, and economic vitality in our region,” said Swearengin, volunteer chairperson of the F3 Innovate board.