ALEX WATERS

The Program Labs is a nonprofit consultancy that partners with organizations to design, assess, and implement innovative social impact programs. Specializing in entrepreneurship and workforce development, we create programs that drive community impact while ensuring operational sustainability.

• Develop and implement an strategies to expand reach and impact of the Jacobs Center business accelerator and resource center
• Create partnerships with community based organizations focused on business development and expansion
• Hosted over 600 business-focused workshops, offering free community workspace, and graduating 129 founders from 4-month accelerator.
• Graduates of program collectively created and retained over 40 jobs and secured $3 million in investments.
• Fundraised for and Launched Creators Studio with state of the art equipment for local business owners to create content

Akimbo is an community of online leadership and management workshops designed by entrepreneur and bestselling author Seth Godin. I Served as a Coach for AltMBA and The Bootstrappers Workshop to guide students through program curriculum and challenge them to explore a deeper, more complex understanding of business, organizational structures, and leadership.

CONNECT ALL @ the Jacobs Center (CAJC) was the region's first low to moderate income and diversity-focused accelerator program. CAJC provided small businesses with the support they need to scale and access to resources and training to creation jobs.

• Led all day-to-day operations for accelerator program including designing and developing modular curriculum, program structure, and training
• Ensured companies meet job targets for program to maintain Federal and City of San Diego Community Development Block Grant funding
• San Diego Business Journal Nonprofit & Corporate Citizenship Award (2021)
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships (2020)

Served as the lead Instructor of course for Auxiliary Services Department focused on internal change management, launching new projects and entrepreneurship. Designed Problem Solving for a Dynamic Workplace course focused on identifying workplace challenges by exploring the problems that emerge within an organization.

Moves the Needle Educates, Empowers, and Enables large enterprises and social impact organizations to discover and deliver new value to customers. I leveraged Design Thinking, Agile and Lean Startup principles to accelerate internal learning and innovation through bootcamps, accelerator programs, and experimentation sprints.

CDI was a partnership with the City of San Diego, UC San Diego and the Downtown San Diego Partnership, to create opportunities for early-stage entrepreneurs.

• Oversaw all Collaboratory operations, budgeting, reporting, grant writing, and curriculum development for 6- and 8-week workshops
• Provided over 200 local entrepreneurs with tools to thrive in San Diego’s tech and creative sectors.

Internal consultant for 2U Inc that focused collaboration and project management between 2U and USC Rossier School of Education leadership teams. Developed strategic partnerships with local and national education organizations (i.e. TFA, CityYear, etc. Collected and analyzed student demographic data for state and federal accreditation reporting,internal university reviews, and external publications.

2U Inc partnered with USC's Rossier School of Education to create Rossier@USC for Online Masters and Doctoral Programs. I led a 20-member team of student support and field placement advisors that delivered academic, technical, and global field placement for the 1500+ students across the 7 Rossier@USC online programs.