Meet Our Partners

Affiliation: Livermore Lab Foundation

Role: Executive Director

You’ve spent nearly 25 years in public service. When you step back, what are you most proud of? I have always been drawn to mission-driven organizations and to working with teams focused on making the world a better place. Having worked at a large private grantmaking foundation, a major municipality, and now LLF, it is hard to choose just one thing. What I am most proud of, across all of these organizations, is the opportunity to impact individual lives in ways that also serve the greater good. 

At the James Irvine Foundation, that meant supporting high-quality after-school programs for K–12 students. At the City and County of San Francisco, it meant improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public services like the transit system and healthcare. Now at LLF, we support scientific research in the national interest and bring aspiring scientists and engineers to LLNL who might not otherwise engage with a national lab, helping to set them up for successful STEM careers. 

How do you translate the value of LLNL’s work to audiences outside the scientific community? Translating LLNL’s complex scientific discoveries is essential, because it connects Federally funded research to the public’s understanding of its broader applications and benefits beyond national security, including economic stability, public and environmental health, and much more. Making LLNL’s work more accessible and understandable to non-scientists not only supports better decision making (think AI in 8 Pages), it also builds knowledge and trust in communities where scientific innovation and technology may be deployed (think Roads to Removal). 

I see this as one of the most important roles LLF can play as the Lab’s philanthropic partner. We work to do this in multiple ways, including: 

• Supporting studies designed for lay audiences 

• Developing educational resources 

• Hosting events with Lab scientists 

• Cultivating partnerships that connect more people and institutions with LLNL’s work 

Our student fellows also become some of our best ambassadors for the Lab. 

What excites you most about the future of the Foundation’s work with LLNL? LLF is celebrating our 10th anniversary this year, but in many ways, we are just getting started. What excites me most is the “force multiplier” effect of our work. By aligning LLNL’s world-class expertise with philanthropic funding, we are helping to advance areas of profound national importance, such as sustainable energy, neurodegenerative disease, and STEM workforce development, in ways the Lab could not do alone. 

I am continually inspired by the opportunity to empower the next generation of scientists and to see LLNL research move out of the lab and into the lives of the public for the greater good. 

Why is supporting students and early-career researchers such a priority for the Foundation? This support is critical for several reasons: 

•  Building our future STEM workforce: We are dedicated to setting students up for successful STEM careers, with the hope that some will choose to continue their impactful work at LLNL or at other institutions pursuing science in the national interest. 

• Fostering innovation: By bringing fresh talent and new ideas into the national lab ecosystem, we help sustain the cutting-edge research and development that is central to LLNL’s mission. 

• Broadening participation: Our programs aim to reach a wide range of undiscovered talent, so that the next generation of scientific leaders brings a rich variety of backgrounds and perspectives to the pursuit of excellence. 

Ultimately, we are creating pathways to success for the next generation, ensuring they have the tools and experiences needed to tackle the complex challenges of the future. 

About Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF): The Livermore Lab Foundation was established in 2016 to serve as an independent key philanthropic partner with LLNL, providing mechanisms for public and private investments, grants and philanthropic gifts that support research, innovation, workforce and STEM education initiatives at the Laboratory. LLF is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt entity governed by its Board of Directors, and has an office at UCLCC. Visitors welcome!

Affiliation: UC Livermore Collaboration Center 

Role: Administrative Coordinator 

Favorite thing about working with DSI: Maturing the UCLCC and DSI programs alongside one another 

Garren Weiss is the administrative coordinator for the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC), a facility situated directly outside of the main LLNL campus that aims to foster collaboration and relationships between the University of California (UC) system and the three UC Office of National Laboratories-managed Department of Energy national laboratories: Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and Sandia.  

To do so, UCLCC serves both as physical grounds for collaborative events and as a source for connection via its website and employees, which have resources to connect researchers working in the same fields at the several institutions under its envelope. Both at the UCLCC facility and virtually, Weiss plays a crucial role in ensuring that events run smoothly, including several events and gatherings regularly hosted by the Data Science Institute (DSI).  

With a degree in technical theater from Pepperdine University and experience with professional lighting and sound and event livestreaming, Weiss is well-suited for his jack-of-all-trades role at the center. “When I found out that this high-tech, high-touch facility was opening up for UC, which was going to be focused on hybrid meetings, it seemed like a great fit,” Weiss said. “I've been here at the center for just over two years now, and the center's only been open for two and a half, so I’m really part of this founding team continuing to see to how the center can grow and increase our value add to the UC and laboratory communities.”  

Weiss not only keeps the technology of UCLCC events functioning, but he also interfaces with attendees and event coordinators to provide other support and direction as needed. And in addition to direct event support, Weiss’s two years at UCLCC have given him institutional knowledge of researchers across the facilities that UCLCC serves. He often connects folks with one another and is a vessel for collaboration.  

For DSI specifically, UCLCC has been a ground for a variety of events, most recently the hybrid Women in Data Science (WiDS) event that brought together Livermore data scientists and students from several universities to collaborate. The Data Science Challenge, a two-week summer student event between UC Irvine, UC Merced, and LLNL, was Weiss’s first involvement with DSI at UCLCC. UCLCC’s location directly next to the LLNL site fosters seamless collaboration between students and their Laboratory mentors. 

Weiss and UCLCC have also played an important role in developing connections between Livermore data scientists and UC faculty and students. UCLCC’s website features a list of resources across the three laboratories in a variety of technical areas, which students can search to find research opportunities relevant to them. In addition, UCLCC has connected DSI leadership with a list of data scientists across the UC system, enabling the institute to better collaborate with this large research university and strengthen its leadership in artificial intelligence and data science at a crucial time. “Our relationship with DSI has been fantastic and mutually beneficial,” Weiss said. “All they expected was to use the facility, and they’ve been able to take away so many cross-collaborative connections. We've also been able to mature both programs at the same time.”