Thomas Churchill

Last week, Hanna Payne, Climate Resilience Manager, presented at the 7th National Adaptation Forum, sharing insights from the Climate Resilient Community Accelerator.    The session sparked discussions on pathways for private sector engagement in resilience initiatives, the power of regional collaboration to advance project implementation, and how decision-support tools can help practitioners tell compelling stories and move from planning to action. The team was grateful to share the conversation with Jesse Traller Ojeda, PhD (California National Marine Sanctuary), who elevated insights on regional resilience efforts in Monterey Bay and Amber Runyon, PhD (Virga Labs), who highlighted the Public Water Supply Decision Support Tool and its role in supporting New Mexico water managers.    A few themes emerged across the forum:  🏘️ Adaptation is most effective and equitable when it’s embedded in and seeks to address community concerns—such as housing, health, and affordability. 💰 The field is shifting from reliance on federal grants to creative, multi-source financing and stronger storytelling. 🤝 Adaptation success hinges on strong, sustained partnerships. 📈 Practitioners are balancing better measurement and evaluation with the need for implementation, recognizing that adaptation must be iterative. And throughout the forum, #climatemigration remained an important throughline—highlighting the need for continued leadership and collaboration from organizations advancing this work, like the Climigration Network, to support communities navigating these transitions. 

You can't make this sh-tuff up. Three years ago, I started the MBA program at University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business with no real idea of what was ahead: two layoffs, a major career pivot, a lot of late nights, and one of the most incredible communities I have ever been part of. By graduation on Saturday, a celebratory backflip somehow felt like the most accurate way to mark the moment. After all of that... and still landing on my feet. #StillGotIt This weekend was full of memories from the last three years, and one thing was very clear: no one in this class is the same person they were when we started. I know I am not. I have grown so much personally and professionally, and I feel better than ever about what comes next. I leave Haas with more resilience, broader perspective, and the same unwavering optimism that may have been the one true thing I brought to this class of brainiacs 😉 I am incredibly grateful to my wife, Alejandra, and to my family and friends for enduring this journey with me and supporting me through every high and low. I also want to recognize the faculty and program office who supported us throughout this experience and helped make Haas feel like a true community: Hannah, Justine, Jason, Avni, Patte, Olivia, Mika, Leah, and Dean Chatman! A huge thank you to the professors, coaches, mentors, and thought partners who challenged me, encouraged me, and helped me think bigger along the way, including Ben, Peter, Chris, Todd, Paul Lanham, Lee Hoskins, Alejandro C., Joe, Alex, and Cesar. Most of all, I am grateful for my classmates. I have learned from and alongside so many smart, motivated, kind, and high-character people. I hope I brought value, perspective, energy, and maybe a little inspiration along the way. This community is truly special. I would not trade this experience for anything, and I know this is only the beginning of the value we will continue creating for one another and for the world. Go Bears! #GoBears #BerkeleyHaas #ClassOf2026 #MBA #Gratitude #Resilience

Just wrapped up a Mini-Northwest Conference (NWC) Tour around five standout D3 schools in the greater Portland, OR area. Huge thanks to the Coaches, Athletes, and AD's at Pacific University, Linfield University, Willamette University, George Fox University, and Lewis & Clark College who took the time to meet with me and share their experiences. Many of those leading the way at these institutions are former D3 athletes and their dedication to the level and their athletes shows up clearly in everything they do. I learned a ton over the past few days, and I will be using all of it to ensure D3Direct continues to empower the journeys of prospective college athletes across the country.

On Saturday, I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business with my MBA. As I think about how to articulate what this moment means to me, the words don't come easily. It's far too difficult to encapsulate the memories and moments of the last 3 years, but I'll try to at least share some thoughts I've had recently about community, hope, and gratitude. I joined the Evening and Weekend Program at Haas 3 years ago, shortly after my grandmother passed away from a battle with cancer and kidney disease. It was her dream for me to attend school in the US and to receive a degree from a university like Haas, and I've thought of her throughout all the milestones in the last 3 years. Her resilience and hope inspired me in my youth, and whenever there was a challenging moment juggling work, school, relationships, and life in general, I always thought back to her and her belief in me. My journey to Haas starts with my family and my parents, especially, who immigrated to the US when I was a toddler, in hopes of giving me an opportunity for a better life. Mom and Dad, thank you for your sacrifices, your strength, and your support. I'm the first one in our family to graduate from college in the US, and that's all because of you. To my colleagues, teammates, and friends who have shown me nothing but grace and kindness throughout this program, thank you! And a special shout out to Sumaia for being one of the few people who understood the challenges of work, school, relationships, and life in general, because we were going through the program in parallel - congratulations to you! To the Haas community and faculty that have made my and my classmates' experiences so life-changing, intellectually stimulating, and forever rewarding, thank you Leah, Jason, Justine, Olivia, Hannah, Mika, Patte, and Dean Chatman! To my classmates and friends across the MBA programs at Haas (Gold, Blue, Axe, Oski, and Nexus), thank you for creating incredible memories with me over the years. I'm so grateful to be a member of your communities, and am so grateful you are a part of mine. To my lifelong friends, my Lux cohort, thank you for the study groups, the cold calls, the class trips, the house boats, the barbecues, the karaoke nights, the dances, the memories that I will treasure forever. Being a part of the flex cohort raised a lot of questions, and my favorite was always, "How do you all stay so close when you live so far?" With people like you, it's effortless. Finally, to Serena, thank you for your love and support. You saw the late nights, the skipped meals, the imposter syndrome, and you lifted me up each and every day. Thank you for all your patience and care. Thank you for coming on this journey with me, and for being part of the Cal community (even if your dad roots for the Trojans). I love you. Thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey. Here's to the next chapter! Go Bears! #FiatLux #GoBears #BerkeleyHaas

I’m proud to formally launch High Degree. Growers in the US face some daunting headwinds. At the end of the day, it will be the growers who are the hero of this story, but I started High Degree to give them a leg up. By providing growers with a simple tool to organically reduce the majority of their weed and soil-borne disease pressure, High Degree can enable growers to focus on the more important issues in front of them. Way too many people have played an important role in this company to list, but I must give a very special thank you to Steve Fennimore. He has spent countless hours and tons of energy helping High Degree get here. He even taught me how to drive a tractor! His mentorship, generosity, and tenacity is central to the High Degree story and mine. More to share soon.

I’m proud to formally launch High Degree. Growers in the US face some daunting headwinds. At the end of the day, it will be the growers who are the hero of this story, but I started High Degree to give them a leg up. By providing growers with a simple tool to organically reduce the majority of their weed and soil-borne disease pressure, High Degree can enable growers to focus on the more important issues in front of them. Way too many people have played an important role in this company to list, but I must give a very special thank you to Steve Fennimore. He has spent countless hours and tons of energy helping High Degree get here. He even taught me how to drive a tractor! His mentorship, generosity, and tenacity is central to the High Degree story and mine. More to share soon.

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of co-chairing the first in-person Stanford Africa Business Forum in seven years. The forum brought together investors, entrepreneurs, and operators actively shaping the future of the continent. One of the highlights for me was hosting a fireside chat with Fred Swaniker, founder of the African Leadership Group and Sand Technologies, and one of the most influential entrepreneurs shaping the future of education and AI on the continent today. It was a particularly meaningful moment because I wrote about Fred in my Stanford University Graduate School of Business application. Sitting across from him on stage felt like a full-circle moment. Thank you to Fred and all our incredible speakers who helped make the forum so rich: Emmanuel Lubanzadio (OpenAI), Arjuna Costa (Flourish Ventures), Maurizio Caio (TLcom Capital LLP), Maxima Nsimenta (Livara Natural Organics), Noureddine Tayebi (Yassir), Tawanda Sibanda (McKinsey & Company), Ijeoma Ejimadu (Amplify Africa Inc.), Osoranna Mojekwu, and John-Allan Namu (Africa Uncensored). Deep gratitude to my amazing co-chairs Arinze Obiezue and Nicole M., my co-moderators, Hope Moussi (née Ditlhakanyane) and Emmanuel Egyam, CFA, FMVA® , the Africa Business Club leadership team, including Shola Fatimoju and Victor Asiwe, and every single volunteer who made the conference possible. As we hand the reins to the next leadership team of the Stanford GSB Africa Business Club, I can only say this: it has been the honor of a lifetime.

I'm excited to share an update on my upcoming summer plans. This summer, I'll be at the ACLU of Northern California, serving as a Legal Intern on the Democracy, Speech, and Technology project. I look forward to working with an incredible team of lawyers and advocates to defend civil rights and liberties in the digital age. Next summer, I'll be joining WilmerHale in Palo Alto as a Summer Associate to support high-stakes Intellectual Property litigation. I'm eager to advance my litigation career under the mentorship of such a talented team.