| Steve Poizner | |
|---|---|
| 6th California Insurance Commissioner | |
| In office January 8, 2007 – January 3, 2011 |
|
| Governor | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| Preceded by | John Garamendi |
| Succeeded by | Dave Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 4, 1957 Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Carol Poizner |
| Children | Rebecca Poizner |
| Residence | Los Gatos, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin Stanford Graduate School of Business |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, businessman, politician |
| Religion | Judaism |
Stephen Leo "Steve" Poizner (born January 4, 1957) is an American businessman/entrepreneur and conservative Republican politician, who was elected State Insurance Commissioner of California in November 2006, and concluded the 4 year term in January 2011. Poizner co-founded the Encore Career Institute with the Sherry Lansing Foundation and Creative Artists Agency in June 2011, which will partner with UCLA Extension to offer online non-degree certificates for out of work adults and baby boomers looking to switch careers.[1]
Poizner has been a successful Silicon Valley high tech entrepreneur, founding both SnapTrack, Inc. and Strategic Mapping, Inc. In 2001, following privately held SnapTrack's sale for $1 billion to Qualcomm, Poizner served a year as a White House Fellow in the National Security Council. Starting one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Poizner held the position of Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection, and was involved in developing Homeland Security programs relating to cybersecurity and emergency response communication protocols.
Poizner was a candidate for the California gubernatorial election, 2010; He was defeated in the June Primary by former CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman who spent a national record $100 million in the primary.
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Poizner was born on January 4, 1957 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Poizner attended the University of Texas at Austin when he became valedictorian while earning his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1978. He was a member of the Tejas Club and President of the Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega.[2]
In 1978, Poizner moved to California to attend Stanford Business School. In 1980, he earned his master’s degree with honors in Business Administration (MBA) and was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.[2]
Two years after Poizner graduated from Stanford, the national Jaycees organization sued the Palo Alto Jaycees chapter for admitting female members. Working in coordination with other Jaycees chapters around the country, Poizner led the Palo Alto Jaycees in their legal defense of their efforts to admit women against the national organization's wishes, and the case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Poizner and the Palo Alto chapter, along with its fellow groups in other communities, won the suit. Poizner's wife was one of the first women admitted to the Palo Alto chapter.
In addition to his academic degrees, Poizner has also earned a black belt in Shotokan karate, a traditional Japanese martial art.[2]
Poizner and his wife, Carol, live in Los Gatos, California where they are raising their daughter, Rebecca.[2]
Poizner has started and run technology companies in Silicon Valley for over 20 years.
Poizner served for several years as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
In 1983, Poizner founded and served as chief executive officer of Strategic Mapping Inc., a software company that developed a program to display geographic data on digital maps, assisting police departments, utilities, transportation companies, banks and retailers with selecting new locations and plotting distribution logistics. Strategic Mapping was sold to Claritas in 1996, with the GIS mapping software being sold to ESRI.
In 1995, Poizner founded SnapTrack, Inc., which pioneered technology that put GPS receivers into cell phones. Poizner served as its chief executive officer until he sold the privately held company to Qualcomm in 2000 for a reported $1.0 billion in Qualcomm stock.[3]
In June 2011, Poizner co-founded Encore Career Institute, Inc., a for-profit online education company in partnership with UCLA and Creative Arts Agency.[4]
In 2001, Poizner co-founded EdVoice, an educational non-profit organization dedicated to improving public schools and serving the interests of K-12 children in California.
From September 2002 to June 2003, he served as a volunteer teacher in San Jose's Mount Pleasant High School teaching 12th grade American Government. Poizner authored a book about his experience - "Mount Pleasant" - which has been both praised and criticized for its depiction of a low income public high school.[5]
In 2003, Poizner co-founded the California Charter Schools Association.
In June 2011, Poizner joined two education Boards at the University of Southern California [6]
The California Insurance Commissioner was created in 1988 via the voter approval of Proposition 103. Poizner took office in January 8, 2007 and served until January 3, 2011. As Insurance Commissioner, Poizner received praise for his handling of the San Diego wildfires in 2007, for taking on health insurance companies' illegal rescission practices and rate increases, and for decreasing spending in his state government department's discretionary operating budget by 13%. At the end of his term, Poizner was praised for his efforts to streamline and modernize the CDI through spending cuts and conducting a top-down review of the department.[7] Poizner oversaw nearly 2,800 fraud-related arrests, the most in CDI history, in a 3-year span[8] and conducted the first ever terror finance probe by a US Insurance Commissioner, which resulted in millions of dollars diverted from Iran.[9]
From 2001 to 2002, Poizner served as a White House Fellow where he worked in the National Security Council Office of Cyberspace Security, serving as Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection. In this capacity he developed strategies for protecting critical infrastructure against cyber-terrorism and developed an emergency communications plan for national security and emergency response personnel.Starting one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Poizner was responsible for issues such as emergency communications planning for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and protecting Internet, banking system and power grids from cyber attacks.[10]
In 2004, Poizner ran unsuccessfully for the California State Assembly against Democrat Ira Ruskin, a Redwood City Councilman, in the 21st district, losing by 5,884 votes out of 190,120 votes cast in 2004.
In 2006, Poizner ran for the office of California Insurance Commissioner. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary on June 6, and won the general election on November 7 by defeating Democrat Cruz Bustamante, then Lieutenant Governor of California, by a 12.4% margin.[11]
In 2006, Poizner became a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations after being nominated by former Secretary of State George Shultz.[10]
In late 2007, Poizner led the effort to defeat Proposition 93,[12] a term limit removal initiative. As Chairman of the No on 93 campaign, Poizner contributed $2.5 million of his own money, secured No on 93 endorsements from over forty newspaper editorial boards, and appeared on talk radio across the state. Proposition 93 was defeated by 54% to 46% on February 5, 2008.
In May 2008, President George W. Bush appointed Poizner to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel.[13]
On September 15, 2008, Poizner announced his candidacy for Governor of California.[14]
In May 2009, Poizner successfully campaigned[15] against Proposition 1A (a $10 billion tax increase) during the California state special elections, 2009. Proposition 1A was defeated by a margin of 65.6% to 34.4% on May 26, 2009.[16]
On March 1, 2010 Poizner officially became a candidate for Governor of California.[17]
On June 8, 2010, Poizner was defeated in the Republican primary by former CEO of eBay Meg Whitman, who was later defeated by Democratic candidate Jerry Brown in the general election.
Following his term as Insurance Commissioner, Poizner partnered with the Sherry Lansing Foundation and Creative Artists Agency to create the Encore Career Institute, an online educational company geared specifically for baby boomers in need of work or looking to switch careers.[1]
Encore Career Institute formed a partnership with UCLA Extension to offer professional certificates and career counseling for adults seeking to remain viable in today’s job market.[18]
Encore Career Institute secured $15 million in Series A venture capital funding from two Silicon Valley–based firms, InterWest Partners and Granite Ventures, to develop the new online education company.[19]
As the current CEO of Encore Career Institute, Poizner has been an outspoken advocate for using technology and education to help many jobless baby boomers reinvent themselves and find work in second careers.[20]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Garamendi |
California Insurance Commissioner January 8, 2007 – January 3, 2011 |
Succeeded by Dave Jones |
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