The Naval Postgraduate School Foundation appointed Dan Lynch, CEO and Managing Director of Carmel Realty Company and Monterey Coast Realty, and John Micek, President and Co-Founder of Climb High Capital and Co-Founder of Red Stitch Wine, to its Board of Trustees.
Lynch and Micek join the NPS Foundation at a critical time for U.S. national security and during a period of transformation for the Naval Postgraduate School. National security affects every individual, and every individual is responsible for the work of national defense. The NPS Foundation’s new board members highlight community interest and investment in the Naval Postgraduate School at a time when the stakes are high. Strategic competitors to the United States have greater access to commercial state-of-the-art technologies than ever before and are wielding these technologies to attack America’s interests and our citizens’ personal security. As a Nation, we cannot afford to be complacent as our technological edge erodes or is made irrelevant by the modernization and growth of our adversaries’ militaries.
In December 2022, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced his intention to construct a Naval Innovation Center at the Naval Postgraduate School and detailed Department of the Navy efforts to transform military education and lead the innovation ecosystem for the U.S. Department of Defense. The Naval Innovation Center at NPS will provide a capability unavailable elsewhere in the DOD for industry and academic partners to work side-by-side with NPS' 2,500+ operational students and expert faculty to solve the unique challenges facing our Nation in a collaborative, applied and classified setting.
“We are at an inflection point in American innovation. Our Department of Defense is committed to adopting emerging technologies and national security solutions faster than our adversaries. Naval Postgraduate School students, faculty and alumni are the difference makers for our Nation to maintain competitive advantage,” said Hank Plain, Chair of the NPS Foundation Board of Trustees. “The experiences and connections of our new members bring immense value to the Foundation’s work and will greatly enhance our support and advocacy for NPS, the Naval Innovation Center, corporate partnership and community engagement.”
The NPS Foundation is proud to have supported the Naval Innovation Center at NPS since the initial vision development in 2020 and is committed to working alongside NPS and the Department of the Navy in the advocacy, development and funding of a Naval Innovation Center at NPS through its completion. View a concept for the Naval Innovation Center here.
Dan Lynch is the CEO and Managing Director of Carmel Realty Company and Monterey Coast Realty, a family of real estate companies serving the Monterey Peninsula. With over 120 agents and staff, the company is the market leader in luxury real estate with over $1.5 billion in annual real estate sales supported by a robust real estate rental, management and estate services business. Under his oversight, the 110-year-old brand has flourished through extraordinary competitive and industry disruption, disintermediation and technological evolution, and has continued to be the market leading luxury brand for the last 20 years. Previously, Lynch served as President and CEO of Wire Stone Inc, one of Ad Age’s top 25 independent marketing agencies. In 2018, Lynch completed the sale and full integration of Wire Stone into Accenture, the world’s largest digital marketing network. As Managing Director and President of Wire Stone within Accenture, Lynch was responsible for the strategic planning, budgeting, and delivery of Wire Stone business into the Accenture service offering. Prior to his position at Wire Stone, Lynch held positions as the Chief Officer for Global Business Development at Organic Inc., a pioneer in web development, and as Sr. Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Technicolor. Lynch is an investor, director and advisor to numerous companies inside and out of the digital marketing space. He is an active member on the Board of Directors for The First Tee of Monterey County and the director of the Carmel Realty Company Foundation. Lynch has a business marketing degree from the University of San Diego.
John Micek is the President and Co-founder of Climb High Capital, a boutique software investment firm based in San Francisco. Additionally, he is the co-founder of Red Stitch Wine, a critically acclaimed Napa Valley boutique winery founded in 2009 with former professional baseball players Dave Roberts and Rich Aurilia along with their families. Previously, Micek was a managing partner at Third Leaf Partners where he focused on business development and deal sourcing across the hospitality and wine industries. Prior to Third Leaf, Micek spent over 17 years in the hedge fund industry both as a Partner, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Investor Relations and Business Development at Criterion Capital Management, and as a Vice President overseeing the West Coast Region for the Capital Introduction business at Goldman Sachs & Co. He also held the role of Head of Business Development and Investor Relations at HRJ Capital Management. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Micek is an Ambassador to the Navy SEAL Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of PrivApp, Inc., and a Community Activities Commissioner for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Micek received a Bachelor of Arts in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, and currently resides in Carmel, California, with his wife, Noelle and two children.
