Wendy Pizarro, Esq. has served as Calidi’s Chief Legal Officer and Chief Diversity Officer since September 2021. Honored as one of the “Power Women of San Diego” by Discover Magazine, Wendy is a role model for women as a seasoned corporate attorney and digital health advocate.
Wendy joined the executive leadership team, because she is passionate about the vision of Calidi and finding an innovative cure for cancer. In her combined role at Calidi, she is responsible for the Company’s global legal strategy and implementation, which includes overseeing all legal matters across corporate governance, securities and compliance; regulatory issues; licensing and intellectual property strategy; patent portfolio protection; employment; corporate transactions; and litigation. Furthermore, Wendy is the Company’s lead in shaping external and internal policies in recruitment and marketing related to furthering principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in the Company’s strategic plan. Wendy also serves as Calidi’s Corporate Secretary.
Wendy has over 20+ years of experience in corporate and business law, and since 2010, she founded and has led California Law Partners, a boutique law firm primarily serving as outside general counsel, corporate counsel and the lead crisis manager to select high net worth multi-family offices. She has directed legal strategy related to risk management, compliance and operations to manage and grow an asset portfolio of over $1.5 billion in multi-generational wealth with over 60% of the portfolio in private investments, some of which include Calidi.
Previously, she worked with leading Silicon Valley law firms, including DLA Piper in Palo Alto, on numerous general corporate and intellectual property matters and corporate securities transactions for disruptive technology companies in all phases of their life cycles from start-up to liquidity event (IPO and M&A) primarily in small teams serving infrastructure and e-commerce, including McAfee, Applied Materials and Yahoo!.
Wendy is also an active tech investor in start-ups or early-stage funds related to digital health, preventative medicine, life sciences, and digital media. Most recently, as a co-founder and investor of Never Train Alone, she designed the software user interface for an Apple iOS app related to mobile fitness, corporate wellness and preventative health.
Wendy continues to be active as a community leader and volunteer and has served on non-profit boards, for example, working with Rady Children’s Hospital Auxiliary as a unit officer, board member and/or lifetime member.
A former teaching fellow at Harvard University, Wendy was awarded the Derek Bok Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has been asked to conduct legal seminars or be a guest speaker at numerous events throughout her career and has authored eBooks, legal kits and other media in different areas of law, including start-up and corporate matters.
Wendy holds a J.D. from the Harvard Law School, M.ST. from the University of Oxford, and M.A. and B.A. from Yale University graduating magna cum laude with honors in distinction. She is proficient in Spanish, Italian and Tagalog. Wendy is a member of the State Bar of California and U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.
