Teacher Turned AI Strategist to Share Career-Pivot Playbook at Pasadena Meetup

Jen García spent nearly two decades teaching English, writing, and workforce development at universities across Southern California. Now she leads AI strategy at Caltech’s Center for Technology and Management Education and advises Los Angeles nonprofits on adopting the technology. On Friday, she will tell Pasadena’s innovation community how she got from one career to the other.

García will speak at the Friday Coffee Meetup on March 6 at FoundrSpace in Old Town Pasadena, sharing what she calls “career reinvention through AI and grit.” Her talk will address how professionals in any field can begin integrating AI into their work — and how her own transition from the classroom to tech entrepreneurship required both skill-building and a shift in mindset, according to the event listing on Meetup.com.

García is the founder of Ingrained.ai, which she describes as an AI tools learning ecosystem for professionals, educators, and social impact organizations, according to her Caltech CTME biography. She also serves as AI Strategy and Partnerships Lead at Caltech’s Center for Technology and Management Education and as AI Executive in Residence at the Goldhirsh Foundation, a Los Angeles philanthropy whose LA2050 initiative has provided AI training to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, according to the foundation.

Before launching her AI career, García taught at UCLA Extension, UCI Extension, USC, and Cal State Fullerton over a nearly 20-year span, according to her Employ California biography. She holds a master’s degree in TESOL  (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and is a certified Microsoft AI Engineer Associate, according to Caltech CTME and The Nonprofit Partnership.

She also founded Employ California, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that developed courses to help Los Angeles County employees pass civil service exams, according to Caltech CTME. That organization’s focus on workforce development for underserved communities laid the groundwork for her pivot into AI education, according to the Goldhirsh Foundation, which announced her appointment as AI Executive in Residence in June 2024.

At the Goldhirsh Foundation, García has led AI training workshops and consulting for nonprofits. The foundation partnered with OpenAI on a national AI Nonprofit Jam in 2025, where García served as a tech mentor, according to the Goldhirsh Foundation’s blog. The foundation reported that nearly 300 impact organizations in Los Angeles had received AI training through its initiative as of October 2025.

The Friday Coffee Meetup brings together Pasadena’s startup and innovation community on the first Friday of each month at FoundrSpace, 87 N. Raymond Ave. The event is free. Doors open at 8:15 a.m., and the talk begins at 8:30 a.m. The meetup is presented by Echo-Factory and Innovate Pasadena and is co-hosted by CALE at Caltech. Street parking is generally free until 11 a.m., according to FCM’s Meetup page. Registration is available at meetup.com/innovation-friday-coffee-meetup.

Founded in 2013, the Friday Coffee Meetup has grown to nearly 7,000 members and has held more than 420 events, according to its Meetup page. Each session features a presentation followed by Q&A and networking.

García has designed AI literacy programs for hundreds of organizations across Los Angeles, from small businesses and public sector teams to cultural institutions and K-12 schools, according to her Meetup biography. Friday’s talk is her first appearance at the meetup.