Buño certainly knows a thing or two about stepping outside her comfort zone. At 16, she immigrated to the U.S. from India with her family and joined the Air Force just a year later.

Pawlek keeps that positive outlook through all aspects of managing the 800-employee operation. One secret to keeping a positive morale: lots of dad jokes.

With economic pressures, a deeper awareness of mental health issues and trends like Dry January and Sober October, Millennials and Gen Z are driving the “sober curious” movement, rethinking their relationship with alcohol to make healthier, more intentional choices. 

For agencies that provide emergency medical services, every single drug must be accounted for. But during Clive Savacool’s time as a firefighter in the Bay Area, drugs went missing from a fire station.

Nearly 2,000 miles northwest of Sacramento, Matthew Perkins rode a boat out into the Gulf of Alaska and saw nothing but endless potential for growth. “It’s kind of overwhelming how much opportunity there is,” he says. “You’re on the water, snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, you look down and see this incredible biomass growing. It’s literally the bounty of nature.”