About SynED

Scott Young is the President of SynED and Interim Director of the California Cyberhub. He has provided results-based technology and operational solutions to the public and private sectors for more than 25 years. He has worked with colleges at all levels, and with Fortune 100 companies.

His most recent work has been with the California Community College system and its Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and the Economy Initiative, which aims to make community colleges a catalyst for job creation across the state and close the ever-widening skills gaps across multiple sectors. This work lead to the formation of the California Cyberhub, which serves as a resource for the many partners working to create educational pathways to meet the demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals.

Scott has also been a leader in SynED’s digital badge and compression planning initiatives. He has more than 15 years of experience in workforce development and helping companies create competency-based curriculum and assessment programs. He studied Art History, Criticism, and Conservation at the University of Utah and previously served as President, COO and VP of Corporate Services roles in the private sector.

Mr. Daggett graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Business Administration with an Emphasis in Accounting.  He attended Golden Gate University in the Masters of Taxation Program.  He also attended Ventura College of Law for one year before withdrawing due to his wife being diagnosed with cancer.

Mr. Daggett began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. (the largest accounting firm in the world) in the tax & small business departments and, after two years was recruited away by Deloitte & Touche (formerly Deloitte, Haskins & Sells). Deloitte is currently the largest accounting firm in the world.  While at Deloitte, Mr. Daggett was the youngest person promoted to Tax Manager at the time.  He became a CPA in 1986 and a Certified Valuation Analyst in 1991.  Mr. Daggett has been a CPA for over 30 years and operated his own accounting firm since 1987 in addition to being involved in multiple other enterprises.

Mr. Daggett has been involved in numerous M&A transactions both as a Tax Manager on the Deloitte Mergers &Acquisitions team (in the Los Angeles office) and in his own accounting firm.  He has been involved in the sale or purchase of over 150 companies during his career.  Mr. Daggett has worked in international tax, corporate tax, individual and estate tax, and has specific experience working with high net worth individuals and companies in the engineering, Governmental Contracting, publishing, television and radio, construction, architectural, real estate, legal, medical, not for profit and service industries. Additionally, Mr. Daggett has been the CFO of a $250 million Venture Capital Fund where he was responsible for determining which companies were funded and accountable for how proceeds were used.

After his departure from Citadel Capital, Mr. Daggett formed Gator Hawk Armor, Inc.  As the CEO, Mr. Daggett built Gator Hawk from zero revenue to a multimillion-dollar body armor manufacturer where he was involved in all aspects of the operations of the company including the manufacturing processes, financial analysis, patent and trademark applications, ISO Certification, contract negotiations, cost analysis and international sales.  Mr. Daggett sold this company to a Canadian Public Company in late 2007.  Mr. Daggett continues to be involved closely with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Teana has over 20 years in management in the tech industry, in sales, customer service and program development. As a thought leader, she specializes in program development, bringing new ideas that drive initiatives forward and bring about change in an industry. In 2009, while working for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Teana developed the EPIC – Engineering Possibilities in College engineering outreach program to recruit more students into engineering careers, with a special emphasis on underserved students. Additionally, she was part of the team that launched the California Cyber Innovation Challenge statewide competition at Cal Poly in 2017. Teana joined synEDand its California Cyberhub program in late 2017 where she developed the California Mayors Cyber Cup competition to bring about cybersecurity awareness to the community while recruiting more students into cyber teams. 

Teana Fredeen brings 9 years of experience with directing STEM camps for K-12 students. She was the thought leader for the development of the EPIC – Engineering Possibilities in College engineering camp at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, along with a cyber security focused track within the EPIC program. With a BS Aeronautical Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a background in technical sales management, program management and customer service, Teana provides leadership as the Operations Manager of SynEd.

Julie has over 20 years of management experience working for the Public Sector.  She has spent over 8 years working as an SAP SME Functional Lead – Auditor/Analyst for the County of San Luis Obispo, Auditor Controller’s Office.  Prior, she worked as an Administrative Services Officer for law enforcement where her positions included grant management along with fiscal and budget accounting.

She was attracted to SynED because of their dedication to helping others improve their lives through education, knowledge, and skill acquisition.  She loves to learn and loves to see others succeed!

Passionate in serving communities and students in her role asStatewide Academic Relations Manager for California Cyberhub(CAC), Donna is committed to our collaborative mission where we desire to “Enable a future ethical workforce by supporting quality training and competitions activities throughout California.”

She is thoroughly dedicated to the shared vision of CAC, and the outreach to all cybersecurity educators, community coaches, business leaders, mentors and students to share resource and best practices, offering equitable access to all students who endeavor to pursue viable ICT/Cyber careers. Outreach efforts for CAC include Facilitating Workshop Presentations, Professional Cyber Learning Communities, Cyber Coaches Training,Curriculum Development, and Media Presentations.  

Donna has a Master of Science in Workforce Education Development focused in ICT/Cyber Academic Pathways, and has served as a CTE/ICT Instructor for 20 years in Riverside County, California. Distinguished honors include Riverside County Teacher of the Year; Model of Academic Excellence and Innovation; and State Assembly 61st District, Women of Distinction.

Prior to working with synED, he was Vice President and Chair of the Baccalaureate at Antioch University Santa Barbara. From 1976 until 2010, he was faculty and Dean at Santa Barbara City College. Responsible for the administration of the Business Division, the Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the School of Media Arts which includes new media applications, game design, animation, film & television and journalism. For the past twenty-five years, Mr. Smith has been at the forefront of emerging information and communication technologies. Actively involved with the online information industry since its inception, he established Infomart Research, the first online information brokerage in California. As co-founder of Intellimation, a multimedia publishing company, he worked with software developers, publishers and content providers to distribute multimedia applications. For the past 15 years, Mr. Smith has managed and developed projects focusing on new media production, e-commerce and distribution, mobile media, and the use of game technologies in providing training and education. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the Economic and Workforce Development program from the State of California.

Having lived in Santa Barbara for 40 years, he is an active member of the community. Currently he serves on the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum and New Beginnings.

He received his B.A. & M.A from San Diego State University before completing doctoral coursework in rhetoric and linguistics at the University of Southern California. He is married to Carola for twenty seven years with two children, Justin and Britta.

Chrissy is a dedicated project manager gifted at performing specification and design reviews to ensure client expectations will be exceeded. Engaging and personable with the ability to monitor work quality, manage key milestones and deliver exemplary customer service. Well-versed in building positive relationships with customers and other stakeholders. Skilled at overseeing complex, high-value technical projects with excellent planning competencies.

Diane Castaneda is the Social Media and Media Relations Manager for Digital Impact And, a digital marketing agency based in San Diego, CA. Diane studied Communications at SDSU and it’s a proud Aztec! With over 10 years of experience, she has worked for non-profits and start-ups helping them with bilingual media and digital marketing campaigns. She is fluent in Spanish and English and conversational Italian. She loves traveling and being outdoors with her daughter and husband.