Press Release
UC San Diego Classmates and Local Veterans Launch Nonprofit Institute to Make San Diego Hub for Pacific Strategy
The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy reimagines the think tank model to promote security, prosperity, and cooperation in the Pacific Hemisphere
SAN DIEGO, CA – October 20, 2025
When two local veterans met as classmates at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, they shared a simple belief: that San Diego could be more than America’s Finest City — it could be America’s Strategic City leading in the Pacific.
The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy, founded by UCSD alumni and veterans Blaine Worthington and Christopher Capistron, aims to make San Diego the home for the ideas and leaders who will shape the Pacific’s future.
“San Diego has everything — the military presence, the universities, the innovation economy, and the Pacific orientation — but no place where those strengths come together,” said Worthington, a Marine Corps veteran and student at UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. “We started The La Jolla Center because we wanted to build that place — not just for policymakers, but for the whole community.”
The nonprofit is the world’s first social strategy institute, bringing together leaders, researchers, and innovators to design cooperative solutions for the Pacific’s toughest challenges — from maritime security and climate resilience to trade, technology, and public health.
“Traditional think tanks study strategy,” said Worthington. “We’re building it — through community, collaboration, and the belief that the Pacific’s future depends on all of us.”
A San Diego-Built Institution for a Pacific Future
The Center’s programs will focus on five areas: Defense & National Security; Biosecurity & Public Health; Climate, Ocean & Resource Security; Technology & Innovation; and Trade, Economy & Infrastructure.
While the Center will publish research and host policy discussions, its founders emphasize a hands-on approach that blends academic insight with practical collaboration. Through fellowships, working groups, and public forums, they aim to help San Diego’s institutions lead on Pacific policy — not just follow it.
“San Diego is America’s strategic city,” Worthington said. “Our mission is to make sure it plays a strategic role.”
A New Model for Strategy: Built with Stakeholders, Not for Them
At the heart of The La Jolla Center’s mission is a new method of strategy development called Social Strategy — a stakeholder-led process that brings together leaders from across sectors to shape shared strategic outcomes.
Rather than producing research in isolation, the Center facilitates collaborative strategy development that draws directly on the expertise, lived experience, and agency of the people and institutions closest to Pacific challenges. Each initiative begins by identifying key stakeholders — from industry, government, academia, and civil society — and then guiding them through a structured, facilitated process that turns collective insight into practical solutions.
“Social Strategy is about harnessing the wisdom and capability that already exist in our community,” said Christopher Capistron, Director of Programs, U.S. Air Force veteran and graduate of UCSD’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. “Our role isn’t to be the experts in every field — it’s to create the space, structure, and process that allow experts, stakeholders, and policymakers to build strategy together. San Diego’s strength lies in its people, its industries, and its institutions. Our strength is in helping them move in the same direction.”
By treating strategy as a social process — not a closed-door product — the Center aims to redefine how policy ideas are generated, tested, and implemented across the Pacific region.
Community-Driven Beginnings
Rather than seeking traditional think-tank funding, the founders have bootstrapped the effort and invited early supporters to help shape the Center’s direction. Every dollar raised goes directly to operations and programs, with plans to expand through community partnerships and philanthropic support in the year ahead.
“From day one, we wanted this to be built with the community — not just in it,” said Worthington. “The Center belongs to San Diego as much as it belongs to us.”
About The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy
The La Jolla Center for Pacific Strategy is where San Diego’s leaders come together to solve the Pacific’s toughest challenges. We do this by guiding ideas and people through our Social Strategy Development Cycle. Through our events, research, publications, and fellowships, we help develop the ideas that will shape the Pacific’s future and the leaders who will carry them forward.
Mission: To facilitate the development of ideas and leaders that will shape a secure, prosperous, and cooperative Pacific Hemisphere.
Substack: thelajollacenter.substack.com
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Media Contact
Name: Blaine Worthington
Title: Executive Director
Email: press@thelajollacenter.org
Website: thelajollacenter.org
