Orange County has the talent. Farrah Khan wants more people to see it — and more of its innovators to find one another.

On this episode of Legacy Launchers, former Irvine mayor Farrah Khan joins Li Lin to discuss OC Tech Week, her path from biotechnology to public service, and the importance of opening doors for people whose ideas deserve to be heard.

Her story connects two important questions:

Who gets recognized as a leader?

And what becomes possible when a community stops overlooking the people already building its future?

From Biotech to Public Service

Khan did not grow up planning a political career.

In the interview, she describes starting in biotechnology as a quality assurance specialist before moving into management and regulatory affairs. She later relocated from Northern California to Southern California.

Her involvement in local government grew through community work.

As a nonprofit executive director working across Irvine, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa, Khan says she regularly prepared brief updates on issues such as housing and hunger.

What frustrated her was the feeling that the people she was addressing were not listening.

That experience helped push her toward a different kind of participation: learning how local leadership worked and considering how she could change it.

Being Told She Was “Unelectable”

Khan recalls a conversation in 2014 in which, after she spoke about diversity in leadership, someone told her that people with names like hers were unelectable in Irvine.

The remark stayed with her.

So did the silence of others in the room.

Her first campaign, in 2016, ended in a loss. She describes the personal toll of negative campaigning, along with the encouragement from community members who urged her to try again.

When she returned to the race in 2018, the result was very different: she received the most votes among 11 candidates.

For Khan, the most memorable part of campaigning was the direct conversation.

She knocked on doors, shared what she was seeing, and asked residents what they were experiencing and how the city could improve.

Years later, she says, people still remember those visits.

There is a lesson here for business owners too:

Listening gives you information that a polished pitch cannot.

People remember whether you took their concerns seriously.

Why OC Tech Week Matters

That same interest in connecting people runs through Khan’s work on OC Tech Week.

She describes the project as years in the making: an effort to bring Orange County’s innovation community together and show a wider audience what is happening here.

OC Tech Week is scheduled for October 19–24, 2026.

The official event website lists Khan as co-chair alongside Tony Crisp, with Tech Coast Venture Network hosting the week.

In the interview, Khan also notes that some associated events begin on October 16 and 17.

More Than 40 Events — and a Decentralized Model

One of OC Tech Week’s defining features is its decentralized format.

Instead of forcing every conversation into one conference hall, different organizations and community members can contribute their own gatherings.

Khan describes ideas ranging from:

• Founder beach walks
• Investor pickleball
• Educational talks
• A trade summit
• Golf
• Community networking events

At the time of the conversation, Khan said more than 40 events were already planned, with additional participants continuing to sign up.

That number reflects the moment of the interview and may continue to change.

For founders and business owners, the appeal is the variety of ways to participate.

A workshop might help you learn.

A conversation might introduce you to a collaborator.

An informal gathering can give people time to connect beyond their job titles.

Collaboration Without the Scarcity Mindset

Having lived in both Northern and Southern California, Khan shares her perspective on a difference she has noticed between the regions.

She describes Northern California as having a stronger habit of regional collaboration, while some Southern California environments can feel more territorial.

Her broader point is about scarcity.

When people become afraid that someone else might take an opportunity, they can end up preventing valuable connections from happening at all.

Collaboration can create more opportunity rather than divide a fixed amount of it.

That idea gives OC Tech Week a purpose beyond filling a calendar.

It becomes a chance for people across organizations and industries to show up for one another — and to make Orange County’s existing talent more visible.

For the Person Who Feels Like an Outsider

During the conversation, Li asks Khan what she would say to someone who feels different from everyone else in the room.

Khan’s advice is direct:

“Walk in, own the room.”

She points to the many turns in her own career — from biotech and small business to nonprofit work, politics, and technology again.

Being willing to move through those changes has allowed her to keep learning and participating.

Her story also illustrates two forces working at the same time: the reality of exclusion and the value of refusing to let someone else’s assumptions determine your next move.

The support of people who encouraged her to run again also mattered.

Confidence helped.

Community helped too.

A Legacy Measured by Helping

Asked what legacy she wants to leave, Khan gives a surprisingly simple answer.

She is less concerned with being known than with doing some good, helping people feel better, and improving things along the way.

That idea ties the whole conversation together:

Listen to people. Open doors. Bring others into the work.

Orange County already has founders, engineers, investors, business owners, community builders, and innovators.

The bigger question is whether they know one another — and whether the rest of the world knows they are here.

OC Tech Week is one attempt to change that.

Listen to the Full Conversation

Listen to the full Legacy Launchers conversation with former Irvine mayor Farrah Khan for more on leadership, belonging, innovation, and the vision behind OC Tech Week.

Explore the latest event schedule and participation details at octechweek.com.

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Source Note

This article is based on Li Lin’s recorded Legacy Launchers interview with Farrah Khan.

Personal experiences and regional comparisons are presented as Khan’s account.

Core event dates, hosting organization, and co-chair roles were checked against the official OC Tech Week website on October 2, 2026.

Event counts, participating organizations, and individual event plans may change.