Name Douglas Rosenberg Organizations founded The Rosenberg Company | Role Business person | |
Douglas Rosenberg (Born December 12, 1957) is a business leader and philanthropist based in Marin County, California.
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Rosenberg is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Midwestern BioAg.
Midwestern BioAg builds soil life and soil fertility with a focus on the whole soil ecosystem: biology, chemistry and structure. The company's nutrients, cover crops and rotation schemes lead to biologically rich and diverse soils with a comprehensive mineral balance. This allows farmers to achieve significant increases in their yields, while also improving the nutritional content of the food they are growing. The approach allows farmers to reduce their use of synthetic chemical inputs. The company's products and practices can be used to reduce farm-related runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus into water supplies, and can substantially reduce farm-related greenhouse gas emissions.
Rosenberg became chairman of the company in 2014, and has led successful capital campaigns to support the company’s ambitious growth plans.
Rosenberg founded and actively managed the Rosenberg Alzheimer’s Project. He began focusing on Alzheimer’s Disease as his father and stepparents died from complications of the disease. Frustrated by research and development proposals that began to sound familiar, he embraced an outsider approach, looking for the most credible scientists with alternative views of the disease.
Past grants supported the work of scientists pursuing novel therapies and those working to reduce the cost and time involved in developing potential cures. In early 2011, the Project invested $3.5 million in the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, partnering with Dr. Dale Bredesen to examine alternative compounds to treat Alzheimer’s disease. The Project has also funded research by Dr. Frank Longo of Stanford University and Dr. Michael Weiner of UCSF. It was a lead supporter of the Brain Health Registry, which was built to speed up clinical trials for Alzheimer's Disease and other neurological disorders. In addition to direct grants, the Project has provided in-kind support, including legal counsel for intellectual property protection, business development, fundraising assistance, communications assistance, and project management.
The Rosenberg Alzheimer’s Project is not currently reviewing requests for funding. This shift was announced when Rosenberg began actively leading the push to increase the reach of Midwestern BioAg.
He is also a partner at North Bay Therapeutics, which is developing supplements focused on brain health and memory.
Real estate career
In 1996, Rosenberg founded The Rosenberg Company, a real estate development firm. A native San Franciscan, he grew his business with an intimate knowledge of the city’s neighborhoods and a strong commitment to the community. He focused his efforts on San Francisco’s SOMA District, where he saw the need and opportunity for focused development efforts. His timing was good: His entry to the market preceded the rush of the technology boom and the development of what is now known as AT&T Park. He was involved in all phases of the business cycle, from ground up development to the careful and respectful renovation of historic buildings. Once the neighborhood was transformed, he managed an orderly liquidation strategy for his business, fully completing his exit in July 2008 – weeks before the economic meltdown.
Early Career & Education
Prior to starting his own company, he served as Managing Director of Foreign Investments, Southeast Asia for Whitney Cressman Limited, a real estate advisory service based in San Francisco. He was a broker for Damon Raike and Company, and held financial analyst positions with Crocker Bank and Wells Fargo.
In 1982, three years out of college, he moved to Dallas and started The Daily Grind, which sold coffee from vendor carts in the lobbies of downtown Dallas office buildings. He added a catering operation, and after three years sold both businesses to local investors before moving home to San Francisco.
He holds a political science degree from Lewis and Clark College. He lives in Marin with his wife, Ellen Hope Rosenberg, and their two daughters.