In 2007, James Clark, then Mexico Business Center Director at the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, Malin Burnham, Salomon Cohen, José Larroque, Steve Williams, Mary Walshok, and others came together to form the Smart Border Coalition. Their aim was to convene San Diego and Tijuana business, government, agency and civic society leaders to advocate for an efficient and welcoming border at our ports of entry.

 

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The coalition became independent of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2014 and chose the San Diego Foundation as its new home and the United States-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership as its fiscal agent.

 

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James Clark continued as the coalition’s executive director. Malin Burnham and Ascan Lutteroth served as the first board co-chairs of the Board. Steve Williams and Gaston Luken, Jr. served as the first co-chairs for the Stakeholders Working Committee.

 

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The Smart Border Coalition was directly inspired by San Diego Dialogue, formed in 1991 as a distinctive collaboration among the University of California, San Diego, the region’s emerging high-tech business leaders, and figures from downtown San Diego’s established banking, real estate, and tourism sectors. It was led by the late Chuck Nathanson, whose one-on-one political skills wove the connections between ideas and the elite networks. His work expanded the cross-border discourse, generating new civic knowledge and shaping the regional agenda.

 

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Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the UCSD Extension Program and current Smart Border Coalition Alternate member Mary Walshok also was instrumental in bringing about San Diego Dialogue and in shaping its organizational focus.

 

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San Diego Dialogue was best known for its cross-border research, which led in 1995 to the establishment of SENTRI, initially a pilot trusted-traveler rapid lane for frequent border crossers. It has since become a permanent and widely used program facilitating use of the ports of the entry. San Diego Dialog’s key finding -- that 96% of border crossings are made by frequent crossers -- demonstrated that the region is a bi-national economy and changed the way the US/Mexico border was perceived.