The YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles honored Cal State L.A. alumnus Marx L. Cazenave II, co-founder and former CEO of Progress Investment Management Company, during its 44th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Brotherhood Breakfast on January 16, at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
Cazenave, who was presented with this year’s YMCA Human Dignity Award, was also the keynote speaker at the breakfast, which paid tribute to Dr. King’s legacy and his vision of a just and inclusive world for all.
According to event organizers, the award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated leadership, compassion and support to persons who are disadvantaged and has made a significant impact on improving the quality of life for them, their families and their communities.
Cazenave has devoted his professional career to expanding business opportunities for minorities, women and startup companies, they said. He has managed a successful consulting firm specializing in government relations and the financing of small businesses. He has also developed and managed the first New York Stock Exchange member firm in the Western United States.
He is the co-founder and former chief executive officer of Progress Investment Management Company, a San Francisco-based firm of managers focused on emerging small, minority- and women-owned investment companies. Since its inception in 1990, Progress Investment Management has funded more than 125 emerging firms across a broad range of asset classes. Progress currently manages more than $7 billion in assets for some of the world’s largest public and corporate pension funds.
Cazenave was appointed by former President Jimmy Carter to serve as regional administrator of the Small Business Administration. He also served as director of business development for the State of California and as a principal consultant to the State Assembly Office of Research.
He is the recipient of Cal State L.A.’s College of Natural and Social Sciences Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2012. He received his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Cal State L.A. in 1962. He completed Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Smaller Companies in 1978.
