2008. In May 2008, President George W. Bush appointed Poizner to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. On September 15, 2008, Poizner announced his candidacy for Governor of California. In May 2009, Poizner successfully campaigned against Proposition 1A (a $10 billion tax increase) during the California state special elections, 2009. Proposition 1A was defeated by a margin of 65.6% to 34.4% on May 26, 2009. On March 1, 2010 Poizner officially became a candidate for Governor of California. On June 8, 2010, Poizner was defeated in the Republican primary by former CEO of eBay Meg Whitman, who was later defeated by Democratic candidate Jerry Brown in the general election. In early 2014, Steve Poizner was inducted into the Silicon Valley Engineering Council Hall of Fame. In September 2016, the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Steve Poizner has joined UC San Diego's Rady School of Management as its inaugural entrepreneur in residence. Poizner declared his candidacy for a nonconsecutive second term as California State Insurance Commissioner in 2018. EmpoweredU Following his term as Insurance Commissioner, Poizner partnered with the Sherry Lansing Foundation and Creative Artists Agency to create Empowered Careers (later renamed to EmpoweredU), a mobile learning platform and content services company geared specifically for baby boomers in need of work or looking to switch careers. EmpoweredU formed its first partnership with UCLA Extension to offer professional certificates and career counseling for adults seeking to remain viable in today's job market. Empowered Careers secured $15 million in Series A venture capital funding from two Silicon Valley–based firms, InterWest Partners and Granite Ventures, to develop the new online education company. As the CEO of EmpoweredU, Poizner was an outspoken advocate for using technology and education to help many jobless baby boomers reinvent themselves and find work in second careers. On July 4, 2012 Empowered completed development of a custom iPad application, The Empowered app, "which took a little less than a year to write", and "incorporates many of the device's built-in functions." On January 16, 2014 EmpoweredU announced that it will launch pilot programs at the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the Rossier School of Education, as well as eight other universities across the nation, including Clemson University, Davis College of Business at Jacksonville University, Texas Southern University,