Muhammed Chaudhry serves as President & CEO for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). He brings a passion for making a business case to support education, which has been critical for SVEF to make a tremendous impact on the lives of youth, teachers and families of Silicon Valley. Under his leadership SVEF has become the leading education foundation serving Silicon Valley with a $4.1 million budget. The foundation has forged strong relationships with industry and the education community to develop traditional and non traditional programs to support education. Chaudhry began laying the groundwork for SVEF during his tenure as executive director of the Franklin-McKinley Education Foundation known also as San Jose Education Foundation before merging to become Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
Prior to SVEF, Muhammed held management positions in brand marketing with The Clorox Company and Dazzle Multimedia. He serves as Vice President of MKA USA which is a youth development organization. He is a Board Member of the California Consortium of Education Foundation, the Hispanic Foundation Silicon Valley, Humanity First USA and an active member of San Jose Rotary Club. His personal interests include golf, long distance running, and volunteering with various different philanthropic causes.
Muhammed holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from San Jose State University and a graduate of the Stanford Executive Leadership Program. He resides in San Jose with his wife, Rabia
René D. Ramirez was born and raised in San Jose I have first hand experience of education in our local public school system. As a husband and father of two young children, I can appreciate the importance of education and the significance of school readiness. With one of my daughters now a student in a school district SVEF serves, I have a vested interest in providing our schools, students and teachers with quality programs and support.
I have been a part of the Silicon Valley Education Foundation for over five years and have had the opportunity of seeing a great deal of change and growth in the continued successful development of our Foundation. Although my primary responsibility is in our Programs Department, I have the pleasure of being part of a team focused on assisting in the efforts of enhancing the chances of academic success of our community’s children.
Lisa Gonzales, Ed.D., serves as Vice President of Education for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). Prior to coming to SVEF, she spent 15 years in public education as a math/science teacher, middle and high school assistant principal, elementary principal, and Director of Curriculum and Teacher Training at NASA's Ames Research Center.
A volunteer since the age of 12, she enjoys her work on the City of San Jose's Arts Commission, the Board of Gemini Crickets (a mother of multiples group), the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership, and as the incoming President of the Association of California School Administrators for Santa Clara County. Her true passions in life are the arts, technology math and science. Lisa has a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne, a master's degree from San Jose State in Educational Leadership, and two bachelor's degrees from San Jose State in Business Management and Radio/Television/Film Production. Lisa is a founding member of the "Women's Leadership Network", a team of women education leaders in Santa Clara County. She lives in downtown San Jose with her husband, Erik Schoennauer, and twin daughters.
Her personal interests including fiction and non-fiction reading, especially John Grisham, the Kellermans, Harlan Coben, and Sophie Kinsella. In her limited spare time, walking with her double jogger and family, circuit training, tending to dozens of different species of daylilies, scrapbooking, and planning children's parties are high on her to do list.
Wasim Malik brings with him over 20 years of general management experience in high-tech industry. He was Director of Operations at Dazzle Inc., which was later acquired by SCM Microsystems (Nasdaq: SCMM). Crystallizing the corporate goals at SCM Microsystems, he efficiently managed the offshore manufacturing and worldwide distribution operations of the company’s products. His expertise is particularly in the areas of Product Development, Project Management, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.
Mr. Malik has a Masters in Industrial Management. His interests range from sports to reading to being the President of Silicon Valley chapter and Vice President of a worldwide non-profit community organization.
Mr. Malik has a Master of Industrial Management. His interests range from sports to reading to being the President of Silicon Valley chapter and Vice President of USA of a worldwide non-profit community organizatio
Bob Nichols was a social studies teacher in the Campbell Union High School District for 38 years as well as serving on the Boards of Directors of both the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association. He was a member of the San Jose Mayor’s Education Task Force, the Santa Clara County Office of Education Blue Ribbon Task Force and was appointed by the Speaker of the California State Assembly to serve on the No Child Left Behind Implementation Advisory Committee. He received his BA and MA from San Jose State University and has also studied at the University of Washington.
Brian Kaplan serves as Director of Development for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). Most recently, he worked for the Office of Development at Stanford University where he oversaw the gift processing function. Prior to work at Stanford, Brian held management positions at several high tech companies including Octel and Nuance Communications before founding his own consulting practice.
His personal interests include coaching AYSO soccer, biking, studying history, and volunteering. Brian loves camping with his family and completed the Outward Bound backpacking program in Utah.
Karen Nicholson serves as a Development Manager for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). Prior to coming to SVEF, Karen worked is Business Development for Yahoo! Inc in Santa Clara. She also spent 9.5 years in the U.S. Air Force as an Intelligence Officer. Her experience ranges from foreign weapons systems and drug interdiction to strategic account management. She has a BS in Political Science from Santa Clara University and a MS in International Relations from Troy State University. She enjoys cooking, working out, traveling and motorcycle trips. Karen currently resides in Foster City with her fiancé, Brice, and their 2 yr old Rhodesian Ridgeback – “Hollywood”..
Grace M. Karr recently joined SVEF as the STEM Program Director. She began her career as a bilingual elementary and middle school teacher in the Bay Area. At the middle school level, she served as the Reading Specialist and Language Arts Department Chair. She also managed a technology-based literacy program which served 500 middle school students per year.
More recently she worked as a media analyst for Cymfony, a market analytics company. She worked as a research fellow with the Cisco Networking Academy Program in Costa Rica, and as an intern with the United Nations Information and Communications Task Force. Grace earned an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has an MA in Education, a Bilingual/Cross-cultural teaching credential from SFSU, and is a UCSC graduate. Grace lives in the South Bay with her husband and son. Her special interests include bicycling, exploring new places, and spending time with her family.
Muhammed Chaudhry serves as President & CEO for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). He brings a passion for making a business case to support education, which has been critical for SVEF to make a tremendous impact on the lives of youth, teachers and families of Silicon Valley. Under his leadership SVEF has become the leading education foundation serving Silicon Valley with a $4.1 million budget. The foundation has forged strong relationships with industry and the education community to develop traditional and non traditional programs to support education. Chaudhry began laying the groundwork for SVEF during his tenure as executive director of the Franklin-McKinley Education Foundation known also as San Jose Education Foundation before merging to become Silicon Valley Education Foundation.
René D. Ramirez was born and raised in San Jose I have first hand experience of education in our local public school system. As a husband and father of two young children, I can appreciate the importance of education and the significance of school readiness. With one of my daughters now a student in a school district SVEF serves, I have a vested interest in providing our schools, students and teachers with quality programs and support.
Sajid Sohail
Lisa Gonzales, Ed.D., serves as Vice President of Education for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). Prior to coming to SVEF, she spent 15 years in public education as a math/science teacher, middle and high school assistant principal, elementary principal, and Director of Curriculum and Teacher Training at NASA's Ames Research Center.
A volunteer since the age of 12, she enjoys her work on the City of San Jose's Arts Commission, the Board of Gemini Crickets (a mother of multiples group), the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership, and as the incoming President of the Association of California School Administrators for Santa Clara County. Her true passions in life are the arts, technology math and science. Lisa has a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne, a master's degree from San Jose State in Educational Leadership, and two bachelor's degrees from San Jose State in Business Management and Radio/Television/Film Production. Lisa is a founding member of the "Women's Leadership Network", a team of women education leaders in Santa Clara County. She lives in downtown San Jose with her husband, Erik Schoennauer, and twin daughters.
Her personal interests including fiction and non-fiction reading, especially John Grisham, the Kellermans, Harlan Coben, and Sophie Kinsella. In her limited spare time, walking with her double jogger and family, circuit training, tending to dozens of different species of daylilies, scrapbooking, and planning children's parties are high on her to do list. 
Wasim Malik brings with him over 20 years of general management experience in high-tech industry. He was Director of Operations at Dazzle Inc., which was later acquired by SCM Microsystems (Nasdaq: SCMM). Crystallizing the corporate goals at SCM Microsystems, he efficiently managed the offshore manufacturing and worldwide distribution operations of the company’s products. His expertise is particularly in the areas of Product Development, Project Management, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.
Mr. Malik has a Masters in Industrial Management. His interests range from sports to reading to being the President of Silicon Valley chapter and Vice President of a worldwide non-profit community organization. 
Bob Nichols was a social studies teacher in the Campbell Union High School District for 38 years as well as serving on the Boards of Directors of both the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association. He was a member of the San Jose Mayor’s Education Task Force, the Santa Clara County Office of Education Blue Ribbon Task Force and was appointed by the Speaker of the California State Assembly to serve on the No Child Left Behind Implementation Advisory Committee. He received his BA and MA from San Jose State University and has also studied at the University of Washington.
Brian Kaplan serves as Director of Development for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). Most recently, he worked for the Office of Development at Stanford University where he oversaw the gift processing function. Prior to work at Stanford, Brian held management positions at several high tech companies including Octel and Nuance Communications before founding his own consulting practice.
His personal interests include coaching AYSO soccer, biking, studying history, and volunteering. Brian loves camping with his family and completed the Outward Bound backpacking program in Utah.
Karen Nicholson serves as a Development Manager for the Silicon Valley Education Foundation (SVEF). Prior to coming to SVEF, Karen worked is Business Development for Yahoo! Inc in Santa Clara. She also spent 9.5 years in the U.S. Air Force as an Intelligence Officer. Her experience ranges from foreign weapons systems and drug interdiction to strategic account management. She has a BS in Political Science from Santa Clara University and a MS in International Relations from Troy State University. She enjoys cooking, working out, traveling and motorcycle trips. Karen currently resides in Foster City with her fiancé, Brice, and their 2 yr old Rhodesian Ridgeback – “Hollywood”.. 
Grace M. Karr recently joined SVEF as the STEM Program Director. She began her career as a bilingual elementary and middle school teacher in the Bay Area. At the middle school level, she served as the Reading Specialist and Language Arts Department Chair. She also managed a technology-based literacy program which served 500 middle school students per year.
More recently she worked as a media analyst for Cymfony, a market analytics company. She worked as a research fellow with the Cisco Networking Academy Program in Costa Rica, and as an intern with the United Nations Information and Communications Task Force. Grace earned an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has an MA in Education, a Bilingual/Cross-cultural teaching credential from SFSU, and is a UCSC graduate. Grace lives in the South Bay with her husband and son. Her special interests include bicycling, exploring new places, and spending time with her family.