Teresa Alvarado
Teresa Alvarado is the Executive Director of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, which cultivates philanthropic leadership in the Hispanic community. She previously worked in both Public Affairs and Charitable Contributions for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Ms. Alvarado, a San José native, is active in community service. She currently serves on the boards of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and SJECCD Foundation, and the advisory boards of the San Jose Education Foundation, Hispanic-Net, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley and Emerge: Women Leaders for a Democratic Future. In 2005, she was honored with the NAACP of Silicon Valley’s “Freedom Fighter” award and as Senator Elaine Alquist’s “City Woman of the Year” for San José. She is a member of Class XIX of the American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley and has been appointed to serve on the City of San José's Envision San José 2040 General Plan Update Task Force.
Ms. Alvarado holds an M.S. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Tufts University, a B.S. degree in Environmental Technology & Management from San Jose State University, and a Minor degree in Technical Writing from San Jose State University.
Senator Elaine K. Alquist A policy maker for over 20 years, Senator Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) is completing her first Senate term representing almost a million people living in the cities of San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, and Gilroy. Elaine earned a B.A. in Mathematics from MacMurray College in Illinois, and a M.A. in Guidance and Counseling, and Education from Washington University where she graduated with honors. Senator Alquist has been an algebra and trigonometry teacher and a counselor, served as PTA President, and served 8 years as a member and then President of the Board of Education of the Cupertino Union School District. A recognized leader on K-12 and higher education issues, Senator Alquist understands that opportunity in a democracy is linked to access to a good education, preschool through university.
Steve Beitler Steve Beitler is Manager of Silicon Valley Government and Public Affairs for Agilent Technologies. In this role he represents the company in its work with industry and trade groups, elected officials and government agencies. He also oversees Agilent’s work with local non-profits and community groups in support of the company’s focus on science education. He is currently co-chair of the Education Committee of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and is on the Board of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. Steve has been in his current role since 2005. Prior to that, he worked for six years at Agilent and twelve at Hewlett-Packard as manager of executive and investor communications.
Dan Bozzuto
Dan Bozzuto is CEO of Bozzuto Insurance Services Inc., and
is a San Jose native. His family has been in the bay area for four generations, with each generation working as an independent business person. Dan’s insurance career began in 1978. He worked first with individual clients, and later with construction accounts and other businesses. The agency has since become an expert in all facets of construction insurance including risk transfer and mitigation. Dan is president of the Builders Exchange of Santa Clara County, advisor to the Home Builders Association of Northern California, and on committee of the California Building Industry Association. Dan has been recognized in California Business Journals as one of the “Who’s Who” in real estate and construction. Dan and his staff are regularly consulted by municipalities and developers for their input and assistance in construction projects. Dan and his wife Patty have two children: Stephanie 25 and Daniel 23.
Dennis Cima
Dennis Cima is the Vice President of Education and Public Policy for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a public policy trade association made up of more than 250 leading Silicon Valley employers. Dennis joined the Leadership Group in 2004 to direct the organization’s educational policy objectives toward improving student achievement in Silicon Valley. In 2007, Dennis was named vice president and is responsible for advancing the organization’s legislative agenda, in addition to his education and workforce policy portfolio. Prior to joining the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Dennis was the Assistant to the former Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools, Colleen Wilcox, where he assisted in managing the day-to-day operations of the superintendent’s office and provided policy support to the Superintendent and her cabinet, the County Board of Education, and local school districts. Dennis also served for five years as a legislative assistant to former-Congressman Tom Campbell during Mr. Campbell's service in both the U.S. House of Representatives and California State Senate.
Dennis received a B.S. degree from Santa Clara University in political science, with an emphasis on American public policy. He is the son of two public school educators (with over 55 years of classroom experience between the two) and a proud Bay Area native. Dennis resides in San Jose with his ever-supportive wife, Stephanie, and their two daughters.
Jim Cunneen
Jim Cunneen joined California Strategies, LLC in 2007. Cunneen oversees the firm’s Silicon Valley office, the region where he grew up and later represented in the Legislature. Cunneen served as an executive for two highly respected Fortune 500 Companies in Silicon Valley. At Cisco, he oversaw public policy, communication and political outreach for the 50 U.S. states. Cunneen worked at Applied Materials, Inc. in the early 1990’s managing executive and employee communications, philanthropy and government affairs functions. Cunneen was President and CEO of the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, a 2000+ member business group from 2001 to 2005. He co-founded and chaired Silicon Valley Coalition for Jobs Now that produced a leading economic report on the area’s economic competitiveness. Cunneen served as a charter Mayoral appointee to the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force, a major land use issue. Cunneen served as a California State Assemblyman from 1994-2000, creating a distinguished record on high technology and quality of life issues. In 1995, Cunneen co-created and later chaired the newly established Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Information Technology and Transportation.
He received numerous leadership awards from the American Electronics Association, a wide-range of education and environmental groups, and Citizen of the Year awards from both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. He is a graduate of UCLA.
Dr. Rhonda E. Farber
Dr. Rhonda Farber has spent her entire 30+ years in education with the Campbell Union High School District. She has been a high school teacher, Department Chair, Dean, Vice Principal, Principal, district office administrator and has served as Superintendent since 1999. A dedicated public educator, she has demonstrated leadership by overseeing the reopening of Branham High School and major upgrading of all school facilities, including a new alternative high school with the passage of a 95 million dollar bond in 1999. Community participation and volunteerism in the schools has increased since she took over as superintendent. In 2005 the voters passed a parcel tax, and a $90 million bond was passed in 2006.
Dr. Farber earned a bachelors degree from UC Berkeley, MA from San Jose State University and PhD from Walden University. Dr. Farber’s three children are attending college, and all graduated from the Campbell Union High School District.
Patti Gregory.
Patti Gregory is the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Campbell Union High School District. During her more than 30 years in education, she has worked in San Jose Unified School District as an elementary and middle school principal, Director of Secondary Education, and Director of Educational Services. She has also worked as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services in Moreland Elementary School District. She holds a Master’s degree in Counselor Education. With a combination of theoretical grounding and practical experience, Mrs. Gregory works with teachers and administrators to maximize student learning as she promotes and facilitates continuous improvement.
As an adjunct professor, Mrs. Gregory has taught aspiring administrators and student teachers. She currently coaches new administrators through the New Administrator Project at the New Teacher Center, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Kathryn S. Hanson Kathryn Hanson is Founder and CEO of ALearn, an educational non-profit organization. ALearn’s goal is to increase the number of underprivileged students who have access to high level learning programs throughout their K-12 years, and who therefore enroll in and graduate from college. Before ALearn, she was President of The Hanson Group, a strategy and marketing consulting firm for high technology and Internet companies. She also served in senior marketing and strategy roles for Red Herring, HP, Convergent Technologies and Pensare. She was a co-founder and Chairman of Satmetrix (previously CustomerCast), a Customer Satisfaction Internet Software company. She is currently Board Vice-Chair for RAFT, Resource Area for Teaching, which serves over 7,500 teachers in the Bay Area. She also serves on the Board of TUI, an online university. She has a BA in English from Stanford University, an MA and a Ph.D. in English from University of Chicago, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Kathy Oda Hope Kathy Hopeis the Program Director of the Silicon Valley New Teacher Project (SVNTP), in partnership with the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project, promoting quality teacher induction in the Silicon Valley consortium of districts. As Program Director since the inception of SVNTP in 2000, Kathy works with districts in the development of appropriate service systems to support beginning teachers in their professional development toward the CA Clear Credential. She also provides training statewide and nationally for the New Teacher Center. With 38 years of experience as an educator, Kathy has been a classroom teacher, mentor teacher, GATE resource teacher, and staff development coordinator. Prior to this position, she was the English-Language Arts Coordinator for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. She co-authored two books, one on the teaching of writing, published by Prentice-Hall, and another on critical thinking skills development with Allyn and Bacon.
Ping Hsu
Ping Hsu is Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, College of Engineering, San Jose State University. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988 with a Ph.D in Electrical Engineering. After graduating from Berkeley, he joined the faculty of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. In 1990, he joined San Jose State University, Department of Electrical Engineering. He is currently the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering. At this position, he is responsible of undergraduate curriculum, program assessment and accreditation, student advising and support programs, and outreach and recruitment. Dr. Hsu worked in industry for 4 years before his study at Berkeley. His research areas are Robotics, Control, and Power Systems.
Paul Humphries, Co-chair of the STEM Leadership Board
Paul Humphries was appointed Executive Vice President of World Wide Human Resources and Management Systems of Flextronics in 2006. He joined Flextronics with the acquisition of Chatham Technologies Inc. in 2000, where he served as senior vice president for Global Operations. Prior to this, Mr. Humphries was the managing director for Holts Lloyd Division (Europe), the Consumer Products Group of Honeywell Corporation. Previously, he served as Vice President of Operations for the Autolite Division at Allied Signal. Mr. Humphries joined Allied Signal from Isspro Corporation, where he was vice president and general manager. He spent 15 years with Borg Warner Corporation in the UK and US. Mr. Humphries holds a BA in Applied Social Studies and a Master’s in Human Resource Management from universities in the UK.
Michael W. Kirst, Co-chair of the STEM Leadership Board
Michael Kirst has been Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford University since 1969. Dr. Kirst received his Ph.D. in political economy and government from Harvard. Before joining the Stanford University faculty, Dr. Kirst held several positions with the federal government, including Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Manpower, Employment and Poverty. He was a former president of the California State Board of Education. His book From High School to College with Andrea Venezia was published by Jossey Bass in 2004.
Janie Kopp
Janie Kopp is the Director of Bay Area Mathematics Project (BAMP) at the University of California, Berkeley. BAMP is one of 19 statewide projects that support teachers in their professional growth in mathematics and instructional practices to increase their effectiveness in teaching all students. Ms. Kopp has expertise in designing and implementing mathematics professional development locally, nationally and internationally. She is a credentialed teacher with a supplementary credential in mathematics and has over 30 years of experience in the field of education, ranging from elementary through middle schools, both in the US and abroad. Ms. Kopp also teaches pre-service and in-service teacher courses at local universities. She received the AC3ME Award for Outstanding Service to the Mathematics Community in May 2002. Ms. Kopp is the author of teachers' guides in mathematics for Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) and is a co-author of the resource, Math in the Garden Hands-On Activities That Bring Math to Life. Ms. Kopp holds her Masters degree in Mathematics Education from San Francisco State University and her B.A. in Mathematics from State University of New York Binghamton. Yes, another transplanted New Yorker!
Dr. Chris Nordlinger Dr. Nordlinger leads technology education programs at Cisco Systems where he manages marketing and training programs that bring in over $2B per year for Cisco's Advanced Technologies group. He has received the "Cisco Smart Talk Award for Marketing"--the highest marketing award at Cisco. Prior to Cisco, Chris Nordlinger served as Director, Market Development for Eagle River Interactive which helped the company to be acquired by Omnicom, the second largest advertising holding company in the world. Clients included Sony, American Express, McDonalds and Ford Motor Company.
Christopher led fundraising as Director, Development for Population Services International, the largest social marketing non-profit in the world (75+ countries), which provides health and technology education/marketing in the areas of family planning, child survival and AIDS prevention. Prior to a position leading international programs at DHL Courier, he drove business development for African Satellite Telecommunications, providing modern communications infrastructure for rural villagers throughout Africa. Dr. Nordlinger has a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Development Economics. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and chairs the Fulbright Science and Technology Taskforce.
Roy Pea Roy Pea is a Professor of Education and the Learning Sciences. He is also the Co-director of the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning at Stanford University.
Joanne Rossi Becker Joanne Rossi Becker is a professor of mathematics education in the Department of Mathematics at San José State University, where she has taught since 1984. Joanne has her master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in mathematics and mathematics education respectively. She has taught high school mathematics and her current position involves her in teaching content and methods courses for prospective math teachers. Joanne is also director of the Santa Clara Valley Mathematics Project, a professional development program for math teachers funded by the state. She is also involved as content staff with three Math Science Partnership grants funded by the state, providing professional development in algebra for teachers in grades 5-8. Joanne’s research in mathematics education has focused on gender issues in mathematics, teachers’ beliefs, and students’ development of fundamental algebraic concepts such as generalization in algebra. Joanne works closely with the Silicon Valley Math Initiative, a collaboration between SJSU and the Noyce Foundation, which sponsors performance assessment for students in grades 2-10 as well as professional development throughout the valley.
Dr. Joseph Rudnicki Dr. Rudnicki is the Superintendent of the Sunnyvale School District. Joe teaches education as an adjunct instructor at various universities. His publications have concentrated in the areas of teacher evaluation, bargaining labor trust agreements, pay for performance, recruitment, effective schools, decision-making, and wellness. Joe serves as chairperson of the committee for legislative policy with the Association of California School Administrators. He successfully lobbied for California legislation to address child abuse. Joe received a B.S. from California State University, Los Angeles, M.S. from California State University, Fullerton and Ed.D. from University of LaVerne.
Dr. Maureen Scharberg is Associate Dean, Special Projects and Director of the Science Education Program at San José State University. Her science education research interests have involved how non-science majors learn and perceive chemistry as well as developing effective science curricula for the preK-16 classroom. Her current projects include establishing a new College of Science Advising Center to improve success for SJSU's College of Science majors. She has also developed strategies for integrating nanotechnology into the middle school and high school science curricula. She has received numerous awards for her excellence in teaching chemistry as well as mentoring women in science. She has served on the writing team for the American Chemical Society’s Chemistry textbook project. Her main contribution to this project was the "Faculty Resource On-Line Guide" (FROG), an instructor "script" for teaching inquiry-based, activity-based general chemistry curricula. As Director of the Science Education Program at SJSU, she is responsible for the continuum in preparing future science teachers as well as professional development opportunities for in-service science teachers. Her main efforts are directed to retaining and placing high quality science teachers as well as fundraising to build a state-of-the art Math and Science Education Resource Center (MSERC) that will serve the Silicon Valley math and science teacher community. She is co-chair of Education Committee for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider is the Program Director of WestEd's Mathematics, Science, and Technology Program and serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the $12.2 million National Science Foundation's (NSF) Center for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning (CAESL), the California K-12 Mathematics Implementation Study, the National Assessment Governing Board's (NAGB) 2009 NAEP science framework development project, and is the Co-Director of the WestEd Eisenhower Regional Consortium. Schneider was also the Co-PI/Project Director for the development the AYA (High School) Science teacher assessment for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and a lead evaluator of numerous large-scale evaluation efforts for NSF and the U.S. Department of Education (ED). He has served as the evaluation chairperson for National Network of Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Consortia and Clearinghouse and also represented the Network on the ED's Mathematics and Science Expert Panels.
He received a PhD from Stanford University in the design and evaluation of educational programs with an emphasis in science, mathematics, and technology education; a BA in biology from the University of California, Berkeley; and a State of California Life Teaching Credential from California State University, San Jose.
Joan Scott
Joan Scott has managed community relations efforts at National Semiconductor Corporation for the past 16 years. Her responsibilities include the development and management of all community programs, including educational initiatives, employee volunteerism, matching gifts and the National Semiconductor Foundation. In addition to managing community relations activities at company headquarters in Santa Clara, California, she assists in the development and expansion of community programs at the company’s facilities throughout the United States, Asia and Europe. One of Joan’s main responsibilities is to manage the National Semiconductor Foundation. Over the past eight years, the Foundation has provided over $11 million dollars in grants to support education and address critical community needs around the world.
Over the years, Joan has served in leadership roles for several nonprofit organizations including the Council on Foundations, Boston College Center for Corporate Community Relations and Girls For A Change.
Neil Struthers Neil Struthers is the CEO of the Santa Clara & San Benito Counties Building & Construction Trades Council, a 501(c)(5) non-profit Labor Organization, Neil brings with him over 25 years of professional experience and represents more than 30,000 union construction workers. In addition to improving the health, job safety and economic conditions of the SCBTC members and affiliates, Neil is an advocate for all working men and women in the construction industry. As a Governor’s appointee to the California Apprenticeship Council and a member of the Bay Area Coordinators Association and South Bay Apprenticeship Coordinators Association, Neil has been instrumental in promoting formal apprenticeship training for all building and construction trades. Neil has collaborated with other community leaders to develop and implement the California Careers Academy which he introduced to the East Side Union High School, San Jose/Evergreen Community College, and Foothill/DeAnza Community College Districts. Additionally, Neil is currently a Board Member of the Joint Venture Silicon Valley, San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau, South Bay AFl-CIO Labor Council, and Glaziers Local 1621. Neil also serves as Northern California Vice President of the State Building & Construction Trades Council and is a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum.
Kathy Werle Kathy Werle is the Dean of Applied Science, Technology, & Physical Education at San Jose City College. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Gerontology and Public Policy, and a Master’s degree in Nursing Administration from California State University, Los Angeles. She has created and administered career preparation and economic development programs since 1996.
Dr. Werle combines awareness of regional workforce needs with an understanding of adult learners to create programs that prepare students for high skill, high wage careers. She manages a variety of workforce and technology programs, as well as a basic skills learning community to prepare students for careers in technology. She also participates in a NSF-funded project to recruit and retain women in technology programs. Her background in public policy and participation in statewide activities prepares her to address the challenges facing the California career and technical education community.
Teresa Alvarado 
Senator Elaine K. Alquist
Steve Beitler
Dan Bozzuto
Dennis Cima
Jim Cunneen
Dr. Rhonda E. Farber 
Ping Hsu
Paul Humphries, Co-chair of the STEM Leadership Board
Michael W. Kirst, Co-chair of the STEM Leadership Board
Dr. Maureen Scharberg is Associate Dean, Special Projects and Director of the Science Education Program at San José State University. Her science education research interests have involved how non-science majors learn and perceive chemistry as well as developing effective science curricula for the preK-16 classroom. Her current projects include establishing a new College of Science Advising Center to improve success for SJSU's College of Science majors. She has also developed strategies for integrating nanotechnology into the middle school and high school science curricula. She has received numerous awards for her excellence in teaching chemistry as well as mentoring women in science. She has served on the writing team for the American Chemical Society’s Chemistry textbook project. Her main contribution to this project was the "Faculty Resource On-Line Guide" (FROG), an instructor "script" for teaching inquiry-based, activity-based general chemistry curricula. As Director of the Science Education Program at SJSU, she is responsible for the continuum in preparing future science teachers as well as professional development opportunities for in-service science teachers. Her main efforts are directed to retaining and placing high quality science teachers as well as fundraising to build a state-of-the art Math and Science Education Resource Center (MSERC) that will serve the Silicon Valley math and science teacher community. She is co-chair of Education Committee for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.
Joan Scott
Neil Struthers
Kathy Werle