KQED Board of DirectorsKQED Board of Directors
Anne Avis (Co-Chair), Board of Directors, KQED and Internews
Jennifer Cabalquinto (Co-Chair), Chief Financial Officer, Empire
Matthew Zinn (Treasurer), SVP, General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer, 8×8
José Quiñonez (Secretary), Founder & CEO, Mission Asset Fund
Lande Ajose, Managing Director and Chief of Staff, Waverly Street Foundation
Susan Akbarpour, Managing Partner, Candou Ventures
Shannon Brayton, Chief Marketing Officer, Bessemer Venture Partners
Brian Cabrera, Chief Administrative Officer, Quantum
James Cham, Partner, Bloomberg Beta
Lucia Choi-Dalton, Community Leader
Myles Danielsen, Managing Director, Hall Capital Partners LLC
Darolyn Davis, President & CEO, Davis & Associates Communications, Inc.
Jean Fraser, CEO, Presidio Trust
Dawn Garcia, Director, John S. Knight (JSK) Fellowships, Stanford
Meg Garlinghouse, Head of Social Impact, LinkedIn
Elizabeth Gonzàlez, Chief Program and Strategy Officer, College Futures Foundation
Penelope Graboys Blair, Board Member, Former Partner and Community Volunteer
Carla Javits, President & CEO, REDF
Shadi Karra, Senior Associate, Antler VC
Jim Louderback, Inside the Creator Economy, Editor/Publisher
Autumn McDonald, Senior Fellow, Head of New America CA
Nadia Roumani, Co-founder and Senior Designer, Designing for Social Systems Program, Stanford d.school
Ajay Shah, Manager & Co-founder, Shah Capital Partners
Lisa Sonsini, Board Chair, Sobrato Philanthropies
Jamienne Studley, President, WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)
Sanjay Vaswani, Managing Director, CCI
Board Officer Bios
Anne Avis, Co-Chair
Chair, Board of Directors Global Press
Anne co-chairs the KQED board as well as Internews, a nonprofit organization supporting independent media in 100+ countries around the world. She also serves on the boards of Montana Free Press and Tinworks Art in Bozeman, MT. She is a former trustee of Global Press, Fund for Global Human Rights, MASS MoCA, StoryCorps, Crystal Springs Uplands School and the NPR Foundation. She rejoined the KQED board in 2017 after serving from 2007–2015, including as Chair from 2012-2014. Anne co-chaired KQED’s successful Campaign 21 which secured $140M to fund new programming and renovation of KQED’s headquarters.
Anne lives in Palo Alto, CA with her husband Greg. They have three grown children. She was raised in Massachusetts, is a graduate of Williams College and an alum of National Outdoor Leadership School.
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Jennifer Cabalquinto, Co-Chair
Chief Financial Officer, Empire
Jennifer Cabalquinto currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Empire. In this role, she oversees all day-to-day and long-term strategic and financial planning, accounting and treasury operations for the organization.
Jennifer Cabalquinto has over 25 years finance leadership experience in a variety of start-up, turnaround, stable and high growth business environments. Prior to joining Empire, she was the CFO at 2K and the Golden State Warriors. She also served as Vice President and CFO for Universal Studios Hollywood, NBC Universal’s theme park and Citywalk operations in Los Angeles, California. She has previously held various finance leadership roles within NBC Universal’s broadcast division and Telemundo. Jennifer started her finance career as an auditor with Ernst & Young in New York.
In addition to serving on the Board of KQED as Co-Chair, Jennifer is on the Board of Trustees for Golden Gate National Park Conservancy and is on the audit committee for Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP). Jennifer also serves as an Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair for both American Century Investments’ Mountain View Funds and Sabio Holdings, Inc. (TSXV: SBIO) (OTCQX: SABOF)
Jennifer earned a Bachelors degree in Accounting from SUNY, Binghamton’s School of Management. She and her husband, Howard Joyce, reside in Oakland with their son Jack.
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Matthew Zinn, Treasurer
SVP, General Counsel, Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer, 8×8
Matthew Zinn serves as 8×8’s chief legal officer and is responsible for overseeing worldwide legal and government affairs. Before joining 8×8, Mr. Zinn served as General Counsel and Secretary at Jaunt, Inc., a leader in producing and distributing immersive virtual and augmented reality content.
Prior to Jaunt, Mr. Zinn spent over 16 years as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary, and Chief Privacy Officer for TiVo Inc., the digital video recording pioneer. The San Francisco Business Times and San Jose Business Journal recognized Mr. Zinn as the Judge’s Choice for the Best Bay Area Corporate Counsel in 2014 and he was awarded Dealmaker of the Year by the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel in both 2012 and 2013.
Mr. Zinn holds a juris doctorate from the George Washington University National Law Center and a bachelors-of-arts degree in political science from the University of Vermont.
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José Quiñonez, Secretary
Founder and CEO, Mission Asset Fund
José is Mission Asset Fund’s (MAF) founding CEO, and Visiting Professor at UC Berkeley, Department of City and Regional Planning.
Under his leadership, he quickly built MAF into an award-winning nonprofit with innovative nationwide models for integrating financially excluded, low-income communities into the financial mainstream. For his work, he was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship, the Ashoka Fellowship, and the Aspen Institute Fellowship. He also received the James Irvine Leadership Award, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ Distinguished Alumni Award, and the San Francisco Business Times Most Admired CEO Award, among others.
José is a visionary leader, highly regarded in the consumer finance field. Currently, he serves in Consumer Advisory Boards for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, US Bank, Experian, and Capital One. In 2012, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appointed him as the inaugural Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board. In 2014, CA Governor Brown enacted legislation recognizing MAF’s Lending Circles program, making California the first state to lift credit building as a force for good. And in 2019, CA Governor Newsom enacted legislation creating CA Money Smart program to support nonprofit organizations that deliver effective financial education to low-income communities.
José is a passionate advocate for social justice. He is a former Congressional legislative assistant, and a nonprofit advocate in Washington, D.C. where he worked for federal policy change regarding immigration, hunger and welfare reform.
José graduated from the University of California at Davis, and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs.
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Board Member Bios
Lande Ajose
Managing Director and Chief of Staff, Waverly Street Foundation
Lande is an accomplished public policy leader who has worked relentlessly to improve lives in her home state of California. She is now taking that purpose global in her leadership role at Waverley Street Foundation as its Managing Director and Chief of Staff.
Lande previously served as vice president, Walter and Esther Hewlett Chair in Understanding California’s Future, and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, shaping the Institute’s work on the most pressing issues facing the state. A nationally recognized higher education expert, she formerly served as a senior policy advisor for California Governor Gavin Newsom where she helped to advance several special projects during the pandemic. Before joining the Newsom administration, Lande was executive director of California Competes, chaired the California Student Aid Commission, and served on the governance bodies of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the Institute for College Access and Success, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Lande currently sits on the Board of Trustees at Occidental College and on the PPIC Higher Education Center Advisory Council. She holds a PhD in urban and regional studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Susan Akbarpour
Managing Partner, Candou Ventures
As a serial entrepreneur, investor and head of product design in multiple start-ups that she has founded or invested in, Susan has over 30 years of hands-on experience in building products for media, retail and software industries.
She received her Master of Science in Management from Stanford GSB where she has recently started the Akbarpour Aalaei fellowship that provides scholarships to Farsi speaking Masters and PHD candidates at GSB.
She is serving in the boards of tech startups such as Facenote, Algopix, and Entropy as well as non-profits such as How Women Lead, How Women Invest and Mothers Against Poverty. Susan is also a contributor writer for Forbes, IPR Journal, and Disruptor Daily.
She started her career as an investigative journalist in Iran over 30 years ago and is currently the managing partner of Candou Ventures, an early stage VC fund in Silicon Valley with a focus on “BASIC” technologies (Blockchain, AI, SAAS, IoT and Cloud infrastructure).
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Shannon Brayton
Chief Marketing Officer, Bessemer Venture Partners
Shannon Brayton has more than 25 years of experience leading teams and shaping corporate narratives for some of the world’s most innovative and disruptive brands. She is currently a partner and the Chief Marketing Officer at Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that funds consumer, enterprise, and healthcare startups. She and her team work closely with portfolio companies on their marketing strategies and brand communications.
In addition to KQED, she’s also a member of the Board of Directors of Vidyard, a software company that hosts and analyze companies’ video strategies and Quizlet, a leading consumer learning brand that builds tools for teachers and students. Shannon is widely regarded as a strong operational executive and a world-class manager and leader. In addition to the 26 years spent in Silicon Valley, Shannon lived and worked for two years in Zurich, Switzerland, further broadening her perspective as a global executive. Shannon was named one of the world’s most influential CMOs for three consecutive years by Forbes Magazine, and she was described by PRWeek in 2017 as “a force of nature any company would want on their side.” Also, as part of her role at LinkedIn, she enjoyed the privilege of interviewing a variety of luminaries, including Richard Branson, Chelsea Clinton, Reed Hastings, Reid Hoffman and Michelle Obama.
Shannon lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two children. Her hobbies include reading the news, traveling with her family, and doing the New York Times crossword every day.
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Brian Cabrera
Chief Administrative Officer, Quantum
Brian joined Quantum in April 2021 and is the Chief Administrative Officer, responsible for both the legal and human resources functions for the company. A senior tech-industry executive from Silicon Valley, he brings over 25 years of legal, human resources, compliance, regulatory and finance experience to the organization. Brian recently served as Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the Northern California federal prosecutor’s office. Prior to that appointment, Brian was the Senior Vice President & General Counsel for NVIDIA, a Fortune 500 company, where he was responsible for legal, compliance, cybersecurity, physical security, and governmental and regulatory matters. With a background in hardware, software, and technology, he has held several notable positions at industry-leading companies, including Synopsys, Inc., Callidus Software, PeopleSoft, Netscape Communications and Silicon Graphics, bringing a breadth and depth of knowledge that supports Quantum’s future growth.
Brian has been a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Advisory Committee as well as President of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. He is a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley and has been a guest lecturer at Stanford Law School and on the Dean’s Committee on Legal Education at USC Law. Brian holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California, a Diploma Superior from Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, as well as a Juris Doctorate from the USC Law School.
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James Cham
Partner, Bloomberg Beta
James Cham is a Partner at Bloomberg Beta, a firm focused on investing in the future of work. James invests in companies working on applying machine intelligence to businesses and society. He’s currently invested in companies like Orbital Insight (satellite imaging), Primer (analyst tools), Domino Data Labs (AI model management), and AppZen (expense management). James speaks and writes on the implications of AI for companies, including a landscape of machine intelligence companies. In the past, he’s been involved in investments with companies like LifeLock, LinkedIn, Twilio, DropCam (now Nest), and Skybox Imaging. James was a software developer and management consultant before he started investing. James lives in Palo Alto. He was previously an investor at Bessemer Venture Partners and Trinity, a management consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, and a software developer. He went to Harvard and MIT.
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Lucia Choi-Dalton
Community Leader
Lucia Choi-Dalton helps arts and civic organizations enhance leadership and financial support. She was Board President at Alonzo King LINES Ballet and was a founding advisor of USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Her board service includes roles as Vice Chair of Institutional Advancement at Occidental College, Vice Chair of Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, Vice Chair of Coro Center for Civic Leadership, and a trustee of the Urban School of San Francisco. Her staff work includes serving as development director at UC Berkeley’s International Relations office and development director at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. She also managed various fundraising programs at New York City Ballet and Ballet British Columbia. She served on a multidisciplinary arts panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and the San Jose operating grant panel. In 2014, she was named Alumna of the Year at Occidental College. Lucia and her husband, Greg Dalton live in San Francisco and have two grown children.
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Myles Danielsen
Managing Director, Hall Capital Partners LLC
Myles Danielsen is a Managing Director at Hall Capital Partners LLC in the Public Equity group in San Francisco. Mr. Danielsen is responsible for research, identification, due diligence, and monitoring of long-only public equity investments and long-short equity hedge funds. In addition to his core role in public equities, Mr. Danielsen is the head of the Cross Asset Research & Strategy team, within which he has led the firm’s effort in crypto since 2016. He is also a member of the firm’s Investment Review Committee.
Mr. Danielsen joined the firm in 2009 and has held a number of positions both in the Portfolio Management and Research Groups, most recently as a Senior Associate in the Public Equity group. Previously, he was an Associate in the Real Assets group, where he focused on investments in real estate, energy, timber, and other tangible assets. Mr. Danielsen left the firm in 2014 to earn his M.B.A at which time he also interned at SKS Partners, a real estate investment and development firm based in San Francisco.
Myles holds an M.B.A. from Stanford and Bachelors Degree in Management and Business, magna cum laude, from Skidmore College. Myles is a native of San Francisco and enjoys visiting local restaurants, cooking, crossword puzzles, cycling, skiing and being outdoors with good company. He wrote a cookbook and ran his college radio station, once upon a time.
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Darolyn Davis
President & CEO, Davis & Associates Communications, Inc.
Darolyn Davis is CEO, and President of D&A Communications, Inc, a full-service, award-winning, San Francisco-based communications consulting agency with an aptitude for change agency she founded more than two decades ago. As the firm’s chief strategist, she serves as a mentor to a diverse team of problem solvers and trusted advisor to the agency’s roster of clients with her unique ability to navigate complex issues.
In her 35-year career, she has worked alongside some of the most powerful and influential people in California, helping to connect forward thinkers like San Francisco Mayors George Moscone and London Breed; California Governor Gavin Newsom; US Senators Kamala Harris, and Diane Feinstein, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee, to their constituents. She previously served as press secretary to former California State Assembly, Speaker, Willie L. Brown, Jr., and managed some of the nation’s more controversial issues related to race and equality from Ebonics in schools to Occupy Oakland. Driving her long and impactful career working in the public sector is her passion for giving a voice to underserved communities and shaping legislation and public policy to advance racial justice, inclusivity, and social equity. She serves on the Counselors Academy Executive Committee, Board of the San Francisco Public Relations Round Table, and the National Board of Girls Leadership.
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Jean Fraser
CEO, Presidio Trust
Jean Fraser has dedicated her career to fostering healthy, equitable and sustainable communities, and has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Presidio Trust since 2016. Her focus is on making the Presidio a place where people of all backgrounds and abilities find inspiration, recreation and relaxation. She brings a special passion for protecting the Presidio’s open spaces and for sustainability practices that aggressively reduce waste, water use, and greenhouse gasses. Jean champions the use of data and continuous improvement techniques to help the Presidio Trust deliver efficient and quality service to the public. Under her leadership, she has deepened the Presidio Trust’s relationship with the National Park Service and the non-profit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
Previously, Jean led the San Mateo County Health System and the San Francisco Health Plan, which developed a first-in-the-nation program providing affordable health care to all uninsured San Franciscans. She also served as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Jean is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). She has a degree in American history from Yale University and a JD from Yale Law School.
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Dawn Garcia
Director, John S. Knight (JSK) Fellowships, Stanford
Dawn E. Garcia is the director of the John S. Knight (JSK) Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University. Garcia helped transform the JSK Fellowships from a sabbatical model to one that coaches and challenges fellows to become innovative leaders and change agents to tackle journalism’s biggest challenges.
She began her career as a reporter and editor at West Coast newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle, where she focused on politics, immigration and legal affairs. She has served on nonprofit boards championing First Amendment rights, women’s leadership, social justice and journalism innovation and education. She earned a master’s degree in liberal arts at Stanford, writing her dissertation on the evolution of Spanish-language media in her native California and earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Oregon. She was a 1991-92 JSK Fellow, where she studied U.S.-Mexico relations.
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Meg Garlinghouse
Head of Social Impact, LinkedIn
Meg Garlinghouse leads the Social Impact programs at LinkedIn. In this role, she is responsible for initiatives that leverage the LinkedIn platform to create positive social impact for the world. Garlinghouse has nearly twenty years of experience working in the technology and philanthropy sector. She spent almost 10 years building and leading Yahoo!’s global community relations function.
She also has a background in international development, working in the private sector development department of the World Bank and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa. Garlinghouse received her Bachelor’s degree in public policy studies from Duke University and a Master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She currently serves on the Boards of VolunteerMatch and KQED.org.
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Elizabeth Gonzàlez
Chief Program and Strategy Officer, College Futures Foundation
Elizabeth is a long-time philanthropy professional working for national, state, and regional foundations in support of advancing intergenerational mobility and public-sector systems change strategies. She joined College Futures Foundation in 2019. As chief program & strategy officer, Elizabeth works closely with the CEO to manage the development and implementation of the Foundation’s strategy.
Previously, Elizabeth was a portfolio director at The James Irvine Foundation, where she oversaw education and workforce portfolio – the Better Careers initiative, postsecondary success grantmaking, and Linked Learning, Irvine’s effort to integrate academic and career-technical education for better student outcomes in high schools throughout California. Prior to her work at the Irvine Foundation, González was a postsecondary success program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation overseeing a national portfolio of municipal partnerships for college success.
A first-generation college graduate, Elizabeth earned a B.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a focus on poverty, economic mobility, and social policy. She currently is a member of the board for Grantmakers for Education, Public Policy Institute of California’s Statewide Leadership Council and USC’s Center for Philanthropy and Public Policy.
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Penelope Graboys Blair
Board Member, Former Partner and Community Volunteer
For over 20 years, Penelope Blair practiced as a securities and regulatory enforcement litigator, most recently as a partner in the San Francisco office of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. At Orrick, she was a member of the White Collar, Investigations, Securities and Compliance Group, the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Task Force, Co-Chair, Orrick’s Lean-In Circle Initiative for Women, and Partner in Charge of On-Ramp/Return to Work Program. Prior to Orrick, Penelope was an attorney with Brobeck, Phelger & Harris in San Francisco and Clifford Chance in San Francisco and New York. Penelope was recognized as Law360’s 10 under 40 Rising Stars Attorneys and received numerous awards and acknowledgments for her litigation and pro bono work.
In addition to serving on the board of KQED, Penelope has served on the Board of the Fuller Craft Museum, SFMOMA’s Modern Art Council and currently is on the President’s Council of Cornell Women. She is also active in the East Bay community serving on the board of several local non-profit organizations.
Penelope holds a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. She lives in Orinda with her husband and three sons.
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Carla Javits
President & CEO, REDF
Carla Javits is President and CEO of REDF (The Roberts Enterprise Development Fund), a pioneering, California-based venture philanthropy galvanizing a national movement of employment social enterprises (ESEs)—purpose-driven, revenue-generating businesses that help people striving to overcome employment barriers get good jobs, keep jobs, and build better lives. For people with histories of incarceration, homelessness, mental illness and substance abuse, ESEs provide paying jobs and services they need to stabilize their lives, build skills and confidence, and obtain lasting, competitive employment. REDF has invested in almost 200 ESEs in 26 states that have generated $850 million in revenue and employed close to 50,000 people—and counting.
With a multi-disciplinary Board and team, Carla creates partnerships and systems to make a measurable impact by providing a business solution to joblessness.
Carla is also on the Board of Directors of the Melville Charitable Trust, and the Marian B. and Jacob K. Javits Foundation, and the Advisory Board of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University.
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Shadi Karra
Senior Associate, Antler VC
Shadi Karra is a Senior Investment Associate at Antler. Prior to joining Antler, his experience spanned strategy and business operations within both the public and private sectors. Shadi began his career at the United Nations Development Programme and the San Francisco Mayor’s Office. He later transitioned to the startup ecosystem, overseeing business operations and strategy at a health tech startup, followed by a role as a strategic client partner at a leading media company. Shadi studied Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
Jim Louderback
Inside the Creator Economy, Editor/Publisher
Jim is among the most respected figures in digital media with a 30-year history of leadership at the intersection of traditional media, digital media, experiential events and technology.
He recently ended an 8-year run with VidCon, starting in 2014 as editorial director of the industry track, taking over as CEO in 2017. In early 2018 he led the sale of VidCon to Viacom (now Paramount). He previously led investments in numerous startups as a Venture Partner at Social Starts, built and sold online video network Revision3 to Discovery, was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine and founding content lead for cable network TechTV.
Jim writes the popular weekly newsletter “Inside the Creator Economy” on LinkedIn, develops, curates and moderates experiences globally, and co-hosts the Creator Feed podcast with Renee Teeley.
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Autumn McDonald
Senior Fellow, Head of New America CA
Autumn McDonald is a senior fellow, head of New America CA, and a member of New America’s leadership team. Her work focuses on issues of economic equity, community engagement, resident voice, policy influence, and narrative change.
McDonald has more than two decades of experience working with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies on strategy, advocacy, civic innovation, and social impact. Before joining New America, McDonald served as a senior advisor to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee through the FUSE Corps executive fellowship.
During her tenure, McDonald led the women’s economic empowerment agenda, shaping policies and public-private initiatives to improve economic opportunity for women and families throughout the Bay Area. Prior to that, McDonald worked with FSG, a social impact consulting firm serving large, small, community, and family foundations.
McDonald’s writing has been published by numerous media outlets, including Slate, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Project Syndicate, Pacific Standard, CalMatters, and Britannica Parents.
McDonald serves on the board of Women’s Foundation of California and as Chair of the board for Lincoln Families. She has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a master’s from the Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy. She, her husband, and their three children live in Oakland.
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Nadia Roumani
Co-founder and Senior Designer, Designing for Social Systems Program, Stanford d.school
Nadia is the co-founder and Senior Designer of Stanford University Hasso Plattner Institute of Design’s (the d.school) Designing for Social Systems Program. At Stanford, Nadia focuses on helping philanthropists and nonprofit leaders become more strategic, creative and effective. She has co-designed a curriculum that integrates design thinking, systems thinking, and strategic planning to help organizations better scope the challenges they want to address by engaging end-users, increasing intra-organizational creativity, and incorporating radical collaboration
In 2015, Nadia co-Founded and Directed Stanford University’s Effective Philanthropy Learning Initiative (EPLI), which aims to help high net worth individuals increase their philanthropic impact. During her time with EPLI, founded and directed EPLI’s Financial Intermediaries Philanthropy Initiative, to improve resources at the intersection of financial advising and philanthropy planning.
Prior to launching EPLI, Nadia was an inaugural d.school fellow in 2012, and in 2014 was named the Walter and Esther Hewlett Design Fellow with Stanford PACS. Nadia is a serial social entrepreneur. Over the past two decades she has launched several organizations and initiatives including the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) with Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz at Columbia University; the Women Leaders Intercultural Program with Ireland’s former President Mary Robinson; Global Policy Innovations Program at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (CCEIA); the Building Bridges Program at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; and the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute (AMCLI) at the University of Southern California.
Nadia received her BA in economics and international relations from Stanford University and her MA in international affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She currently serves on the boards of the El Hibri Foundation and KQED.
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Ajay Shah
Manager & Co-founder, Shah Capital Partners
Ajay Shah is the Manager and Co-founder of Shah Capital Partners (SCP). SCP is a family office focused on investments in Private and Public equities, Real estate, Energy & Energy Transformation and Technology companies in Enterprise software, Mobility, Fintech, Agriculture and Healthcare.
Previously from 2007 until 2022, Mr. Shah had been with SilverLake, a global technology focused private equity investment firm where he was the co-founder and Managing Partner of the firm’s middle market growth fund, Silver Lake Sumeru. Subsequently he was involved in the spinout of Sumeru Equity Partners (SEP) from Silverlake and had served as a member of its Investment Committee.
Mr. Shah also served as Chairman of the Board of Smart Global Holdings (Nasdaq: SGH) from 2011 till 2022. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SGH from February 1989 till December 2000 and then again from June 2018 to August 2020. He was a co-founder of the company in 1989.
Mr. Shah also currently serves on the boards of directors of Roadzen, Inc. (Nasdaq: RDZN) and a number of private technology companies including Maui Greens, Vast Data and Gyan.AI. Mr. Shah previously served on the boards of directors of many public and private technology companies in the US, Europe, Brazil and India including Magellan Navigation, Inc., AVI-SPL, Inc., CMAC MicroTechnology, Solectron, Flex, Ingenient Technologies Inc., Power-One, Inc., PulseCore Semiconductor, Spansion Inc, Merlin, Locaweb, Moser Baer and many others.
In the not-for-profit sector, Mr. Shah serves on the board of KQED Northern California Public Broadcasting, the American India Foundation (AIF) and the Indian School of Business (ISB) and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Stanford Research Institutes (Bio-X, ChEM-H and Neurosciences). He previously served on the boards of the National Audubon Society, the Tech Museum in San Jose and on the Advisory board of the Stanford School of Engineering. He is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum.
Mr. Shah has a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Baroda, India and an M.S. degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University.
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Lisa Sonsini, Vice Chair
Board Chair, Sobrato Philanthropies
Lisa Sobrato Sonsini established the Sobrato Family Foundation 25 years ago as a vehicle for three generations of the Sobrato family to unify their philanthropic giving to help low-income residents in Silicon Valley achieve stability and access opportunities for upward mobility. The foundation has evolved into Sobrato Philanthropies – an organization that invests both locally and globally, seeking social change by partnering with communities to build a world that is more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable.
Prior to entering the world of philanthropy, Lisa practiced law as a corporate and real estate associate. Throughout her career, she has been a strong advocate for the rights of disadvantaged youth in both the educational and foster care systems, and has worked as a catalyst for civic engagement among many rising leaders.
In addition to KQED, Lisa serves on the boards of American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley, KIPP Public Schools Northern California, SEAL (Sobrato Early Academic Language), Pivotal and Silicon Schools Fund.
Lisa received a J.D. from Berkeley Law and a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA.
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Jamienne S. Studley
President, WASC Senior College & University Commission (WSCUC)
Jamienne S. Studley became President of WSCUC, a leading international higher education accrediting agency, in 2018 to pursue her commitments to student success and equity. Jamie served with the US Department of Education in the Clinton and Obama administrations in roles including deputy and acting undersecretary, acting general counsel and assistant secretary, and chair of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality & Integrity. She has also been President of Skidmore College and of the civil rights advocacy group Public Advocates Inc., and Associate Dean & Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. Her other past roles include adjunct faculty, Mills College, Stanford and UC Berkeley Law Schools; national policy advisor, Beyond12, and CEO of NALP and CARAL. A graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School, she has chaired the SF Ethics Commission, California Civil Rights Coalition, and Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund.
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Sanjay Vaswani
Managing Director, CCI
Sanjay Vaswani is the Managing Director of CCI. CCI develops and conducts ongoing executive forums limited to CEOs, Board Leaders, Presidents, and senior executives of major technology and healthcare organizations across the United States. Prior to CCI, Sanjay was at McKinsey & Company, Inc., where he worked with companies in the technology and healthcare industries. Before that, Sanjay was employed by Intel Corporation. For the past 20 years, Sanjay has also been an active angel investor and advisor to entrepreneurs, founding teams, and other investors. Sanjay serves on the Boards of Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) and Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). Sanjay holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
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