Candidate for
Board Member; Berryessa Union School District

I have lived in the Berryessa area of San Jose for over 8 years and have taken a strong interest in our community. For the past four years I have served as a member of the San Jose Library Commission. As vice-chair of the commission, I led the Benefit Assessment District oversight committee, which ensures that parcel tax money is being used properly - to buy books, computer equipment, and support staff at our wonderful city library system. I helped with the Measure S campaign to renew this vital funding. For two years, I had the pleasure of chairing the Library Commission, and have represented the library system at press conferences, community meetings, and television programs.

I believe that it is important to encourage young people to develop leadership skills and a desire to serve the community. For over a decade, I worked with a national college service organization called Alpha Phi Omega. As an advisor to the UC Berkeley chapter, I helped strengthen their program of service. As chair of the section covering Northern California and Nevada, I worked with students on a dozen campuses. I facilitated workshops on effective communication, leadership development, creativity, and conflict resolution.

My wife Shelli is a physician practicing family medicine in Fremont. We have a 3 year old daughter Mia and a new baby boy Reed born in August. Mia is attending preschool and learning to be bilingual, already fluent in both Spanish and English. I am a Chemical Engineer doing Computational Modeling for Novellus Systems, a San Jose manufacturer of semiconductor equipment. I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley and a BS degree from Cornell University.