Mike Warner, Chairman of the Board

Civic Volunteer

Mike is a retired Engineering Executive who has had a life long love of Jazz. He was born in Spokane Washington, grew up in Astoria Oregon and has lived in San Jose since graduating from San Jose State University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Mike and his wife, Laurie, married for 47 years, have three married daughters all who also love music.

After a 19 year technical and management career at IBM, Mike became engineering Vice President, in succession, at Micropolis, Maxtor, Toshiba America and Tessera Technologies Inc. During his career he obtained 20 patents in hard disk drives and semiconductor packaging.

In addition to his role at San Jose Jazz, Mike is a volunteer at the Computer History Museum, a supporter of Opera San Jose, the Institute for Contemporary Art, the San Jose Art Museum and the San Jose Repertory Theatre. Mike is also an avid sailor, car buff, world traveler and handy man.

 Dr. Robert E. Griffin, Vice-Chair of the Board

Dr. Griffin is a former college administrator with 39 years of experience in higher education. His most recent position was as a Vice President at De Anza College. Additionally, he has worked at San Jose State University, Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, and taught graduate classes at Santa Clara University.

Dr. Griffin has served on a number of community non-profit boards, which include serving as the President of United Way of the Monterey Peninsula, a board member of the West Valley Community Services Agency and as the chairperson of the Planning Commission for the City of Seaside, California. Dr. Griffin's public service also includes holding a publicly elected office for eleven years, as a member of the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District (a tax funded environmental protection and land acquisition board) in Monterey, California.

Currently, Dr. Griffin is an executive search consultant for colleges and universities and serves as a strategic planning consultant and meeting facilitator for public and nonprofit organizations.
 

Henry Wang, Treasurer of the Board

Managing Partner, CFO Today (www.cfoinc.us)

Henry C. Wang, Managing Partner of CFO Inc., brings many years of entrepreneurial experience into the consultation services he provides. A long time residence of Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay area (Since 1963), he is familiar with the dynamics of a growth culture.Henry started his own Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm with two other college friends. Through two separate mergers, in four years, the practice has grown to five offices (San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C.) with six partners and eighty professional staff. As director of governmental contracts nationwide, he is responsible for procuring over $6 million of fees annually. The practice was later sold to Delloitte Touche and Henry stayed as partner-in-charge of government contract operations-western region for two years. Henry later joined Euro-America Financial, a merchant banking operation in Beverly Hills. One of the acquisitions is a regional business publisher: “The California Executive”. Henry returned to the San Francisco Bay area in 1988 and began his investment advisory and pension administration practice, Integrated Financial Services, Ltd. (IFS). IFS joint CFOToday in 2002, a national accounting franchise with 160 local offices in the U. S.

Henry is the Treasurer and the most senior board member of the San Jose Jazz (since 1992). During his tenure, the SJJ ’s annual budget has grown from $160,000 to currently $2 million through corporate and private donations and serving over 100,000 students.
 

 David Kennedy, Secretary of the Board and Legal Counsel

Attorney, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

David Kennedy is a partner in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, an international law firm based in Los Angeles with which Mr. Kennedy has been affiliated since 1982. Mr. Kennedy specializes in technology transactions, including license, acquisition, development and other transactions involving semiconductor chips, software, video games, biomedical and other types of technologies. His practice also includes transactions involving music and other entertainment-related rights and transactions involving Internet-based businesses. He heads the Technology Transactions Group within the Firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group.

Mr. Kennedy received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin in 1975, earned an M.B.A. degree, with a major in finance, from the University of Wisconsin Graduate School of Business in 1981 and graduated in 1982 from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Mr. Kennedy was a member of the Order of the Coif and was a Note and Comment Editor for the Wisconsin Law Review.

Chris Citti, Board Member

Vice-President of Citti's Florist Inc.

Christopher is Vice-President of Citti’s Florist Inc. in San José. Citti’s Florist is the Valley’s largest full service florist and ranks in the Top 100 florists of US and Canada.

Citti has lived all his life in Silicon Valley. He Resides in the Rose Garden Community in San Jose. He is active in the local community. He presently serves on several boards:  He is the present board chair of

Silicon Valley Capital Club, chair elect of the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce, and board member of Silicon Valley Concierge Association.

 Mary P. Curtis, Board Member

President and CEO 
Pacifico Inc.

Mary Pacifico Curtis, president and CEO, directs the strategic and public relations activities that the company provides to its clients. Central to the strategies developed for Pacifico clients is the notion that branding builds differentiation and value for products competing in crowded markets.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Mary currently serves on the board of thChildren’s Musical Theater, as an Arts Commissioner for the Town of Los Gatos and on the founding advisory committee for San Jose Rocks. In the recent past, she chaired Ad Club Silicon Valley, served on the board of directors of the San Jose Jazz Society, and was a director and board chair of the San Jose Symphony Orchestra. She also has served as a member of the Mayor's New Realities Task Force, an executive trustee for the Silicon Valley Arts Fund, and a director of the Children’s Discovery Museum and the Metro YMCA. 

Ms. Curtis has also served on the advisory boards of private startups, including FemRay(sold to Disney), Adjectivity, Heritage Bank, MyDriver, Red Herring, Upside, CycleByNet, EcoWorld, Talktiva and Terra Card Services.

A recipient of the American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award recognizing both excellence in the industry as well as social responsibility, Mary is a frequent speaker on topics pertaining to branding and marketing. Pacifico participates actively in a number of professional organizations and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, and the Business Marketing Association.

Jan De Carli, Board Member

Broker, Coldwell Banker

Jan De Carli graduated from St Marys grade school, Campell High School and San Jose State University. She is a broker with Coldwell Banker with 35 years of experience. She was a founder and Director of Cupertino National Bank for 20 years. She founded and was a director of Innovest Mortgage Company. She has served on the Board of Fellow of Santa Clara University for 20 years.

On the Board of San Jose Jazz for 6 years, Jan loves the organization and is dedicated to the music, the musicians and the students. San Jose Jazz brings a great many world-class jazz musicans to Silicon Valley.

 Kathryn Diamond, Board Member

Vice President and Team Lead
City National Bank

 Michael Lark, Board Member

Architect

Lark completed both a BA and a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Southern California, a Master of Science in Architectural Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Masters in Real Estate at Cornell University. He is a licensed architect in the European Union and a member of the Urban Land Institute and SPUR  In his free time, he is an avid sailor, skier, hunter, and cook. Musically, his favorites are exponents of  'mid-century jazz' such as the likes of Red Garland, Oscar Petersen, Errol Garner and Ben Webster.

Tony Pollace, Board Member

Financial Consultant
Corporate Equity Investments

Tony has over thirty years experience in finance and general management assisting emerging and fortune 100 companies in positions as CEO, CFO and COO.

As a seed money investor Tony advises numerous high technology Silicon Valley companies and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of four emerging ventures.

Tony helped lead the formation of the ManyOne Foundation and the Digital Universe Foundation. During the past 24 months, under the tax exempt status of a 501c3, Tony assisted in the successful finding of over $18 Million from angel investors and philanthropic organizations including the Humane Society of the United States, the Hemmingway Foundation and the National Community for Science and the Environment in Washington DC.

As CFO, at Computer Motion Tony helped structure a $30 Million IPO, working with a National Investment Banking Firm. Through venture capital and private placements he helped position LinuxCare for a $35 Million funding and IPO.

Through investment bankers, venture capitalists and private investors Tony generated in excess of $50 million through private placements and bridge loans domestically and in Taiwan, Singapore and Tokyo for companies in the Semi Conductor, Medical, Software and eCommerce industries.

During eight-year tenure with Heraeus Surgical as CFO/Treasurer, Tony assisted in a $28 million secondary public offering to finance a corporate acquisition and establish worldwide foreign exchange banking to hedge over $10 million annually.

As CFO/Treasurer at Litton Industries, he directed all finance and administration for six operating divisions in the U.S. and the Pacific Rim with revenues in excess of $150 million.

As a specialist in business combinations, Tony implemented countless strategic alliances, channel distribution agreements and mergers and acquisitions domestically and in Canada, Italy and Australia representing high technology Silicon Valley companies.
He has extensive experience with SEC reporting and compliance issues, reorganizations and workouts, and human resource and investor relations’ management. He has an extensive patent and copy write background and has worked closely with the USPTO and has provided management support in work with the FDA.

Tony served as the Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee and is currently Member of the Board of Trustees at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. He has a B.S. in Finance and Accounting, with a minor in Law and Economics from Golden Gate University and completed graduate studies toward an MBA, Santa Clara University.

John Radewagen, Board Member

VP Corporate Communications
The Hoffman Agency

John Radewagen has been vice presidenrt of Corporate Communications for The Hoffman Agency since 1998. He leads a team that focuses on creative messaging, strategic positioning and top-tier media relations. Radewagen specializes in creating and securing high-level print, broadcast, radio and Internet media opportunities designed to give clients a competitive and strategic advantage in their markets. He interacts directly with C-level executives to find their passions from which interesting speaking platforms are created. With a unique storytelling style, he packages and presents these platforms to the media to increase awareness and position executives as experts in their industries. Radewagen also does media training and creative messaging sessions designed to teach executives how to effectively communicate and deliver messages to their various stakeholders.

Originally from Chicago, Radewagen’s Silicon Valley experience dates back to the late 1970s when he helped create and run the Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, an non-profit association that helped aspiring entrepreneurs get their businesses started. John has been promotional director for a variety of professional sports teams and leagues and has been a volunteer for numerous youth sports and education groups. He has served on the San Jose Jazz board since 2003 and has served as Secretary. He currently sits on the Society's Development Committee and provides senior public relations counsel to the organization. He has a degree in radio and television communications from the University of Illinois.

 Maria West, Board Member

Maria was a student at San Jose State where she earned a BA in Theatre Arts, and an MBA.

Maria is a dedicated mother of two children Her 13 year old son is a saxophone player in the Symphonic Band and Jazz Band at Fisher Middle School. Her 19 year old daughter was in the Los Gatos High School Wildcat Marching Band (which Maria was the treasurer fo for 2 years) for 4 years and played the clarinet and saxophone, and is now a college student at Washington University in St. Louis. 

Besides San Jose Jazz's board, Maria is currently a member of the Women of Silicon Valley Donor Circle under the Women's Foundation of California. She is on the School Advisory Council for Fisher Middle School and is also a member of the Arts Task Force for the Los Gatos Union School District. Maria was also treasurer of the Los Gatos Education Foundation, the fundraising arm for the Los Gatos Union School District during 2 campaigns that each raised $1,000,000 each, and was previously on the board of Los Lupeños de San Jose, serving as Treasurer and Chairperson.
 

E. Christopher Wilder

Executive Director, The VMC Foundation

Chris Wilder is the Executive Director of the Valley Medical Center (VMC) Foundation.  To support the growing needs of patients served by the Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System, The VMC Foundation seeks donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.  Since coming on board in December 2003, Chris has led the VMC Foundation in raising more money in five years than in the previous sixteen combined.  He was most recently named “Outstanding Professional Fund Raiser for 2008" by the Association of Fund Raising Professionals.
 
Also in 2008, Chris led the effort to pass “Measure A”, a county-wide ballot initiative which raised $840,000,000 to rebuild Valley Medical Center’s seismically outdated hospital buildings.  Measure A was approved by over 78% of Santa Clara County voters—the largest vote getter of any issue or candidate on the ballot.
 
Chris’s 20-year career in the Public Benefit Sector began as a consumer activist (Fund for Public Interest Research, 1990-1996), to running the Vanished Children’s Alliance (1996-1999), a national missing children’s agency, to leading City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley – the nation’s premiere AmeriCorps program (1999-2003).

Chris has performed music of many genres in over two dozen nations and plays bass in www.alteredrootsquartet.com
 
He serves on the board of the Santa Clara Family Health Foundation, the Leadership Council of the American Diabetes Association, has hosted and produced two award-winning cable TV talk shows, and spent 9 years on Santa Clara County’s Child Abuse Council.  Chris lives in Los Gatos with his wife Kate and many, many animals.
 
Chris’s recent writings and thoughts can be found at
www.wildersideofhealth.blogspot.com

 Thomas A. Wohlmut

Chairman & CEO, WMS media, Inc.

Tom Wohlmut is a 35-year veteran in the media business. A graduate of the UCLA film school, Tom worked at CBS television in Hollywood on a number of notable programs such as “All in the Family,” “The Sonny and Cher Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to name a few. In the late 70’s Tom moved to northern California and by producing media for a growing list of high-tech firms grew his business as Silicon Valley was just coming into its own. (www.wmsmedia.com)
 
In addition to working in media, Tom has devoted a big part of his time to philanthropic causes and to starting and running several nonprofit companies. He was founder and first president of the International Interactive Communications Society (IICS) which grew into 4,000 global members with chapters in Tokyo, New York and Paris. He started and runs an international organization to help stepfamilies worldwide called the Stepfamily Network. (www.stepfamily.net) He was chairman of a food bank in the east bay that fed more than 1,200 families per month for free. He later assumed the position of interim executive director for four months while a new executive director was being recruited. After moving to San Jose to the luxury AXIS condos, he was elected chairman of the HOA Board.
 
A man with a keen sense of devotion to nonprofit causes, Tom has vision and passion for the projects he takes on. No stranger to the boardroom, he also has the experience to help nonprofits get results both internally and externally when it comes to communicating educational and marketing messages.
 
Tom believes firmly in the power of music and the power jazz has to transform lives. He is often fond of saying that the world runs on two kinds of currencies – money and feelings. Jazz for him shows the abundant power that good feelings and creativity have to transform our children, our communities and ultimately our lives.