Captain Neil Valenzuela has over 20 years of law enforcement experience. He worked patrol and as a detective, investigating high-tech crimes, identity theft and burglary. As a Sergeant, Valenzuela worked as the Investigator for the County Counsel’s Office. On his promotion to Lieutenant, he was the head the Internal Affairs Unit for 4 years and Assistant Division Commander for West Valley Patrol. In 2022 he was promoted to Captain and assigned at Stanford University. 

Captain Valenzuela is a US Army veteran, with an Honorable Discharge, holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social and Criminal Justice and an Associate in Arts in Administration of Justice.

Dr. Marshall is the Executive Director of Alive & Free and serves on the Executive and Strategic Directions Committees.  He is a social entrepreneur recognized for his pioneering work redefining youth violence as a disease and developing the successful Alive & Free prescription violence prevention methodology.  Before co-founding the organization in 1987, he was a math teacher and administrator with the San Francisco Unified School District.  

Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr. is an author, lecturer, radio talk show host, and community activist. He is the founder of Alive & Free, an international violence prevention organization headquartered in San Francisco, the creator of the Alive & Free Movement and president of the Alive & Free Consortium-an organization dedicated to eliminating violence worldwide. Founded in 1987 as Omega Boys Club, Alive & Free has transformed the lives of thousands young people and produced 230 college graduates, all supported by the organization’s scholarship fund. Another 40 members are currently enrolled in college, and over 70 have gone on to earn graduate degrees.

Dr. Marshall is the author of the 1996 best-selling book, Street Soldier: One Man’s Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time and the subject of the PBS documentary Street Soldiers. His innovation has earned him the MacArthur Genius Award, the California Prize for Service and the Common Good, the Children’s Defense Fund Leadership Award, the Essence Award, and the Use Your Life Award from Oprah Winfrey. He is a trustee emeritus of the University of San Francisco, a contributing writer to the Huffington Post and past president of the San Francisco Police Commission.

Gina Cali has worked for the Santa Clara County Fire Department since 2002. She currently holds the position as Sr. Community Risk Specialist. Gina holds two Bachelor of Arts Degrees and two Masters of Arts degrees, one in Education and one in Teaching. Gina helps oversee the department's community education program, including the development and implementation of fire and injury prevention programs to children, adults, and seniors.  Gina and her staff also act as a referral source to assist residents in locating health & wellness community-based resources and services.

Meeting to discuss new members and to plan the February Mardi Gras TGIF

Bill W. Sanderson joined LGSUHSD as the new Superintendent, on July 5, 2022. 

He has worked in public education for three decades in Charleston, SC, and San Francisco , beginning as a middle school science teacher in Summerville, SC, and then as Assistant Principal and Principal in Charleston, SC.

In 2003, Bill moved to San Francisco where he worked as a high school Biology teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, and Executive Director.  He then served as Assistant Superintendent of San Francisco Unified for the past eight years and oversaw an increase in graduation rates for all students and implemented an Ethnic Studies program.

Growing up in rural Loris, SC, just after desegregation, Mr. Sanderson saw firsthand the isolation of underserved populations and the life-changing opportunities that education can offer. While neither of his parents graduated from high school, they instilled in him the core values of education and hard work.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from Charleston Southern University, a Master's in Educational Leadership from The Citadel in 1994 and an Education Specialist degree from The Citadel in 2000.

Joe Simitian is the County Supervisor for the Fifth District of Santa Clara County. The district includes Saratoga, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Stanford, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills, along with portions of San Jose. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016 and 2020. 

Joe's public service over the years includes serving as a member of the California State Senate, the California State Assembly, Mayor of Palo Alto, President of the Palo Alto School Board, and an earlier term on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. 

Joe brings to his work a wide-ranging perspective and background -- service at all levels of state and local government, hands-on experience in the private sector, as well as professional education and training particularly applicable to his work in public service. 

During his tenure on the Board, Joe has worked to protect vital services in Saratoga. He partnered with the City of Saratoga and the Hakone Foundation on much needed repairs at Hakone, including repairs to the Mon Roof, the Tea Ceremony building, and the koi ponds. 

He has championed expanded community access to the Montalvo Arts Center through free community events, scholarships, and new programs. He has led the County’s ongoing support for the West Valley Community Services mobile food pantry that stops in Saratoga, benefitting seniors, students, and families.

Joe has also supported the expansion of the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District’s Pre-Fire Management and Wildfire Resilience program, which serves a portion of Saratoga. And he pushed for the County’s support for ADA-related upgrades at the Los Gatos-Saratoga Adult Recreation Center to improve access to the center's continuing education, health services and nutrition referrals, counseling, and volunteer and socialization opportunities.

Christina Irving is the Client Services Director at Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving. She oversees the staff of the Bay Area Caregiver Resource Center who provide direct services to family caregivers, including assessment, counseling, education, and support. She has been with FCA for over 16 years, first as a Family Consultant and then as Clinical Supervisor. She received a Master’s degree in Social Work from San Jose State University and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Lisa J. Blanchard – Executive Director and Founder: As founder, Lisa has been the guiding force and visionary of The Grateful Garment Project. Lisa’s unique combination of experience in nonprofit, customer service, law, and management produces the creative and conceptual leadership required to bring The Grateful Garment Project to the State of California and beyond. She has dedicated significant amounts of time to working with people not only professionally, but also in a volunteer capacity. Lisa holds an AS in Business, a BS in Human Services and a Masters in Nonprofit Administration. It is her vision that no victim of sexual assault ever experience further suffering due to lack of resources.

Tentative Date

Heath Rocha is our current Assistant Superintendent of the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District, he was previously the Chief Student Support Services.  He has worked in our district since 2016 and has previous experience at the University of Vermont, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and the Carmel Unified School District. 

Heath has a BS in Psychology from St Mary’s College and a MS in Counseling with a specialization in School Psychology from the University of Vermont. 

Heath will be addressing the results of the recent California Healthy Kids Survey for our high school district. 

Tiger Teerlink joined the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce over 10 years ago and is currently its President with an office on Big Basin Way in the Saratoga Village.  He is the founder and the chairperson of the Annual Saratoga Classic and Cool Car Show that has grown into one of the most popular events in the South Bay Area.  

His efforts at the Chamber have most recently been recognized by Senator Dave Cortese who presented  him with a Certificate Of Recognition from The California State Senate as a BEST OF THE BAY Honoree for his tireless dedication and commitment to his fellow community members."

Robert Freeman, The founder of the Global Uplift Project became homeless in high school, so joined the U.S. Merchant Marines, where he sailed for 6 years. He then came to bay area and at the age of 28, earned a B.S. at Santa Clara University.  At 35—as the old man in his class—he earned an MBA from Stanford. Robert joined the computer industry and rose to become Vice President at Sybase, one of the largest software companies in the world.  

Then, in 2000, at the age of 47, he left software industry to become a high school teacher.  He taught for 16 years at Los Altos High School.  In 2012, he was named Bay Area Teacher of the Year by the San Francisco 49ers organization.  

In 2007, while at Los Altos High School, Robert founded One Dollar For Life, or ODFL.  ODFL invited high school students to donate one dollar, and used those funds to build classrooms and medical clinics in the developing world. 

In 2020, in order to accommodate adults, ODFL changed its name to The Global Uplift Project, or Tea-Gup (TGUP).  The work remains the same, but now adults are able to participate.  

Since its founding in 2007, ODFL/TGUP has built more than 300 low-cost, small-scale, high impact infrastructure projects in 22 of the poorest countries in the world.  Over their full lives, those projects will help almost 2 million of the poorest people in the world have just a slightly better chance in life.  

From 1993 to 2014, Rod Diridon, Sr., was executive director of

the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI), a transportation policy

research center created in 1991 by Congress. He is known

as the father of modern transit service in Silicon Valley and has

chaired more than 100 international, national, state, and local

programs, most related to transit and the environment. He frequently

provides legislative testimony on sustainability.