Events

Herb lives and breathes Rotary’s motto, Service Above Self. He has been a pillar in our District for over three decades—serving as Past Club President, Membership Chair, Conference Co-Chair, Assistant Governor, and now the District Governor for 2025–26.

After retiring from a remarkable 32-year run in corporate Sales and Marketing leadership at Schneider Electric while launching his own ventures—One Commercial Properties and Ritter Vacation Properties.

He has also been a visible leader in Pleasanton, serving as Past Chair of the Planning Commission, Parks and Rec Commission, and the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. Herb is also a Board Member and Past President of Sunflower Hill, a nonprofit supporting adults with developmental disabilities.

A third-generation Eagle Scout, devoted husband and father of 2, and holder of both a degree in electrical engineering from Washington State University and an MBA from St. Mary’s College.

Herb proves that leadership is about leading with Vison and serving with your Heart and leaving your Mark.

Alison (Al) Carpenter Davis is a writer, editor, and disability advocate drawn to hidden stories, the power of words to connect, and the commonality in being human. Her book Letters Home from Stanford, recently released in paperback, looks at the heritage, history, and shared experience of college students everywhere through 125 years of Stanford students' handwritten and electronic correspondence.

For her work on this project, she was awarded the 2024 Susan W. Schofield Award. Al is at work on a memoir about her 50-plus-year journey with Crohn’s disease, and serves on the board of the West Valley-Mission Foundation. 

Sara Dean will share the ups and downs of the state of the arts in Silicon Valley and the incredible impact of the Rotary Grant for equipment on The Pear Theatre. Pear performers Alison Starr & Delany Bantillo will perform Stargazers, a short 10 minutes play by Bridgette Dutta Portman.

Tamara Kodner is the Regional Director and National Training Director for BollyX, a Bollywood-inspired dance-fitness program. She has spent over a decade building and growing the BollyX community across Northern California, creating inclusive formats for kids, older adults, and special populations. Through her work, Tamara brings people together with the joy of dance, music, and movement.

Paul Streit is a Tech industry professional with over 40 years of experience in product marketing and product management. His career includes roles at leading technology companies such as Hewlett Packard, Seagate, and Maxtor. Paul earned his MBA from UCLA's Anderson School of Management and holds a BS in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University. Paul is passionate about serving his community. As a board member of the Silicon Valley Science & Engineering Fair Association since 2023, he dedicates his time to supporting young scientists and future technologists by serving as a fundraising and volunteer leader.

Craige Edgerton has lived in San Jose for over 50 years and has been involved in the community in various ways.  He has been an active member of the West San Jose Kiwanis Club for 43 of those years and has also been very active in the environmental movement in Santa Clara County since 1994, primarily with the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority.  He is an amateur naturalist and leads birding and wildflower hikes for multiple organizations.  He and his wife, Jan, have two daughters, one who graduated from Lincoln High School and the other from Los Gatos High School, and three grandchildren. 

Craige is here to talk about his book, "Permission to Walk in Peace," an anthology he co-authored with seven other Veterans.  It is 106 stories, essays, and poems about their recovery from Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) from their time in the military and how they have chosen to grow from their experience instead of being victims of it.

Linda G. Lambert and Mary E. Gardner joined force in the early 1990.  Gardner fresh from her work at Harvard’s Principal Center was asked to take Lambert’s position at California State University at Hayward just as Lambert was leaving as a special envoy to Egypt. After Linda’s return the two co-taught graduate programs in educational administration certification and master’s degrees. They quickly  discovered they had similar interests in redefining leadership and challenging  its historical limitations for women.  The result of this partnership was five provocative books on leadership.  The latest book (2024) is Women’s Ways of Leading: Revisited.  

In the early 1990 Mary returned to Saratoga as Superintendent of Saratoga Union School District.  She retired from the superintendency in 2003. Since then she has worked as a consultant, coach, mentor, speaker, author and expert witness in education.  She was a member of Saratoga Rotary.