Foundation Committee
MICHAEL S. BAYS, ESQUIRE
FOUNDATION ATTORNEY
Michael S. Bays, Esquire received his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1973 and his J.D. from Santa Clara University in 1976. He was admitted to the practice of law in Michigan in 1976 and California in 1978. Since 1978, he has practiced in Los Gatos, first with the firm of Dunnett, Bays and O’Connell and since 1988, has been affiliated with Gallagher, Reedy & Jones. Michaels’ areas of practice consist of estate planning including wills, living trusts, charitable lead and remainder trusts, irrevocable life insurance trusts, and special needs trusts. Additionally, Michael practices in the areas of general business including business contracts, entity formation, including family limited partnerships and work concerning tax controversies including audits, collection matters, installment agreements, innocent spouse applications and offers in compromise, as well as tax litigation. Michael is licensed to practice before the United States Tax Court. Michael and his wife Kathy, have three children, Jeremy, Josh and Emily. They moved to the Bay Area in 1976 and have lived in Los Gatos since 1990.
DIANE CHANDLER
BOARD DIRECTOR
Diane Chandler is native to the Bay Area. Her diversified career has included working at the William Shockley R&D facility when Silicon Valley was becoming the center of electronics innovation, to being a long term Realtor, currently with Alain Pinel Realtors in Los Gatos. Diane is passionate about “The Land of the Free - Because of the Brave” and Veterans’ causes, as all eligible males in her family served in the U.S. military and her family traditionally “adopted” servicemen for holiday celebrations. Additionally, her mother and grandmother were both arc welders during WWII in the San Francisco shipyards, building warships. As an avid downhill skier, Diane has enjoyed traveling North America and Europe. As an artist, she has exhibited her Chinese brush painting works in Taipei.
GILBERT F. DECKER
BOARD DIRECTOR, CHAIR - AUDITING COMMITTEE
Gilbert F. Decker currently serves as a private consultant to clients to include the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and several corporations in addition to holding several key board positions in the commercial sector. Gil’s background is steep in both military and commercial experience. Gil’s military experience includes serving as Assistant Secretary of U.S. Army - Research, Development and Acquisition (1993-97); Co-Chairing a Commission at the request of the Secretary of the Army to conduct an in depth process review and recommend improvements for enhanced quality and efficiency of the U.S. Army Acquisition process (2010-11); serving on the Board of Army Science & Technology (BAST) at the National Academy of Sciences including the BAST panel responsible for overseeing the US Army mission of Chemical Weapons De-militarization; holding the position of Chairman for the Army Science Board (two years) and serving on the Army Science Board (six years); in addition to personally wearing a uniform as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Army and as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. This veteran’s commercial experience includes positions of distinction to include: President and CEO of the Penn Central Federal Systems Company; Vice President and General Manager of the Defense Systems Group of TRW, Inc.; President and CEO of Acurex Corporation; President and CEO of ESL, Inc.; and Executive Vice President for Engineering, Manufacturing, and Program Management of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Gil currently serves on several boards to include: the National Advisory Council for The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Whiting School of Engineering; the JHU Tech transfer committee chartered to advise JHU teams on tech transfer to industry; and the Advisory Board of the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. He is Vice-President and a Director of the Hertz Foundation, a foundation that grants Graduate Fellowships to top ranked science and engineering students to pursue their PhD. He is currently Director of CoVant Technologies II LLC of McLean, VA., an investment company seeking and executing investments in high tech companies and Director of A-T Solutions, Inc, a company providing high-tech training services to DoD special operations segments and providing cyber-security serices to the DoD. Prior board positions include Director of Alliant TechSystems (10 years), Director of Anteon Corporation (10 years), Director of Allied Defense Group (10 years) and Trustee for the Association of the US Army in which he continues to be a sustaining member.
Honors presented to Gil include the Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Department of Defense, Distinguished Civilian Service Medal from the Department of the Army, the Meritorious Service Medal from the US Army, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Johns Hopkins University.
Gil holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science, Electrical Engineering, from The Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Science degree in Operations Research, from Stanford University. While at Johns Hopkins, Gil was elected to Tau Beta Pi, the national honorary engineering fraternity. He undertook his military education as a US Army Reserve Officer at the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College as well as at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Gil’s knowledge of military and business is equalled by his knowledge for the Town of Los Gatos as he is married to town mover and shaker Sandy Decker whose contributions to the Town of Los Gatos include serving as former Mayor in addition to numerous key governmental and board capacities over the last two decades.
MICHAEL FRANGADAKIS
BOARD DIRECTOR
Michael Frangadakis is a Vietnam Vet who served in the 44th Medical Brigade in the highlands of Vietnam. Today he continues service to America through his active reserve duty in the California State Military Reserve where he earned the Non-Commission Officer of the Year Award. Mike serves as a Sergeant First Class in charge of recruiting and retention in Northern California. He is currently the National Guard and Veteran Affairs Commissioner for Santa Clara County, the current President of the West Valley Advisory Board of the Red Cross and the President of the Veterans Memorial & Support Foundation of Los Gatos. Mike has a career steeped in real estate. With over three decades in the industry, Mike has served as broker, licensed and certified appraiser and CEO of his own business, Realty World - Frangadakis Corporation. His expertise in real estate and appraisals is often called upon for court expert witness requests in the state of California and earned him selection into the Realtors Hall of Fame. Mike has been extensively involved with his community. He serves on the Certified Community Emergency Response Team, is a member of the Saratoga Men's Club, Pan Cretan and the St. Nicolas Greek Orthodox Church. He has been a Los Gatos Rotarian since '78 in which he chairs their Operation Yellow Ribbon Program supporting the Fisher House and Poly Trauma Center of the Palo Alto VA. His personal passion is to support all military Veterans. Mike has been Married to his Wife Liz since 1981 with 3 adult Children.
DUINO GIORDANO
CAPTAIN (RET), BOARD DIRECTOR
Duino is life long resident of Los Gatos graduating from Los Gatos High School in 1966, West Valley Community Collage in 1970 and the University of San Francisco in 1976. He enlisted in the 216th EIS unit, California Air National Guard, in December of 1966 serving 30 years of service in the Communication Systems Maintenance and Installation field. He retired at the rank of USAF Chief Master Sergeant. After being appointed a Police Reserve Officer with the Los Gatos/ Monte Sereno Police Department 1989 he was hired as full time police officer in 1970. He completed nearly 35 years of service with the Los Gatos/ Monte Sereno Police Department retiring in 2004 with his his last 11 years serving at the rank of Police Captain. Captain Giordano remains a resident in Los Gatos with his wife Jackie. He has volunteered for several service groups in Los Gatos and in 2012 he was the Board President of the Los Gatos Community Foundation. He is also a volunteer with the American Red Cross Emergency Response Team, responding on local and national disaster. He completed 7 weeks serving the needs of victims of Hurricane Sandy.
LT. COL. THOMAS GRIFFIN
US ARMY- RET., BOARD DIRECTOR
LT. COL. Thomas Griffin is Founder and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Veterans Transition Center, a non-profit enterprise established in 1998 that refurbished 40 homes on the former Fort Ord to house 55 homeless veterans and families. His creative and focused leadership has resulted in the Veterans Transition Center reaching new heights in metrics for its success in converting homeless veterans to self-sustaining civilians. In addition, Tom supports homeless veterans through a bi-annual program known as Stand Down, a weekend-long event that brings support services to hundreds of homeless veterans who congregate in Fort Ord from five counties in northern California.
Today, Tom’s expertise is called upon regularly to consult on military and Veteran affairs, social services and mental health. His credentials include past Director of Monterey County’s Military & Veterans Affairs Office where he helped veterans, families and surviving family members obtain veteran benefits until his retirement of last year; an educational background which includes two masters degrees and two doctorate degrees leading to behavioral research work followed by social work in child protective services; and service as the gatekeeper for all child abuse in Monterey County.
Tom served his country for three decades. His US Army service is complemented with also serving in California’s State Military Reserve (2001 – 2009) as part of the State’s Military Department and National Guard where he was a colonel and brigade commander the last five years. Tom is a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran with combat recognition to include the awarding of a Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart, two Air Medals and the Combat Infantryman Badge. He also has numerous other awards for efficiency, leadership and fidelity.
Tom and his identical twin brother were born and orphaned during WWII in Germany. After coming to America, an Army sergeant adopted the twins in 1952. He is a true example of one who immigrated to America and seriously took on the commitment of service to country. He is a highly decorated soldier, a well-educated and successful civilian executive who has made the commitment to give back to those who serve.
GEORGE HALL
VICE PRESIDENT
George Hall is Founder and President of Maxicon General Engineering Contractors, Inc., a Los Gatos firm established in 1996 that provides exceptional engineering services from San Francisco to Monterey Bay. George is a lifetime resident of Silicon Valley. He was born in Palo Alto, attended San Jose State where he obtained a degree in aeronautical engineering, and ultimately pursued his multi-decade engineering contracting profession in the Bay area.
Service in support of America’s freedom is a common thread in George’s family. George’s son is an Army Ranger in the U.S. military who recently returned from deployment to Afghanistan. His son’s War on Terror experience includes five individual deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. George’s Father is a Korean War Veteran, his Father-In-Law was a WWII Navy Pearl Harbor survivor, and the military members in his extended family are far reaching. George and wife Stacey have two children and a daughter-in-law and live in Los Gatos.
HEIDI HERZ
Heidi Herz is an energetic, highly motivated distinguished business professional with more than 15 years of experience in contract negotiation, sales and marketing with Alain Pinel Realtors, a sophisticated, technologically-advanced marketing company. Heidi's clients benefit from Heidi's knowledge and expertise about current market trends, which translates to the greatest financial success for her clients and knowing that all details will be handled with the highest degree of integrity. Her strengths include developing a creative marketing strategy that reflects the unique needs of not only her client, but also emerging market trends and the current financial market. She prides herself on her ability to synergize with her clients and is very motivated on their behalf. Heidi's dedication to providing her clients with world class customer care and satisfaction is the reason her referral-based business places her in the top 5% of realtors in Santa Clara County. Heidi and husband Rick Herz, devote their time and energies to the Leukemia Society, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Second Harvest Food Bank, the Las Vegas Food Bank, Bellarmine College Prep, Presentation High School, Austism Speaks and traditionally organize an annual private gift drive for the Children's Shelter of Santa Clara Valley over the holiday season. The Herz's enjoy sharing their community focus with their two children. Heidi is a graduate of UC-Santa Barbara where she majored in Business Economics.
MAJOR GENERAL KENT HILLHOUSE
US ARMY- RET., PRESIDENT
Graduating from San Jose State in '66, Major General Kent Hillhouse, USA (Ret.) was commissioned as a Cavalry branched officer. He served with the 11th Armor Cavalry Regiment in Viet Nam from '67-'68. Upon returning, he was assigned to a U.S. Army Reserve Division, the 91st Infantry Division (training) where he served in numerous command and staff positions culminating in the command of the Division. For his terminal assignment, Kent served as the Deputy G-1 on the Army staff in the Pentagon from '96 - '01. Military schools he attended include the Army War College and Airborne School. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Kent presently is working in commercial real estate and resides with his wife in Los Gatos. He is a long time resident of Silicon Valley who believes in the importance of supporting all services of our military both Active Duty, Guard and Reserve, Retirees and Veterans."
DR. CLYDE R. HORN
BOARD DIRECTOR, CHAIR - YELLOW RIBBON PROGRAMS
Dr. Clyde R. Horn is a combat Vietnam Veteran who served in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade 1967-68. He is the recipient of the Combat Infantry Badge, Purple Heart, and Army Commendation Medal. Professionally, Clyde is a semi-retired licensed psychotherapist. His education at California Baptist University, Southwestern Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University and Colton University culminated in three Masters Degrees in Theology, Education and Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Clyde has authored the book, PTSD in Pictures & Words, available on www.rp-author.com/horn, in which he utilized his hobby of photography as a medium for creative expression and his own therapy. Clyde, a 100% disabled Veteran, weekly meets with other disabled Silicon Valley based Veterans helping them navigate the disability system. In addition to supporting the Foundation, Clyde also serves as the 2013 President of the Kiwanis Club of Los Gatos.
JOHN LOCHNER
BOARD DIRECTOR, CO-CHAIR - BUILDING & MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE
John Lochner was born and raised in Webster, New York. In 1952, John joined the U.S. Army and served during the Korean War in the 118th Combat Engineer Battalion as Sergeant First Class. John and his wife, Joan, moved to Los Gatos in 1954. John has a background in construction in which his professional pursuits include general contractor and later, entrepreneur, as owner of a cabinet shop and contracting business. John has long been a leader in local community organizations, including President of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, Treasurer and President of the Los Gatos Lions Club, and President of the Santa Clara County Council of Boy Scouts. John is currently a member of the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad Board of Directors and is an active member of Saint Mary's Parish in Los Gatos. His 55-year dedication and commitment to the Town of Los Gatos culminated with his election to the Los Gatos Town Council in 1972 and to two terms as Mayor ('75 and '80.) Today John and his wife Joan enjoy their five children and five grandchildren in Los Gatos where they have been rooted for 61 years. John continues to be an active participant in many community functions today, including the Los Gatos Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and the Children's Christmas and Holiday Parade.
RICHARD LORE
BOARD DIRECTOR
Richard Lore was born in Tucson, Arizona and moved to San Jose in 1956. He graduated from Camden High School in 1964 and shortly thereafter, enlisted in the United States Navy in 1965. Rick became a member of the CB's (Construction Battalion) and joined CBMU 301. He spent 13 months in Vietnam most of which he spent on the DMZ in Dong Ha. Following his tour in Vietnam, he was stationed in Adak, Alaska until his honorable discharge as a second class Petty Officer. Subsequent to his service with the Navy, Rick launched a second career working locally in the construction industry, which he continues to do today. Rick formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce. He is currently a member of the Los Gatos Lions, an organization for which his participation accounts for over three decades of service, and in 1989 he led the organization as Lions President. In addition to his commitment to the Los Gatos Lions and to the Foundation, Rick additionally contributes to the community as Board Member for the beloved Los Gatos landmarks, the Los Gatos Billy Jones Railroad and Bill Mason Carousel.
ELLEN MANZO
BOARD DIRECTOR, CHAIR - MARKETING COMMITTEE
Ellen Manzo has spent the majority of her career in Fortune 100 companies in which she has a reputation for being a proficient and award-winning marketing and sales team developer with a progressive track record of success in sales, marketing and sales operations. As a Regional Director - Asia Pacific at AT&T, Ellen had full revenue accountability for the Asia Pacific region for AT&T's global networking products and managed the worldwide relationships with many of AT&T's most strategic multinational accounts. Today, she enjoys taking that expertise to the startup business venture. The closest exposure Ellen had to the military until recent years is listening to the stories of her Father and five Uncles (one of whom was KIA) all of whom served in WWII. In addition to her professional pursuits and contributions to the Foundation, Ellen devotes time to Steak Team Mission, an organization that travels to military bases around the world to donate and serve up steak dinners as a way of expressing gratitude to our Service Members. Ellen enjoys running and participating in the Army Ten-Miler, something she does annually. More than anything, Ellen enjoys spending any time she can muster with her children. Ellen has lived and worked in the greater NYC area, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Tokyo and Paris.
BARBARA NADEN
Barbara worked for 30 years as a software engineer and software development manager at several Silicon Valley companies. Her specialty was operating system and LAN networking development and she especially enjoyed the challenge of working for early stage start-up companies.
2001 she changed her focus to travelling, genealogy, videography and gardening. She has published a book on her family history and produced many videos that capture family stories, travel adventures and major family events. Most recently she has begun producing promotional and educational videos for non-profit organizations.
Barbara is a member of the Los Gatos Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and holds the office of Corresponding Secretary. She also volunteers for several local organizations, including KCAT, Paws for Purple Hearts, and Insight Meditation South Bay.
REX NADEN
Rex Naden lives in Los Gatos, CA and has been a photographer for 40 years. His passion is landscape photography.
Since retiring from the semiconductor industry in 2006, Rex has taught photography at the Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite Valley and in Silicon Valley.
Rex served for three years as a Trustee at the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA, with a venue established by Ansel Adams and Cole Weston. During that period he was responsible for Exhibitions.
Rex's work is installed in offices and homes throughout the southwest.
He created and published many photographic books and trains others in this craft.
He is exploring the next frontier of photography enabled by modern technologies which result in cameras, displays, and devices which provide accessible and high-quality photographic and video images to the masses.
Rex spent thirty-five years in semiconductors, including work at several Silicon Valley firms. He holds fourteen US patents and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Rice University.
JACQUELYN ROSE
FOUNDATION SECRETARY
Born and raised in Los Gatos, Jacquelyn (Jackie) Rose has worked for the Town of Los Gatos for 12 years. Jackie served as Town Clerk for 11 years taking minutes for Town Council and preserving historical records for the Town. Now, Jackie serves as Community Outreach Coordinator in which her role requires her to work directly with the community, businesses and service clubs.
CHARLES W. SWAN
Charles Swan is the Principal of The Virtual CFO, performing financial management on an interim, consulting, or part time basis. He is a senior financial manager with over 20 years of successful financial, accounting and operations experience as a CFO in a variety of industries, public and private. He has driven significant operations improvement, managing business growth, maximizing operations through reengineering of finance management, cost reductions, internal controls, team building and leadership expertise.
Chuck provides cost effective governance for companies of all sizes, including compliance with SEC, SOX, international tax, currency and technology transfer restrictions. He is proactive in developing strategic partnerships with vendors and customers.
Chuck has served on the boards of directors of The Wollongong Group and Noetics Microsystems.
He chaired the City of Saratoga Finance Commission for several years. Chuck is a member of the Saratoga Mens Club, and served as President. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the Saratoga Foothill Club Historic Landmark Foundation, and is a member of Saratoga Rotary, serving on the Board of Directors, as Treasurer and Secretary of the Club, and Director of Finance for the Saratoga Rotary Art Show.
Chuck previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, and as President, and member of the Board of Directors of VITA, the Valley Institute of Theatre Arts, producers of the Valley Shakespeare Festival.
He holds the following credentials: CPA (Cal & Florida); CGMA (Chartered Global Management Accountant), CMA (Certificate in Management Accounting; and CIA (Certified Internal Auditor). Chuck gained his public accounting experience as an auditor for Ernst & Young in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Chuck earned an MBA in accounting and finance from Florida Atlantic University, and a BBA from the University of Miami. He also studied Marine Engineering at the US Merchant Marine Academy, and is a licensed marine engineer. He served on US merchant ships for several years. His father was a retired naval aviator, serving in World War II, as well as Korea.
B.J. TUCKER CPA
FOUNDATION TREASURER, CHAIR - FINANCE COMMITTEE
B.J. Tucker's expertise in accounting and financial management consulting are the ingredients to her success as CPA and Partner of the Welkley and Tucker, Inc. firm located in San Jose. Her services cover a broad range of business entities. She specializes in business accounting, management consulting, financial systems design, financial statement preparation, tax preparation and planning for business and personal clients. In addition, B.J. provides innovative financial planning involving stock options, retirement alternatives and estates. Community service is not new to B.J. as she has served on the boards of multiple civic and non-profit organizations to include one of her most active roles in Soroptimist International of Los Gatos-Saratoga, a worldwide service organization for women dedicated to promoting human rights and personal achievement for women around the world. As Mother to a Navy private, Sister to an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Aunt to another Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Niece to a WWII Veteran and Granddaughter to a WWI Veteran who fought in France, BJ is aware of the needs of veterans and combines her CPA expertise with supporting veterans through her role as Foundation Treasurer. B.J. holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from San Jose State University which she earned after moving to California from Denver, Iowa. She has been a resident of the Bay area for over three decades and enjoys living in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her husband and three dogs. What keeps B.J. ticking are her loves for theater, reading, music, enthusiastic driving and spending any free time she can accumulate outside of her CPA and social commitment obligations in tropical climates akin to those found in Hawaii.