The East Bay Chapter of the Haas Alumni Network is led by an active Board of Directors which meets on a monthly basis to plan events for Haas alumni who live in the East Bay region.
Our board consists of alums and current students from all walks of life who are committed to engaging and building relationships with the greater Haas community in the East Bay.
Active Members
Dean Suzuki (MBA 1969); Co-presidentDean currently is a Financial Advisor and CFP® with Ameriprise Financial Services in Walnut Creek, California, and began his financial career as a CPA with Deloitte and Touche in San Francisco. Dean has held several CFO positions, including VP of Finance for MCA Recreation Services, which operated Universal Studios Tour and Yosemite Park and Curry Company.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Dean lives in Danville with his wife, Daphne. They have two children—son, Derek, and daughter, Zoe. An avid Cal football and basketball fan, Dean and his family attend all of the home games. In 2007, Dean received the Raymond E. Miles Alumni Service Award for the Haas School of Business. |
Kathleen Charles (MBA 1998); Co-PresidentKathleen is an independent Certified Financial Planner/Financial Advisor with an office in Walnut Creek. She works with both families and small business owners. Her areas of expertise include investment strategy, retirement planning, college funding, estate planning and cash flow analysis.
Previously Kathleen was an equity analyst for Hambrecht & Quist, specializing in the environmental services sector. Prior to Hambrecht & Quist she worked in sales and marketing in the chemical industry with Union Carbide and Hercules. Kathleen received a BS in Cellular Biology and an MS in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan. She resides in Orinda with her husband and college-aged son. In her spare time she likes to hike, ski, read, visit art museums, cook and knit. |
Frank Dickerson (MBA 2009); Co-PresidentFrank is currently serving as a Sr. Business Integration Manager at Genentech, working as a member of an internal consulting team doing finance, strategy, and business operations work for Genentech’s Research and Early Development group. Prior to this role, he was Director of Service at Gatan, Inc., where he had P&L responsibility for the company’s worldwide service organization.Frank earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University before attending the MBA program at Haas. He is a Bay Area native and currently lives in Moraga, CA with his wife, Stephanie. |
Anne Chambers (BA 1979); Active memberIn 2004, Anne launched a consulting practice, Chambers & McAlpine Associates, Inc, specializing in developing innovative financial technology strategies for the financial services industry. Prior to that, Anne was COO/CFO of Advisor Software, Inc., a provider of web-based asset allocation and investment analysis applications for financial institutions. Anne worked in a variety of roles at Bank of America including SVP for Finance Change Management where she managed major companywide merger transitions, systems conversions and process redesign projects. She began her career at Deloitte and Touche and has a BA and MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. Anne is active as a Past President of the Haas Business School Alumni Council, a member of the Haas Alumni East Bay Chapter and the Haas Development Council. Anne is also a CPA. |
Jack Duan (MBA 2006); Active memberAfter a successful 12-year corporate career working for a number of Fortune 100 companies, Jack decided to follow his dreams to start a company with a single vision — to build The Premier Authentic California Lifestyle brand in China. Thus Gliding Eagle Inc. is born to initially focus on marketing the finest California wines in China. Of course, volunteering for Haas events, reading and traveling will use up all his remaining time. Life is exciting and full. |
Cheryl Hayes (MBA 1997); Active memberCheryl Hayes grauduated from Haas Evening MBA program in 1997. She is currently VP SBA Originations with California Bank and Trust where she works with small businesses to help them grow by providing financing for real estate, equipment, working capital and business acquisition. Prior to that she had a similar position with GE Capital Real Estate as well as several other positions with GE Capital dating back to 1990. She currently lives in Oakland with her husband Scott and enjoys outdoor activities, travel, and cooking. She has been on the East Bay Chapter’s board since 2007. |
Judy Huang (BS 2001); Active memberJudy is managing her online jewelry shop that offers handmade gifts for moms and babies. She is the jewelry designer, t-shirt painter, photographer, and copywriter for Chloe’s Creations on etsy.com. Judy has a simple vision – to cover the world in her design, one babe at a time. In the past, she helped companies improve their performance. Judy worked for Hotwire.com to improve the performance of online travel deals, and Deloitte Consulting LLP to streamline processes for over 30 Fortune 500 clients. In her spare time, she volunteers for Cal (Haas Alumni Network and California Alumni Association) and performs bollywood dancing regularly. |
Matt Kelso (MBA 2009); Active member |
David Lau (BS 2002); Active member |
Deborah Lau (MBA 1981); Active memberDeborah has been in the financial services industry for her entire career with an emphasis in accounting and marketing. She currently runs her own bookkeeping company targeting small businesses. In her spare time, she’s an avid tennis player and volunteers extensively for the United States Tennis Association. Deborah grew up in Asia because of her father’s employment so traveling the world is another passion of hers. So far, she has visited 36 countries and is still counting. She enjoys the Bay Area because of its multicultural diversity. Following in her footsteps is her daughter, Jennifer, who just graduated from the Haas Undergraduate Business program (BS ’11) and is now working in the Finance Department at Apple Computers. Deborah’s son, Jason, is currently at University of Pennsylvania/Wharton and is specializing in International Business. |
Viral Mehta, (MBA 2009); Active memberViral Mehta has been working in Silicon Valley since 1998 after obtaining a Masters in Science in Electrical Engineering. He has worked in areas of telecommunications, broadband and systems architecture for startups and multi-national conglomerates.As a business operations and program management leader, Viral has been involved in different aspects of business including opportunity generation, strategy formulation, product definition, customer engagement and go-to market activities. He has led diverse product teams and partnered with leading public/private sector companies across the globe.While at GE, he assisted firms doing business in the public safety and infrastructure security markets while spearheading business development & operations projects. Since graduating from Haas he has moved into a global operations role at Adobe. Viral lives in Blackhawk with his wife and six year-old daughter. He enjoys cycling in and around Danville, hiking throughout California, and can often be seen at the pool rooting on his six year-old daughter’s swim team (Go HOX!). |
Conrad Myers (BS 2009); Active memberConrad Myers, an alumni of Haas and Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), is now a Real Estate Broker in San Francisco, CA. After graduating he leveraged his European contacts from Haas, and the Cal Snowboard Team, and stayed with hosts in thirty-five cities in Europe. He travelled for nearly three months without paying for a single hotel room.
Currently Conrad is active in the Bay Area Real Estate investment market. An expert on everything from high-end multi-family properties, to distressed REO’s and foreclosures, Conrad’s retirement plan is to collect rents on $10 million in real estate when he retires. If you would like, Conrad can help you invest in this fantastic time of opportunity. In Conrad’s spare time, he is the Rock Band Leader, Electric Guitarist, Drum Major, and Webmaster for the 191st Army Reserve Band in Camp Parks, CA. |
Filip Nowak (BS 2008); Active memberFilip graduated with a BS from the Haas School of Business in 2008. He currently works in assurance with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Along with being a board member of EBHAN, Filip is also a member of the Haas Alumni Council. While a Cal, Filip was the co-Chairman of the Haas Senior Gift Campaign and worked to help unite the campaign with the campus wide effort for the first time. He received the Young Bear Award from the UC Berkeley Foundation for his efforts with the Campaign. Filip also was a member of the Cal Intercollegiate Ultimate Frisbee team and is a proud alumnus of the UC Rally Committee. He is a big Cal sports fan and always ready to sing Cal songs with anybody interested in singing along. |
Brandon Pae (MBA 2011); Active memberBrandon is a current full-time MBA student at Haas, focusing on infrastructure finance. At Haas, Brandon is an active member of the finance and real estate clubs as well as an MBA admissions student interviewer. Prior to business school, Brandon was an associate in the public finance department of Barclays Capital where he assisted state and local governments access the capital markets and executed over $7 billion in municipal financings. Brandon received a BA from UC Berkeley in economics and political science prior to attending the MBA program at Haas. |
Adam Rahman (MBA 2010); Active member |
Adam Richey (MBA 2013); Active memberAdam is a current evening-weekend MBA student at the Haas School. Adam works as a consulting civil engineer at Tetra Tech Inc. where he leads engineering teams to deliver design and construction phase services for heavy civil infrastructure projects. He has 10 years of experience serving government and commercial clients. Adam received a BS in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and is a licensed civil engineer and general building contractor. |
Frank Rockwood (MBA 1993); Active memberFrank Rockwood is a banker for Ziegler covering the western United States. His 23-year career in housing financing and development includes establishing a senior living business unit for Transamerica and serving as the senior regional executive for Sunrise Senior Living for projects in northwestern U.S. and western Canada.
As an executive with Transamerica, Mr. Rockwood launched a highly successfully affordable housing investment program, spearheaded M&A transactions and established an operator/developer/owner senior living business unit. Mr. Rockwood has deep experience in the development and capitalization of large-scale projects, serving as a project executive for a wide range of projects including Walt Disney’s Celebration community, the re-development of Stapleton airport and numerous residential high-rise projects in New York City. In conjunction with Accenture, Mr. Rockwood built a software company supporting real estate decision processes and large-scale roll-outs, including the roll-out of Apple Computer Stores. Mr. Rockwood received a A.B. in applied mathematics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business ( University of California at Berkeley). |
Doug Rohde (BS 1972); Active member |
Jeff Samuels (MBA 2009); Active memberJeff currently serves as the Director of Compliance and occasional in-house counsel for the American Cancer Society’s California Division. In his role, he ensures that the Society appropriately manages its risk exposure. The Society is one of the oldest and largest voluntary health organizations in the U.S. with annual income nationally of about $1 billion. Jeff has held a number of roles for the Society in his 11-plus year tenure with the organization.
In his spare time, Jeff runs a small business that distributes specialized electronic component. He is also an avid indoor soccer player. Jeff received his BA from the University of California, San Diego (Economics), MBA from Haas, and JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Jeff is a Certified Internal Auditor. |
Lucky Sandhu (BS 1996); Active MemberLucky is the President of Reliance Financial, a premier mortgage brokerage based in San Ramon. He is responsible for setting the company vision, development goals and marketing strategies while presiding over the day-to-day operations. As a mortgage originator, he has been personally responsible for over $350 million in funded mortgage transactions.Before founding Reliance Financial in 2004, Lucky worked for seven years in the professional services industry, first as a Certified Public Accountant at Ernst and Young LLP (1996-1999) and then as a management consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst and Young (1999-2003). Lucky holds a B.S. degree from the University of California, Walter A. Haas School of Business (1996). He is a licensed Mortgage Broker and a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist.
Lucky currently serves as a Board of Director for the California Association of Mortgage Professionals, an Ambassador for the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce and an active member of the Rotary Club of San Ramon. He is a proud member of the Leadership San Ramon Valley, Class of 2010. Lucky was honored as the 2010 Business Person of the Year award by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce. Lucky is blessed with a lovely daughter, Chaya. He enjoys working out, traveling, watching movies, dancing, reading, writing and speaking on trends and news shaping the Mortgage and Real Estate Industry markets. |
Dave Sherman (MBA 1985); Active memberDave helps executives formulate and execute breakthrough strategies that combine stakeholder-based insights with industry and company specific sources of advantage. At Blu Skye he has focused heavily on helping companies develop sustainability strategies that drive innovation and business value are fully integrated into the business. For the past 25 years he has served clients on five continents. He was a founding partner of Sustainable Value Partners and a Vice President with A.T. Kearney where he led an Asia-based practice.
During this time Dave has led more than a dozen company-wide and unit-level strategy engagements as well as several dozen operations engagements aimed at improving cost, service, and quality position of clients’ operations.Clients include: Wal-Mart, Bunge, Cathay Pacific, Philips Electronics, Purina, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Staples, Waste Management and other leaders in sectors such as agriculture, chemicals, consumer products, energy utilities, financial services, government, healthcare, high-tech, oil and gas, retail, and transportation.He earned his doctorate in management at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University where he researched social entrepreneurship and actively participates in the school’s Fowler Center for Sustainable Value. He also holds an MBA from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University. |
Sunil Sharma (MBA 2012); Active memberSunil works as a Consulting Manager with the sales and consulting organization of EMC Corporation. For the last 5 years, Sunil has been managing consulting teams and accounts for EMC’s clients. Sunil’s expertise is in the field of enterprise content management and cloud computing.
Sunil’s interest lies in the hi-tech, internet, and mobile space. Sunil is also currently running the day-to-day operations of his second startup (‘Rewards Rain Inc.’), which is in the merchant loyalty space. Rewards Rain helps merchants develop a bigger loyal customer base and hence increase revenues. Sunil is currently in the process of socializing with VCs and angel investors. Sunil is currently also helping a French start up DoYouBuzz.com to gain entry into the US Market. Sunil is the Chair for the Social Committee for the EWMBA Association at Haas and also a board member of the East Bay Haas Alumni Network (EBHAN). |
Mikhail Shneyder (MBA 2007); Active member |
Sandra Stumbaugh (MBA 1993); Active member |
Cho Tang (BS 1976); Active member |
David Tjen (MBA 2005); Active member
David currently serves as Director of Analytics and Strategy at Art.com in Emeryville. His focus is on bridging the gap between business people and the data they need to be successful. Prior to his role at Art.com, David consulted with companies such as Kodak Gallery, Cafepress and ZipRealty in designing analytical, data warehouse and customer relationship management solutions. Previously, David worked in the software industry for Brio Software (business intelligence) and Sybase (database). While at Brio, David provided business intelligence consulting services to companies across virtually every industry including AOL, Amgen, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Blue Cross, Cisco, Morgan Stanley, Motorola, Roche, Warner Music and others. David received his BA in Social Science from UC Berkeley in 1996 and graduated from the Haas Evening/Weekend MBA program in 2005. He also studied abroad for a semester at Hautes Etudes Comerciales (HEC) in Paris, France, focusing on international and luxury marketing. David lives in Berkeley with his wife, Lynna, and their two children. Being an avid Cal Sports fan, David can often be found wearing blue and gold at various Cal sporting events across campus. Go Bears! |
Lindy Vejar (MBA 1997); Active memberLindy graduated from the Haas School of Business Evening MBA program in 1997. She is currently a Sr. Program Manager with Abbott Medical Optics in the Advanced Engineering Group. In this role, she has accountability for managing financial goals, manufacturing and product design strategies and implementation requirements for R&D initiatives. Prior to this position, Lindy was in manufacturing management and operations functions with Bio-Rad Labs Clinical Diagnostic Group and Bio-Rad Life Science Group.
Lindy earned her BS in Chemistry from UC Berkeley and she is an active member on the UCB College of Chemistry Alumni Steering Committee. In her spare time, she enjoys biking, skiing and traveling with family and friends. She is always ready to sing a Cal song along with Filip Nowak. |
William Wang (BS 1998); Active memberWilliam is a financial planner with Waddell and Reed. His main focus is comprehensive planning and asset management. William specializes in working with individuals and families on life stage strategies and creating road maps that lead to successful achievement of financial goals. William continues to educate and inspire individuals and families upon financial planning and managing risks while prioritizing unique individuality and family special circumstances. He also volunteers with Haas Alumni Network East Bay, Cal Alumni Association, and Women’s Initiative. William was born in China and is fluent in Mandarin. Prior to coming to the U.S., William has 6 years experience of teaching English in high school and 4 years experience in international trade. Before changing career as a Financial Advisor, William worked as a commercial banker for 8 years. |
Donald Yurick (BS 1998); Active member |
Associate Members
Jalil Al-Hakim (BS 1971); Associate memberSuperstar Management |
Amity Balbutin-Burnham (MBA 2007); Associate memberAmity currently works as a Solar Developer for enXco Corporation. Amity is an experienced renewable energy developer and team leader, with a deep focus on business opportunities related to utility-scale solar PV project development. Prior to joining enXco, Amity has previously worked at the German Energy Agency and Dexia Bank focused on renewable energy project development. She received her MBA and Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. |
Suresh Bhat (BS 1998); Associate memberSuresh Bhat, Managing Director, is head of Global Client Group (GCG) Business Finance. He is responsible for financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, management reporting and analysis for BlackRock’s sales and distribution division. Before taking on his current position, Mr. Bhat led the Corporate FP&A function for Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in December 2009. Prior to joining BGI in 2006, Mr. Bhat was the division CFO for the retail distribution and retirement service businesses at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Mr. Bhat began his career at Deloitte & Touche and also spent 3 years at Bank of America in various finance-related positions. Mr. Bhat earned a BS degree in business administration and an MBA degree from UC Berkeley in 1990 and 1998, respectively. |
Marina Gracias (BS 1999); Associate member |
Rosetta Guinn (BS 2009); Associate member |
Loren Kinczel (MBA 2008); Associate member |
Hiram Moy (MBA 2005); Associate member |
Greg Overholtzer (BA 1981); Associate memberGreg Overholtzer is currently the CFO for Omni-ID, where he is responsible for managing the company’s strategic and tactical financial and accounting activities, as well as human resources. He previously served as Corporate Controller at Genitope Corp., where he oversaw all finance and accounting functions, including SEC reporting and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. Prior to that, Overholtzer held Corporate Controller and Chief Financial Officer, or Vice President of Finance, titles at an impressive list of Northern California-based technology companies, including Stratex Inc., The Polymer Technology Group, TeleSensory Corp., and Giga-tronics Inc. In these positions, Overholtzer was responsible for financial, MIS, and human resources functions, while implementing financial management, strategic planning, and forecasting processes. He holds both an M.B.A. and B.A. in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley. Overholtzer sits on the Board of Directors for the Academic Committee of Financial Executives International. |
Stefano Paoletti (MBA 1993); Associate member |
Nick Paranomos (BA/BS 2006); Associate member |
Pam Roberts (MBA 1982); Associate memberPamela B. Roberts, Principal of PBR Company, has more than 20 years experience in industry and market research, strategic planning, market and financial analysis, and investor communications. She now focuses on business positioning and due diligence to efficiently and effectively apply consistent positioning and messaging. Previously, as Senior Associate and Account Manager in the Financial Relations Board’s San Francisco Office, Pam managed account programs and implemented strategic positioning for companies with emerging products in emerging markets.
Prior to joining the Financial Relations Board, Pam served as an independent Business Analyst and Principal of PBR Company in Alamo, California, and as Director of Consulting for Infocorp and Gartner Group in Santa Clara, California. Pam was a Business Planning Manager at Xebec Corporation in San Jose and a Securities Analyst at Hambrecht & Quist in San Francisco, California. Pam’s experience also includes positions in management consulting at Arthur D. Little, Inc. in San Francisco, and at McKinsey & Company, Inc. in Los Angeles. Pam holds a BA Degree in Sociology from Northwestern University and an MBA Degree in Finance from Haas. |
Vijay Sakhrani (MBA 2006); Associate member |
Joseph Simeons (BS 2005); Associate member |
Sam Willard (BS 1997); Associate memberFollowing a successful career in marketing and consulting in the high tech sector, Sam decided to combine his business experience with his lifelong passion for the arts. Sam Willard Photography opened for business in 2003, and has since become an established provider of commercial photography services in the Bay Area and beyond.Sam Willard Photography (www.samwillardphoto.com) specializes in corporate portraiture, industrial and annual report photography, as well as advertising and editorial imagery. Sam leverages his years of experience as a marketing professional to create compelling brand-building imagery for his clients. When not taking pictures, Sam loves to travel, plays volleyball, and regularly performs improv comedy. |