Board of Directors

John Ebner

Chair

John Ebner has been with KPMG for over 20 years and is currently an Audit Partner in KPMG’s Silicon Valley office. John works primarily with publicly traded software companies and currently serves as the leader of KPMG’s software practice in Silicon Valley. John assisted in the development of several KPMG publications, including KPMG’s original stock compensation handbook, KPMG’s e-commerce handbook, Defining the Digital Future – Business and Accounting Issues, and served as a technical reviewer for KPMG’s recently released software revenue recognition handbook. He continues to serve as a national resource on software revenue recognition. In addition to serving as the Treasurer on RAFT’s Board of Directors, John serves as the Chairman of the Finance Committee of Holy Spirit School.

Nigel Ball

Vice Chair

Nigel Ball, VP Solutions, Communications Business Unit, Oracle Corp

Nigel has a 30 year career in the High Tech industry where he gained extensive marketing and general management experience. Prior to joining Oracle in early 2010 Nigel retired from a 26 year career at Hewlett Packard in 2008 and then transitioned to the non profit world as an HP Encore Fellow on a 12 month assignment to RAFT.

Nigel held many senior level marketing positions for HP most recently as Vice President, Marketing for HP's Technology Solutions Group (TSG) in the Americas. In this capacity Nigel led the region marketing team, building awareness and preference, executing demand generation activities, implementing TSG business strategy in the region and improving overall marketing effectiveness.

In other roles at HP Nigel was responsible for building complementary solution offerings with software and system integrator partners. He led global management, marketing, technical, sales and infrastructure teams in the Enterprise Systems Group. He was also responsible for ensuring HP's partnerships and solutions address future technologies.

Born in the United Kingdom, Nigel held various posts in the U.K. and Europe before coming to the United States in 1994. He was educated in the U.K. and holds an Honors Degree in Microbiology from Liverpool University.

Jon Flaxman

Treasurer

Jon Flaxman is a 29 year veteran of Hewlett Packard having held a variety of different financial and operational roles throughout his HP career. More recently, from 2002 until March 2007, Flaxman served as Senior Vice President and Controller of the company. He was also the Principal Accounting Officer from February 2005 to March 2007. Following this assignment, Flaxman served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of HP. In that capacity, Jon’s organization covered Indirect Procurement, Real Estate, HP Financial Services, and all the Internal Administrative Shared Services for the company. Since November 2008, Flaxman has been the CFO for the Imaging and Printing Business Group. Jon has his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and his BA from the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. A long time resident of the San Francisco, Bay Area, Jon is married with three children.

Deborah Nelson

Secretary

As chief of staff for HP’s Enterprise Sales, Marketing and Strategy group, Deborah Nelson is responsible for governance and overseeing of operations across the global sales and marketing teams for HP’s $ 54 billion Enterprise Business. HP’s goal is to become its customers’ partner of choice for enterprise solutions and the leader in client loyalty. For the past five years, Nelson led worldwide marketing of HP’s services, software, servers, storage, and networking across five global business units. Prior to that, she ran global marketing for HP’s personal computers, technical workstations, handheld products, mobile and wireless solutions, and personal storage appliances.

Nelson has held a broad range of leadership positions over her 25-year career. Her experience spans software, services and hardware products, channels and partners, marketing communications, market research, and business development in HP’s Americas and European field and worldwide organizations.

In June 2009, Nelson was honored with the HP Recognition Award by the Connect user group for her dedication, support and advocacy of the HP user community. She received the Frost & Sullivan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 because of her pioneering efforts to drive marketing excellence at HP.

Nelson graduated from Northwestern University and serves on the board of directors for RAFT: Resource Area for Teaching.

Shelley Brown

Board Development Committee Chair

Shelley is a retired human resources executive with over 25 years of experience working for high technology companies including Hewlett Packard, Aspect Communications, Siebel Systems, and Ariba, Inc. She currently focuses her time as a community leader and board member. In addition to serving on the board of the Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT), she is a board member for the American Red Cross - Silicon Valley Chapter, the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits (CEN), Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, the Stanford University School of Education, and is the chair of a family foundation with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF). She has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA.

John Cassidy

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Ann Danner

Ann Danner is currently a consultant to nonprofit organizations specializing in Strategic Planning, Board Development and Fund Raising Planning. She was Executive Director of the Nonprofit Development Center (now called CompassPoint) from August 1993 through December 1997 where she presided over the development of a strategic plan, an increase in budget and number of staff members, and the addition of several new programs designed to better meet the needs of the nonprofit sector.

Prior to joining the Nonprofit Development Center, Ann served as Executive Director of the Foundation for HOPE for 8 years, helping to raise over $3,000,000 for HOPE Rehabilitation Services. During that time, Ann was honored by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, Silicon Valley Chapter, as Professional Fund Raiser of the year.

Ann has served on the Board of Directors of many organizations, including The Health Trust, RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers), Foothill-De Anza Foundation, HIP (Housing for Independent People), the United Way, YMCA, San Jose Museum of Art and HOPE Rehabilitation Services and is a past President of the local chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (now called Association of Fundraising Professionals - AFP) and the Junior League of San Jose. She was a founding Board Member of the Volunteer Exchange and of the Nonprofit Development Center. She is a member of the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley.

Abraham Darwish

Abe Darwish is a leader in Corporate real estate and facilities management. He is known for his ability to provide and implement innovative, cost-effective workplace solutions for dynamic and complex business situations.

He has held leadership positions with 3Com Corporation, Rolm Corporation, Portfolio Property Investors and Veteran’s Administration Medical Centers. He has managed both small and large organizations, improved existing facilities operations, and built workplace environments from the ground up, worldwide.

He is also active in the community as a Board member of Next Door & RAFT. He is also past member of the Real Estate Trust Advisory Board of SVCF and past Board member of Design Response.

Dennis Driver

Dennis O. Driver currently serves as Vice President of Human Resources for Theravance, Inc. Theravance is a biopharmaceutical company based in South San Francisco, California. more...

Dennis O. Driver currently serves as Vice President of Human Resources for Theravance, Inc. Theravance is a biopharmaceutical company based in South San Francisco, California.

Prior to joining Theravance, Mr. Driver served as Vice President of Human Resources at various companies within the Johnson & Johnson family of businesses, including Biosense Webster, Inc., Scios Inc. and Cordis Corporation. He has also held senior level Human Resources leadership positions with Peoplesoft, Silicon Graphics, Inc. and Acuson Corporation. He has worked in both domestic and international operations, including a five year assignment in Europe where he was responsible for subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia and the Scandinavian countries.

A former commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Driver holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He is a Co-Founder of, A New Leash on Life, a non-profit organization dedicated to lifting the spirits of dog lovers coping with cancer. He is a former member of the Board of Directors for Healing Journeys, and has previously served on the Board of Directors for Ronald McDonald House (Palo Alto, California). He is a Silver Life Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an author and public speaker on the fight against prostate cancer, and a hospice volunteer.

Mr. Driver has been honored with a Distinguished Alumni Presidential Citation from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

Edd Fleming

Edd holds a BA in Chemistry from Harvard College, magna cum laude, and a Medical Degree from Vanderbilt Medical School, where he was elected AOA as a junior. Edd is now a Director at McKinsey & Company. more...

Robert Grimm

Bob Grimm was born in Missouri and received his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

He joined Hewlett-Packard and worked there in manufacturing, marketing, research and development, and general management positions until his retirement in 1986.

He served eight years on the Los Altos city council and one year as mayor.

He has served on the boards of many nonprofits. He currently serves on the boards of the Tech Museum of Innovation, the Los Altos Festival of Lights Association, and Resource Area for Teaching. He also serves on the Audit and Finance Committee of the Foothill-De Anza Community Colleges.

He has four children. He lives in Los Altos

Erin Hintz

Erin Hintz is an accomplished marketing executive with more than 18 years demonstrated expertise driving exceptional business results; developing new markets; creating successful brands; building and leading high-performance teams. Her specific areas of expertise include:
- Strategic business planning
- Product and brand management
- Integrated marketing
- Creative pricing strategy
- Online and retail marketing
- Social media and public relations
- Staff development and training

Erin is currently Vice President, World Wide Consumer Marketing at Symantec Corporation, where she leads a 180-person global team responsible for product marketing, PR, research, ecommerce marketing, advertising, and regional/channel marketing. Erin joined Symantec in 1994 through an acquisition (Delrina Corporation) and since then has earned a number of accelerated promotions based on her track record of outstanding achievements and solid personal growth.

During her tenure, the consumer division has grown from a $350 million/year business to a $2 billion/year business, and Norton is the world’s most trusted provider of consumer security solutions.

At Symantec, Erin has also served as Vice President, Marketing, Enterprise Administration; Vice President, Global Consumer and Small Business Marketing; Director of Product Management; Group Manager, End User Marketing Programs; Strategic Marketing Manager; and Market Development Manager. Prior to Delrina Corporation, where she served as Manager of Public Relations, Erin held marketing roles at MKS, a development tools software company in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, as well as IMARA Research Corporation, a document imaging startup in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Erin holds an honors bachelor’s degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and a post-graduate diploma in Business Management from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Erin is on the board of Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) and is an avid San Jose Sharks fan.

Timothy Lohse

Timothy W. Lohse is a partner with DLA Piper LLP (US) and concentrates in patent prosecution, patent litigation and patent counseling. Mr. Lohse has been part of the board of directors of RAFT since 1995 and has served in various roles on the board of directors. Mr. Lohse has taught patent law classes and participated in other legally related pro bono activities. more...

John Radford

John Radford co-founded Radford Associates in 1975 and led the firm to a premier market position as the top compensation survey provider for the technology industries. After nearly 20 years at Radford, he accepted the top compensation position at Cisco Systems where, over the next eight years, he implemented some of the most recognized and leading compensation and HR-related programs in the field. John rejoined Radford in 2002 as a senior vice president. He also is a regular speaker on a wide variety of compensation topics.

John also spends a significant time in the non-profit community including having served on the Los Altos Educational Foundation (LAEF), the Public Education Committee for the Los Altos Hills, and on the Board of the Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence.

Cynthia Ruby

Cindy Ruby is a former elementary school teacher with the Portola Valley and Los Angeles City School Districts, with a strong interest in K-12 education. She currently serves as a trustee in the Saratoga Union Elementary School District and also serves on the boards of a variety of local organizations -- The Health Trust, Friends of PACT, and the Saratoga Foothill Club Foundation. She is a former President of the Junior League of San Jose.

Sulian Tay

Sulian has been an investment banker for over 12 years at Goldman Sachs, where she is a managing director. She has spent her time there focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance for a wide range of companies, both in the US as well as internationally. She recently returned from almost 3 years in Hong Kong where she was co-head of the natural resources industry sector for Asia ex-Japan. more...

Prior to Goldman, she was a consultant at Booz.Allen & Hamilton in San Francisco. Sulian has a B.A. in Mathematics and an M.S. in Applied Mathematics, both from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and 2 young sons.

Andrea Whittaker

Dr. Andrea Whittaker is Director of Teacher Performance Assessment at Stanford University's Center for Assessment, Equity and learning. She provides technical assistance and policy support to universities and state departments engaged in the national pilot of a teacher performance assessment.
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During the 15 years prior to her position at Stanford, Andrea was Professor of Education at San José State University where she served as faculty, middle level program coordinator and department chair for Elementary Education. Since the early 1990's, she has participated in many local, state, national and international initiatives related to policy, school reform, assessment and/or best practices in teaching and learning. Andrea is currently President-Elect of the California Council for Teacher Education and serves on the board of directors for RAFT and ACE Charter Schools. She earned her Ph.D. in Psychological Studies in Education from Stanford University, MA and BS from California State University, Fullerton, and multiple subject credential from San José State University.

Clay Young

Clay Young is a Partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP. He has over 20 years of experience in the assessment, design and implementation of internal controls and information security. His clients are primarily in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications industries. He has a BA from UCLA and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Clay previously served on the boards of Junior Achievement and CityClub in Seattle, Washington.

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