Board of Directors
Sunnyvale Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors
Click on image to read Bio
Benita Kent
Board Chair
Lockheed Martin
Benita Kent
Board Chair
As the Plant Engineering Senior Manager, Bay Area Facilities Site Lead for Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, she oversees all Facility Operations for Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, and Santa Cruz sites. Benita has 25 years of management and business leadership experience. In addition, she has over 30 years’ experience serving on the Board of Directors for non-profits. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the LM Leadership Association, Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and serves in an advisory role for a small non-profit. Benita holds a master’s in organizational management from the University of Phoenix, a B.S. Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Project Management Professional Certification.
Graham Clark
Immediate Past Board Chair
Fremont Union HS District
Graham Clark
Immediate Past Board Chair
Graham is currently the Deputy Superintendent of the Fremont Union High School District. Prior to this role he served as the Principal of Homestead High School for ten years and he was a teacher at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale. Before joining the education field, he was a Program Administrator at Westinghouse (now known as Northrup Grumman) in Sunnyvale for seven years. Graham has a BS in Finance and MBA from Santa Clara University. He participated in the ROTC Program while attending Santa Clara University and served with California Army National Guard in various roles for 28 years.
Marie Bernard
Treasurer
Sunnyvale Community Services
Marie Bernard
Board Chair
Marie Bernard is the Executive Director of Sunnyvale Community Services, a local nonprofit agency, a position she has held since 2010. Under her leadership, Sunnyvale Community Services has grown to serve over 10,000 low-income individuals each year with emergency assistance including financial aid, year-round food assistance, case management, and services for homeless individuals. With an annual budget of $11M, the agency serves as a hub for safety net services in the community, bringing together local volunteers. Prior to joining Sunnyvale Community Services, Marie worked for 19 years at Hewlett-Packard in a variety of director and management positions in marketing and workforce development. After leaving HP in 2003, she was Director of Stewardship and Development for the Diocese of San Jose, and then became the CEO of Project HIRED, a nonprofit organization assisting individuals with disabilities to gain employment. Marie has served on the Board of Directors for several nonprofits, including Second Harvest Silicon Valley, Sacred Heart Community Service, and CakesforKids. Marie holds an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, a M.A.in Pastoral Ministries from Santa Clara University, and a B.A. in History from the University at Buffalo. She is a Senior Fellow of the Silicon Valley American Leadership Forum’s Class XXXI, as well as a graduate of the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits’ Leaders’ Institute and the Institute for Leaders in Ministry from the Diocese of San Jose. She and her family live in Sunnyvale.
Agustin Torres, Jr
Agustin “Auggie” Torres, Jr
Agustin is the Community Engagement Manager at Facebook’s Headquarters in Menlo Park, California, where he leads engagement efforts in Sunnyvale and Fremont, CA. He also leads education initiatives that support the underserved communities of Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, CA. Agustin started at Facebook in 2013 working in event management before finding a home on the State Policy/Community Engagement team in 2015. Before Facebook, Agustin spent 14 years in the sports industry working for entities like the San Jose Earthquakes, Major League Soccer, Soccer United Marketing, and Women’s Professional Soccer. Agustin received a bachelor’s degree in Management from Purdue University, a Master’s in Sports Management from the University of San Francisco, and an MBA from Santa Clara University. Outside of work, Agustin is a philanthropist. He is on the board of directors for Foundation for a College Education and the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project. He is also a founding member of the Latino Community Foundation’s Latinos In Tech Giving Circle. Agustin currently resides in Cupertino, CA he lives with his wife, Viviana, and daughter, Gabriela.
Bruce Pressman
Black Diamond Paver
Stones & Landscape, Inc
Bruce Pressman
Beginning a long career in the Hospitality Industry from Philadelphia to Beverly Hills, Bruce settled in the Bay Area permanently after a relocation with Hilton to SFO. Shortly after finally reaching his goal of “Manager” he had found himself in favor of traveling to India over his job. So, he resigned and went to see the Taj Mahal. No regrets. Returning to the Bay Bruce had many more hospitality adventures which kept him working through-out the region. Involvement in the Community by volunteering or donating “something” has always been important to Bruce. Transitioning his sales and service skills to his new career has been very rewarding, and, he is thankful for it. Bruce feels it is a great privilege to continue to serve on the Board of Directors and he looks forward to seeing what the future possibilities of business in Sunnyvale and the region will bring.
Ismael Islas
ISLAS
Ismael Islas
Ismael is a Facilities Professional, and the Owner of ISLAS whose dependability, integrity, and work ethic have all earned him a reputation as a community leader. Over the course of a decade, he has garnered extensive experience, receiving recognition from various Federal, State, and Local governments along the way. In addition to walking in his father’s footsteps by continuing the family business that was established back in 1996, he serves on the Leadership Mountain View Advisory Council. Ismael is deeply dedicated to serving his community in any capacity that he can.
Javier González
Javier González
Since 2016, Javier has led Google’s government affairs and public policy portfolio for the headquarters’ region. In his role, he is responsible for working with elected officials, policymakers, community organizations, and nonprofits on a number of projects and issues. Javier has more than 15 years of government relations, community affairs, and public policy experience. Prior to joining Google, he was senior legislative director for a statewide business trade association. Javier previously served as chief of staff and policy and community affairs advisor to several state and local elected officials. In addition to serving on the board of directors for the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, he’s on the boards of SV@Home, Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, and Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Javier serves on the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Working Council. Javier got involved in his community and civic issues at a young age. He continues to be engaged in a number of causes including civil rights issues. Appointed in 2014 and re-appointed in 2017, Javier serves as a Committee Member on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission’s California Advisory Committee. In 2015, upon the recommendation of then-California Governor Jerry Brown, Javier was appointed by the Selective Service System to serve as a Board Member of the California Local Board for Santa Clara County. Born and raised in downtown San José, Javier attended local K-12 public schools and graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. When Javier is not volunteering, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, and golfing.
Rashad Wiley
Star One Credit Union
Rashad Wiley
Rashad Wiley is the Community and Business Development Representative for Star One Credit Union. He has over ten years of financial industry experience. He is responsible for brand awareness, public relations, marketing, financial wellness education, corporate and community organization partnerships. He has a background in leadership, management, operations, audit and credit. He has a passion for entrepreneurship and volunteering with various local organizations that work to build meaningful communities. His interest in joining the Sunnyvale Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directions is to make a positive impact to Sunnyvale, become more connected with the Sunnyvale community and to understand key local business issues. He is a Silicon Valley native and graduate of San Jose State University with a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. He currently serves on the Lockheed Martin Leadership Association and Los Altos Chamber Board of Directors. Rashad enjoys travel and spending time outdoors admiring the beautiful open spaces and hills of Northern California.
Sean Reid
Comcast
Sean Reid
Sean works at Comcast as the California Director and Business Development. Sean is a 23-year telecom veteran who has led sales leadership and executive roles throughout the US. Sean spent most of his career working in start-up environments. Having two children in 2014 and 2016 led him to desire a calmer life where he chose to leave NYC and come back home to California and work for Comcast to start up their charter Business Development group. Sean’s current role is to extend the Comcast network and lead all synergistic initiatives and projects across the multitude of Comcast Corporation Companies.
Kerry Haywood
Moffett Park Business
Group
Kerry Haywood
Kerry has been Executive Director of the Moffett Park Business Group (MPBG) for the past fourteen years. She has grown the MPBG from seven-member companies, representing, 20,000 employees, to thirteen-member companies representing 40,000 employees. As Executive Director, she drives the organization’s commitment to improving the social, environmental and economic health of its members via advocacy, partnerships, and programs. Her work has had positive impacts for her members, such as better power quality, pragmatic development ordinances, improved transportation infrastructure, and park-wide emergency response and traffic mitigation programs. Prior to coming to MPBG, Kerry worked in the airline industry for ten years for Southwest Airlines. She holds a B.A. in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. Kerry is married and stays busy with her two children, two cats, two chickens and one dog.
Mike Johnson
Sunnyvale Downtown
Association
Mike Johnson
Mike Johnson is the Executive Director of the Sunnyvale Downtown Association and President of JOHO Marketing, a Digital Marketing Company based in Sunnyvale California. He has been active in the Sunnyvale community for over 25 years with a range of community activities in addition to his strong working background in Sales, Marketing, and Advertisement. Mike joined the Sunnyvale Chamber in 2003, and served as an Ambassador for years, he served as a member of the Sunnyvale Rotary, and was a Board member as well. Mike graduated Leadership Sunnyvale in 2005 and continues to serve the Sunnyvale community and he is currently the Executive Director of the Sunnyvale Downtown Association. Mike Johnson launched his company JOHO Marketing in 2015 and continues to own and operate his marketing company. Mike brings a great mixture of knowledge and understanding of Non-profit operations as well as his personal understanding of small businesses and their needs.