Silicon Valley One - Fall 2007 - (Page 9)

Bresee: We’re very interested in civic engagement and in initiatives that will have a sweeping and broadbased effect on the region. We are in the process of holding community input meetings. Staff and board then will create the policy framework for identifying and launching our initiatives and for our grantmaking policy. We’re focused on regional issues while recognizing that many of our donors have international interests. I want us to become more efficient at our donor engagement and our service to our grantees, and I want us to honor our leadership role in the community. have complementary, yet contrasting styles. Pat is a judge, so she’s very studied. I come from the business world, so my style is more driven, more let’s-movealong-and-get-this-done. Bresee: Greg has promised he will not walk off into the sunset. I’m counting on him to continue to be there for us as a mentor and a resource. Greg, in many ways, made this a co-chairship. He has included me in all the major issues. He’s a man of great empathy; he has the true spirit of philanthropy and concern for the citizens of our region. I like to think of him as one of my good friends. one What is your strategy? Avis: With Pat, it’s a partnership. This was a merger of equals, the left hand working with the right hand. One person has to be in charge, but Pat is in the loop on everything and she’s been very supportive. We Gregory Avis Gregory Avis is a founding managing partner of Summit Partners in Palo Alto. In 1984, he helped found the firm, one of the nation’s leading private equity and venture capital firms, with approximately $8 billion currently under management. He has served on the boards of more than 40 companies in the technology, life sciences and specialized service industries. He serves on the boards of Williams College (his alma mater), the National Outdoor Leadership School and the James Irvine Foundation. Avis also teaches mathematics at Eastside College Preparatory School, East Palo Alto. www.siliconvalleycf.org Patricia Bresee A recognized expert in juvenile law, Patricia Bresee has devoted most of her professional life to children’s issues. As a private attorney, she represented children in juvenile courts who had been neglected or abused or who had been accused of committing a crime, and children who were caught in the middle of custody battles in family court. As a Superior Court commissioner in San Mateo County for 15 years, she was assigned to sit as a juvenile court judge and handled dependency and delinquency matters, as well as adoptions and guardianships. In 1994, she was named Juvenile Court Judge of the Year by the California Judges Association, and in 1998 the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association awarded her the title of Judge of the Year. innovation through philanthropy one 9

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Silicon Valley One - Fall 2007

From Emmett D. Carson Home Run Back From the Brink Checking In on Corporate Giving Central Valley Air Gets a Breather Why I Give Five Minutes With ... Full Faith and Credit Giving and Receiving What If?

Silicon Valley One - Fall 2007

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