Robert De Haan, of Novato, Calif., notes, “After retiring in 1984 as a partner of Arthur Andersen & Co., I began a series of consulting projects, both international and domestic, and volunteer projects. Helping to manage an affordable housing complex has been the most rewarding job I’ve had. The community center is named the De Haan Community Center.”

Richard Tavernetti writes, “Throughout my life, my glass has been half full rather than half empty, because I would rather be a disappointed optimist than a gratified pessimist. I always advised my children never to complain or find complaints without offering a solution. That sends the message that you are interested in solving the problem rather than just a complainer. Life is fun—be a participant.”

Dante Robinson, of Hercules, Calif., updates, “In January 2022, I reached my 10-year anniversary at Stare Compensation Insurance Fund. I recently took on a new role as the EVP of Technology Strategy, focused on our board-approved technology projects. Previously, for two years I was the EVP of Regional Operations, comprising our four California regions. Prior to the EVP role, I was the chief of internal affairs, which includes the Internal Audit Department, Governance, Compliance, and Privacy Unit, and the Special Investigations Unit. My wife, Lisa—we met at Cal in Anthro 3—now in her 28th year at Wells Fargo, heads DE&I for the COO. Our oldest, Danté Jr., who now holds the three-point scoring record at Holy Names University in Oakland, graduated with a degree in marketing and works for WebCor as an HR coordinator supervisor. Daughter Jessenia is a 2L at University of Oregon Law School, and youngest son Jaden is a junior there. With two of our children as Ducks, it has made for fun rivalry games! (Not really—they have owned us for a while now.) Although we should have won this past football season up in Eugene at the game we all attended. Let’s go Bears.” Shown: Robinson Bears at UO for the Cal football game in Eugene.

Cynthia Owyoung, of Daly City, Calif., announces, “I’m currently the VP of Inclusion, Equity and Belonging at Robinhood (the financial services company, not the foundation!). After having spent the past 20 years doing DEI work, I also wrote a book! Appearing in early 2022, All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results will arm CEOs, business leaders, and anyone who cares about building successful organizations with the tools necessary to make their companies great places to work for all.

“I still live in the Bay Area with my husband and two boys, within 10 minutes of my parents, who still live in the house I grew up in.”

Lucky Sandhu See EMBA 15.

Josephine Chan, of Brentwood, Calif., reports, “Former senior consultant at IBM, retired from corporate America, and started my own real estate investment company. Also an independent consultant for RelFin, Inc., a fast-growing Bay Area mortgage company founded by my best friend Lucky Sandhu, BS 96, EMBA 15.

“My 17-year-old daughter just applied to UC Berkeley, Class of 2026. Go Bears!” Shown: Josephine (center), Lucky (far right), and Lucky’s employees.

Will Edmonson, of West Hollywood, Calif., notes, “I continue to practice law, primarily handling litigation matters for individuals and small and mid-sized businesses. Before starting my own practice, I was a partner at Doll, Amir & Eley LLP and an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Previously, I served as a law clerk in federal district court and federal appeals court. I offer big law firm experience and talent at affordable rates. Please feel free to contact me at 424-248-9581 or [email protected] if I can help you with anything.”

Laurie Ritz, of Los Angeles, achieved UCLA paralegal certification.

Quan Nguyen, of Friendswood, Texas, announces, “Started a new job as an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine in April 2021. Started professional MBA program at the University of Houston in fall 2021. Soon getting married.” Shown: Dr. Quan Nguyen (right) and Dr. Thanh Pham celebrating the holidays in Houston.

Hannah Hong, co-founder of dairy-free ice cream company Must Love, was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank in January. As she announced on LinkedIn: “Starting our own company from the ground up has been a roller coaster of emotions, and we have learned a ton along the way. This announcement is beyond exciting for us! 2022 is clearly already off to a great start, and we cannot wait to see what the rest of the year brings.”

Richard Zen, of Hong Kong, informs, “In 2021, I encountered some good, and not so good, proptech startups in HK and China. The experience left me even more interested than before. Recently joined HK Proptech Association, as vice chair for research and content. If relevant, please find me on LinkedIn or reach out to me directly, because I want to learn more and get into the space! Besides proptech, in 2021 I found a new cause for which I’m passionate: the housing problem in Hong Kong. I plan to devote at least the next five to 10 years doing my part to coordinate a response and help alleviate the problems for ordinary citizens here. Met a lot of great people through this effort so far and am excited to see how we can do more together.” Shown: Dinner with the Berkeley Club of Hong Kong crew.

Rosalie Ennes, of New York, announces, “I started the next chapter of my career at Bombas, joining as the head of internal audit and tasked with building out the function. It’s been an amazing and much-needed change to move from large global companies to a high-growth startup that not only has quality apparel but also has mission embedded into its business model (one purchased = one donated). I look forward to seeing how the journey unfolds. Fifty million products donated to date!”

Nicole Campbell writes, “Happy New Year! I have no idea what’s going on with the world, and I didn’t sleep much this week. But out of nowhere I feel called to try my best to get home to Berkeley to have a chance to think. Just walking around the campus and feeling what the energy is like these days would be nice. We shall see! All I know is that I have more upside than downside at this point.”

Linda Xu, of Berkeley, Calif., reports, “Phew, it’s been quite a last couple of years. I made the ‘leap’ out of private equity and a year ago co-founded Cart.com, an e-commerce end-to-end platform. We just hired our 300th employee and raised our Series B (from an investor at PayPal Ventures who happens to be a friend from Cal). Excited to reconnect with Cal alums as we grow! “Recently moved from SF to our favorite city, Berkeley.”

Talia Caldwell updates, “I officially wrapped my first semester of film school at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Peter Stark Producing Program. It was hard—but so much more rewarding and fulfilling than I could have ever imagined. I learned everything: location scouting, financing, marketing, directing, staging and blocking, cinematography, video and camera work, sound, lighting, post-production, coloring, budgeting, scheduling, how to draft option agreements and purchase IP and literary and book rights, how to work with actors—so much I can’t even list it all. Our professors, who are already industry-leading executives, directors, writers, and business affairs people taught us so much and brought in even more incredible guests to share their wisdom and insight.

“My cohort is a group of 25 brilliant and diverse creatives who are not only going to change Hollywood for the better by bringing in more representation from underrepresented groups but also change the world with their art and efforts to pay it forward.

“During this first semester I am proud to say I was able to maintain five classes while interning for Emma Stone’s production company, Fruit Tree, being a teacher’s assistant, and working as a production assistant for Netflix. I already secured my next internship for the spring semester at Confluential Films. They were my first choice because of the brilliant mind of their CEO/founder producer, director, and overall savant Tommy Oliver.”

Clement Kao, of Santa Clara, Calif., reports, “In 2021, I left my previous role as principal product manager at Blend to found a new company called Product Teacher, a product management education company. Our mission is to create accessible and effective resources for a global community of product managers, founders, and entrepreneurs. We offer corporate workshops, self-paced courses, career coaching, and other professional development services. We also regularly publish best practice articles on product management through our newsletter. Through our work, we’ve helped professionals from hundreds of fast-growing startups and public companies, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Netflix, Twitter, Airbnb, Tesla, PayPal, Box, Zoom, YouTube, Adobe, Uber, Lyft, Salesforce, Slack, Reddit, Okta, eBay, Hulu, and Spotify.

“I founded Product Teacher to democratize product management knowledge. I’m excited to share this valuable knowledge with others and accelerate their careers, and we’re actively releasing even more corporate workshops and self-paced courses to help product managers all over the world succeed. Please don’t hesitate to reach out at [email protected]. I’m always eager to help my fellow Haas alumni!” Shown: Clement Kao (far right) with brother, Cliff Kao; father, Frank Kao; and mother, Jessica Kao.

Saumya Goyal, of San Francisco, notes, “Just graduated from Haas and started work at Deloitte as a consultant! I had an amazing summer break between graduating and starting work—I moved to San Francisco and traveled to nine different countries across Europe!”

Michael Pratt, of San Francisco, announces, “I have been working at Apple for the past two years under fellow Haas alum Austin Chen, BS 18, who started his own company at Haas and sold it to Apple. Together, we have been helping drive one of Apple’s special projects under Apple Music. Recently we have been working on the underlying tech that has allowed DJs to monetize their mixes and upload them directly to Apple Music (current Haas and M.E.T. student Nishi Kaza, BS 22, has also been heavily driving this project). We have also built out the infrastructure to allow our artist services team to go out and create sub labels.” See haas.org/michael-pratt-1 and haas.org/michael-pratt-2.

“Been working on my own music in my free time, producing tracks for fun. Have also been exploring great restaurants and hikes with my girlfriend in San Francisco. Have been lucky enough to do some traveling: Went to LA for some studio sessions, to Chicago for the Kanye West Apple Music listening party, and spent some time in Napa and Tahoe with my girlfriend and her lovely family.”

Gaetano Michael Yovino-Young, of Berkeley, Calif., is celebrating his 62nd year as a real estate appraiser, land economist, and president of Yovino-Young, Inc. Always located in Berkeley, the professional staff of 10 appraisers includes five Cal graduates. He adds, “At age 84, I am working only part time, as the leadership of the company is being gradually transferred to my wife, Alison Teeman, LLB, and daughter, Diana Yovino-Young (Cal 1989). Offices for the past 50 years have been on Telegraph Avenue in a 118-year-old Victorian.”

Russell Kalmacoff, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, reports, “Operating on a three-legged stool (family office, academia volunteering, public policy input). As current reading I recommend Keep Sharp by Sanjay Gupta (buy the hard copy and the audio). I am now convinced that main office/home office flexibility can work for all, with state-of-the-art ICT systems.”

Lewis Okser, of Brooklyn, N.Y., announces, “I have opened an online museum, The Cuyler/Mohawk, in Brooklyn. The site has thousands of mid-century and art-deco images, thousands of pieces of furniture, artwork, Black and African Americana, and Chinese Americana from the periods. Almost all pieces are housed at the site and available for viewing. See moderneamerica.com.”

Luis Montero writes in to celebrate his Golden Grad classmates on the occasion of their 50th reunion in December: “I would like to salute them and let them know that I am OK, retired but still working part-time in international marketing. I collaborate with the local Berkeley Haas Alumni Chapter in Santiago, with 109 members. I still hold the idea of visiting the Haas Business School and Berkeley in the near future.”

Cox Ferrall, of San Francisco, has been retired for seven years after an early distinguished career in management consulting. He notes, “I earned the CMC (Certified Management Consultant) designation in 1989 and was elected a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants in 1997. Loved it but am happy to be on the sidelines. Wife of 57 years, Merle, and I are comfortably home in
San Francisco.”

45th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Joseph Carlson, of Monument, Colo., writes, “Our family stayed close to our Monument home this past Christmas in contrast with celebrating 2020’s Christmas in the Dominican Republic, 2019 in Chile, and 2018 in Colombia. With three teenagers (18, 16, 14), all at Palmer Ridge High School, it is a bit more difficult for Kathy and me and the three (out of eight) ‘at-home’ children to travel than in prior years. This year, we’re already evaluating Ecuador and several other countries for the 2022 Christmas holidays—culture is cool.

“Since graduating, I’ve had the good fortune to visit a diverse variety of countries, such as Bhutan, Myanmar, China, India, Brazil, and, yes, Vietnam, to name just a few of the 53 so far. The past 18-plus months have certainly been a time for careful reflection and contemplation about the true meaning of President Ronald Reagan’s 1986 remark: ‘The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”’ From draconian restrictions enacted by overzealous, power-hungry political opportunists based on ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’ thinking to regrets felt over the actions taken by many well-intentioned ‘professionals’ based on fuzzy logic and hyped hysteria, our family has adapted by returning to some basic life concepts: self-reliance, follow the money, and ‘Don’t believe what you hear and only half of what you see.’

Joi Grieg, of Bethesda, Md., notes, “Retirement going well. Added an RV trailer and seeing more of our country. When home and at the beach, time with grandchildren. Continuing to volunteer as the American Federation treasurer of the International Order of Freemasonry for Men and Women. Still keeping my PMP credential (project management) and wondering if I’ll use it again. Be well and prosper.”

Hidefumi Yamagami, of Tokyo, Japan, updates, “Currently, I teach my classes in English at the Institute of Business and Accounting at Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya, Japan, as an affiliate professor. The classes include international finance, corporate restructuring, financial institutions management, and capital markets. I learned these subjects deeply at UC Berkeley almost for the first time 45 years ago. When I was in New York or London as an officer at the Bank of Tokyo, I met with fellow Haas alumni and felt UC Berkeley was really the international institution.”

Michaela Rodeno, of Napa, Calif., reports, “Having grown wine grapes in Napa Valley since 1977, I appreciate the caprices of Mother Nature. Wildfires are the most recent phenomenon to stress about. Vineyards make excellent firebreaks, but smoke can go anywhere; its impact on grape quality is still poorly understood. After a year I’d prefer to forget, and plenty of anxiety during the growing season, I was relieved when Rodeno Vineyards delivered a pristine crop of Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon to Robert Mondavi Winery scant hours before the 2021 fall rains started. The Sangiovese from the home vineyard also produced a tasty Villa Ragazzi Rosato. Now hoping for the best in 2022.

“I’m enjoying visits with grandson Thomas in New Jersey. He’s an active toddler with a fine sense of humor and loves making us laugh. I’m his self-appointed ‘YaYa’ because I don’t want anyone calling me granny. Mama, Dada, plane, book, Diesel (the cat), and YaYa were among his first words. Next: Haas?”

40th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Marian Bamford Smith, of Piedmont, Calif., died Jan. 26, 2022. Born in North Andover, Mass., in 1935, Marian was the eldest of nine children of H. Russell and Marie (Theroux) Bamford. She received a BS degree in physics from Simmons College in 1956, was a graduate student at MIT from 1957–59, and received an MBA in finance from Haas in 1982.

Until 1966, Marian worked as a research scientist at Raytheon, the Ballistics Research Laboratories Aberdeen, and Cal. For the next 14 years, she concentrated on raising her children who were active junior tennis players on the Yale and Harvard teams. With the children in college, Marian became a full-time student at Haas.

Until retirement in 2005, Marian was a principal of the Palmer Smith Corporation, an aerospace management consulting firm. She was appointed to the Board of the Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association (ACERA) in 1989, becoming the first woman to chair the ACERA Board and the first woman to chair its Investment Committee. She also served on the Executive Board of the Council of Institutional Investors, the Smithsonian Institution Investment Committee, and the Stanford Law School Fiduciary Education Advisory Board. Shown: Marian with her husband, Dr. Harold P. Smith Jr.

Akito Yamazaki completed his mission as the sport manager for the wheelchair fencing team at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. The Wheelchair Fencing Competition was held in August at Makuhari Messe, Chiba Prefecture, adjacent to the Tokyo area. Following COVID-19 protocols, there were no spectators. The competition successfully delivered all events, and all participants from 20 countries appreciated the efforts of the host country for organizing the Games while facing a lot of challenges during the pandemic.

MaryJo Radosevich reports, “I just returned from three months in Warsaw, Poland, where I was invited to be the English voice-over for a WWII documentary on two Polish/Danish Nazi resisters: Lone ‘Monson’ Mogensen and her husband, Lucjan Maslocha. The 20-minute documentary is based on the book Roses for Lone, by Dr. Maria Malasnicka-Miedzianogora, a Holocaust survivor. Born in Poland, Lone moved at age 15 to Denmark, where during WWII she was active in the resistance movements Felicja and Holger Danske. In Copenhagen I visited the site where these two WWII heroes were killed three days after their 1944 Christmas Eve wedding in St. Ansgar church. She was posthumously awarded the Silver Cross of Military Valor, and Poland’s president Andrzej Duda placed a commemorative plaque at St. Ansgar in a memorial ceremony.” 

The documentary film, using Lone’s original camera, titled A Danish Woman with Poland in her Heart, is on YouTube (view it at haas.org/radosevich). Next up: translation of the Polish text to English and then a possible movie. 

George Schultze, SJ, of Jerusalem, notes, “Enjoying the role of spiritual director at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Latin Patriarchal Seminary in Beit Jala. Spiritual capital promotes the common good, and Jerusalem is a global epicenter for investment. My new assignment provides much to learn, share, and enjoy.”

Andrea Lepcio, of Bar Harbor, Maine, updates, “This year, I became health and fitness director at the Neighborhood House, a community center in Northeast Harbor, Maine, a town with a large population of summer residents. I completed my 500 yoga hours in 2021 with Yoga Medicine. I’m still writing plays, currently working on a solo project. I manage my own online fitness business: https://mighty.fit.

“As trustees of the Open Meadows Foundation, we recently launched a new award to honor our founder Nancy Dean, an early lesbian playwright who opened doors for me and others. The Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award is annual. Details at openmeadows.org.”

Laura Clayton McDonnell, a senior vice president of sales for East, Canada, and Latin America at ServiceNow, was appointed to the board of directors at Zuora, Inc., a cloud-based subscription management platform provider.

Jeff Oxendine writes, “Health Career Connection (HCC)—the national nonprofit I co-founded (along with Julie Brown, MBA/MPH 84; Francis Garcia, MBA 85; and Donna Young, MBA/MPH 88) and serve as CEO of—celebrated its 30th anniversary in December. HCC has empowered thousands of college students and alumni to become the next generation of diverse health leaders and professionals and advance health equity.” See more about HCC’s mission and impact at haas.org/jeff-oxendine. “A huge thank you to Kathy Kwan, MBA/MPH 93, whom we honored at the event for her longtime support of HCC. I also published a book called You Don’t Have to be a Doctor: Discover, Achieve and Enjoy Your Authentic Health Career.”

35th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Michael Bloch, of Napa, Calif., and June Ressler launched their June Mountain Vineyard wine brand, featuring red wines from grapes grown on their Sonoma County vineyard. See junemountainvineyard.com for details. Shown: Winemaker Massimo Monticelli, June Ressler, and Michael Bloch.

Bonita Thompson, executive career coach, was named to the Thinkers50 2021 Coaching and Mentoring award long list. Thompson is the creator of the “What’s Next?” game, a coaching process that helps players walk through what’s important to them and apply key motivators toward life decisions. The New York Times bestselling author of Admired: 21 Ways to Double Your Value is also the co-creator of Storybook Math, an innovative way of teaching foundational math, making it playful and fun.

Atul Sharan, of Cupertino, Calif., announces, “FirstSight, CellMax’s early colon-cancer detection blood-test, received Breakthrough Device designation from the FDA. FirstSight is based on patented technology and uniquely detects pre-cancerous adenomas (polyps) and can help prevent colon cancer.”

30th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

CNN has tapped Scott Galloway, an NYU marketing professor, to host a show for its upcoming subscription streaming service, CNN+, set to debut in the first quarter of 2022. Galloway’s show will focus on “the news and conversations where business and technology collide.”

Patricia (Turkovich) West, of Martinez, Calif., reports, “In May 2020, I was promoted to The Permanente Medical Group’s VP of financial service (CFO) and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group’s CFO. It has been exciting putting 25 years of experience with KP to work during these challenging times in health care.”

Koji Asada, of Tokyo, Japan, updates, “I have been appointed as executive officer, CIO, and CDO at DIC Corporation headquartered in Tokyo. I will be responsible for the upgrade and global
integration of the core ERP system to enhance data-driven management and enable various digital transfromation
(DX) initiatives.

“On my personal side, my son, Kazuki, born while I was at Haas 30 years ago, became a lawyer this year after passing his bar exam in Japan and getting married. In my fond memory, he arrived in the evening of the last day of my mid-term exam; I thanked him for waiting until I finished the semester and becoming our wonderful Christmas present!” Shown: Koji (right) with son, Kazuki.

Kim MacPherson See note for Alex Rachmiel, MBA 20.

Kassim Chaudry, of Metuchen, N.J., writes, “During lockdown I was fortunate to accept a new position at a much smaller company, Insight Corp., as a regional managing principal. It’s been a wonderful experience and a season of learning and career growth.

“Lucky to have two of my three kids graduate from decent East Coast colleges and enter the workforce as bona fide adults contributing to society. My third is a junior at the U. of Pittsburgh, and my wife has launched her own one-person law firm, after 10 years of grueling work for three high-intensity law firms in New Jersey. We have been on two epic vacations: Norway (hiking a glacier) and Denmark (Legoland, Tivoli, family); and South Dakota (Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands, the Black Hills, and Devil’s Tower (Wyo.).”

25th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

James Gray, of Austin, Texas, reports, “Last summer, I joined REEF Technology as the head of data operations. We make the place you live—the place you love to be through the power of proximity. As a global hyper-growth company, my role is to build, operate, and govern the data that powers the REEF ecosystem. I am grateful to reconnect with Berkeley Haas as a learning facilitator for the Data Strategy program as of January. I reside in Austin and also spend time in Miami.”

Annie Miu Hayward, of San Francisco, writes, “Recruited to be a founding member of Academy for Engineering at SAP, pioneer of ERP software. Mission is to educate the next generation of technology leaders on not only technology but also on humanities/empathy, as well as communications/business. Due to the pandemic, we pivoted classes to all virtual. Still managed to build out a 50k sq.-ft. brand-new campus to house future students.” Have a look: haas.org/annie-miu.

“Several young professionals started reaching out to me as their mentor. I now enjoy sharing my experiences (sometimes wisdom) with them on a regular basis. Also, in my third year as an elected board member of the Alumni Association of my high school in SF (Lowell), I helped bring in a DE&I consultant to help the board to better serve the students/school.” Shown: Annie with Vint Cerf at the Academy post-vaccination, pre-Omicron.

Gleb Budman, the CEO and co-founder of cloud-based storage company Backblaze, celebrated the company’s IPO in November.

Adam Leader, of Greenwich, Conn., announces, “Finally working at a startup—from home—and really enjoying it. Rho Business Banking is an NYC fintech, and we make a free modern SaaS platform to access faster banking, charge cards, AP, and other spending features in one tool. I’m rediscovering how fun it is to work on fueling other startups’ rapid growth!”

Jan Myszkowski, of Munich, Germany, updates, “Co-founded a last-mile/super-local community solution for logistics and more: localkings.com. We are piloting it in Munich before expanding. Starting leadership coaching based on my newly published book, 50 Shades of Leadership, available in German and English.” Jan also continues writing and drawing for children—see haas.org/jan-myszkowski.

Lynelle Cameron, of San Rafael, Calif., writes, “After 20 years leading corporate sustainability teams at Bay Area technology companies, I’m starting to design the next chapter of my career. My goal is the same—to work within the private sector to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy this decade. As part of Plan C Advisors I’ll be advising boards on ESG and governance. I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to help companies that have bold ambitions to reverse the climate crisis.”

Raj Manghani, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., reports, “I began volunteering teaching personal finance courses to Bay Area high school students to fuel my passion for helping today’s youth and tomorrow’s leaders make better financial decisions to promote social and economic well-being.” Learn more at haas.org/raj-manghani.

20th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Audrey Zhao was named CFO of automated software delivery company CloudBees. Zhao was most recently senior vice president of finance for Cloudera.

Jennifer (Moyer) Nieva, of Emerald Hills, Calif., informs, “I’ve continued to enjoy a wonderful run at Netflix in product innovation, most recently leading innovations on our TV platform. If you or your kids have watched Netflix on your TV, you are experiencing the work of our stunning team.

“We’ve embarked upon the adventure of building a family cabin in the mountains in an area that was decimated by fire five years ago. It’s a rejuvenating project, connecting us with a new community of wonderful people.”

Elizabeth Van Benschoten, of Oakland, Calif., is currently managing director at MUFG Union Bank financing affordable housing. “Surviving work from home and more stints with no school for our son. Eyeing world travel.”

Rodrigo Brumana became the CFO of clothing reseller Poshmark, which is led by Manish Chandra, MBA 95. Brumana had previously served as finance chief for Amazon’s private-label business.

Reynaldo Guzman announces, “I started a new job at the EMEA regional office at Gucci. I also moved to Milan, Italy. So learning Italian now!”

Michelle Ma, of Los Altos, Calif., reports, “After 25 years working in the tech industry, I’m starting a new chapter of my career as a personal development/life coach. Having worn many different hats before as a product creator and leader in big corporations and startups, I help professionals, leaders, and executives develop a fulfilling life and career. More about what I do at sparkinitiatives.co.

“If you are longing for a change in the new year—such as change in career, improvement in relationships, growth in leadership capacity—consider working with a coach as your co-creative partner in your personal development journey.”

Simiso Nzima has been promoted by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) to managing investment director of global equity. He will oversee the $250 billion asset class’ investment strategies, programs, and policies.

Justin Sears, of San Carlos, Calif., updates, “In July 2021, I started as CMO at Pipefy, a low-code software platform for workflow automation. Founded in Brazil, the company is now expanding into the U.S. market. My first job in software was also at an SaaS workflow automation company 2000–2003, immediately before starting my Haas MBA and just after running public health programs in Central America. I’m loving the fact that I can apply my prior experience in the workflow and collaboration space, combined with my previous experience working in Latin America. Those two used to be separate parts of my path. Now, they’re one and
the same.

“My wife and I dropped our first-born son off at college in the fall, and our daughter’s excited to be back in person at school for eighth grade. Everyone’s adjusting to the new normal, but we feel grateful to be healthy, and we’re proud of our kids for adjusting during two stressful pandemic years.”

Matt Caspari, of Palo Alto, Calif., announces, “After six years in Oregon while working for Nike, I returned to the Bay Area this past year. I’m now the managing partner of Strawberry Creek Ventures, a private venture fund enabling Berkeley alumni and friends of the community to access high-quality, diversified venture portfolios in early- to growth-stage companies, many with a Berkeley alumni connection. Strawberry Creek is part of the Alumni Ventures family of venture funds, consistently recognized as one of the most active venture firms in the U.S., according to PitchBook. The firm holds a rapidly growing portfolio of over 800 venture-backed companies and counts 600,000+ community members and subscribers across all of its funds.”

Peter Zarand, of London, U.K., writes, “Although we are still in London, I finally work in the Valley again. I have been with Yelp for this past year, taking over as head of product for the trust and safety problem space in January 2022. I spend my days building ML and AI solutions to protect people and businesses from fake information, hate, and abuse.

“On the personal side, I continue to lead the U.K. Alumni Chapter. Our biggest achievement of the year was to pilot a class audit program designed to engage the European alumni with the great partnership of lecturer Greg La Blanc. I am most looking forward to repeating this in 2022.”

15th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Nicole Baer, of Pleasanton, Calif., reports, “I recently started a new role as COO, Logitech Sports and Human Performance. My charter: democratize the solutions, tools, and resources of elite performers to everyday seekers of peak performance, health, and happiness. It’s incredible to be part of a team whose guiding focus is human potential, for which I share a personal passion. Plus—a Haas alum leadership team can’t be beat!”

Rebecca Lynn, the co-founder and general partner of Canvas Ventures, was recognized by The Wall Street Journal as a senior deal maker and one of nine Women to Watch in 2021. Lynn, who was one of the few women to lead her own venture firm when she founded Canvas in 2013, led an early-stage investment in Lending Club, which was the largest U.S. technology IPO of 2014 and the fourth-largest U.S. internet IPO since 2001 behind Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Over the last eight years, she’s focused on early stage healthtech and fintech investing, orchestrating successful exits for six of her companies, and taking three more public.

Jennifer Quan, of Honolulu, writes, “Success consultant for aconfidential skunkworks project. Enjoying our move to Oahu and playing (COVID-safe!) host to many visiting friends. Accepted role of Ambassador of Aloha. Volunteering for The Shelter and Hui Aloha. Race4Good volunteer and business mentor.” Shown: Jen and Eric Quan, MBA 14, with kids Jordan, Chloe, Riley, and Emma.

David Saxe, of San Francisco, forwards the following: “Calvera Partners, a national real estate investor and operator founded by Brian Milovich, MBA 06; David Saxe, and Brian Chuck (shown) recently announced the closing of its latest multifamily value-add investment fund, The Calvera Multifamily Transformation Fund, with $43.1 million of fund and sidecar equity commitments, surpassing its $30.0 million target. Calvera’s next fund that will be open to accredited investors will be launched in early 2022.”

Nirit Rubenstein writes, “In 2018 I co-founded Dovly, a fintech startup increasing financial inclusion for the millions of Americans who struggle to access credit. On our app, consumers can manage and monitor their credit and correct inaccuracies weighing down their credit scores. I’ve raised capital from Silicon Valley and now lead a phenomenal team out of our headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz. Check us out at dovly.com!”

Omar Garriott, of Charlottesville, Va., updates, “I have a book coming out next month! Linked (Workman/Hachette) walks job seekers of all ages and stages through the realities of the new job search. Hoping Haasies can help me hit the bestseller list by pre-ordering!”

Victor Ortiz, of Monterrey, Mexico, announces, “I am
starting a new position as vice-rector for International Expansion and Strategic Alliances of Universidad Tecmilenio. Tecmilenio is one of the largest private not-for-profit universities in Mexico; it focuses on skilling, upskilling, and reskilling work-readiness competencies. Thrilled—this is the first alumni note I’ve submitted!”

Christine Mucker, of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, reports, “I’ve been working for Whole Foods for over eight years in various leadership positions within operational finance. As a military spouse, it’s been rewarding to continue to advance in my finance career despite several changes in our orders. The normalization of remote working during COVID has certainly made my transition to different roles within the company easier and supported by executive leadership. I’ve led several restructuring initiatives, as WFM continues to integrate with Amazon and evolve during the challenges of COVID retail reality.

“Since Haas, I’ve lived in Monterey, Calif.; Tbilisi, Georgia; Fairfax, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Two of those places we’ve lived twice, non-consecutively. It’s been quite a journey, and we’ve been lucky to see many of our Haas friends around the world.” Shown: Christine, Vince, Claire, and JJ Mucker.

Jonathan Villet, of San Francisco, informs, “My wife and I just wrapped our second documentary film: Finding Snow White. It’s an inspiring story about a woman’s journey from personal tragedy to purpose, psychology, and achieving potential. After her son was murdered in 1973, she became a PhD psychotherapist and author, practicing to age 91. She and a former patient inspire the boyhood friend (actually, that’s me!) of her long-lost son by revealing the metaphor of the Snow White fable and how people can break free of their past to achieve their inner potential. My wife and I love being independent filmmakers in addition to our day jobs creating marketing communications.”

Hector Preciado, of Oakland, Calif., notes, “I recently started a new role at LAWCLERK, an SaaS-based marketplace for legal services, as the director of marketing. We are a small shop of fewer than 50 employees, but we doubled in my first three weeks!”

Shinbo Won, of Singapore, was appointed as head of BlackRock’s Investment Stewardship (BIS) team Asia, ex-Japan, and a managing director. The BIS teams actively engage with BlackRock’s portfolio companies to address governance, environmental, and social issues that could materially impact the long-term sustainability of the company and clients’ value.

10th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Kate Morris, of Greenbrae, Calif., was promoted to senior director, people business partnering and belonging at Gong.io. She adds, “We welcomed our baby boy, Miles Benjamin Morris, on December 8, weighing in at 7 lbs., 4 oz. and measuring 19.6 in.!” Shown: Kate and Ben with baby Miles.

Michael Nurick, of Maplewood, N.J., reports, “I was recently promoted to group product manager at Affirm and now lead both the Capital Product and newly formed Finance Product teams. Both teams are critical to ensuring Affirm’s ability to scale our loan products globally.” Shown: Michael (right) with wife, Sapna, and sons, Ashwin and Ayden.

Jamaur Bronner writes, “I became a co-executive producer of an award-winning film on the racial wealth gap called Broken Chains (ourbrokenchains.com). I’m also starting an impact investment firm and a startup focused on relationship capital and personal/professional development.“After spending the past four years in Singapore, I’m moving back to the U.S.! First stop is Denver, but my partner and I plan to spend time in NY, the Bay Area, L.A., and maybe the Caribbean.”

Ace Patterson recently released his first book, Get Verified on Instagram with under 5,000 Followers, in which he gathered information, tips, and tricks pulled from his marketing experience at Facebook and now at YouTube, as well as from his creative background. Ace aims to debunk Instagram myths about the 10K follower count minimum, maintaining a verified badge, and sourcing brand validation once verified. Visit: haas.org/callmeace-book.

5th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Kyle Clark, of Durban, South Africa, notes, “After 3.5 years supporting our sales and customer success teams, I switched roles at Coursera to be a senior product marketing manager with our government team. In February 2021, my wife, Annie, MBA 18, and I moved to Durban to be near her parents.” Shown: Kyle (second from front right) and Matt Klein (third from front right) with Coursera’s global government sales team.

Yvener Petit writes, “Yvener J. Petit joined Live Nation as a director of strategic initiatives and operations. He partners with key stakeholders across the Concerts, Ticketmaster, and Media and Sponsorship divisions to outline and implement key company strategies. “In addition, Yvener has recently been elected to serve as an executive committee and board member of Communities in Schools of Los Angeles (CISLA)—a nonprofit that focuses on providing 1:1 case management for nearly 1,000 at-risk LAUSD students, helping them stay in school and achieve in life.”

Ganesh Srikumar, of San Mateo, Calif., reports, “I joined Sony as manager of data governance in July 2020. At Sony, I lead a team responsible for operationalizing data policies across the organization—a role I am thoroughly enjoying. Shout out to Professor Sameer Srivastava at Haas: In my role leading change at a large multinational company, I am constantly putting to use learnings from his course on organizational development. Thank you, professor, and Haas for your impact and continued inspiration!”

Alex Rachmiel updates, “I am still chief of staff to our president and CEO, but have also stepped in to lead digital transformation for the West Coast at Optum Care. In the fall, I was fortunate enough to guest lecture for Professor Kim MacPherson, MBA/MPH 94, and her health care in the 21st century class. It was wonderful to be back on campus.”

1st Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Kelly Cure of Oakland, Calif., writes, “The startup that we founded in the first months of our MBA, Skillful.ly the Equitable Employment Platform, is in an exciting time of growth!” Cure co-founded the company with Johnson Kanjirathinkal, MEng 21, and Brett Waikart, MBA 20 (shown above). “The team has loved getting to put all of our energy into Skillful.ly and see the company grow immensely over the past yearsince launching!”

Cure adds, “Ten MBA classmates ran the Golden Gate half marathon together—all in Cal Bear ears!”

Aditya Kajla, of Los Angeles, announces, “Just a month after completing my degree, I co-founded a startup with my brother. Our company, Warrant (warrant.dev), provides APIs and dev tools that help developers implement better access control and security in their web and mobile apps. We participated in Y Combinator’s S21 batch, raised a pre-seed round, and are hard at work growing the product, team, and customers.”

Johanna Lewis, of San Francisco, reports, “Working as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. I’m getting married in July 2022!”

Justin Li, of Irvine, Calif., updates, “I’ve taken over as as CEO of my current company. It has been an incredible journey leading a talented team to reinvent the way we diagnose cancer. Got married.”

15th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Patricia Rose Duignan, of Berkeley, Calif., writes, “Retired to life of volunteering, giving back to real people, trying to impact even just a few. ElderWisdomCircle is an online platform where young people worldwide write to ask for advice and share troubles in hopes of finding wisdom. For Berkeley Public Schools, I’m monitoring a bathroom at Berkeley High School to help reduce vandalism and discourage smoking. It’s been a trip.” Shown: Patricia and George
Lucas in 1982.

Hardika Shah, founder and CEO of Kinara Capital, was named to the global Causeartist Social Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022 list.

10th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Bala Kudaravalli, of Menlo Park, Calif., reports, “Last July, I started a new job at C3ai as senior director, product management.”

Lisha Bell, of Oakland, Calif., writes, “Alumnae Tracy Gray, BCEMBA 07, and Lisha Bell joined forces to focus on Women of Color in Venture Capital at the Stock Star Summit in Las Vegas.” Shown, from left: Lisha, Brandy Woods, Tracy, and Bahiyah Yasmeen Robinson.

Larry Sidney, of Zephyr Cove, Nev., announces, “Working as a holistic wealth advisor for MacLean Financial Group and just opened up a new Lake Tahoe office. Much of my work is helping startups and small business owners to succeed.

“Our local Boys and Girls Club, for which I serve on the board, just had a ribbon-cutting ceremony for our new building! Our amazing community has supported the mission, and now we can support even more children
and families.”

Lucky Sandhu, of San Ramon, Calif., is scaling his online mortgage lending startup Reliance Financial to new heights and territories. Lucky and his team are simplifying the home financing process by providing a frictionless, self-driving experience and low rates to homebuyers and homeowners. Customers self-select the mortgage rate and home loan product that best fits their needs, then complete the pre-qualification process in real time. The company now serves homebuyers and homeowners in seven states. Reliance Financial is looking to add a seasoned business development leader. Visit RelianceFinancial.com to connect. Shown: Lucky and his Reliance Financial Team celebrating a successful 2021.

5th Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Jason Atwater notes, “I started a new job as director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Exelixis, an oncology-focused biotech company based in Alameda, Calif.”

1st Reunion
April 29–May 1, 2022

Abhay Srivastava, of Pleasant Hill, Calif., informs, “I manage equity portfolios at my employer. My investing process includes deep fundamental research. I believe in concentrated investing. I often also do special situations. Since last year, I started writing my blog at skymemos.com on business and investing topics. I usually post case studies and notes on investment philosophy and interesting stocks. I will be glad for any comments.”

Cathy Goodwin, of Philadelphia, writes, “Continuing with helping small businesses be more productive when creating content, by using storytelling to accomplish their most important marketing goals. I have a Kindle book on Amazon: Grow Your Business One Story At A Time, and a new podcast: Strategic Storytelling, on all major podcast platforms: cathygoodwin.com/podcast.”

“Still living in Philadelphia with two cats. Occasionally dabble in open-mic standup comedy.”

Masood S. Mortazavi, of San Jose, Calif., updates, “Still working at Futurewei (Huawei Technologies, USA) as a senior director and distinguished engineer, focusing on machine and reinforcement learning and information technology systems—anything from chips to storage to applications.

“Finally, I purchased my first house. COVID has taken its toll. I saw my father—whose memory was impeccable—melt before my eyes.

“Due to U.S. designation of Huawei offices abroad, I’m no longer able to work with the international offices I used to support in China, Europe, and the Americas. I’ve been unable to communicate with my management since 2019.

“Despite all the political risk and pressure, our team in the U.S. has been doing some amazing work. In 2020, I published my first individual paper on a topic of great interest to me: speech and image correlation in InterSpeech 2020. In 2021, I focused on applications of ML in EDA.

“This year, my focus will shift to other applications of RL, in autonomous driving and robotics.

“It is interesting to observe all the historic events around a company that’s being punished for its global success. As of 2018, some 97% of the company’s dividend-paying stocks were owned by 67% of its employees. Hopefully, people in Congress and in the Commerce Department will come to their senses. Punishing success and innovation is no way to compete.” Shown: Liana S. and Masood S. Mortazavi.