This September we were honored to welcome 84 accomplished leaders as they began their participation in our Immersion Programs: Leadership CORPS Program or the Emerging Leaders Program.

As is our tradition, we launched the program year with a two-day, combined Opening Session that established the foundation of our work together. Over the two days, we introduced the three key areas of our programs: civic understanding and engagement, leadership skill development, and building cross-sector relationships. The launch of the new year is always an exciting time as participants get to know one another and work with expert leadership coaches to develop their personal leadership purpose. The agenda is designed to inspire participants with a sense of agency and empowerment in shaping the future — for themselves, our organizations, our communities, and San Mateo County.

Because feedback is crucial to Leadership Council SMC’s ongoing improvement of our Immersion Programs, each day of Opening Session, as well as every Learning Day, ends with a survey. Here are some quotes about the overall experience:

“Such a great program so far. I can just imagine what the next months will look like.”

“What a great first day! That ice breaker led our table to bond very quickly, and then to be followed by a great overview of the County from Mike Callagy. Way to engage us so quickly and effectively!”

We heard this about the purpose-setting experience:

"It was such a gift to have this time of self-reflection."

“The content, volume of content, pacing, and presentation were all excellent; I really appreciated [that] it accommodated different learning styles, and as very hands-on, each section built on the other and all activities were very pragmatic. Also appreciate the balance of personal and professional.”

“I hadn’t realized how much I needed some guidance and the time to reflect intentionally on my purpose following a career change.” 

A wonderful welcome reception capped the Opening Session’s first day as many members of the extended Leadership Council SMC community came to meet the Class of 2025. We were thrilled to see our Emerging Leaders/Leadership CORPS alumni, board members, sponsors, and partners return for the celebration!

We are honored that this community of impressive leaders have embarked on this journey with us. While we will see them for one day each month until graduation in June 2025, we know these are relationships that will develop and endure because of this shared experience. We can’t wait! 

THANK YOU to everyone who helped make this year’s Opening Retreat a great success: The Team at Burlingame Community Center, Catering Connection & Cafe, San Mateo County Executive Mike Callagy, Chef Gilly, Mediterranean Kebab, Arguello Catering, Penelope’s Coffee, our Coaching Team (Laura Costain, Adrienne Donley, Rahul Khatod, and Sharvari Shetti),Damali Burton, Marcus L. Jackson Photography, and the many Leadership Council SMC board members, alumni, sponsors, and partners who joined us. 

Meet the Leaders

Emerging Leaders Class of 2025

Julissa Acosta, Commissioner, SMC Commission on the Status of Women

Jennifer Adams, Environmental Justice Program Manager, Nuestra Casa

Lucero Avila-Garcia, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, City of East Palo Alto

Tanya Beat, Director of Commissions, County of San Mateo

Suruchi Bhutani, Administration, Business Support & Waste Management Services, City of San Mateo 

Marika Buchholz, Human Services Analyst, Center on Homelessness, County of San Mateo

Spandan Chakrabarti, Community Resource Director, Sonrisas Dental Health 

Corina Chung, Supervising Epidemiologist, San Mateo County Health

Jennifer Dianos, Acting HR Director, City of San Bruno

Erika Dugay, San Mateo County Director of Programs, Youth Leadership Institute

Bernadette Frias, Director of Programs, Life Science Cares

Artem Gevorkyan, Aquatics Director, YMCA of Silicon Valley 

Goldie Gica, Records Manager, Cypress Lawn 

Elisa Guizar Chavez, Collective Impact Coordinator RWC Together

Ruby Gomez Harrison, Principal Insights Partner, Genentech 

Robert Kalkbrenner, Police Sergeant, Town of Hillsborough 

Michelle Kim, Community Engagement Associate, Acterra

Laura Kirby, Management Analyst II-HR, City of Belmont

Angenette Lau, Communications Manager, South San Francisco 

John Lovell, Senior Project Manager, Mission Housing Development Corporation 

Jose Luaorozco, Detective, East Palo Alto Police Department 

Jade Martinez, Associate Director, PAL Center 

Gracia Martinez Najera, Youth and Family Therapist, Daly City Youth Health Center

Carmela Meehan, Community Outreach Program Director, Nuestra Casa

Anjenette Mendoza, Director of Shelter Services, Samaritan House

Kelsey Mikols, Programs Manager, Fresh Lifelines for Youth

Emile Morales, Vice President, DeBolt Civil Engineering

Emily Mungul, Director of Community Engagement, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula

Osvaldo Muro, Coordinator of College Access Counseling & Programming, Peninsula Bridge

Virginia Portillo, Commissioner, City of Menlo Park Housing Commission

Carlos Reyes, Program Manager, North San Mateo County, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center

Graham Rogers, Business Operations Project Manager, CalTrain

Lanipse Rosario, Instructional Designer, CuriOdyssey

Abby Rovner, Director of Grants, Partnerships and Operations, San Mateo County Office of Education 

Carolina Salinas, Community Program Analyst II, Immigrant Services, County of San Mateo

Joe Sanfilippo, Economic Development & Housing Specialist, City of Burlingame

Kiana Simmons, Lead Organizer, Housing Leadership Council San Mateo County

Lenelle Suliguin, Senior Management Analyst, City of Daly City

Kayla Tolentino, Program Officer, Sobrato Philanthropies 

Hugo Torres, Board President and Principal, San Mateo County Board of Education, and Voices Flagship: College-Bound Language Academy

Anthony Yoshida, District Representative, Office of Senator Josh Becker

Leadership CORPS Class of 2025

Reema Agarwal, Senior Vice President/Director - Floating Rate, Franklin Templeton 

Shakeel Ali, Governing Board President, Jefferson Elementary School District

Hope Atmore, Assistant General Manager, Granada Community Services District

Danielle Azzalino, VP of Adult Programs and Camp Via West, Ability Path 

Kevin Babeaux, President, Rhineaux Media Corp.

Daniel Barros, City Manager, Town of Colma

Christopher Bernhardt, Senior Management Analyst, NOVAworks

Mary Bier, Councilmember, City of Pacifica

Robert Burns, Director of Programs, Silicon Valley Urban Debate League

Ken Chan, Senior Organizer, Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County

Sean Charpentier, Executive Director, City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County (C/CAG)

Karen Decker, Economic and Community Vitality Manager, City of Half Moon Bay

Erina DuBois, Director, Community Engagement, Stanford University 

Jonathan Garcia, Supervising Attorney, Legal Aid Society

Daan Giron, Vice President, Philanthropy, Life Moves 

Tamara Hamai, President, Hamai Consulting

Dhruv Hemmady, Senior Product Manager, Affordable Housing, Entrata

Patrick Horn, Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council 

Christina Horrisberger, Assistant City Manager, City of San Mateo

SarahHubbard, Executive Director, Sustainable San Mateo County

Eric Isero, DC, QME, Dr. Eric Isero Chiropractor

Stacy Jimenez, Vice-Mayor, City of Foster City

Rich Lee, Assistant City Manager, City of South San Francisco

Adam Loraine, City Councilmember, City of San Mateo

Vanessa Merina, Vice President of Brand and Audience Development, KQED

Rebecca Molano, Relator & Owner, Compass & One Love Cafe

Georganne Morin, Executive Director, Healthy Cities Tutoring

Marchelle Moten, Executive Director, P-3 Early Education, San Mateo County Office of Education 

Dee Olomajeye Dragon, Vice President, People & Culture Strategy, Senti Bio

Suzann Pershing, Associate Professor and Vice Chair, Stanford University School of Medicine

Emily Roberts, Strategic Initiatives Manager, First 5 San Mateo County

Andres Romero, Executive Director, YMCA Silicon Valley

Matt Schreibner, Associate Director of Real Estate Development, Eden Housing

Liz Scully, Executive Director, San Mateo County Family Child Care Organization 

Darcy Smith, Assistant City Manager, City of San Bruno

Scott Spansail, Assistant City Attorney, City of Burlingame

Audrey Strout, Client Director, Gartner

Susan Takalo, Director of Programs/Service and Special Projects, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

Kris Treanor, Executive Director, Business Insights and Analytics, Sutro Biopharma, Inc. 

Pranita Venkatesh, Councilmember, City of San Carlos 

Nelmarie Vilaró Caro, Director of Operations, Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center

Hayley Village, CEO, It Takes A Village Children & Family Services LLC

Dianne Willoughby, Leadership Council SMC, Communications Director