The Family Giving Tree

Board of Directors


Jennifer Cullenbine

Executive Director

Jennifer is a true native Californian who graduated from San Jose State University with an undergraduate degree and a Masters in Business Administration. She created the Family Giving Tree as a class project in 1990 and has been the Queen Elf and Executive Director ever since. Jennifer strives to promote volunteerism and donates hundreds of hours each year to Public Television (KTEH), The Cancer Society and numerous local events.


Larry Rogers
Chair

Born in Seattle and raised in Utah, Larry is a 22-year Californian.  He has worked in the transportation industry for 25 years—the last 21 with a local subsidiary of a national transportation company.  He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and an MBA from Golden Gate University.  Previously on the board of the Viking Employees Federal Credit Union and also a volunteer leader for Boy Scout Troop 924 in Livermore.  Larry & Mary have two sons, Greg & Mike, and are proud to report that both reached the rank of Eagle Scout.  The pitter-patter of little feet around Larry’s house now comes from a Labrador Retriever, Sierra, a Staffordshire Terrier, Gracie Lou and lovable mutt named Mr. Wiggles.

Lori Yu
Vice Chair

Lori Yu was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She attended the University of Washington where she graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and a Concentration in Finance.  Lori moved to the Bay Area in 1999 and has worked for Comerica Bank since 2000, where she currently holds the position of "Alternate Group Manager for Small Business Banking" in Santa Clara and Contra Costa Counties.  Lori joined the Family Giving Tree in 1999 after volunteering with us for several years and in her spare time enjoys traveling and spending time with her family, including her son, born in 2008.


William (Bill) Cilker, Jr.
Treasurer
Bill is a property manager and orchardist, who lives in Milpitas with his wife , Liz, and daughter Cindy.  Bill graduated from Los Gatos High School and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  He works in the family business managing commercial and agricultural property.  Bill also sits on the Agricultural Advisory Board of the Santa Clara Water District, his home owners association and is active in the Model A Ford Club.  He is past president of the Milpitas Rotary Club and the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau.

Theo Olson
Secretary

 


Todd Yoshida

Co-Founder

A Bay Area native all his life, Todd graduated with a Masters in Business Administration from San Jose State University. He founded his own structural engineering firm in 1989 after working for various other firms in the Santa Clara Valley. Todd has been with the Family Giving Tree since its inception and is Jennifer's constant reminder that she is making a difference in the lives of people.


Josh McFarland

Josh was the Founding CEO of MyTwoFrontTeeth.org and is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Greylock Partners.  Prior to this, he held the role of Senior Product Manager at Google and Zaplet, a business process management software company. Josh earned his Bachelor's degree with distinction in Economics at Stanford and was selected to complete the Mayfield Fellows Program, a highly prestigious fellowship designed to hone entrepreneurial skills. McFarland has also worked for Riffage.com, Trilogy Software – and yes, even as a truck driver in a coal mine.


Cristina Piasecki

Born in Washington D.C. and raised in California , Cristina was a Family Giving Tree delivery elf for three years before joining the Board of Directors in 2004. She graduated from San Jose State University with a BS degree in Business Administration, specializing in Human Resources. Currently, she uses this degree to make her living as a self-employed Human Resources Consultant. As a consultant, she is primarily focused on HR management customized for the client, including HR infrastructure, programs and policy, and employment law. Before becoming an independent consultant, Cristina served as Director of Human Resources at Novell for 15 years. Cris is married to husband Steve and together they have two grown sons, David and Paul. Her Jack Russell Terrier, Jackson (Jax for short), rounds out their family. She is interested in fitness, travel, gardening, antiques, and reading.


Larry Sacks Larry has been a member of FGT board of directors since 1996!   He has worked for a variety of firms in Silicon Valley, most recently with Netscape/AOL. In 2003, he formed a Systems consulting business called "KC and Associates" and classifies himself as a "systems geek". In June of 2004, Larry and Gerry Young formed an alliance and now work together as part of Focused I.T. Solutions. He is currently employeed by the City of Cupertino as the IT Assistant, and holds a staff photographer position at The Santa Clara Weekly.  Larry is an avid photographer and can be seen at many FGT events toting a camera. He has his own photography business; Larry Sacks Photography.   Larry is an active volunteer with Second Harvest Food Bank in San Jose and when he is not working, he can be found racing (on a track), working pit crew and as crew-photographer for friends that race in the SCCA, autocrossing, driving his Fiat, cooking, hiking and playing tennis.

David Selinger

David "Selly" Selinger describes himself as a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Rich Relevance, a data mining company. In addition, David co-founded Redfin, building the next generation of real estate software which was recently featured on “60 Minutes.” He has also developed extensive experience in software development and business intelligence throughout his career including stints at Amazon.com, Overstock.com, Palo Alto BMW Research Center, 2Roam Wireless and Engage media. He received his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University with a specialization in robotics and artificial intelligence, and has authored a number of patents and papers in data mining and internet technologies.


Past Members of the Board

Jonathan Hicks
Gerry Young
Malia Mueller-Smith
Anne Hohenberger
David Bratton-Kearns
Charles Yun

Bonnie McCarthy

Carol Cullenbine

Jeanne Basselgia

Leslie Rusell

Lisa Bonder

Peter Sylvester

Sheila Blash

Sylvia Beatty

Ken Cantrell