Friends of Stevens Creek Trail Leadership
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Aaron Grossman, Executive Director
Deepti Nanawati, Executive Assistant
Roy Verley, President, Board member 2004 - present
Kathy Bettman, Vice President, Board member 2001 - present
Ross Heitkamp, Treasurer, Board member, Webmaster 1999 - present
Tom Bornheimer, Secretary, Board member (past president)
John Brazil, Board member (past president)
Jeannie Bruins, Board member 2008 - present
Deepa Kollipara, Associate Board member 2007 - present
Alan Ross, Board member
William Symons, Board member 2006 - present
Art Takahara, Founding Board member 1993 - present
Garth Williams, Board member
Tom Cronin, Former Executive Director 2006-2007
Tom Frankum, Former Board member & past president
Chris Lee, Former Associate Board member 2005-2007
Joe Mitchner, Former Board member 2007-2008
Staff Photos and Biographies
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Aaron Grossman, Executive Director
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Aaron joined the Friends board in 2000 and has served as secretary, VP,
President, Executive Director, and Trailblazer Race Director. He worked 2
decades with Hewlett Packard, several years as a teacher, and now is a
hospital X-ray tech. Personal interests include bicycling, skiing,
backpacking, photography, and international travel.
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Deepti Nanawati, Executive Assistant
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Deepti's training in urban and environmental planning is what first drew her to the race in
the summer of 2006.
She was quickly drafted to help with the Trailblazer Race as a volunteer
coordinator.
Since October 2007, a new baby boy has been keeping Deepti and her husband busier
than usual.
In 2008, Deepti took on a staff position to help out the Executive Director in the
office and with record keeping at meetings.
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Executive Committee Photos and Biographies
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Roy Verley, President & Board member |
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Roy joined the Friends Board of Directors in December 2004.
He was elected vice president in June 2005 and president in December 2006
(effective January 2007).
He has lived in Mountain View for 33 years and enjoys biking on the trail as
well as many other outdoor activities.
Semi-retired after 26 years in corporate communications,
he now works as a communications consultant.
He is married with two grown daughters.
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Kathy Bettman, Vice President & Board member |
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Kathy is a long-time downtown Mountain View resident.
She has been on the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail board since 2001?
and has served as secretary and vice president during that time.
She regularly runs in our Trailblazer Race.
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Tom Bornheimer, Secretary, Board member |
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Tom Bornheimer joined the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail board in 2000
while he was living in his hometown of Los Altos.
Tom now lives in San Francisco and works for Kaiser Permanente in Oakland.
Personal interests include running, skiing, hiking, travel and photography.
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Ross Heitkamp, Treasurer, Board member, Webmaster
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Ross Heitkamp joined the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail in 1998 after hearing
about the possible extension of the trail into his Mountain View neighborhood.
What started as an unofficial website for the trail extension became the
official job for developing and maintaining the Friends website.
Ross has served off and on as secretary and treasurer.
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Board Members Photos and Biographies
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John Brazil, Board member
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John began volunteering for the Friends Trailblazer Race in the late 1990's.
In 2001 he joined the board and has since served as board secretary
and board president.
A Mountain View native, John and his wife Libby Dresel live in Mountain View.
John works as the Bike/Ped Program Coordinator for the City of San Jose.
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Jeannie Bruins, Board member
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Jeannie Bruins is a south Los Altos resident. In 2006, she responded to the call for resident participation in Los Altos's Stevens Creek Trail Feasibility Study and ended up becoming co-chair of the Task Force. In 2008, she joined the board of Friends of Stevens Creek Trail.
But Jeannie and her family's enjoyment of Stevens Creek Trail goes back much further. When her two sons were old enough for a "long bike ride", they would take Stevens Creek Trail out to Shoreline Park. Her older son later used the trail to commute to his internship at Microsoft.
Jeannie looks forward to seeing the Stevens Creek Trail and Wildlife Corridor extend to the Los Altos border and on to Cupertino and, ultimately, achieve the complete vision established over 40 years ago.
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Deepa Kollipara, Associate Board member
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Deepa Kollipara joined the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail as an Associate Board Member in 2007 when she was a sophomore at Monta Vista High School. Her passion with biking and biology drew her to the Stevens Creek Trail. As time went on, she became more interested in the environment and began to volunteer at the Trailblazer race where she got acquainted with the Friends. Her goals are to make the trail more accessible to students and to promote the rich wildlife that is so essential to the trail. Also, she hopes to promote the trail and get it into the public eye of students and residents near the trail. In her free time she enjoys playing badminton, biking on the trail, volunteering, and tae kwon do.
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Alan Ross, Board member
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Alan Ross is a twenty-five year resident of Mountain View involved with the Friends for thirteen years.
He also worked with the Trail Center in Palo Alto for a number of years building and restoring local trails.
He enjoys camping, hiking, and water sports and his hobbies include photography and travel.
He graduated from the University of Phoenix and
currently works in Mountain View in sales and technical support for a high- and ultra-high vacuum supplier.
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William Symons, Board member
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William Symons is married with two young Children.
He works as a technician at BMW of Mountain View and also as an indoor cycling instructor at the YMCA.
His home is in Mountain View adjacent to Stevens Creek, but he became familiar with the trail when
commuting to work from his previous home in Redwood City.
He and his family really enjoy the outdoors.
You will often find them on the Stevens Creek Trail cycling, scootering, skating, or skateboarding.
Billy feels strongly about trail advocacy, and the benefit of trails for safe fun,
exercise, and alternative commute options for ours and, especially, future generations.
He joined the Board in 2006 to support the trail and its expansion, and to offset the opposition
voiced by a few of his neighbors,
whom he feels are mistaken in the belief that the trail is not beneficial to the neighborhood.
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Art Takahara, Founding Board member
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Art Takahara is one of the founding members of the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail and has
served on the Board of Directors continuously since its founding in 1993.
Art was instrumental in making the Stevens Creek Trail a priority in Mountain View
when he served on the City Council and as Mayor. During that time, Mountain View developed
its first feasibility study and plan for the trail and built the Reaches 1 and 2.
Art is an active runner and hiker and has run in all of the Trailblazer Races.
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Garth Williams, Board member
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Garth has been running on the Stevens Creek Trail and
in the Trailblazer race since 1997 when he lived in
downtown Mountain View. Since moving to Sunnyvale in
2002, he has hoped to see the trail move closer to his
new neighborhood. Garth joined the board in 2007 to
take an active roll in moving the trail upstream. In
addition to running, Garth enjoys golfing, swimming
and spending time with his wife, Pamela and their two
daughters, Charlotte and Kaitlyn.
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Alumni - Past Board Members
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Tom Cronin, Executive Director |
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Tom Cronin joined the Friends of Stevens Creek Trail as the Executive Director in July 2006
and served through September 2007.
Previously he has served as
an Organizational Consultant for Earthome - Hooked on Nature,
Executive Director at Committee for Green Foothills,
and Program Director at Foundation for Global Community.
This all follows a long management career with Hewlett Packard that ended in 2002.
Tom first discovered Stevens Creek Trail years ago and used it extensively for training
for running races and marathons.
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Tom Frankum, Board member
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Tom Frankum had a long tenure with Friends of Stevens Creek Trail before moving south to San Diego.
During his time, he served as President and was always eager to speak around town to any
of the groups that might be interested, including the Rotary, Kiwanis, or Leadership groups.
Tom was not alone in his volunteer work to support the Stevens Creek Trail, though. His wife, Jan,
was usually along to help staff the Friends booth at Art and Wine festivals, trail work days or other events.
Jan also served as the Head Volunteer coordinator of the Trailblazer Race for several years.
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Chris Lee, Associate Board member
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Christopher Lee was a high school junior at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino when he joined the
board of The Friends of Stevens Creek Trail in 2005.
Chris's passion for environmental biology and his desire to make a physical
difference in the environmental world drew him to
The Friends, and his position as an associate board member.
In his spare time he enjoys riding his bike and hiking on and off the trail.
Chris looks forward to the trail's extension into Cupertino,
and hopes that trail brings the city as much gratification as it has brought to Mountain View.
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Joe Mitchner, Board member
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Joe joined the Friends Board of Directors in January 2007, and is enthusiastic
about the trail's potential for both recreational and commute uses.
Following a finance career at Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, and Stanford University, he now
serves as a volunteer in various capacities within the Mountain View Whisman
School District and other communty organizations.
He has lived in Mountain View
for 16 years and is married with a son and twin daughters.
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Number of hits: 53 since
22 March 2007
Page last updated: Friday, 25-Apr-2008 19:14:58 GMT
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