Meet the Commissioners
Seat 1: Cynthia Cooper
Cynthia Cooper is the first generation in her family to be born in raised in California and grew up in Salinas proud of coming from a diverse population. She is a graduate of San Jose State University and holds a Lifetime Teaching Credential. She married her college sweetheart, and they have two adult children. In addition to teaching and mentoring in the Oak Grove School District for 40 years, Cynthia has served on numerous committees and various boards both in the private and public sector for the betterment of her community.
Seat 2: Bob Staedler (Vice-Chair)
Bob Staedler has been a resident of San Jose for over 30 years, currently living in Naglee Park. Bob’s background includes working at the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and his consulting company Silicon Valley Synergy. He is known for achieving win-win outcomes in large diverse groups. The years of working with neighborhood associations and various stakeholder groups throughout Santa Clara County gives him a broad perspective needed for the redistricting advisory commission.
Seat 3: Mario Burnias
Mario Burnias is a progressive thinker that has served the County of Santa Clara being an advocate for communities of color as well contributing to the positive change our region has gone through over the past 20 years. Mario is a graduate of San Jose State University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration/Marketing and an Alumni of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. He was invited by former Mayor Ron Gonzalez to complete the Latino Board Leadership Academy 2017 and understands the responsibility he has to leave the community in a better place than he arrived.
Seat 4: Juan Pedro Velazquez
Juan Pedro Velazquez has been a resident of Santa Clara since 1996. In March 2006, he was naturalized as an American citizen. He worked in the manufacturing sector at a company developing automated robotic systems for 6 years until 2002. He later transitioned to the healthcare industry where he recently retired in 2020 after 15 years in the field. He is married with one daughter, who is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Seat 5: Dana Tom
Dana Tom has been a Santa Clara County resident for over 40 years and is excited to serve on his first county commission. He is dedicated to diversity and fair representation. Past public service includes nine years as a school board member for the Palo Alto Unified School District and four years on the Board of Directors of the California School Boards Association. He has been a member of the Rotary Club of Palo Alto for 15 years and is Immediate Past President.
Seat 6: Dolores Alvarado
Dolores has been a resident of Morgan Hill since 1994 and a graduate of Leadership Morgan Hill (2010 Class). She is currently the CEO of Community Health Partnership, an association of community health centers throughout the county, with 3 major clinics in D1. Dolores has a master's degree in Public Health with a concentration in maternal-child health. Her interest in serving as a commissioner stems from her strong belief in data-driven policy decisions and equitable representation at all levels of government.
Seat 7: Peter Pham
Peter is a 2nd-generation Vietnamese-American and a 22-year-old resident of county district 2. He has served his home county as a medical interpreter, COVID-19 testing and vaccination volunteer, and COVID-19 surveillance and vaccine researcher. He is also part of efforts to build stronger, healthier, and safer communities in historically underserved parts of the county and works to engage more young people in our local civics and community building. As a member of the youngest voting-eligible generation, Peter is excited to be part of a decennial process to help the county best serve all of its residents.
Seat 8: Nancy Smith (Chair)
Nancy Smith served as an elected member of the Sunnyvale City Council where she collaborated with leaders throughout the County to solve the issues facing the region. She and her Council colleagues set up the first district-based elections ever held in the City of Sunnyvale. Through the City's process of public debate and policy-setting, Nancy Smith learned that contiguity of districts, consistency with natural and political boundaries, and compactness are important elements to ensure fair elections.
Seat 9: Laura Casey Mc Allister
Laura Casey McAllister was born and raised in Campbell and has lived in Santa Clara County most of her life. She is a veteran bilingual teacher, with a passion for educating students to be bi-literate in Spanish and English. Redrawing the district boundaries is an important and crucial task. She is excited to participate in the 2021 Advisory Redistricting Commission.
Seat 10: Katie Zoglin
Katie Zoglin was born and raised in Santa Clara County, where she attended public schools. Ms. Zoglin is committed to making our democracy work and has been active in the League of Women Voters for a decade. Ms. Zoglin has devoted her career to public service and has worked as a local government attorney for over two decades. She has been recognized by the Diversity Committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association as an “Unsung Hero.” She volunteers time with Mountain View’s Mediation Program and has served as an international election observer in Paraguay and Tunisia.
Seat 11: Maria Pineda
Maria Pineda been a resident of Santa Clara County for more than 35 years and loves her community and could not imagine ever moving away. Maria and her husband have a 23 year old son who just graduated from Gavilan College. She has seen Santa Clara County change and has an appreciation for our community. Maria is currently a Community Reinvestment Act Vice President Mortgage Loan Officer for Boston Private Bank & Trust, working on low to moderate income programs that help first time homebuyers in our community purchase homes. She also participates in homebuyer education classes and Below Market Rate programs whenever possible to help educate our community in homeownership education.
Seat 12: Zhaohui Hong (Jerry)
Zhaohui Hong is a naturalized US citizen. He moved to the Bay Area 24 years ago and has been living in Santa Clara county for three years now. He has a Master of Science degree in computer science from Colorado State University and has been a software engineer for his professional career. He worked in the 2020 US Census as an enumerator and now is eager to see the data result and how this data can be used, because data-driven decision making is one of his favorite research interests. In his spare time, Mr. Hong is a church goer and volunteers in community church activities.
Seat 13: Edwin Tan
Edwin Tan, Ph.D. is driven by a desire to serve his community. He is the Director of Advocacy and Community Relations for San José State University. Edwin serves as a Board Member for the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition and is past President of the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club. Edwin mentors youth and young adults in the community. He is originally trained as a developmental psychologist, was a Congressional Fellow for the American Psychological Association, and worked for Congressman Michael M. Honda as his Senior Chief Advisor and District Director. He also was the Director of Advocacy and Development for AACI, where he was able to fuse his background in policy and in healthcare by effecting change through advocacy.
Seat 14: Daniel Nguyen
Daniel Nguyen is a lifelong resident of the County. A native of Cupertino, he served on the Cupertino Public Safety Commission, including two terms as chair, and the Cupertino Union School District Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, including one term as chair. He is now a proud resident of the Valley View-Reed neighborhood in San Jose. Daniel teaches math at Palo Alto High School, is the faculty advisor for the school’s speech and debate team and serves on the Palo Alto Educators Association’s negotiations team. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in statistics, holds an M.S. in biostatistics from UCLA and an M.A. in educational leadership from Mills College, and is pursuing an Ed.D. at Mills College.
Seat 15: Raven Malone
Raven Malone was born and raised in Mobile, AL. She has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Alabama A&M University and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Mercer University. She works as a Program Manager at Zoox. In 2020, she ran for City Council in Palo Alto. While she lost the election, she learned that there are so many different ways to use your voice to fight for change. She is engaged to her fiancé, Reggie and they have a beautiful black lab mix named Luna.