Board of Directors
Shiraz Kotadia
​
President
An Almaden resident since 1980, Shiraz has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has over 30 years of industry experience as Director of Information Systems, Director of Consulting Services, Program Director, Senior SAP Project Manger, and IT Advisor. He has been a Manager or Director for IBM, SAP, Nortel, Panasonic, and General Motors and has implemented SAP systems at a number of large and medium-sized companies. He has taught MBA courses in Production and Operations Management, Project Management, and Information Systems in the evening MBA program at Santa Clara University. He was certified as a Fellow in Production and Inventory Management. He is currently a senior management and systems consultant.
His wife, Anar, is a senior Quality and Regulatory consultant for Medical Device companies. They have two daughters.
Michele Dexter
​
Vice-President
Michele is the 3rd generation in her family to be born in San Jose. She grew up in Cambrian Park and Willow Glen, and has lived in Almaden for the past 17 years. She has a long family history of business, entrepreneurship, and community involvement.
Michele co-founded an IT services business with her husband, Rick. She has managed the business operations for the past 15 years, while simultaneously raising two sons. She is currently Council Liaison for District 10 Councilmember Johnny Khamis, working to accomplish many projects in the District as well as building strong community relations.
Michele is eager to support AVCA in its mission to keep the residents of Almaden informed about important issues and to encourage active engagement in civic affairs.
Michael Lee
​
Treasurer
Michael has lived with his wife, Luz, in Almaden Valley since 1979. He came to the Silicon Valley in 1975 to work at IBM as a research scientist. When the IBM Almaden Research Center opened in 1986, the commute became a short walk and a hop on the shuttle to the top. He subsequently moved to HP Labs and continued his research activities until his retirement. He is a well-known expert in electrophotography, the process behind laser printing.
He and his wife have helped many children of friends and acquaintances toward their goal of attending college over the years with advice and academic assistance. While his degree is in physics, he especially enjoys tutoring math since that often requires high level view, while a typical student is mired in the details. And occasionally, the light goes on!
Board of Directors
Shiraz Kotadia
​
President
An Almaden resident since 1980, Shiraz has a BA from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has over 30 years of industry experience as Director of Information Systems, Director of Consulting Services, Program Director, Senior SAP Project Manger, and IT Advisor. He has been a Manager or Director for IBM, SAP, Nortel, Panasonic, and General Motors and has implemented SAP systems at a number of large and medium-sized companies. He has taught MBA courses in Production and Operations Management, Project Management, and Information Systems in the evening MBA program at Santa Clara University. He was certified as a Fellow in Production and Inventory Management. He is currently a senior management and systems consultant.
His wife, Anar, is a senior Quality and Regulatory consultant for Medical Device companies. They have two daughters.
Michele Dexter
​
Vice-President
Michele is the 3rd generation in her family to be born in San Jose. She grew up in Cambrian Park and Willow Glen, and has lived in Almaden for the past 17 years. She has a long family history of business, entrepreneurship, and community involvement.
Michele co-founded an IT services business with her husband, Rick. She has managed the business operations for the past 15 years, while simultaneously raising two sons. She is currently Council Liaison for District 10 Councilmember Johnny Khamis, working to accomplish many projects in the District as well as building strong community relations.
Michele is eager to support AVCA in its mission to keep the residents of Almaden informed about important issues and to encourage active engagement in civic affairs.
Michael Lee
​
Treasurer
Michael has lived with his wife, Luz, in Almaden Valley since 1979. He came to the Silicon Valley in 1975 to work at IBM as a research scientist. When the IBM Almaden Research Center opened in 1986, the commute became a short walk and a hop on the shuttle to the top. He subsequently moved to HP Labs and continued his research activities until his retirement. He is a well-known expert in electrophotography, the process behind laser printing.
He and his wife have helped many children of friends and acquaintances toward their goal of attending college over the years with advice and academic assistance. While his degree is in physics, he especially enjoys tutoring math since that often requires high level view, while a typical student is mired in the details. And occasionally, the light goes on!
Board of Directors
Shiraz Kotadia
​
President
Michele Dexter
​
Vice-President
Michele is the 3rd generation in her family to be born in San Jose. She grew up in Cambrian Park and Willow Glen, and has lived in Almaden for the past 17 years. She has a long family history of business, entrepreneurship, and community involvement.
Michele co-founded an IT services business with her husband, Rick. She has managed the business operations for the past 15 years, while simultaneously raising two sons. She is currently Council Liaison for District 10 Councilmember Johnny Khamis, working to accomplish many projects in the District as well as building strong community relations.
Michele is eager to support AVCA in its mission to keep the residents of Almaden informed about important issues and to encourage active engagement in civic affairs.
Michael Lee
​
Treasurer
Michael has lived with his wife, Luz, in Almaden Valley since 1979. He came to the Silicon Valley in 1975 to work at IBM as a research scientist. When the IBM Almaden Research Center opened in 1986, the commute became a short walk and a hop on the shuttle to the top. He subsequently moved to HP Labs and continued his research activities until his retirement. He is a well-known expert in electrophotography, the process behind laser printing.
He and his wife have helped many children of friends and acquaintances toward their goal of attending college over the years with advice and academic assistance. While his degree is in physics, he especially enjoys tutoring math since that often requires high level view, while a typical student is mired in the details. And occasionally, the light goes on!
Board of Directors
Michele Dexter
President
Michele is the 3rd generation in her family to be born in San Jose. She grew up in Cambrian Park and Willow Glen, and has lived in Almaden for the past 17 years. She has a long family history of business, entrepreneurship, and community involvement.
Michele co-founded an IT services business with her husband, Rick. She has managed the business operations for the past 15 years, while simultaneously raising two sons. She is currently Council Liaison for District 10 Councilmember Johnny Khamis, working to accomplish many projects in the District as well as building strong community relations.
Michele is eager to support AVCA in its mission to keep the residents of Almaden informed about important issues and to encourage active engagement in civic affairs.
Gary Hector
Vice-President
Gary Hector has lived in Almaden Valley for the last 33 years, where he and his wife Janice raised their four children. Born in the Bay Area and raised in Los Gatos, Gary holds a masters in Journalism from Columbia University and an MBA from New York University. As a financial journalist, including 9 years as a writer for Fortune Magazine, he received national recognition for his work, including the Loeb Award, described as the Pulitzer prize of business journalism. Business Week and the Wall Street Journal ranked his 1988 book as one of the ten best business books of the year. In 1990, just before the birth of World Wide Web, he left journalism to work at start-up companies that were building financial and community services. He is an avid hiker and can be found on the trails of Almaden Valley parks most days of the week.
Vandana Kadam
​
Treasurer
Vandana Kadam has lived in Almaden valley since 2003. Prior to moving to the Almaden valley, she lived in Santa Clara. Vandana lived in Seattle with her husband Abhay and son, Indraneel before the family relocated to the bay area. She has always loved to volunteer in the community. Vandana is a yoga instructor and has been conducting free yoga classes at the Vineland library since 2005. Although she is a yoga enthusiast, Vandana has a different full-time job. She is a middle school math teacher and is the Mathematics Department Chair at a private school in San Jose.
Vandana has been on the board of other community organizations in the past. She is a chapter coordinator for the San Jose Chapter of the North South Foundation, an organization that conducts educational contests for students in grades K to 8. With her background in education, Vandana wants to give back to the community through AVCA as an Education Chair.
Vandana grew up in India majoring in Math & Physics in college. Her husband is a software engineer and works in the tech industry in Sunnyvale. Their son is a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle.
AVCA is close to Vandana as she strongly believes in the mission of the organization.
Jim Johnson​
​
Secretary
Jim Johnson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He grew up in a small town in west central Wisconsin. After high school, he entered North Central University, graduating in 1977. After college he married Leisa and served as a youth pastor in Rockford, Illinois.
Moving to Colorado, he started his own business and continued serving as a youth pastor. In late 1984, Jim and Leisa moved to San Jose and brought his business to the Bay Area. They have resided in Almaden Valley for almost 30 years.
In 2008 Jim organized 190 volunteers to help victims of the Summit Hill Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Jim and his volunteers helped many people clean up their properties, cut and plant thousands of trees, and rebuild houses. Out of that effort grew a food outreach that now feeds about 1000 people. Jim, once again, organized volunteers to help the victims of the 2017 Loma Fire.
Jane Frommer​
​
Director
Jane Frommer has been a resident of the Almaden Valley since 1993. She and her husband Steve raised their two children here, participating in school and youth athletic organizations. They both had long careers as research scientists at the IBM Almaden Research Center. They now serve as science advisors at Google, expanding the reach of molecular recognition and association in scientific search.
Jane takes an active role as editor, reviewer, and board member in organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology. She is committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists, particularly those first in their families to seek advanced degrees. Her recognition includes the Perkin Medal Award, the ACS Industrial Chemist Award, the YWCA Tribute to Women Award, and an IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for Imaging and Manipulating Single Molecules.
Jane has a BS in Chemistry from Tufts University and a PhD in organometallic chemistry from Caltech.
In all of her endeavors - local and far - she upholds an idealistic yet rational approach.
Committee Chairs
Michele Dexter
​
Membership Chair
See bio above.
Vandana Kadam
​
Education Committee Chair
See bio above.
Kris Anne Gustavson
​
Parks & Rec Chair
See bio above.
Adrian Rafizadeh
​
Webmaster & Youth Chair
Adrian Rafizadeh is the graduating Senior Class President at Leland High School and an incoming first year student at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is passionate about civic engagement and is very active in District 10, having interned with Councilmember Khamis and served as the vice-chair of the District 10 Youth Advisory Council. He currently works as a Policy Analyst & Community Engagement Coordinator for Councilmember Mahan.
Jim Kuhl​
​
Planning, Zoning, and Building & Environment Chair
See bio above.
Gary Hector
Parks and Recreation Chair
See bio above.