Julie Kawahara has dedicated her life to the public sector, focusing on government, educational institutions and nonprofit service organizations that support individuals and communities to thrive.  She has over 25 years of experience in organizational development, strategic planning, program and evaluation design.  She is the lead consultant in her own business, Kawahara & Associates, focused on healthcare, education, human services, workforce development and climate justice.  Throughout her career, Ms. Kawahara has always been at the forefront of progressive initiatives designed to improve community and system outcomes.  Working with larger institutions such as Santa Rosa Junior College, Sonoma State University, California Department of Health Services, Sonoma County Department of Health and Human Services Department, and Sonoma County Indian Health Project, Ms. Kawahara has conducted evaluations, designed and implemented programs, developed policies and procedures and facilitated diverse groups in strategic action planning.  One significant project with the Santa Rosa Junior College was to establish a health career center for Latinx students fulfilling the vision of increasing the Spanish-speaking workforce in healthcare for the local hospitals and clinics.

Smaller organizations have also benefitted from Board development and training, strategic planning, fund development planning and improvements to their human resources processes.  These include local grassroots organizations such as Los Cien, Positive Images (LGBTQ+), Latino Service Providers, Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of the North Bay, and the Community Baptist Collaborative.

In 2020, Kawahara & Associates broadened their client base to include organizations focused on climate solutions and environmental justice.  The inter-relationship and inter-dependencies of humans and earth’s ability to thrive has become more critical and apparent to even those who are not working in health and environment.  Applying her knowledge and experience in the healthcare sector, Ms. Kawahara has easily translated how the human ecosystem is a smaller model of the earth’s ecosystem. Furthermore, natural and man-made disasters have exacerbated the inequities and disparities experience by the poor and communities of color.  Ms. Kawahara has been appointed to the Climate Action Advisory Council for the Regional Climate Protection Authority and has recently been appointed to the Board of Directors for Pepperwood Preserve in Sonoma County.

Dr. Bennett is the Chief of Science and Harry and Diana Hind Dean of Research and Collections. She was the Academy’s first ever Associate Curator of Microbiology, helping broaden the Academy’s research scope to include a dedicated focus on viruses and bacteria. Her specialty lies in infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. 

From 2004-2011, Bennett was an Associate Professor at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine & Infectious Diseases, part of the School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. During her seven years at the Institute, she led a number of research projects on virus evolution, identification, and transmission with funding from the National Institutes of Health. She applies advanced technologies from genomics and bioinformatics to study dengue, hantavirus, influenza, and other viruses, and also bacteria such as leptospirosis and those found in mosquito vectors. She is especially interested in the nature of genetic mutations that give viruses the potential to cause epidemics or switch to new hosts. 

Prior to her work in Hawaii, Bennett researched the dengue virus in Puerto Rico and parasitic roundworms in Texas and Vancouver. She received her B.Sc. from McGill University and her Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of British Columbia.

Paul Downey has been an investment banker for more than 50 years, advising American and international clients on global financing, mergers and acquisitions. Raised in New England, Paul began his investment banking career in New York with First Boston in 1966, following graduation from Yale College and three years in the U.S. Navy. He was a partner with White Weld from 1971 to 1978 in San Francisco and New York, before returning to First Boston as a Managing Director, and as Executive Director of its affiliate, Credit Suisse First Boston. He was based in CSFB’s London headquarters and the New York offices of First Boston for the next ten years, responsible for raising capital through international equity and debt financings on behalf of the firm’s U.S. clients. In 1989, he returned to San Francisco to head the firm’s West Coast banking operations, where he advised large and small clients on financings, mergers and acquisitions. In 1991 he retired from First Boston to open Downey Capital, working primarily with privately-owned U.S. companies on capital structure, financing and M&A. He serves on the board of Seven Hills Group and is a past board member of White Weld, First Boston, CSFB & Flynn Olympic, the Santa Rosa Symphony, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, National Repertory Orchestra, and The Keystone Center. He lives with his wife, Hallie Beacham, MD, in Healdsburg, California, where they grow zinfandel. Between them they have six children and eight grandchildren.

Elvia Najera Santiago is an accomplished environmental science professional at the Sonoma County Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures. Raised in Sonoma County, she is deeply committed to protecting the region’s landscapes, waterways, and agricultural communities.

Elvia holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Davis. Her focus was on watershed science, and her expertise includes field monitoring, environmental data collection, and regenerative agriculture. She has extensive experience in soil monitoring, agricultural research, pest detection, and promoting regenerative farming practices throughout California and Oregon.

A strong collaborator, Elvia has worked closely with growers, researchers, field teams, and community partners to convert environmental data into actionable solutions for a range of agricultural and environmental challenges. Her work underscores her passion for the intricate relationships among healthy ecosystems, climate resilience, agricultural sustainability, biodiversity, and thriving communities.

Elvia is particularly dedicated to fostering conservation efforts that recognize the essential bond between people and the land, while also creating opportunities for historically underrepresented communities to participate in environmental stewardship.

Having completed the TeenNat program at Pepperwood in 2016, she is enthusiastic about giving back to the organization by leveraging her agricultural and environmental expertise to advance science-based conservation. As a bilingual professional fluent in English and Spanish, Elvia is focused on building a more sustainable and inclusive future for Sonoma County.

David Bradlow is a trustee and receiver based in the Bay Area. He founded his practice in 1979 and specializes in complex family trust matters, Chapter 11 bankruptcies, receiverships, and out-of-court financial restructurings. His experience spans various industries, with a particular emphasis on commercial and residential real estate, including property management, purchases, sales, leasing, exchanges, renovations, and refinancing.

Mr. Bradlow is the president and CEO of the Lindskog Foundation, a grant-giving organization he established following litigation initiated by the Attorney General of California, during which he was appointed as trustee of the Eva Lindskog Trust. The Foundation provides funding for healthcare, education, and job training for lower-income residents in Marin County.

Currently, he serves on the advisory board of Tikvah, a New York-based think tank and Jewish education organization, and is a member of the board of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum. He has also served on the board of the San Francisco Law School, as both a board member and president of the Community Alliance for Special Education, and for over twenty years as the board president of Sterne School, a San Francisco institution for children with learning disabilities.

Mr. Bradlow is a published author, having written articles on a variety of topics, including problem loans, financial restructuring, business strategy, and geopolitics. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Journal of Commercial Bank Lending, the American Bar Association Journal, the CPA Journal, Bankers Magazine, the Jerusalem Post, and the Times of Israel.

Originally from South Africa, Mr. Bradlow holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA from Stanford University. He has been a U.S. citizen since 1983.

Born and raised in Los Altos, California, Mark Dwight is the founder and owner of Rickshaw Bagworks (rickshawbags.com), a San Francisco-based manufacturer of custom messenger bags, backpacks, briefcases, tote bags, and related everyday carry accessories. Prior to founding Rickshaw, Mark was the CEO of Timbuk2Designs (2002 – 2006), another San Francisco-based bag manufacturer. Before he started designing and making bags, Mark spent 20 years working in various Silicon Valley technology companies including, Spectra-Physics, KLA Instruments, Digital Microwave, Kensington, and Cisco Systems (1997 – 2001). Mark is also the founder of SFMade.org, an organization supporting San Francisco-based manufacturers. Mark has served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and the San Francisco Small Business Commission. Mark has a BS in Mechanical Engineering (1982) and an MBA (1989), both from Stanford University.

Rob Das, a California native, is a retired entrepreneur in the software industry. He has over 35 years of experience designing and building real-time data analytics platforms, operating systems, networking infrastructure, group collaboration, and financial information delivery systems. Rob was an early member of the team at Lotus Development Corporation (original inventors of the spreadsheet application), a senior architect at Sun Microsystems, and a senior engineer for a joint partnership between Apple, Hewlett Packard, and IBM. Since the late ’90s, Rob focused entirely on venture capital backed, early-stage companies where in addition to hands-on development, he held the roles of VP of Engineering, Chief Technology Officer, and board member. Most recently, Rob co-founded Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) and saw it through a very successful IPO in 2012. Splunk is currently a large, fast growing international company that empowers businesses with Operational Intelligence by collecting, routing, and analyzing huge amounts of real-time data from a multitude of sources.  Rob owns a working vineyard, makes wine and olive oil, and generally enjoys good food and friends. 

Dave Weber retired in 2022 after a distinguished career at Wells Fargo Bank, where he served as the Chief Credit and Risk Officer for Wholesale Banking. In this role, Dave oversaw more than 50% of Wells Fargo’s total assets, managing over $500 billion in loans and other risk assets. His responsibilities spanned credit and risk decisioning for all commercial and corporate banking, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, non-profit, municipal lending, capital markets, and investment portfolio activities.

In addition to his primary responsibilities, Dave managed the company’s workout portfolio of distressed loans, led the agricultural lending analytics team, and directed the Credit Training Program. He was a key member of the Wells Fargo Management Committee, contributing to the strategic direction of the bank.

Throughout his tenure at Wells Fargo, Dave held numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including roles in capital markets, relationship management, and commercial credit. He also served as the president and chief executive officer of the Wells Fargo HSBC Trade Bank, an equity joint venture between Wells Fargo and HSBC Group.

Dave currently serves as the Chairman of the Board and Audit Committee Chair of Fortress Credit Realty Trust, a private commercial real estate lending trust.

Dave holds a B.A. in Economics from Loyola University in New Orleans and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Dave is committed to community service. He serves on the board and finance committee of Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa and has previously served on the boards and finance committees of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Symphony, and the San Francisco Marin Food Bank.

Dave and his wife reside in Healdsburg San Francisco California, and are proud parents of two adult children.

Julianna Graham is Senior Advisor, BPM, LLC. Her banking career spans over 30 years with experience in commercial lending, business development, sales management, strategic planning and project management. She also served as CEO of Western Independent Bankers, a community banking member association and is a faculty member of Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington teaching leadership. She graduated from University of San Francisco with a BS in Organizational Leadership and an MBA in Finance from Golden Gate University. She is married, has three daughters and three grandchildren

Robert Holcomb, Ph.D. is Vice President of Academic Affairs and Assistant Superintendent at Santa Rosa Junior College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution in Northern California. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Studies with emphasis in Linguistics and Anthropology from Claremont Graduate University, an M.S. in Teaching English as a Second Language, and a B.A. in Spanish Literature and Linguistics from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Holcomb brings extensive experience in academic leadership, accreditation, and equity-driven institutional transformation. His work includes leading successful accreditation compliance efforts, advancing data-informed continuous improvement, and spearheading a Strategic Enrollment Management Plan that produced significant enrollment recovery. Previously, as Dean of Language Arts and Academic Foundations, he led the establishment of a new Ethnic Studies Department, secured a $2.65 million Hispanic-Serving Institution grant, expanded educational access for incarcerated students, and guided major initiatives in curriculum redesign, faculty development, and student success. His leadership is grounded in collaboration, transparency, and a strong commitment to equity and inclusive excellence.