Board of Directors

President Ken Bond Vice President of Investor Relations, Oracle ken.bond@oracle.com 650-607-0349 Ken Bond is the Vice President of Investor Relations for Oracle. He and his team are responsible for developing and maintaining relations with shareholders and research analysts. Since joining Oracle in May 2009, he has worked closely with the executive management team to communicate Oracle's vision, strategy, and operating results with shareholders and research analysts. Prior to joining Oracle, Ken spent 2˝ years at VeriSign as the Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications. While at VeriSign, he led the successful turnaround of the company's Investor Relations program as the company was recognized as the "Most Improved Mid-Cap IR Program" and Ken was individually ranked in the top 1% of all Investor Relations Officers for 2008 by Barron's and IR Magazine. Before joining VeriSign, Ken spent six years at Cisco Systems as member of the company's Investor Relations team. At Cisco, Ken was a key member of the IR team, which was recognized with the Gran Prix award as the "Best Overall IR Program" in 2004 by Barron's and IR Magazine. Ken previously spent twelve years at Hewlett-Packard as a Business Development Manager. Additionally, he worked at Price Waterhouse in completing his requirements to become a Certified Public Accountant. Ken holds a Masters of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Business Administration with a Concentration in Marketing from San Jose State University. This is Ken's 5th year on the NIRI Silicon Valley Board of Directors. President-Elect Tricia Gugler Vice President of Investor Relations, Silver Spring Networks tgugler@silverspringnet.com 650-780-4504 Tricia Gugler is the Vice President of Investor Relations for Silver Spring Networks, a leading Smart Grid solution provider that enables utilities to achieve operational efficiencies, reduce carbon emissions and empower their customers with new ways to monitor and manage their energy consumption. Prior to joining Silver Spring Networks in November 2009, Tricia spent over five years at Electronic Arts, most recently as Vice President of Investor Relations. Before joining Electronic Arts, Tricia spent over 10 years in public accounting, most recently as an Audit Senior Manager at Ernst and Young in Palo Alto auditing clients in the technology sector. Tricia is a non-active CPA in California and Massachusetts. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Accounting at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Tricia is nominated to her fourth term on the Board of Directors of the NIRI Silicon Valley Chapter, her second term as VP of Board Affairs. She previously served as the VP of Programs. Vice President, Board Affairs Lisa Hartman Director, Investor Relations, Juniper Networks lisah@juniper.net 408-936-6123 Lisa is the Director of Investor Relations at Juniper Networks, the leader in high-performance networking. She joined the company in 2007, where she co-manages buy-side and sell-side relationships and leads the collaborative team involved in the earnings process. She recently completed a rotational position in the treasury group where she played a key role in helping the company achieve investment grade ratings from Moody's and S&P and successfully issue a $1 billion bond offering. As a well respected investor relations professional, Lisa's contributions have led to Juniper receiving multiple awards and recognitions by IR Magazine and Institutional Investor Magazine. Prior to joining Juniper, Lisa spent four years in investor relations at Lam Research where she co-managed relationships with sell-side financial analysts and institutional investors and planned and executed the company's attendance at investor conferences and road-shows. She began her career at Lam in 1998 where she held several positions within finance and accounting, including a role as "guest auditor" in the Internal Audit group, prior to joining the IR team. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from San Jose Sate University. Lisa serves on the Board of Directors of the NIRI Silicon Valley Chapter where she was Vice President of Treasury for two years and is currently Co-Chair of Educational Programs. Vice President, Marketing & Communications Brenda Ropoulos Principal and Founder, VisionArts Communications brenda@visionartscommunications.com 510-414-6772 Brenda Ropoulos is the founder of VisionArts Communications LLC, an integrated communications agency that provides "IR-on-Demand" in addition to Public Relations, Industry Analyst Relations, Marketing Communications and Social Networking solutions to the diverse high tech companies of the Silicon Valley. She is a creative, team-oriented professional with 25 years experience delivering strategies that inform, educate and persuade her clients' key audiences. Brenda began her career developing corporate incentive, trade show and special events for Fortune 500 companies. She refined her skills as a corporate communicator at Coherent Medical Group, and entered the field of investor relations in 1998 with Network Equipment Technologies, where she also directed public/industry/analyst relations through the company's turn-around and re-positioning into the developing broadband industry. As senior director of marketing at Cloudmark, a private company, she introduced messaging security solutions to carrier markets. As a consultant, she directed IR at semiconductor test company Credence Systems through its merger and transition with LTX Corporation. An 11-year NIRI-SV member, Brenda is nominated to her third term on the Board, previously leading the Marketing Communications role. Vice President of Marketing & Communications Brian Walton Director of Sales – Northwest, Marketwire bwalton@marketwire.com 415-343-3914 Brian Walton is Director of Northwest Sales with Marketwire, a leading global newswire and communication services firm. Prior to joining Marketwire, Brian worked in sales for a San Francisco based Avaya Business Partner selling telecom hardware and services to the SMB market. Prior to that he served as the Marketing Coordinator for Cumulus Broadcasting of Santa Barbara where he handled promotional event planning for 3 radio stations. Brian holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Brian is nominated to his 5th year on the NIRI SV Board, having previously held positions in Seminars, Board Affairs and Professional Development. Vice President, Membership Sandra Kerrigan IR Specialist, VMware skerrigan@vmware.com 650-427-2892 Sandra Kerrigan is an IR Specialist at VMware, the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure. Prior to VMware, Sandra worked in Investor Relations at Symantec, a leading provider of security, storage and systems management. Sandra started her career working in the banking industry, including roles at Thomas Weisel Partners and Robertson Stephens. Sandra graduated from the University of London, Birkbeck College with a B.A. in English & History. She resides in Palo Alto and enjoys outdoor sports including horse-riding. Sandra has previously served as the administrator to the NIRI Silicon Valley Board, 2009 – 2011. This is Sandra’s first term on the Board of Directors of the NIRI Silicon Valley Chapter. Vice President, Professional Development & Networking Hunter Landers Marketing Communications Professional hunter@bigfishwines.com 415-994-1922 Hunter has more than 15 years of experience in the marketing communications fields, and has worked with clients ranging from IPO start-ups, to the Fortune 500 in a wide variety of sectors and industries. He was formally Senior Vice President for Creative Strategy Group (CSG), an integrated marketing communications agency. Hunter oversaw the firm's West Coast operations. In addition, he was responsible for new business development and client project coordination. Prior to CSG, Hunter was Regional Vice President for Curran & Connors, Inc., a large national marketing communications agency specializing in annual report design and production. He was responsible for the establishment of the agency's West Coast business and built it into a multi-million dollar, multi-office division. Hunter began his career by founding, and managing a computer hardware reselling business in the greater Philadelphia area. Hunter has been a member of the National Investor Relations Institute for 13 years nationally, and is actively involved in both the San Francisco and Silicon Valley chapters. He has degrees in both Political Science and Logistics Management from Syracuse University. This is Hunter’s fourth term on the Board, previously serving as VP of both Marketing Communications and Membership. Vice President, Programs Marty Palka Chief Intelligence Analyst, Cisco Systems mpalka@cisco.com 650-645-7103 Marty Palka is Chief Intelligence Analyst, (CIA), Investor Relations for Cisco Systems. He has contributed to Cisco Systems’ strategic and tactical intelligence initiatives since joining the company in 1995, the last 13 years as a member of Cisco Investor Relations team. He focuses on creating and sharing wisdom and wealth, that invigorates and positively impacts the way we work, live, play, and learn. Among his current specific responsibilities are Market Intelligence, Fixed Income relationships, and the important role that sustainable competitive advantage plays in maximizing shareholder value. Marty has contributed to the Cisco Investor Relations team that has been awarded and recognized for its best practices in communications, trust, transparency, relationships, use of technology, and corporate social responsibility by Institutional Investor, IR Magazine, Barron’s and many others. This is Marty’s first term on the NIRI Silicon Valley Board of Directors. Vice President, Programs Tim Shanahan VP of Investor Relations, DemandTec Tim.Shanahan@demandtec.com 650-645-7103 Tim Shanahan is VP of Investor Relations for DemandTec, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand optimization solutions for retailers and consumer products companies. In this role, Tim is responsible for articulating the company's strategic direction to the investment community. Tim works closely with sell-side analysts and brokers, buy-side portfolio managers, institutional analysts and individual investors to deliver corporate and financial information needed in the investment decision making process. Prior to DemandTec, Tim served as Vice President of Investor Relations at iPass, Inc., a provider of software-enabled enterprise connectivity services for mobile workers, where he helped manage the company's successful IPO and three strategic acquisitions. Prior to his position with iPass, Tim served in various management roles at NetScreen Technologies, Versata, Inc. and NorthPoint Communications. Tim is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. This is Tim's first nomination to the Board. Vice President, Programs Michael Sullivan VP of Investor Relations, Applied Materials michael_sullivan@amat.com 408-748-5227 Mike Sullivan has worked in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years and joined NIRI in 2002. He is Vice President of Investor Relations at Santa Clara-based Applied Materials, the world's largest equipment supplier to the semiconductor, LCD display and PV solar industries. He joined Applied from Intel where he worked in investor relations from 2001-2008. He also held corporate communications roles at Intel's Santa Clara, Munich and Swindon, U.K. offices from 1992-2001. He previously worked at communications agencies serving clients in semiconductors, computer hardware, services, software and distribution. Mike received his MBA from Santa Clara University and BA from San Jose State University. He resides with his family in Santa Cruz and enjoys outdoor sports, recreation and music. He also enjoys motorcycling and serves on the advisory board of the RawHyde Adventures riding school. Mike is nominated to his first term on the Board. This is Michaels 1st nomination to the board. Vice President, Roundtables Remy Bernarda Vice President, IR Sense remy@irsense.com 415-203-6386 Remy Bernarda is a Vice President at IR Sense, an investor relations consulting service ranging from fully outsourced investor relations to special projects. Previously, Remy was Managing Director, Investor Relations and Communications at Blueprint Life Science Group where she was responsible for all aspects of the investor relations and communications strategy and implementation for the firm's clients. Prior to Blueprint, Remy was Director, Investor Relations at Hana Biosciences, an oncology focused biopharmaceutical company. Remy also spent twelve years employed with various Wall Street firms. Most recently, she was Assistant VP at Knight Equity Markets and was responsible for West Coast Client Service and the implementation of Corporate Access to offer public company roadshows to the firm's buy-side institutional clients. Previously, she worked in the Investment Banking Division at Bear Stearns & Co. and she spent six years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where she left as a VP and Business Unit Manager for the San Francisco Equities Division. Remy holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University, and she is serving her fourth year on the Board of Directors of the NIRI Silicon Valley Chapter. Vice President, Seminars Stephanie Wakefield Vice President of Investor Relations, Informatica swakefield@informatica.com 650-385-5261 Stephanie Wakefield leads Informatica’s global Investor Relations team. With a capital markets and marketing background, Stephanie took on the Informatica Investor Relations function in late 2003, when company had a ~$200m run rate and a market cap <$1 billion and helped drive recognition for growth to a $650+ million revenue company with a market cap exceeding $4.5 billion. Prior to Investor Relations, Stephanie spent three years a senior product marketing manager at Informatica. Before Informatica, she was in charge of Industry Solutions Marketing for Financial Services at MicroStrategy. Stephanie started her career focusing on Eurobond issuance on the Debt Capital Markets desk at Deutsche Bank Securities. Stephanie has been honored by the American Business Awards with a Stevie Award as the Communications, PR or IR Executive of the Year 2011. Stephanie has also been recognized two-two time Institutional Investor All America Executive team member (2009, 2011). Stephanie graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Economics and in Asian Studies (Chinese). She holds an MSc in Development Finance from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. This is Stephanie’s first year on the Board. Vice President, Seminars Paul Ziots Director, Investor Relations, Oracle paul.ziots@oracle.com 650-506-3043 Paul Ziots is Director of Investor Relations at Oracle. Paul joined Oracle from Sun Microsystems, where he was responsible for virtually all aspects of Sun's IR program, including developing strong buy- side and sell-side relationships, creating and implementing strategic and operational plans, architecting and driving the quarterly earnings processes, as well as improving quality and reducing costs by three-fourths for the combined annual report/IR website/yearly stockholders' meeting processes. Previously, Paul held various positions in corporate operations such as supplier management and IT program management. Before joining Sun, Paul was a finance and purchasing manager for General Motors at their North American Headquarters, a human resources liaison for TI Japan, an English teacher for the Japan Ministry of Education, and a production control supervisor for Texas Instruments near Dallas, Texas. Paul graduated from the University of Michigan with a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering, followed by an MBA and a Master of Arts (Asian Studies: Japan). Paul is nominated to his second term on the Board of Directors of the NIRI Silicon Valley Chapter. Treasurer Matthew Rhodes Director, Corporate FP&A, Intuit Matthew_Rhodes@intuit.com 650-944-2536 Matt Rhodes is Director, Investor Relations for Intuit Inc. Prior to joining Intuit in March 2010, Matt spent four years in Investor Relations at Yahoo! Inc. He worked in equity research for seven years with Banc of America Securities, as an editor and as a research associate covering education stocks. He began his career with several marketing roles at Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Matt holds an MBA from The Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in communications from Northwestern University. He is a CFA charter holder. This is Matt’s first term on the NIRI Silicon Valley Board of Directors. Return to Top >