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Rebecca Salner, Media Relations Officer
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
650.450.5525 or rsalner@siliconvalleycf.org

Nancy H. Handel Named Chair of Silicon Valley Community Foundation Board of Directors

John M. Sobrato Becomes Vice Chair Executive, Jayne Battey Joins Board

MOUNTAIN VIEW — Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a leading voice for innovative solutions to challenging community problems, today announced that corporate executive Nancy H. Handel has been appointed chair of the board of directors. In addition, John M. Sobrato has been named vice chair while executive Jayne Battey has joined the board.

Handel, former vice-chair of the community foundation’s board, assumed the role of chair effective Jan. 1, 2009, replacing Patricia Bresee, a retired San Mateo County Superior Court commissioner who has devoted much of her professional life to children’s issues.

“Nancy’s financial and operational expertise, as well as her dedication to nonprofit service, are well known in the community,” said Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of the community foundation. “I know she will bring passion and commitment to her role as chair as well as insight and experience.”

Handel joined the board in June 2007, becoming the first member appointed after the merger that created the community foundation.

She served as chief financial officer for Applied Materials from 2004 to 2007 and was named one of the “Best CFOs in America” in 2006 by Institutional Investor magazine. She joined Applied in 1985 and, in addition to her finance executive responsibilities at the company, Handel provided leadership for the community affairs organization and global philanthropy program in addition to contributing her own time and support to civic and nonprofit groups.

In 2006, she received the 2006 Community Service Award at the Bay Area CFO of the Year Awards.

Handel has been a leader with the Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County, where she served on the board for 12 years, and a member of the Alumni Board of Directors of the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

Current board member John M. Sobrato will serve as vice-chair. Sobrato is chief executive officer of The Sobrato Organization, where he oversees operations of the firm’s diversified holdings. Those holdings include an 8.5-million square-foot commercial portfolio in the Bay Area, a 7,500-unit residential portfolio in the western states, a global portfolio of marketable securities and a private philanthropic foundation, the Sobrato Family Foundation.

Sobrato currently serves as vice chair of the Board of Regents of Santa Clara University, chair of the Board of Trustees at Bellarmine College Preparatory and vice chair of the board of KQED Public Television. In the past, he has served on the boards of the Tech Museum of Innovation, KTEH public television, Catholic Charities of San José, American Musical Theater San Jose, Charities Housing and the San José Repertory Theater.

The community foundation also announced the appointment of Jayne Battey to the 20-member board.

Battey leads a statewide effort in land conservation and environmental education for youth. As executive director of the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council, she has managed development of the $100 million private foundation since its formation in 2005.

Battey, who has been a resident and active community member of San Mateo County for the past 25 years, co-founded the consulting firm of Essex Environmental in 1988 and served as its president prior to joining the Stewardship Council. From 1983 to 1988, she was an environmental planner at Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

Battey was a member of the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board from 1995 to 2005 and is actively involved in her community in Half Moon Bay, where she is currently vice president of the Cabrillo Education Foundation.

“We are excited to welcome Jayne to the community foundation,” said Handel. “She has a wonderful blend of executive, nonprofit and grantmaking experience. She has seen first-hand the benefits of working to improve communities throughout California, as well as the communities in our own region.”

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a catalyst and leader for innovative solutions to our region's most challenging problems. Serving all of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the community foundation has more than $1.9 billion in assets under management and 1,500 philanthropic funds. The community foundation provides grants through donor advised and corporate funds in addition to its own Community Endowment Fund. In addition, the community foundation serves as a regional center for philanthropy, providing donors simple and effective ways to give locally and around the world. Silicon Valley Community Foundation launched in January 2007 following the landmark merger of Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Peninsula Community Foundation and is now one of the largest community foundations in the nation. Find out more at www.siliconvalleycf.org.