SF Bay Area Chambers and Associations at their Best

Gene Filipi has been an sfAMA member since 1999 and serves as the sfAMA President. Gene draws upon two decades of successful sales, marketing and market research experience. He strongly believes in the benefits of a connected and collaborative community of marketers. Gene’s leadership skills empower sfAMA members to discover marketing innovations and share new ideas. He currently serves as the Director of Sales for Kinesis Survey Technologies and has been an innovative contributor to Lieberman Research Worldwide, the Gallup Organization, and CfMC. - See more at: http://sfama.org/board-of-directors/#sthash.aCYarklg.dpuf

Oscar Garcia is President & CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Mountain View. He Successfully turned around the Chamber's finances from a deficit of $121,000 in 2010 to increasing revenue 21% net income 235% and expenses only 2% over a six-year period. In 2014 he was nominated for Chamber Executive of the Year. Prior to working at the Chamber, he worked in the technology industry for nearly 15 years, including working for five startups. Always willing to challenge his comfort zone, in 2013 he became the TV host of Silicon Valley Business, a show focused on highlighting the innovation and heart of Silicon Valley Business. His passion for philanthropy extends to co-founding a nonprofit and serving on several boards. He has received various awards recognizing his leadership and community work. Oscar believes in relationship first, business second, and in honoring the past, disrupting the present and embracing the future. He views his CEO role as the "Chief Empowerment Officer" because When others feel empowered, they perform at their peak, which results in the organization performing at its peak.

Michele M. Horaney APR and Thought Leader Public Relations solve problems with economy and speed, and help organizations and individuals reach their goals using excellent public relations strategies and the best tactics available.
Michele brings to her individual and organizational clients more than 20+ years of invaluable experience in public relations at Stanford University and 10+ years as a news editor and reporter in California and Illinois.

During that time, she mastered the art of creating and applying effective and highly successful PR strategies and tactics in the areas of public policy, public affairs, issues management and higher education. These are still her areas of specialty. She also works as a master PR strategist with consultants who write books to advance their business plans and practices.

As a subcontracting writer and editor on a project basis, she develops and completes work for you on time and within budget.

Michele is president of the Public Relations Society of America in 2015, and is Accredited in Public Relations by PRSA. In addition, she holds a certificate in social media marketing from San Francisco State University. And she is a member of the San Francisco PR Roundtable.

Paige Meek oversees the program development and operations of AAMA. Prior to joining AAMA, Paige has worked in the non profit community with her main focus on fund raising. She currently sits on the San Mateo Public Library Foundation (SMPLF) Board of Directors as President affecting change and bringing about ideas such as the formation of the new auxiliary named The Literary Society which oversees the planning of the SMPLF Annual Author’s Gala each May. Paige also served as an Auxiliary Board member and President of P.A.R.C.A., an organization that raises funds to bring about services and support for those with developmental disabilities.

Paige also serves on the Steering Committee for Mills Peninsula Hospital Foundation that plans the largest annual women’s luncheon in the Bay Area every April, which assists under privileged women with obtaining health care. Prior to moving to the Bay Area in 2002, Paige worked in the hospitality industry including her planning of many large events at The Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City. She graduated from Mary Baldwin College in 1987 with a B.A. degree in Business Administration and continued her studies at L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda, Maryland as well as attending a Sommelier program.

Ray was elected to the Menlo Park City Council as the lead vote getter in the 2012 election.
He served as Mayor Pro Tem in 2013, and as Mayor of Menlo Park in 2014. Today, he again serves the residents of Menlo Park as a Councilmember.
Since joining the City Council, Ray has focused on preserving the historical character of Menlo Park, while expanding the economic opportunity for Menlo Park small business owners and improving the services and retail available to the residents of Menlo Park.

He has both initiated and supported efforts to hold more community events downtown, add expanded outdoor seating for restaurants, and create greater flexibility for retailers. Ray also initiated the holding Quarterly Small Business Round Tables.

While serving on City Council, Ray also has made a special effort to reach out to the youth of community by holding Town Halls at numerous public schools and creating and instructing leadership classes for youth at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto.

Menlo Park's public safety efforts also have vastly improved during Ray's tenure on the City Council. His leadership was instrumental in the opening of the new police substation and community service center in Belle Haven.

In addition to his duties on the City Council, Ray is also proud to serve on the Board of Directors of InnVision Shelter Network, the leading provider of shelter/housing and supportive services across Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Peninsula. IVSN operates 18 sites from San Jose to Daly City, providing interim and stabilization shelter for those in need of help, such as mothers and children escaping domestic abuse, to families who are newly unemployed.

Public service is a family affair in the Mueller household. Ray's wife, Kristen, recently was honored as "2014 School Administrator of the Year" for San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, for her work in local public schools.

Ray's service to Menlo Park began prior to his election to City Council.
In 2010, Ray was appointed to the Menlo Park Transportation Commission. During his tenure, the Commission tackled complex and diverse issues, including Facebook's expansion into Menlo Park, the El Camino Real Downtown Specific Plan, the Willows Traffic Study, and Stanford Hospital Expansion. It was during this time period that Ray established himself as a problem solver, unafraid to travel out into the community to dissect an issue and build consensus around a course of action.

Ray was elected Chair of the Menlo Park Transportation Commission in 2012.

Professionally, Ray works in a senior leadership role for an education technology company. In the past he worked as Chief of Staff to Santa Clara County Supervisor and former State Senator S. Joseph Simitian, tinkered as a product strategist and inventor for a human factors/product design firm here in the Silicon Valley, and practiced law. While in law school, Ray was one of the founders of the Hastings Society for Legislative Scholarship, which later became the Hastings Government Law Society. Ray also performed internships at the Public Law Research Institute in San Francisco, and at the Legislative Counsel's Office in Sacramento.

Kelli is a senior marketing and strategy executive with over 20 years of experience leading some of the largest brands in the U.S. and Europe. She spent over 10 years working as a strategic marketing consultant for technology, financial services and other Fortune 500 companies including Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo Bank, Apollo Group and HP. Kelli’s project focus is on developing content strategies that fuel marketing efforts, enabling companies to guide buyers through the sales funnel from awareness and consideration, to leads and closing deals. She is considered a lead generation expert, and believes that content is a key factor in driving highly qualified prospects.

Kelli’s career began in the technology industry, directing marketing efforts for several Internet and software companies. She served in numerous management positions with Charles Schwab & Co., with roles in client experience, marketing communications and product management. She ran consumer and enterprise marketing for Financial Engines and directed PR activities for Apple’s hardware, software and educational departments.

Kelli earned a double B.A. in International Relations and French from San Francisco State University and completed graduate coursework in International Relations at the Universite de Paris X, Nanterre.

Eric L. Schmidt is the CEO of EventBank, an enterprise engagement marketing automation SaaS platform. Founded in 2013,‎ the company now has offices in Silicon Valley and Beijing. Eric is also the Chairman and Founder of China Entrepreneurs, which he started in 2003 as an informal resource for entrepreneurs in China and it has grown to become the leading platform for entrepreneurship in China. He has worked with Chinese venture capital and private equity investments and incubated start-up technology companies. Mr. Schmidt co-founded 1 Lacrosse LLC (a sports equipment company) and successfully exited in 2009, as well as Ivy Discovery Institute (an educational services company).

Eric has traveled to over 50 countries and in 2004, sponsored by Nike and Phillips, he traced Marco Polo’s route, cycling 100 days from Beijing, China to Venice, Italy. Eric holds both a M.S. with a focus in Technological Entrepreneurship and a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Mr. Schmidt has been featured on media such as the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Baron’s, CCTV, China Daily and numerous other outlets.