About Us
Silicon Valley was the first-ever chapter of the Berkeley Haas Alumni Network. Since our founding in 2000, we have consistently delivered regular professional and social events to help keep you connected to Berkeley Haas, and had the honor of being named "Chapter of the Year" in 2023.
Our Team
Ilyse Pender
I have held technical, marketing, and strategy roles across multiple disciplines, including enterprise software, consumer products, and EdTech. My current focus is launching my startup, RaiderHawk Media, an independent media company specializing in mobile application development, podcasting, live-streaming, and social media strategy. My years at Berkeley Haas were some of the best years of my life. I am active on the Chapter board to maintain my connection to the school, current students, and fellow alums.
Eleanor Yuan
Eleanor is an investor at RPS Ventures. Before joining RPS, she was an Associate Director at UBS's Technology Investment Banking group, advising software and internet companies on M&A and capital raising. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, hiking and exploring new restaurants in the bay area.
Eleanor holds a B.A. in Operations Research & Management Science, and a B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley.
Lili Kan
I have worked in the high tech industry for 20+ years mostly leading engineering organizations. Currently I am the Head of Engineering of Payment Intelligence at Stripe. Haas and Cal have given me the opportunities that I enjoy today, and I'd like to give back to the school and Haas.
Nora Li-Wong
As a naturally strategic thinker, not only had Nora a successful career transition from academic professional to global marketer, but also built 15+ years of residential real estate investment track records in very competitive and dynamic San Francisco Bay Area real estate markets. Her success is accredited to her experiences at Haas, as well as marketing and management practice in corporate settings. She has impeccable attention to detail, without losing big picture. Her clients and friends regard her as an honest, caring, and data-driven real estate advisor. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming, traveling, and Jigsaw puzzles. Learned from Haas, Nora is deeply involved and giving back to her communities, by volunteering at CAL and beyond.
Emily Wang
Emily is currently working at Lume Capital investing in financial technology companies. Previously, she worked at Robinhood focusing on equity trading, Industry Ventures, Square 1 Bank, and Dipsea Capital helping the teams identify and evaluate investment opportunities. Back in school, Emily co-founded Entrepreneurs @ Berkeley to help nurture the next unicorn and connect student entrepreneurs with investors and industry professionals. She is also a table tennis player. She represented the school and won two times women's championships in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Championships of North America. UC Berkeley has opened up a lot of opportunities for her. She'd like to give back to the school and the community.
Eric Tom
I am retired from a long career in Tech, from Telecom to Cloud to Software & SaaS, and most recently Data Analytics. My experience is in Sales & Marketing, Operations, Product, and Finance & Accounting earlier in my career. I have worked in early-stage companies, mid-size and large public companies managing teams as large as 6,500 people. I sincerely enjoy giving back to HAAS as much of my success emanated from the strong fundamental background I was provided at Berkeley.
Victor Adint
Victor Adint completed his Full-time MBA from Berkeley Haas in 1998 and has served on the Haas Alumni Network Silicon Valley Board since 2002. Victor is a Wealth Advisor, Branch Manager, and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC, at 229 West Main Street #1, Los Gatos, CA 95030, 408-402-3059.
Nima Sherpa
I started as a Deloitte auditor in NYC and later got exposed to Silicon Valley startup in a Finance role and other multifaceted roles. I push boundaries, especially social and personal growth, to learn. I deep dive with different stakeholders at different levels along the path. Berkeley Haas is home where I grew to be a whole person and one of the ways to express my gratitude is to pay it forward by being part of its Alumni Chapter.
Angela Lau
Angela Lau is a seasoned product manager and a former startup founder. She is passionate about leveraging technology to build products that solve significant problems. She lives the Haas Defining Leadership Principles, especially Student Always, as she developed a passion for lifelong learning, believing that she would never stop growing.
Angela graduated from Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley (EWMBA) in 2016, and she wants to serve and give back to the Haas alumni community.
Srinivas Hanabe
I have worked in the high tech industry for 20+ years in product management, product marketing and engineering leadership. Currently, I am leading product management for several areas of Uber's infrastructure. Haas has played an important role in my life and I want to give back to the school. I also enjoy staying in touch with alumni and meeting new people.
Florian Pestoni
Florian Pestoni is the CEO and co-founder at InOrbit, the leading RobOps (robot operations) platform. He has over 15 years' experience leading products from startups to public companies including Facebook, Microsoft and Adobe. With hands-on experience in enterprise, SaaS and media products used by hundreds of millions of users, Florian shares a compelling vision and applies Lean Product principles to build and scale technology products and companies.
Getting an MBA at UC Berkeley is one of the experiences that had the biggest impact on me both personally and professionally. I've always been aligned with the values, like Question the Status Quo and Students Always; by joining the SV Board I will be able to expand on Beyond Yourself by reconnecting with the Haas community and paying it forward.
Matt Caspari
I'm a two-time founder/CEO and the Managing Partner of Strawberry Creek Ventures. Previously, I was a leader of the innovation team at Nike. While at UC Berkeley, I founded Aurora Biofuels, which grew to over 100 employees before being acquired by Reliance Industries. I am a longtime Judge / Mentor at LAUNCH: The University of California’s Startup Accelerator and a Mentor at Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship. I joined the board to make new friends and support Haas.
Abha Bhagat
I have worked in the tech industry in Finance, Market Research and Analysis. I graduated from the Evening Weekend MBA program at Berkeley Haas in 2010. I am currently working in Finance at Cisco Systems. Berkeley Haas has made possible a variety of opportunities for me. Serving on the Silicon Valley Haas Alumni Network Board allows me to stay connected and give back to the school and alumni.
David B. Hansen
My career has spanned energy to education, high tech to health care. I've contributed to governments, non-profits, for-profits, and startups. I'm now Co-Founder and VP with an online educational company, Miaplaza. The Chapter's leadership team inspires, as do its events.
Ali Irturk
Ali currently serves as the Vice President of Engineering at Rithum, the industry's most influential and trusted commerce network. He has previously held leadership roles at rocketship startups funded by some of the world's top VCs and public companies. Born and raised in Istanbul, Ali graduated from the Turkish Naval Academy and served as an officer in the Turkish Navy. After leaving the Navy, he earned Master's degrees in Computer Engineering and Economics at UC Santa Barbara, a Ph.D. in Computer Science at UC San Diego, and an MBA at UC Berkeley.
He wants to foster stronger connections and substantially contribute to Haas and its alumni network.
Paroma Sen
Paroma Sen is a Senior Director for SAP’s Industry Cloud solutions, leading GTM for discrete industries. Paroma has spent over 16 years in technology go-to-market, strategically moving up the value chain from semiconductors to software licensing, e-commerce and enterprise software. With a passion for the uncharted path, she naturally veers toward bringing innovation to market. She has worked directly with six startup companies, and writes extensively about startups, marketing, technology, customer experience, and leadership. Paroma has an MBA from Berkeley (Haas), MA (Advertising) from UT Austin and MS (Computer Engineering) from UT Austin. Paroma graduated from Berkeley Haas in 2013, and has recently joined the Haas Alumni Silicon Valley Chapter as a board member, with the intent to build stronger relationships and give back to the school, other Haas peers, and the Silicon Valley business ecosystem.
Purva Desai
Throughout my professional journey, I've navigated through roles in law firms as well as local and federal government agencies. In my spare time, I dedicate myself to volunteering at the Second Harvest Food Bank and running a small tutoring business. Now, as a current EWMBA student, I aspire to serve as a liaison, fostering stronger ties between current students and alumni.
Do you want to stay connected to Berkeley Haas - Closer to Home?
The best way to get involved with our chapter is to attend one of our upcoming events, and reach out to a current board member. Click on the button below to see our events calendar.