April 20, 2007

Chatting at the Chamber dinner

More than 300 people gathered at the Marriot to celebrate the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce’s fifth annual Women in Leadership dinner on April 11 and among them was Vice Mayor Dave Cortese, pictured here with former Chamber president Jim Cuneen, left, and Victor Arranaga, who is manager of government affairs for Applied Materials.

During the dinner, the Chamber recognized Monica Sandoval, Corella Hernandez and Melissa Shain-Shain Bautista and presented them with $3,000 grants. All three are working, attending school and raising families. Also speaking at the dinner was Santa Clara County’s first female District Attorney, Delores Carr, who encouraged all the women present to take risks and to get out of their comfort zone. There is no marble ceiling in Santa Clara County, she said, as more women take over jobs formerly dominated by men, such as Katherine Gardner as the county’s presiding judge and Laurie Smith as sheriff.

Carr is pictured at left with chamber president and CEO, Pat Dando.

—By Carol Rosen