Matt Braker has served as a prosecutor with the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office for over 25 years, bringing justice and compassion to some of the county's most challenging cases. As the head of the Homicide Unit, he oversees all homicide prosecutions, the Cold Case Unit, and Officer-Involved Shootings.
A two-time recipient of the prestigious Napolean J. Menard Trial Advocacy Award, Matt was honored in 2017 for successfully prosecuting three jail guards in the high-profile murder case of mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree.
Matt earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1992. He and his wife, Cyd, reside in San Jose and are proud parents of two grown sons, Bill and Max. 
Beyond the courtroom, Matt has been an engaged and passionate member of the Rotary Club of San Jose since 2015 and will proudly assume the role of Club President this July.
 

Please join us on Monday, June 9th at 4pm at the Gordon House for an informative meeting about the 2026 Rotaplast trip that will be sponsored by San Jose Rotary.  Rotaplast International is a non-profit that was started by the San Francisco Rotary Club in 1992 to eliminate the burden of cleft lip, cleft palate, burn scarring and other deformities.  Rotaplast sends teams of medical professionals (surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists, pediatricians) and non-medical personnel abroad for two weeks to perform these surgeries.  San Jose Rotary has a long history of supporting Rotaplast International by sponsoring trips and sending Rotarians on missions.  To date our Rotarians have been on over 20 missions!

You don’t need to be a medical professional to go.  There are many non-medical people who go on each mission and perform duties like transporting patients in wheelchairs, playing with children before their surgeries to reduce their anxiety, assisting in the post-anesthesia care unit, inputting medical records, taking photos and posting info on our blog and so much more!  What you do need is enthusiasm, flexibility, and a can-do attitude!

We would love to have you join us to learn more about the opportunity in 2026.  If you can’t join us in person, there is a zoom option but we would prefer to see you at the Gordon House.  Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect. For more information and/or to RSVP or get the zoom link, please contact our Rotaplast Committee co-chairs Terri Chapman (terrichapman3@gmail.com) or Jaime Chavez (Jaime.Chavez@firstcitizens.com).  Please note Terri will be on a Rotaplast mission May 17-30 so it may take a bit for her to respond to you!
 

New members were introduced at the May 28th meeting. Click here to read their fun facts and get to know them better. 

In lieu of our regular meeting, we had our Spring barbecue on Wednesday evening at History Park. Marie and Lisa handled registration, making sure everyone got their name tags before heading over to Bert George’s booze wagon, which was staffed by a rotating cast of characters that included Mike Chiappe, Steve Borkenhagen and Jaime Chavez. 

Red Badgers were helping out everywhere, including at the wine table, where Joan Escover and Shawn Rao were among the pourers. The appetizer table was filled with delightful bites including ribs, devilled eggs, salmon, cheese, shrimp cocktail and sausages. 

Sponsored by Rod Diridon

Gloria Duffy is a former US Department of Defense official, businesswoman, social entrepreneur and nonprofit executive. Since 1996, she has been president and CEO of the Commonwealth Club of California, America's largest and oldest public forum.  She led the acquisition, financing, design, entitlements and construction of the club's first headquarters building, which opened in 2017 at 110 The Embarcadero in San Francisco. 
Duffy has had a varied career, including research, journalism, education, business, management, scientific collaboration and research funding, philanthropy, public service at the local and national levels, defense and arms control policy, international arms negotiations, conflict resolution and real estate management and development. She has founded, been President/CEO and chaired the board of numerous projects and organizations, including the CEO of three organizations for a total of 43 years.
Other organizations she has founded, co-founded, of which she has chaired the board or was President and CEO include the Lafayette Youth Services Commission, Global Outlook, Ploughshares Fund, the World Forum of Silicon Valley, CRDF Global at the National Science Foundation and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.
She led a US Defense Department team, during the Clinton Administration, that negotiated the dismantling of thousands of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet countries.
Duffy holds an A.B. magna cum laude from Occidental College; a doctorate, M.Phil. and M.A. in political science, from Columbia University and an honorary doctorate from the University of San Francisco.  She is the author and editor of two books on arms negotiations and many articles.
 

Sponsored by Johnny Khamis

Ani Agahian is a San José native who grew up in the Rose Garden neighborhood, where she resides today. She is the co-owner of Ani & Cat, a marketing and business development firm that primarily works with government agencies and non-profit organizations throughout the Peninsula. Ani is an alumna of the University of Florida, where she earned a B.A. in Digital Arts and Sciences.
 
Outside of work, Ani is an avid runner, hiker, and reader who enjoys spending time outdoors with her German Shepherd. She also volunteers as a docent naturalist with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, helping connect the public with local natural spaces.