The Speaker for July 15th: Richard Lowenthal

Former high Tech CEO and Cupertino Mayor
Topic: Chargepoint: A new business and a new industry

Richard Lowenthal has started several companies and has been an executive at ChargePoint, Cisco, StrataCom, Stardent Computers, and Convergent Technologies. He was formerly Mayor of Cupertino and has been President of several non-profits. He is a leading expert in electric vehicles and holds over 30 patents in EV charging.

He’s currently on the board of the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation, the Cupertino Rotary Endowment Foundation, and ChargePoint, Inc.

The Meeting Summary for July 8, 2020

You could say our new Rotary year is off to a zooming start, given that we’re still meeting online. Members and guests gathered in the virtual lobby and chatted a bit with new President Fernando Zazueta before the meeting started at 12:15 p.m. We’re not introducing guests in the Zoom format, but two who were in attendance were Lina Broydo and Dick Henning, both from the Los Altos Rotary Club.

There were some technical bumps at the start so for anyone wondering about the opening music it was “La Boda de Luis Alonso,” by Spanish composer Geronimo Gimenez.

Mick Greco provided an inspirational thought for the meeting and told a touching story about his 4-year-old son Max helping to calm down his 16-month old son Leo on a recent car ride. “Seeing Max take Leo’s hand like he did reminded me I have a lot to teach my kids, but I have a lot to learn from them as well.”
 

A new feature to this Rotary year is that we’ll be celebrating birthdays every month, and we sent out a special birthday wish to John Davis, who turned 75 on Wednesday and is recovering at home after fracturing his hip.
 

Next, Sal Pizarro -- I think I know that guy -- provided a look at what’s going on downtown this month. Sadly, there’s not much to report: Original Joe’s is joining the roster of outdoor dining and takeout restaurants, the Downtown Farmers Market at San Pedro Square is up and running Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cathy Kimball has retired from the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art and Christmas in the Park has a virtual fundraiser taking place July 18.
 

Pam Foley was featured next as part of a new program to give time to each of San Jose’s 10 city council members to talk about their district and its issues. Pam represents District 9 in San Jose, which includes Cambrian, part of Blossom Valley and the southern part of Willow Glen. She talked about sharing Rotary’s credo, “Service Above Self,” with her City Hall staff and told us that her primary areas of focus in her district are housing, LGBT issues and seniors.

President Fernando then talked about his theme for the year, celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion. He pointed to the statement of inclusion and diversity at the front of the Rotary directory and encouraged us all to read it.

Suzanne St. John Crane, the new chair of the program committee, introduced our speaker, Rev. Jeff Moore, who is the executive director of the Silicon Valley chapter of the NAACP. Here are a few highlights from his talk:

-- Moore talked about the history of the NAACP being rooted in the idea that all men and women are created equal and said that the color line is the problem of our time.

-- He said that calls for law enforcement reform are nothing new. “America has failed to act,” he said. “As a civil rights leaders, I do not condone violence or the taking of life. We keep the focus where it belongs.”

-- He encouraged Santa Clara County to make Juneteenth a county holiday and to criminalize the display of hanging nooses and burning crosses. He pointed out the inequity of having a new $37 million community center for the region’s Vietnamese population when there isn’t anything similar for African-American residents.

-- Moore spoke out against the influence in U.S. elections wielded by Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “We must convince Mark somehow that he must put some parameters around what is happening or else we wil never have fair and equal elections in this country,” he said.

-- In response to questions, he said that “defunding the police” means repurposing some of the money we spend on law enforcement, noting that 1 percent of the San Jose Police Department budget could be used to send 1,200 kids to college.

-- To build a more equitable Silicon Valley, Moore said people need to move beyond understanding their white privilege and take action like mentoring people of color and putting them on boards. Another good step, he said, is becoming an NAACP member, saying that everyone in Rotary should be a member of both groups.

To watch this week's broadcast, please click here.

Summary submitted by Sal Pizarro, Rotary Meeting Summaries Committee.

Rotary Masks

July Birthdays

Inspirational Thought of the Day