Dean Morton

Chairman Emeritus, CEN

Prior to retirement on October 31, 1992, Dean O. Morton was executive vice president, chief operating officer and a director of the Hewlett-Packard Company for many years.  Morton is a member of the board of directors of Cepheid Corporation, a molecular diagnostics company, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. He is chairman emeritus of The Center for Excellence in Nonprofits and one of the 1994 co-founders of the organization.

Robert Raffo

Board Chair, CEN

Robert Raffo is an audit and assurance partner of Hood & Strong LLP, a regional certified public accounting firm headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. He served as the firm’s managing partner for 10 years and established the firm’s not-for-profit practice niche in 1990.  He provides audit, accounting and advisory services solely to clients in the nonprofit sector.  His clients include private foundations, social service agencies, arts and education related entities, membership organizations, research and development entities, among others.  Bob currently serves as the Board Chair of Center for Excellence in Nonprofits, having served as Finance Committee Chair and Treasurer previously.  He also serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of Oakwood Retirement Community of the Religious of the Sacred Heart.  His past Board experience includes Board member and audit committee chair of Joint Venture Silicon Valley; President of the Board and then Audit Committee Chair of Services for Brain Injury.  Professionally he is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Homer Wong

Vice Chair, CEN

Homer recently retired for the second time from Hewlett Packard. During his combined 32 years at HP he held a number of senior and executive management roles. From 2008 through 2013, Homer joined the staff of First Tech Credit Union as their VP of Business Development and Retail Sales.
Homer is currently enjoying an Encore Fellowship with SaverLife, a nonprofit focused on financial literacy. Homer also serves on the Bay Area HP Retiree Club Board.

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Dotty Hayes

Board Treasurer, CEN

Ms. Hayes worked for over 30 years in a variety of executive finance roles in the technology industry, supporting global hardware, software and service providers of computers, scientific instruments, data storage devices, semiconductors, and financial services. Most recently, she retired from Intuit where she held the positions of Chief Audit Executive and Vice President, Corporate Controller. Prior to this role she held the position of Vice President, Corporate Controller at Agilent Technologies during its spin-off from Hewlett-Packard and IPO, where she managed a global staff of 500. Ms. Hayes holds an MS in Business Administration with Accounting Concentration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MS in Finance from Bentley University. In addition to sitting on the CEN board, she also serves the First Tech Federal Credit Union, Computer History Museum, and American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley, and has was previously involved with Silicon Valley FACES, Range Fuels, Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, and Woodside Priory School.

Anne Yamamoto

Secretary, CEN

Anne is a partner with the firm of Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP. She specializes in tax and financial consulting for individuals and has over 30 years of tax experience. Anne is a summa cum laude graduate of California State University, Fresno where she was named the outstanding graduate in the School of Business. She has served on a number of community boards including those of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Palo Alto Red Cross, Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired and KTEH. She is a past chairman for both the Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the Palo Alto Red Cross Boards. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Dora Beyer

Board Member, CEN

Dora Beyer is a nonprofit professional with 10+ years experience in access and equity and is passionate about creating impact in the community. Most recently she extended her reach into politics, managing a successful school board campaign and advising the transition. Prior to that in her positions at Breakthrough Silicon Valley and other educational outreach programs, she directly guided hundreds of first-generation students in the Bay Area on the path to college. As she too was the first in her family to receive a college degree - majoring in Latin American & Latino Studies and Politics at UC Santa Cruz - she understands firsthand the challenges facing under-represented communities. She has volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) since 2015 to personally mentor a foster youth, and joined the board of the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits (CEN) in 2020 upon completion of the Latino Board Leadership Academy. She also supports her family's small business, Alladin Nursery, in Watsonville.

Susan Cashen

Board Member, CEN

Susan Cashen is the former CMO at Control4, the world’s leading residential provider of smart home solutions. She currently serves on the board of T3 Micro, a $100M privately held company recognized for developing the first prestige and luxury hair tools, SAVI, a Dallas-based start-up aiming to revolutionize the commercial AV and automation space, Tectonic Audio Labs, a leader in audio innovation; and WAVE, a leading distributor of residential and commercial AV equipment.   She advises Bryte, a Silicon-Valley start-up and the creator of the Restorative Bed™ and Sila Nanotechnologies, delivering Nobel prize-worthy materials to set a new standard for batteries, driving the electrification of automobiles.    

Susan has held a variety of executive roles and is experienced in driving market position and revenue growth by bolstering distribution, generating business demand, and through international expansion, M&A initiatives, and strategic partnerships. She has received numerous awards for her work including the 2010 Innovators for Vision Smart Grid award by Distributech, the 2014 Utah Women in Technology award for Excellence in Marketing, and The Masters Industry Heroes Award by CE Pro in 2016. In 2018, she was recognized by Dealerscope as one of the Powerful Women in Consumer Technology.  She’s been a speaker at CEDIA, CES, Connections, KBIS, NAB, NAHB and Women in Technology events. 

​Susan earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Studies from Hamilton College.  She has been a hospice volunteer, a mentor to young professionals and is passionate about health and wellness, enjoying cycling, hiking, skiing, tennis, golf and just about anything one can do to stay fit and experience the beauty of the outdoors. 

Lisa Clark

Board Member, CEN

Lisa Clark leads Human Resources for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and sees the crux of her role as “creating the conditions for contribution” while helping staff to thrive. She is a big believer in leadership development and its ability to uplift the effectiveness of the entire organization. Prior to joining the Packard Foundation, Lisa worked for Hewlett-Packard and Agilent Technologies. All three organizations share a founder and the same commitment to innovation, continuous improvement, and inclusion -- values that are deeply woven into Lisa’s DNA. Lisa has a long-standing commitment to community service. She has worked with several non-profits focused on children’s issues and served on the Board of InnVision Homeless Shelter. She is a former Court Appointed Special Advocate, volunteering in Arizona and San Mateo, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Child Advocates of Silicon Valley. ​

Lisa Conover

Board Member, CEN

Lisa has worked at HP for 16 years in a variety of roles with the majority of her time on the Social Innovation team where she managed the HPE Foundation, leading its community engagement programs and overseeing the company’s grant making.  Lisa’s passion for nonprofits and social impact work can also be seen in her personal endeavors such as serving on the leadership team for The Changemaker Initiative (a program designed to inspire and equip community members to make social impact), serving on the Caminar for Mental Health Board of Directors since 2016 and serving as a member of Valle Monte League since 2013.  She holds a BA in Political Science and a Specialization in Business from UCLA, and a MBA with a Specialization in Finance from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Janice Fry

Board Member, CEN

Janice Fry, now retired, was a Human Resources Executive with more than twenty five years of experience. She held a variety of positions with Sun Microsystems, including VP of Human Resources for the Computer Systems and Network Service Provider Businesses and VP of Executive Development and Organizational Effectiveness.  In addition to serving on the board of CEN, she has also been a board member for several organizations, including Friends for Youth, Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose and the Palo Alto chapter of the Red Cross.  Janice earned a B.A. from Purdue University and an M.A. from Miami University.

Christina McKinney

Board Member, CEN

Christina McKinney has over twenty years of experience in the field of education. She began teaching in the Mountain View School District and went on to teach music in the schools, singing and performing with children in the Music for Minors program. Later, she developed a World History and English Curriculum at Egan Junior high. She taught that program and went on to teach English in both Blach and Egan Schools. Christina received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Southern California. She and her husband, Webb, have also been involved in philanthropy for many years, both in the Bay Area and internationally. In 2019, the Association of Fundraising Professionals honored them with the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraisers award on Silicon Valley Philanthropy Day. In 2016, Christina received the Los Altos Community Foundation's John Gardner Award for her work with Music for Minors. Christina has been a trustee for many years, including her work with CEN and, in the last few years, serving as Chair and co-Chair for Music for Minors: a non-profit that brings music education to over 20,000 students across the Bay Area.

James Otieno

Board Member, CEN

Mr. Otieno is a retired Vice President of Executive Compensation and Services at Hewlett-Packard and is currently an independent business consultant. He has over 30 years of experience in executive compensation, board of director compensation, general compensation, sales compensation, benefits and human resources. In his role as the Vice President of Executive Compensation and Services, he managed programs in over 70 countries with a budget of over $1billion (covering approximately 3,500 executives and over 150,000 other employees worldwide). Mr. Otieno’s other company experiences include Henkel Corporation, Control Data Corporation and St. Paul Companies where he was responsible for a variety of human resources activities. He is also currently the Lead Director of PV Technology Inc., - a US based solar energy startup, with primary operations exclusively in Africa.
As an independent business consultant, Mr. Otieno has most recently worked on projects with eBay, Synnex, Silicon Valley Education Foundation and Music for Minors organizations. The projects included advising on matters of human resources, executive compensation, stock equity programs, board governance, organizational alignment, strategy and goal setting, etc. He has formerly served as board chair for both Palo Alto University and Child Advocates of Silicon Valley and is also on the Advisory Board of the Children’s Health Council (CHC). In addition, he is a former Encore Fellow and has also launched his own foundation - Karibu Rafiki Foundation. 
Mr. Otieno holds a bachelor’s degree (1982) in Economics & Psychology, and a master’s degree (1984) in Industrial Relations from the University of Minnesota. He has an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Palo Alto University (2016) and was the recipient of the 2014 John Gardner Award for outstanding community service in Santa Clara County from the Los Altos Community Foundation and of the inaugural 2015 Dan L. King Award. Mr. Otieno is originally from Kenya, East Africa and has made California his home for the past 30 years. He is married to Maren Otieno and they have three children (Emmanuell, Nereya, and Alena).

Amari Romero Thomas

Board Member, CEN

Amari Romero Thomas is the Principal Consultant and Executive/Soul Coach at Mosaic Consulting and Coaching.  Mosaic assists organizations and individuals “put all the right pieces” together in service to their personal or organizational mission. Amari consults on executive, leadership and organizational development, strategic visioning and planning, executive search and her coaching work specializes in life transitions such as retirement, new role and personal effectiveness. Prior to creating Mosaic, Amari spent over 20 years in the non-profit and corporate sectors as Consultant, Executive Director, Philanthropy executive and numerous other managerial positions.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Arizona State University with a special emphasis in International Relations and is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum. In addition, she is bilingual in Spanish and bicultural having been born in Santiago, Chile.

Jim Salas

Board Member, CEN

Jim Salas is a Talent Acquisition professional with over 20 years of experience leading and directing highly productive teams. He has extensive experience in management and enjoys leading teams and creating an environment where people can excel and perform at their very best. Jim currently is the Director of Talent Acquisition for Stellar Solutions, an Aerospace Engineering company based in Palo Alto, CA. In his current role, he manages Recruiting, HR and Payroll.  Before Stellar Solutions, he worked at various hi-tech companies to include VMware where he spent 8 years recruiting and managing the University Relations efforts.  He recently retired from the United States Army where he proudly served for 33 years ending his time as a Command Sergeant Major, E-9. His service included Intelligence, IT and Cyber Warfare efforts. Born in San Francisco, Jim was raised in the Mission District and is bilingual in Spanish. He earned his Bachelor of Science, Business Administration Degree from the University of Phoenix. ​

Anna Waring, Ph.D.

Board Member, CEN

Anna L. Waring, Ph.D. has a long-term and deep commitment to the nonprofit sector.  She was the Executive Director of Foundation for a College Education, an East Palo Alto organization dedicated to increasing the number of local low-income students of color who graduate from four-year college or university from 2007 until 2018.  Before returning to the Bay Area, Anna served as president of Josephinum Academy, a Catholic school that educated low-income Latina and African-American girls in Chicago, IL.  Anna has been a university administrator and a faculty member in the Public Services Graduate Program at DePaul University. Anna has a B.A. in Psychology from Williams College (1978) and received her Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University (1995). During the 2018-19 academic year, she was a Fellow at the Distinguished Careers Institute at Stanford University. Anna currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park, CA and the John Gardner Selection Committee for the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University and as consultant to executive directors and nonprofit organizations.  In 2006, she received the Bicentennial Medal from Williams College for her work in education.