Meet Our Team
For nearly 50 years, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group has helped shape the policies and priorities that define our region and California’s innovation economy. Today, our precision-built team brings together deep private-sector experience, policy expertise, and technical knowledge to advance our Future Forward agenda and deliver meaningful impact for our members.
Want to join SVLG’s focused, agile, and results-oriented team? Explore our open positions here.
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Ahmad Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
A former investment banker, Ahmad brings two decades of experience working in and on behalf of businesses, social enterprises and government, including as the lead advisor on finance and economic policy to Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Capitol Hill. He is the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), one of the nation’s most dynamic…
Leadership
Laura Wilkinson
Senior Vice President, Strategy and External Affairs
Dan Kostenbauder
General Counsel and Vice President, Tax Policy
Charles “Chappie” Jones JR.
Senior Advisor to the CEO
Katherine (Kat) Chan
SVP, Operations and Chief of Staff to the CEO
Ziyang David Fan
SVP, Technology & Innovation & Executive Director, Institute for California AI Policy (ICAP)
Team Members
Ruhi Dhayagude
Workforce Associate
Chelsea Dixon
Associate
Ruby (Mengyu) Han
Associate, ICAP
EJ Jarvis
Business Development Associate
Johnnie Nguyen
Marketing & Digital Media Manager
David Palter
Vice President, Civic Impact
Ashonte Smith
Director, State Policy
Nathan Zanon
Marketing & Digital Media Manager
Cecille Madriaga
Executive Assistant, Office of the CEO
Eric Negomir
Associate, Regional Government Affairs
Business Operations Partners
Travis Cook
Accounting Manager
Dan Ellis
Senior Accountant