Voices of Santa Clara Podcast

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It's graduation! Listen to some of the most popular guests share their tips, wisdom and advice for 2020 graduates in the midst of this quickly-changing and often challenging world. See the guests and timecodes below:

• Tonya Nilsson, Civil Engineering — 1:20
• Karen Peterson-Iyer, Religious Studies — 2:45
• Sonja Mackenzie, Public Health — 4:32
• Fr. Kevin O'Brien, SCU President — 8:53
• Eva Blanco Masias, Dean of Undergraduate Admission — 11:55
• Chris Norris, Director of Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship — 12:55
• Byron Howlett, Assistant Dean of Student Life — 14:25
• Kristin Kusanovich, Theater & Dance, Child Studies — 17:00
• Paul Schutz, Religious Studies — 18:33
• Valerie Sarma, Ignatian Center — 21:40
• Thane Kreiner, Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship — 23:20
• Tanya Monsef, Business Faculty and Director of Global Fellows program — 25:55
• Chan Thai, Communication — 28:48
• Juan Velasco, English — 30:10
• Carly Lynch, Campus Ministry — 34:48
• Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, Religious Studies — 38:12
• Fr. Dorian Llywelyn, exiting Executive Director of the Ignatian Center — 41:32
• Naomi Andrews, History and Honors Program Director — 44:42
• Tom Plante, Psychology — 46:40
• Jo-Ellen Pozner, Management — 48:47
• Chris Bacon, Environmental Studies — 49:40
• Jeanne Rosenberger, Vice Provost for Student Life — 55:47
• Bill Mains, Business — 57:10

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Erin Ronald is a 2019 Santa Clara graduate in Environmental Studies and Sociology. Erin was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to work with the European version of the World Wildlife Fund to bring best practices back to the U.S. to help cities set workable climate action policy.

This conversation was recorded before the George Floyd killing, but the first 8 minutes of the podcast are dedicated to racial justice. I share some of my own recent thoughts and convictions, and share statements and actions from Santa Clara’s Multicultural Center, President Father O’Brien, and the Environmental Justice Initiative.

Back to Erin: Since graduating last year, she has been working as one of 90 Civic Spark fellows across the U.S. Stationed in Truckee, near South Lake Tahoe where she spent her summers as a child, Ronald is helping that city develop its own climate action and adaptation plans.

Erin was incredibly involved at Santa Clara. She served as a Global Social Benefit Fellow in Ghana through the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship; helped run SCU’s OxFam club; was on the Food Recovery Network leadership team, and participated in the Sustainable Living Undergraduate Research Project (SLURP) working on the University’s eco-tray program.

In this conversation, we discuss Erin’s passion for helping cities mitigate and adapt to climate change, the day-to-day work of her Civic Spark Fellowship, how COVID is impacting city climate action plans, Erin’s Fulbright award, and how students can incorporate sustainability into their careers.

President Kevin O’Brien’s Message on Racial Justice

The Environmental Justice Initiative’s Resources for Racial Justice

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Margaret McLean is the director of bioethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. She is also senior lecturer in religious studies and affiliate faculty in bioengineering. She teaches courses on ethics related to healthcare and biotechnology. 

In 2017, she was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the Congress of the United States and the Santa Clara County Medical Association Citizen’s Award in recognition of her significant contribution to the health field.

In this conversation, we discuss how hospitals are making life and death ethical decisions, how the pandemic is impacting vulnerable communities, how normal people can help change unjust systems, how religion impacts ethics, and how working with end-of-life patients has shaped how Margaret thinks about death. 

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Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Elon Musk are just three of the names that Larry Sonsini has advised.

Larry Sonsini is the founding partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Silicon Valley’s premier law firm, founded in 1961. Sonsini personally worked with legendary companies including Sun Microsystems, Intel, Google, HP, LinkedIn, Netflix, Salesforce, Dropbox, Twitter and hundreds more. Sonsini is the vice chair of Santa Clara’s Board of Trustees.

Larry Sonsini is the founding partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Silicon Valley’s premier law firm founded the 1961. Sonsini personally advised founders like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Elon Musk, and has worked with Sun Microsystems, Intel, Google, HP, LinkedIn, Netflix, Salesforce, Dropbox, Twitter and hundreds more. Sonsini is the vice chair of Santa Clara’s Board of Trustees.

Sonsini got his undergraduate and J.D. from UC Berkeley in the 1963 & `66, and has focused on

corporate law, corporate governance, securities, and mergers and acquisitions. He has been instrumental in many of the financings, IPOs, mergers, acquisitions, and other key transactions of Silicon Valley and beyond. Fun fact: Sonsini’s son Matthew is married to the sister, Lisa, of previous guest John M. Sobrato.

A 2006 NY Times profile called Sonsini, “Powerful, but rarely center stage. While Mr. Sonsini is hardly a shrinking violet, he cultivates the image of Silicon Valley’s most ubiquitous supporting player, often preferring to say his lines behind the scenes. ‘It’s not my job to be in the newspapers,’ he said in a telephone interview. ‘I think my clients like me to be a trusted adviser with a high degree of integrity and stay out of the limelight.’”

In this conversation, we discuss what Sonsini has learned about leadership from the CEOs he worked with, what innovations he believes will define the future, the ethics of entrepreneurship, the history and trajectory of Silicon Valley, how he chooses how to spend his time, and his advice for students.

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Eileen Elrod is a Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, currently serving as Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development. Her scholarly interests focus on religion, race and gender in early American literature, especially on contested notions of American identity and autobiographical writing. Dr. Elrod has been a member of the SCU faculty since 1992 and won the Brutocao Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2007.

This conversation begins with a highly timely and relevant segment on how faculty are adapting to online learning. We then dive into Eileen’s passion for teaching writing, how writing can be used to discover identity, how literature can improve empathy and what makes a great classroom environment.

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Steve Sordello is the CFO of LinkedIn and serves on Santa Clara’s Board of Trustees. Prior to LinkedIn, Steve was CFO of TiVo, CFO of Ask Jeeves, and held senior management roles at Adobe Systems and Syntex (now part of Roche). Steve holds a MBA from Santa Clara and a degree in business administration. Raised in the Bay Area, Steve grew up working amid his parents’ apricot, prune and walnut orchards.

In this conversation, we discuss lessons Steve learned from his CFO roles, differences between small and large companies, how LinkedIn is mapping the global economy, how Steve balances short-term shareholder obligations with long-term social impact, and what career advice Steve would give college students.

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Heather started at LifeMoves over 6 years ago as a Case Manager. She now serves as Director of Santa Clara County Shelters & Services. Before LifeMoves, Heather worked at Crider Health Center and served in the Peace Corps for two years in Belize.

LifeMoves is a nonprofit dedicated to finding solutions to homelessness in Silicon Valley. They operate 23 shelter locations from Daly City to San Jose, and provide essential services, case management, and community outreach. LifeMoves serves over 9,350 men, women and children each year in their diligent work to return to long-term stable housing.

As you may imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic poses additional problems and challenges for homeless populations. LifeMoves’ work is more important than ever, and they have a special page about how you can help people experiencing homelessness in this time on their website. Go to lifemoves.org to learn more.  

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John Michael Sobrato is Chair of the Board of Trustees at Santa Clara and Chairman of The Sobrato Organization. There are a few different parts of the Sobrato organization that we cover in this conversation.

First is the real estate business, which has developed over 21 million square feet of office, R&D and multifamily complexes since the 1960s. A few of the company’s notable office buildings include the former Apple Campus, the Service Now HQ, and offices for Amazon, Google, Netflix, Facebook, Pinterest, NVidia and more.

This enormous success has fueled the philanthropy arm of the business, Sobrato Philanthropies, which has deployed more than $552 million giving to education, career pathways, and essential human services, primarily in Silicon Valley. Every year since 2013, the Sobrato Family has been named the number one or two most generous corporation in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal ahead major high-tech companies. Additionally, both John A. and John M. Sobrato and their spouses have taken the Giving Pledge and stated that 100% of their wealth will go to the family foundation.

The third area of the business is Sobrato Capital, an investment arm which manages money in both public and private companies.

In this conversation, we touch on the evolving business model of Santa Clara, the ethics of profit maximization, lessons from the Sobrato family business, social impact, working through challenges on the Santa Clara Board of Trustees, the role of philanthropy versus government, and what John is most proud of in his career.  

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