Board of Trustees and Officers

Officers

Diosdado "Dado" Banatao
Chair

Dado Banatao is the managing partner of Tallwood Venture Capital, a firm focusing on
semiconductors and semiconductor related technologies. Dado provides Tallwood with a unique perspective with his past experiences as a successful engineer and entrepreneur. He is credited with developing several key semiconductor technologies and is regarded as a Silicon Valley visionary.

Prior to forming Tallwood, Dado was a venture partner at the Mayfield Fund. He also co-founded three technology startups and held positions at National Semiconductor, Seeq Technologies, Intersil, and Commodore International. In 1997, he was honored with the prestigious Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award sponsored by Ernst & Young, Inc. Magazine, and Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services. Dado also serves as Chairman for SiRF Technology (SIRF) and current Tallwood portfolio companies. He also served as Chairman and led investments in various technology related companies.

On a personal capacity, Dado contributes his time and expertise to companies and various institutions in the Philippines. He provides counsel to new and established corporations in identifying opportunities and formation of technology companies. Dado and his family also established the Banatao Filipino American Education Fund that provides scholarship grants to young Fil-am students as well as support to his alma mater, the Malabbac Elementary School, in the Philippines.

Dado holds a B.S.E.E., cum laude, from the Mapua Institute of Technology in the Philippines and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stanford University.

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Fernando Zobel de Ayala
Vice Chair

Fernando Zobel de Ayala is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Ayala Corporation, the holding company of the Ayala group. Ayala Corporation is the oldest business house and the largest diversified conglomerate in the Philippines. The company regularly ranks among the top listed companies in the Philippine Stock Exchange in terms of market capitalization.

Fernando is also the Chairman of Ayala Land. Ayala Land is the Philippines’ largest real estate firm and its only full-line property developer. In addition, Fernando sits on many of the boards of the other Ayala Group companies.

Aside from serving on these various boards of the Ayala group, Fernando is an active member of business clubs and professional organizations namely the Young Presidents’ Organization in the Philippines, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club and the Harvard Club. He is also a member of the Habitat for Humanity International Board of Directors, the INSEAD East Asia Council and the International Council of Shopping Centers Board of Trustees.

Fernando studied at Harvard University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1982. He also completed a program in International Management at INSEAD in France.

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Ms. Victoria P. Garchitorena
President

Victoria P. Garchitorena is considered as one of the pillars of Philippine non-government organization sector. She was founding Chair of the League of Corporate Foundations, Philippine Council for NGO Certification, Philippine Association for Volunteer Efforts, Metro South Cooperative Bank, and the Makati NGO Network. She is/has been Chair or Trustee of the following: Pinoy ME, Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation, EDSA People Power Commission, AIM Alumni Association, Mendiola Consortium, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, College of the Holy Spirit, Corporate Network for Disaster Response, Spirit of EDSA Foundation, Alliance of Women for Action Towards Reform, among others.

She is also a Board Member of the United States-based Council on Foundations and is a Senior Adviser of the World Bank’s Asia-Pacific Advisory Council Against Corruption.

Vicky also served as the Senior Consultant of the Office of the President of the Philippines, the Head of the Presidential Management Staff, Secretary to the Cabinet, and a Director of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

She is also the Managing Director of Ayala Corporation’s Stakeholder Relations and President of Ayala Foundation, Inc.

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Michael John Balaoing, Esq.
Secretary

Michael John Balaoing is currently Vice President for Programs of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In this capacity, Michael oversees a $ 25 million grantmaking portfolio of 300 organizations across the United States and responsible with assessing grantmaking risks and opportunities. Prior to this, Michael was Program Director of the California Wellness Foundation and Consultant for the Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council.

Michael is likewise involved in various professional organizations such as the Liberty Hill Foundation, Pacific Council on International Policy, Council on Foundations, Leadership Learning Community and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. His community and civic involvements include the California Service Corps, Girls, Inc. of LA and the Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA).

A member of the State Bar of California, Michael obtained his law degree from UCLA and Bachelors degree in International Relations from Princeton University. In 1987, Michael participated in Harvard University’s Overseas Development Network Independent Study Abroad under the auspices of the Philippine Business for Social Progress. He spent time in the Philippines doing extensive fieldwork among grassroots organizations.

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Denny S. Roja, Esq.
Treasurer

Denny Roja is Managing Partner and General Counsel of Acuity Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund based in Palo Alto, California. Denny is also principal for H. Roark Securities, an NASD broker-dealer specializing in leveraged buyouts and mergers and acquisitions.

A member of the California Bar, Denny practiced corporate law at the Carr McClellan and Enterprise Law Group in Silicon Valley. Previously, Denny was managing director for two Silicon Valley based investment banking firms and also held executive positions at Pacific Telesis and General Foods. He managed the successful acquisition of companies such as Communications Industries, Entenmann’s, Ronzoni Italian Foods and Oscar Mayer Corporation. Denny also serves as strategic advisor to Olympus Corporation of Japan, guiding the company’s corporate development initiatives in optical networking and communications. He is chairman of the board of
StaffNet Solutions and Professional Health Care at Home.

Denny is also actively involved with various professional and civic organizations such as the Filipino Business Alliance in which he sits as founder and president, Silicon Valley chapter of Association for Corporate Growth, Asian Business Association, the Science and Technology Advisory Council and the Filipino Professional and Businessmen’s Association. He serves on the Asian Strategic Advisory Board of Wells Fargo Bank. In 2000, Denny was inducted into the Stanford University Alumni Multicultural Hall of Fame.

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, Denny went on to receive an MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, an MBA in Finance from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a JD from Fordham University Law School.