City of Santa Clara and Review of Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee
Half-dozen months after the head of Silicon Valley's largest sleeping accommodation of commerce resigned in the wake of a racist entrada ad posted by the group, the Silicon Valley Organisation has named its new president.
Derrick Seaver, principal of staff for Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, has been unanimously chosen by the group's search committee and approved by its executive committee to lead the 135-year-old organization moving foward. His offset day volition exist May 17.
"With his business concern and community service background, Derrick Seaver is the right person to lead the SVO forrard, strengthening the positive leadership, commitment, and appointment of the organisation," SVO board chair Glenn Perkins said in a news release.
Seaver, 39, of San Jose, said he was "humbled and honored" to be chosen.
"I plan to go in with a sprit of partnership and collaboration, listening not just to our member businesses but to the community at large," he said in an interview.
This new role as CEO volition marking Seaver's second time working for the SVO, which was previously known as the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.
He served as the organisation'south manager of public policy from 2013 to 2017 before becoming director of policy and operations for the San Jose Downtown Clan and later main of staff for Supervisor Ellenberg.
"Anyone who has had the skilful fortune of working with Derrick knows he is committed to the community he serves and will work with everyone to meet their needs," Ellenberg said in the news release. "I can think of no better leader, ally or friend to repair and reinforce the integral bridges between our concern community and the people who call this identify habitation."
Seaver will immediatly replace interim CEO Bob Linscheid who stepped into the role in December 2020 — nigh a calendar month after the organization's previous leader, Matt Mahood, resigned equally part of the fallout from a political campaign advert widely denounced every bit racist. Mahood served as president and CEO of the SVO for 13 years.
The image that led to the unprecedented response from the SVO was posted in belatedly October every bit part of an attack ad against a San Jose city council candidate who supported constabulary reform. The black-and-white image featured a group of Blackness men in front of a cloud of tear gas overlain with the words: "Practise yous actually desire to sign onto this?"
Although the SVO quickly apologized and launched diversity training programs for staff and members, dozens of influential companies dropped their SVO lath seats and many more nonprofit groups and businesses rescinded their SVO memberships.
Equally a result, the SVO dissolved its political action committee — the organization'southward entrada arm that supported concern-friendly candidates and wielded considerable influence during election flavour in the South Bay.
Following Mahood's departure, the SVO scrubbed the names of all employees, board members and leadership from its website. Those spider web pages still cannot exist found on the site.
Seaver will exist tasked with guiding the embattled organization, which represents virtually one,200 business members throughout the greater Silicon Valley that employ 300,000 people, through a period of racial reckoning while reimagining its role in the region's new political mural.
Really, that's what drew him to consider the chore in the get-go place, he said.
"When I saw what went downwardly last fall, the ability to be part of the organization's growth and rebuilding was a chore that really appealed to me," he said. "I retrieve a lot of fourth dimension in the past, the SVO'due south mission statement has been narrowed to include only parts of the region's business organisation community or the community at large, and I want to focus on making sure that this organisation is being inclusive of all of the diverse businesses that make up this customs."
One of his beginning objectives as CEO will be to get his staff "out of the role and onto the streets" to speak to business concern owners — both minor and large and those located all over the region — about the unique challenges they're facing in gild to guide the organization's policy priorities moving forward, he said.
"I don't desire equity to simply be something that the company does just something that the SVO is," he said. "And I practice truly think that in time, the customs will see the positive actions that we volition be taking to rebuild that trust and confidence."
Source: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/13/time-to-refocus-silicon-valleys-embattled-chamber-of-commerce-names-new-leader/