Silicon Valley Democratic Club (SVDC)

formerly known as the Santa Clara County Democratic Club (SCCDC)

About The Club

Established in 1981, Silicon Valley Democratic Club (SVDC) is a progressive organization dedicated to informing voters, encouraging citizen involvement in the political process, and promoting Democratic Party values and candidates. We draw our membership from all over Santa Clara County and it includes many current and former elected officials.


General Meetings

We regularly hold monthly General Meetings via Zoom on the third Monday of the month from 7:00 - 9:00 PM, which are open to the public and typically feature a guest speaker.  See the list schedule below and visit our EVENTS page for more information about our next meeting.  We look forward to seeing you there!


2022 Meeting Schedules

General Meetings (open to the public)

General Meetings are typically held on the 3rd Monday of each month with program from 7-9pm via Zoom, and are open to the public.

  • January 23 (adjusted)
  • February 16 (adjusted)
  • March 20
  • April 17
  • May 15
  • June 19
  • July 17
  • August 21- CANCELLED
  • September 18 - CANCELLED
  • October 16
  • November 20 (tentative)
  • There is no general meeting for December

Executive Board Meetings (open to club members only)

E-board meetings are typically held on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 7pm via Zoom, and are open to all current club members in good standing. Agenda's for Executive Board Meetings will be posted in the Board Meeting Events.

  • February 2 - 6pm (Rescheduled)
  • February 22
  • March 22
  • April 26
  • May 24
  • June 28
  • July 26
  • August 23
  • September 27
  • October 25
  • November 29 (adjusted for holiday)
  • There is no board meeting in December

The SVDC Executive Board

The SVDC Executive Board, elected by the membership annually at the November General Meeting for a one year term, includes Club Officers and Members at Large. The Executive Board meets monthly and meetings are open only to SVDC members. To contact an individual board member, simply click on their name in the listing below.

2024 Executive Board

Sousan Manteghi-Safakish • Interim President & Vice President Outreach

Sousan is a wife, a mother, an activist , and an American by choice. She holds the ideals to protect women’s rights, human rights, the secular state, and cultural pluralism. She supports a woman’s right to choose and  access to contraception as the right of women everywhere to take control of their own reproductive future. As a community activists, her experience includes CADEM- Delegate, SCCDP- Elected Delegate- Active Member, South County Dem. Club –SCDC  Past President, BAIAD (Past President & current E-Board member), DAWN- member, AAUW- member, Tahirih Justice Center -  Member, and Order of the Eastern Star- member. Life experiences have fortified her belief in social and economic justice.

LezLi Logan • Vice President Operations

As a long-time volunteer and advocate for youth, LezLi has held leadership positions on the boards of several parent organizations, and co-founded the local citizen’s group We Support Los Gatos which successfully helped win the Los Gatos Economic Development and Jobs Retention Initiative in 2014. Through these efforts, LezLi has coordinated hundreds of volunteers and helped to dramatically increase fundraising and local tax revenues for local school districts, all while supporting and amplifying the work of Project Cornerstone to help local youth to thrive. As a co-chair for the successful and historic campaign to recall Judge Aaron Persky in Santa Clara County and former member of the board of directors for the Enough is Enough Voter Project, LezLi has worked to ensure that violence against women is a voting issue. LezLi has coordinated social media, organized GOTV postcards to voters, designed collateral and websites, along with the coordination of text-banking about 125,000 local voters, volunteers, and donors from across the nation.

In addition to her role as SVDC VP Operations, LezLi is also the Lead Administrator of Action Together Bay Area, a private Facebook group covering the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley with over 14,000 members and hosting the Bay Area Progressive Action Calendar (www.ActionTogetherBayArea.org).

Vinod Menon • Recording Secretary

Vinod is a Semiconductor Industry Executive, who is serving as the Executive Vice-President Engineering at a Santa Clara-based global semiconductor company. He volunteers every weekend, as an inspirational mentor to empower jobseekers and entrepreneurs. He joined SVDC in December 2016, served on the SVDC Executive Board as an At-large member during 2018, and as the SVDC Secretary since January 2019. He has walked precincts in Sunnyvale neighborhoods for now Congressman Ro Khanna and has held various elected Student Government roles.

Kristen Lyn • Treasurer

Almost 20 years experience in professional accounting. More than 10 years of supervisory experience and budget development responsibility. Worked in Deloitte for 4 years and helped 4 IPO companies for years afterwards. Kristen is a Cupertino School Board Trustee, CUSD designated representative for SSC School Boards Association, Treasurer for Asian Pacific Islander School Board Members Association and CFO for Shin Shin Educational Foundation. Kristen is working to assist with club financial structure and planning.

Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano • At Large Board Member

Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano has been a resident of San Jose for 9 years. Working at a shelter for unhoused families, she is passionate about housing and racial justice and has volunteered her time for these efforts for the last 5 years.

Elizabeth is a staunch supporter of democracy. As a Black and Bolivian/Quechua woman, survivor of 17 years of trauma and abuse, along with 2 mental health disabilities, she knows the essential role democracy has in our community. Involved in politics and social justice since just 5 years old, Elizabeth firmly believes in the collective power of people coming together in our community and demanding fair and equitable representation—particularly for those most vulnerable in our community. As democrats we are constantly faced with the decision of helping or harming. It is crystal clear that democratic values do not include occupation, apartheid, or genocide. Democratic values are equal representation, freedom, diversity, and equity. Elizabeth is committed to dedicating her entire life to ensuring that everyone in our community is guaranteed these rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Mariam Ghazvini • At-Large Board Member
Dr. Mariam Ghazvini holds an Ed.D degree from USC, a Master’s degree in Counseling from Santa Clara University, and a Master’s degree in Education from San Jose State University. She is a Professional Mentor, Coach, and Distinguished Toastmaster. Her favorite areas of research and teaching include Successful Approaches to Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Management Tactics, and Human Resources Management. Her experience includes retail, high tech and non-profits. A proud immigrant, Dr. Ghazvini wants to contribute to her community specifically to women's and immigrant’s issues by giving them the best opportunity to succeed through her own experiences and education.

She is a Professional Mentor very passionate about the achievement and status of women. For many years she has been involved in helping women succeed in many areas of their lives including Women’s Penitentiaries and WIC (Women in Community). In addition, she has been an activist with voter registration and part of Indivisibles since 2017. Prior to that she phone banked for Obama and other candidates. Recently, she has been very active in 2018 election and 2020 election by card-writing and phone banking.

Tomara Hall • At Large Board Member

Tomara Hall is an Afro-Latina from the central valley. She moved to San Jose in 2014 when she began her career as a Special Education Teacher. Tomara founded TEYA (Teachers Empowering Youth Activists) in July 2020 with other BIPOC and allied teachers to build anti-racist classrooms and schools. She has advocated for more education funding in higher education as a Governmental Affairs Administrator for the Associated Students, and politically engaged the community as a Campus Organizer with Mi Familia Vota. As a Policy & Advocacy Fellow, she helped develop parent education programs with Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco. As an Equity Leader in her school district, Tomara utilizes her position to empower students, parents and community members. After having run for SJUSD School board in November 2020, she joined the San Jose Unified Equity Coalition. For two years, Tomara has worked with SJUEC to end school policing. Tomara is an active member of the Race Equity & Community Safety and Organizing committees of Sacred Heart Community Service. She currently serves as President of Afro UPRIS, the Black Democrats Club of Santa Clara County, and is a member for the Alliance of Black Educators of Santa Clara County.

Juan Rodriguez • At Large Board Member

As a first-generation Mexican immigrant, a graduate of San Jose State University (Go Spartans!), and  a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Juan's personal experiences profoundly influence his passion for public service. His professional background includes work at the Amanda County Social Services Agency and in the California State Assembly. Juan believes that true progress comes from actively uplifting the voices of marginalized communities. Recently elected by his democratic peers, Juan serves as the Democratic Delegate for the 23rd Assembly District and contributes to the California Democratic Party Resolutions Committee. He dedicates himself to using his experience in public service and knowledge of local, state, and federal governments to empower members and encourage greater civic engagement in the legislative process and within the Democratic Party. Beyond his political endeavors, Juan mentors high school students in San Jose, nurturing the next generation of leaders. He envisions a future where education and positive mentorship play pivotal roles in shaping a thriving community, emphasizing that the collective prosperity of our society hinges on supporting one another.

Diya Tahiliani • At Large Board Member

Diya Tahiliani is a data scientist in Silicon Valley with more than a decade in the technology industry. Their experience includes Data Analytics for local political campaigns and organizations, Big Data marketing, and low cost domestic sourcing, economic development and secondary education specializing in classroom technology integration. Diya volunteers her free time as a crisis intervention specialist with the Silicon Valley Golden Gate Bridge YWCA, Diya is an in person advocate and counselor for Sexual Assault survivors, as well as those fleeing from gender based violence, domestic violence and human trafficking. Diya holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from UC Davis, and is a champion for the intersection of women, LGBTQ, and marginalized communities and the environment.

 

Previous Executive Board Members

We sincerely appreciate the service of our former board members, and wish them the best in their ongoing efforts to serve our community.


2023

  • Raven Malone
  • Michele Dauber
  • Pete Dailey
  • Angelica Ramos-Allen

      2022

        • Alexia Worsham
        • Rosie Zepeda
        • Jennie Hutchinson
        • Monica Mallon
        • Ali Sapirman


          Bylaws

          The SVDC Bylaws is the foundational document of the Silicon Valley Democratic Club--the rules and regulations enacted by our club to provide a framework for the operation and management of SVDC.  Our bylaws also include our club Credo and Code of Conduct.

          Policies & Procedures

          The SVDC Policies & Procedures report is intended to document policies approved by the E-Board which do not modify the Bylaws and remain in effect until superseded by a more recent policy. This report is always a work in progress.

          • Current Version of the SVDC Policies & Procedures report is available HERE (coming soon).
          • Silicon valley Democratic Club Facebook Group Guidelines and Rules of Engagement is available HERE

          Club Photo Album

          << All album photos 5/14 photos

          Contact Information

          Email: president@siliconvalleydemclub.org or info@siliconvalleydemclub.org

          Phone: (669)247-7030   •  CONTACT US

          Find Us On Social Media: @SV_DemClub

          Silicon Valley Democratic Club™
          FPPC ID# 1288723  •  FEC ID# C00419028 

          FPPC ID# 1288723  •  FEC ID# C00419028 

          Attn: Silicon Valley Democratic Club  •  2901 Moorpark Avenue, Suite 110  •  San Jose, CA 95128

          Contributions or gifts to Silicon Valley Democratic Club are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal income tax purposes.

          Copyright © 2019 Silicon Valley Democratic Club. All Rights Reserved.

          SILICON VALLEY DEMOCRATIC CLUB, SVDC, and the donkey logo are trademarks of Silicon Valley Democratic Club.

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