ABOUT US

MARK KATO

Founder &
Board Member

Mr. Kato is a sales, marketing, & business development professional with over 40 years of experience in high tech industries. Now he is the CEO at Silicon Valley-Japan Business Consulting and is helping Japanese and American clients to initiate/expand their businesses between the US and Japan. He has worked for HP, Agilent Technologies, and AMD.

RON ZIELINSKI

President & Board Member

Ron lives in Sunnyvale with his family and first visited Japan in 1987. He has returned there dozens of times and is presently learning Japanese in his free time. Sparked by the positive experience of a student exchange and the opportunity to put his nascent Japanese language skills to use, Ron volunteered to join Sunnyvale Sister City Association in 2014. On Oct. 1, 2024, Ron retired as a global technical service leader after 38 years with Coherent Inc., a world leader in Photonics based in Silicon Valley.

JAY YAMANAGA

Vice President of Student Exchange &
Board Member

Jay Yamanaga has loved Japan and Japanese culture from a young age. He is a member of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple and enjoys taiko, obon festivals, ramen and Japanese pop culture. After college, he was an ALT on the JET program in Motomiya City, Fukushima Prefecture. He counts it as one of the greatest experiences of his life and enjoys maintaining strong friendships.

Now back in the US, he is fighting a desperate battle to prevent his Japanese language from decaying and hopes to pass the JLPT N1 exam one day. He works as a chemist at Nanosys Inc., a Milpitas-based nanotechnology firm.

NICOLE NISHIMOTO

Creative Director&
Board Member

Nicole Nishimoto is a UX/UI designer for a Silicon Valley eLearning company. Prior to working in tech, she was an English language teacher for three years in Toki City, Gifu Prefecture and has spent several months living in Florence, Italy. Nicole grew up in Sunnyvale where she lived across the street from Jay.

MELISSA WRIGHT

Attorney at Law &
Board Member

Melissa's interest in Japan began years ago after having the opportunity to travel to Tokyo and teach high school in Okinawa after college. She loved the people, language and culture, and ever since has embraced opportunities to learn and be involved with Japanese activities wherever she is. She and her two teenage sons travel annually to Japan, where they spend all her money on convenience store snacks. In her spare time, Melissa is a corporate attorney at O'Melveny & Myers, LLP, working with companies at all stages of their life cycle.

MAMI ITO

Office Manager

Mami was born and raised in Yamagata, Japan; although from the idyllic countryside, Mami's passion to improve her English and see the world has taken her to many different places. Mami previously studied International Relations in Ohio before going to work for Emirates Airlines as a flight attendant. Most recently, she worked for an American ad-tech company in Tokyo as an executive assistant and a simultaneous interpreter. Mami is currently enjoying her life in California, soaking up the sun and playing tennis as much as she can.

NAO KONDO

J-Pop Culture Manager

Nao Kondo is a creator of lifelike robots who is working to make real an imaginary picture-book like world using robotics. She has served as leader of the TRYBOTS team known for developing a penguin shaped underwater robot, and proactively works to make robots more casual and familiar. She graduated at the Keio University Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. Her accolades include selection for such lists as Forbes 30 under 30 and the Nikkei Business 100 people creating the next era, as well as the L’Oréal UNESCO for Women in Science in Japan Special Award.

SINZIANA BEREVOESCU

Director of Project Development

Sinziana was born in Romania where she experienced her first camp away from home in first grade and, after a short homesickness night, she enjoyed traveling ever after. After graduating Computer Science and working as a software engineer in Bucharest she lived in Haifa, Israel for a few years and Mountain View and Sunnyvale since 1998. She worked for several software companies until she had her second daughter when she started exploring a new world with her daughters, organizing math festivals, volunteering as an art docent and participating in international fairs. After experiencing the magic of S2I and I2S exchange she is very excited to help connect the sister cities through art too!

MIMI SUEYOSHI MYLES

Program Development Manager

I was born and raised in Kitakyushu (a one hour drive from Iizuka). I completed my studies at the University in Okayama receiving a teachers license in PE. In 1995, I moved to San Jose and have lived in Sunnyvale since 2000. I have worked for Japanese high tech companies including Marubeni and Toray since living in the bay area. My mom lives in Nogata and my brother lives in Iizuka, so that I feel thankful to get involved with SSCA and make a positive impact between Sunnyvale and Fukuoka!!

LISA OHTSU

Iizuka City Liaison

I have been interested in foreign countries and cultures since young age. So I like traveling very much. When I visited Sunnyvale as an I2S chaperone, the kindness of people living there and SSCA touched my heart. At the same time I’m into Sunnyvale and want to be a bridge between two cities. Currently, I teach English at a junior high school and an elementary school. On my days off, I often enjoy running. I’m looking forward to working with people and for people.

JENNY BRATTON

Program Development Manager

Jenny is a mother of two school-age boys and works as a grants manager at Sequoia Healthcare District (SHD). Prior to joining SHD, she worked in the public schools for over a decade in various teaching positions at the high school, adult school, and middle school levels. Her interest in volunteering for SSCA stems from her experience teaching English in Japan for two years, which she fondly recalls as the best years of her life. Jenny holds a bachelor's degree in English from UCLA, a teaching credential from UCSD, and a master's degree in counseling from San Jose State.

KAORI ASAKAWA

Program Development Manager

Born in Tokyo and raised in Yokohama, Japan, Kaori moved to the U.S. in 2001. She attended Foothill Community College and transferred to UC Berkeley, where she completed her bachelor's degree in Molecular and Cell Biology. Kaori's desire and passion for volunteering at SSCA is to help young generations to open up to the world for new and exciting experiences. While being a busy mother of two hyper boys in grade school, Kaori works for a pharmaceutical company as a regulatory affairs professional to help bring new therapies for cancer patients. In her spare time, Kaori likes being active: running, playing tennis, practicing yoga, and of course, loves playing and goofing around with the boys.

YUSHI HOTOKA

Treasurer

Born and raised in Osaka, Japan. Yushi moved to NYC, studied accounting at CUNY and obtained a CPA license while working at a Japanese CPA firm. He moved to the Bay Area in 2017 and has been working as a partner at Ozawa, Kaneko and Associates and providing attestation, accounting, consulting, and tax services to Japanese companies in the United States.

DANIELE CIVELLI

Director of Student Exchange

Daniele was born and raised in Brittany, France. After studying Computer Science, she moved to the Bay Area where she worked for SanDisk, Samsung, Apple and more recently Google. She had the opportunity to travel to Japan for business and really appreciated the culture and collaboration with her Japanese coworkers.

Daniele has been living in Sunnyvale with her family for over 20 years. Her son was part of the S2I 2022 Student Exchange program. She is supporting the Sunnyvale Sister City Association to enable other families to enjoy this wonderful program.

CASSIDY TAO

Editor

A Bay Area native, Cassidy fell in love with traveling at a young age, and especially enjoys exploring Asian cultures and food. She studied abroad in Osaka during college, and she taught English in Hiroshima through the JET Program. These challenging yet transformative opportunities reaffirmed her love for Japan and intercultural exchange.

After returning to the States in 2019, Cassidy connected with the community by attending a Japanese church and joining the Sunnyvale Sister City Association in 2023. She hopes that the relationship between Sunnyvale and Iizuka will grow and more people will fall in love with Japan! 🇯🇵

CHANCE WEN

Media Specialist

Chance is a Bay Area native with family in the Sunnyvale area. He is currently a freelancing digital creative and is a prospective graduate student aspiring to do a masters in UX and HCI design. From a young age, Chance had a profound interest and fascination with Japanese culture and media and spent time studying the language and studying abroad in Kyoto. After graduating from university, Chance participated in the JET Programme as an Assistant Language Teacher in Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. He lived and worked there for four years and developed deep ties to Japan and wants to keep maintaining those ties now that he is back in the Bay Area.

MANDANA NAZERADL
(Mandy Malek)

Program Development Manager

Mandana has been an educator since 1996. She has an MA degree in International Studies and Global Education. Currently, she enjoys working as a substitute teacher for the Sunnyvale School District.

She and her husband are avid travelers and enjoy learning about the culture, traditions, and food of every country they visit. In 2019, their son applied to attend the SSCA exchange program. She found the program aligned with her passion and is happy to facilitate students and teachers alike to benefit from this program. She understands the amount of time, resources, and dedication needed for running such programs and is happy to be part of the SSCA team.

IRENE LIN IWASAKI

Program Development Manager

Irene is a 2nd generation Taiwanese American who moved from the Chicagoland area for undergraduate studies at Stanford. 30+ years later (including earning an MD from Stanford Medical School), she still calls the Bay Area home. She works part-time as a family medicine physician for PAMF and full-time as a mom. She is excited to be volunteering for the Sunnyvale Sister Association since all 3 of her daughters participated in the student exchange program and all had incredible experiences with their host families in Iizuka. She looks forward to supporting the wonderful connection between the cities of Sunnyvale and Iizuka.

PURVA SETHI

Program Development Manager

Purva's interest in Japan started as a child when she watched a Japanese drama 'Oshin' televised in India. Wanting to get to know more about the country led her to learn Japanese language and culture for her Bachelors and Master degree. Working as an interpreter in the telecom industry after graduation, gave her an opportunity to travel to Japan for business. After relocating to US and switching jobs, she lost touch with the Japanese language for many years. Most recently, she was a part for an art collaboration project between Sunnyvale and Iizuka being a member of Sunnyvale Art Club, and she's now excited to revive her Japanese language skills along with learning Japanese art. Currently she's working as an executive assistant at a Montessori School and enjoys art, hiking and gardening in her free time.

ELAINE BARKER

Program Development Manager

Elaine is a Bay Area native and has lived in Sunnyvale for fourteen years. She has a background in education and enjoys volunteering and working with the PTA at her kids' schools. Together with her family, she has visited Iizuka two times and is looking forward to promoting cultural exchange with SSCA!

ANDREW LUDWIG

Program Development Manager &
IT Manager

Andrew is a Bay Area native and has lived in the Bay Area for most of his life. His passion for Japan began in September 2013 while studying at International Christian University in Tokyo. In 2014, he graduated from University of California, Davis, with a BA in International Relations and Economics. From 2015 to 2016, he returned to Japan via the JET Program where he taught English to elementary school and junior high school students and lived in Aomori City - a city famous for the Nebuta Festival, being the birthplace of the Fuji Apple and being one of the snowiest cities on Earth. Now, Andrew is working as a Senior Manager at Equilar where he manages the data operations and team members of the department. He is excited to use his experience and passion for the Bay Area and Japan to support the SSCA and its relationship with Iizuka, Japan.

POOM KULPHAISAL

Program Development Manager

Poom was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand. She came to the US to attend Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned her MS degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences. She then moved to the Bay Area where she worked as an analytical chemist in several pharmaceutical companies. She is currently working in regulatory affairs at Gilead Science. She has been living in Sunnyvale for over 10 years with her husband and two daughters. Poom and her family have visited Japan multiple times when they go to Thailand to visit family and have enjoyed the food and the culture of Japan. Her older daughter joined the S2I 2023 exchange program and had an incredible experience which led her to become a student volunteer for SSCA after the program completed. Poom is excited to be a part of the SSCA team and is looking forward to promoting the organization.

LILIANA PACHECO

Program Development Manager

Liliana is a global citizen and world traveler with a passion for people, places, culture, and life. She fell in love with Japan upon visiting for the first time in 2023. She has a rich background in education and public service, having worked as a teacher in France, Spain, and Sunnyvale. Currently, she serves the community as a Youth Services Librarian.

HANNAH FULTON

Tokyo Liason

Hannah is a recent graduate from California State University Monterey Bay, and was able to study abroad in Kyoto, Japan for one year from 2022-2023. Upon returning back to the United States, she strongly felt the urge to continue to stay involved with U.S.-Japan relations, in order to strengthen and bridge the gap between Japan and America. Starting in August 2024, she will be going to work as an Assistant Language Teacher through the JET Program in Gunma Prefecture, and is looking forward to living in Japan again as well as supporting SSCA!

LEI GAO

Finance Manager

Lei is a seasoned finance professional with over a decade of experience. She was born and raised in China, spent 10 years in the UK before relocating to the Bay Area in 2012. Passionate about exploring diverse cultures, she finds joy in traveling and discovering global cuisine. Lei enjoys baking and values balancing her career with meaningful time spent creating memories with her family. She looks forward to supporting SSCA’s mission through volunteer work, aligning her professional expertise with a strong commitment to community impact.

CHIKO NAKAMURA

Business and Sponsor Development Manager

Chiko was born in Osaka and raised in the tropical islands of Okinawa, Japan. Her passion for English and cultural exchange began early, when she joined an ESL program at Sunnyvale Middle School—a life-changing experience that sparked her deep connection to the city. Chiko went on to study International Relations at San Francisco State University and earned her Master’s in Business Analytics from Hult International Business School. Now based in San Francisco, she works in business development and marketing with a focus in fintech. With a long-term goal of being a bridge between the U.S. and Japan, Chiko is excited to give back to the Sunnyvale community through SSCA.

OPEN POSITION

Are you interested in helping the SSCA? We are looking for:
- Student Program Manager (2)
- Program Development Manager (multiple)
For more info please email us at: volunteer@sunnyvalesistercity.org.