John W. Gardner Award
Each year at our Exemplary Leadership Celebration, ALF Senior Fellows recognize those among them who are doing an exemplary job of inspiring and motivating other leaders, building bridges between diverse communities, and demonstrating ALF’s core values of diversity, inclusiveness, engagement, and respect.
This recognition is known as the John W. Gardner Award, named for John W. Gardner (1912 – 2002), former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and author of On Leadership (1990). Gardner helped design the national ALF organization and helped develop the Silicon Valley chapter.
John W. Gardner Award Nominations
Nominations by ALF Senior Fellows for the 2024 John W. Gardner Award are now being accepted here:
2023 AWARDEES
2023 John W. Gardner Awardee
Kathleen King, Class XVII
CEO, Healthier Kids Foundation
2023 John W. Gardner Awardee
Chris Wilder, Class XXI
Former CEO, Valley Medical Center Foundation
MORE PAST AWARDEES
2022 John W. Gardner Awardee
Salvador “Chava” Bustamante, ALF Class XVIII
Retired Executive Director, Latinos United for a New America (LUNA)
2022 John W. Gardner Awardee
Barry Williams, ALF Class XX
Retired Managing General Partner, Williams Pacific Ventures
2020 John W. Gardner Awardee
Webb McKinney, ALF Class XV
Retired Executive Vice President, Hewlett Packard
2020 John W. Gardner Awardee
Hsing Kung, ALF Class XIII
Managing Partner of Acorn Campus Ventures
2019
Patricia Gardner, Class XX, CEO, Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits
Carol Larson, Class XV, President & CEO, David and Lucile Packard Foundation
2017
Ann Ravel, Class XI, Fellow, New America
Russ Hall, Class XX, Managing Director & Founder, Legacy Venture
Bob Brownstein, Class XII, Strategic Advisor, Working Partnerships USA
Chris Eyre, Class XVI, Partner Emeritus, Legacy Venture
2016
Rabbi Melanie Aron, Class VIII, Rabbi, Congregation Shir Hadash
Luisa Buada, Class XXIII, CEO, Ravenswood Family Health Center
C.S. Park, Class XVIII, Board Chair, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
2015
Roy Hirabayashi, Class XVIII, Founder, San Jose Taiko
Greg Avis, Class XI, Founding Managing Director, Summit Partners
2014
Randy Pond, Class XVII, Executive Vice President, Cisco, Inc.
Erica Yew, Class XV, Judge, Santa Clara Superior Court
2012
Steve Smith, Class XIV, Managing Director (Ret.) Arma Partners Investments
LaDoris Cordell, Class VIII, Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose
2011
Blanca Alvarado, Class III, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Emeritus
Lisa Sonsini, Class XIV, Board President of the Sobrato Foundation
2010
Lata Krishnan, Class X, Vice Chair, American India Foundation
Hermelinda Sapien, Class XVII, President and CEO, Center for Employment Training (CET)
2008
Sharon Chatman, Class XIII, Superior Court Judge, Santa Clara County and Founder, Building Peaceful Families
Robert Saldich, Class VIII, retired President and CEO of Raychem Corporation
2007
Chuck Geschke, Class X, Chairman, Adobe Systems
Martha Kanter, Class IX, Chancellor, Foothill-DeAnza Community College District
2005
Connie Martinez, Class X, Executive Director, The Children’s Discovery Museum
John Morgridge, Class VIII, Chairman of the Board, Cisco Systems
2004
Ned Barnholt, Class IX, President and CEO, Agilent Technologies
Frederick Ferrer, Class XI, Executive Director, Estrella Family Services
2003
J. Richard Braugh, Class XII, Senior Vice President for Investments, UBS
Rolanda Pierre Dixon, Class IX, Assistant District Attorney, Santa Clara County
2002
Ronnie Lott, Class XII – Founder, All Stars Helping Kids
Linda Williams, Class VI – President, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
2001
Amy Dean, Class V – Executive Officer, South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council
Peter Hero, Class III – President, Community Foundation Silicon Valley
2000
Esther Medina, Class II – Executive Director, Mexican American Community Services Agency, Inc. (MACSA)
Gib Myers, Class IX – Chairman, Entrepreneurs’ Foundation
1999
Peter Giles, Class IV – President and CEO, The Tech Interactive (1987-2005)
Paul Locatelli, S.J., Class II – President, Santa Clara University
1998
Les Denend, Class VII – President, Network Associates, Inc.
Dianne McKenna, Class IV – Former member, Santa Clara Board of Supervisors
Sally Osberg, Class I – Executive Director, Children’s Discovery Museum
1997
Jim Carreker, Class VI – Chairman & CEO, Aspect Telecommunications Corp.
Phil Hammer, Class V – Partner, Hammer & Jacobs
1996
Ken Coleman, Class III – Senior Vice President, Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Becky Morgan, Class VI – President & CEO, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley
1995
Kirk Hanson, Class IV – Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Harry Saal, Class V – Founder & Chairman, Network General Corp.
1994
Jean McCown, Class IV – Former Mayor of Palo Alto
Art Money, Class III – President, ESL, Inc.