BAWSI Board Members

Marlene Bjornsrud, Board member

Marlene has more than 30 years experience in management and nonprofit work and was previously general manager of the San Jose CyberRays women's professional soccer team overseeing all business operations of the organization. Before her role with the CyberRays, she was assistant director of athletics at Santa Clara University, where she supervised marketing and media relations as well as eleven sports. Prior to coming to the Bay Area, she was assistant athletic director and senior women's administrator at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. She coached the women's tennis team at Grand Canyon University for several years and was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1981. Her career includes leadership roles in nonprofit organizations working with youth and homeless families. Bjornsrud is co-founder of BAWSI and has responsibility for management of the organization, including fundraising, human resources, strategic planning, programs, finance, communications, and representing BAWSI to government agencies, the community, and the public.

Cindy Chavez, Board member

Cindy served as Vice Mayor of the City of San José. While a member of the San José City Council, she represented Council District Three (which includes the downtown area) on the San Jose City Council. Chavez was first elected to the Council in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. In 2005, she was chosen by the San Jose Mayor and confirmed by her colleagues on the City Council to serve as Vice Mayor. She is currently focusing on her fellowship at the Center for Global, International and Regional Studies at the University of California-Santa Cruz, where she works on global warming initiatives. Cindy has launched a consulting business called California Leadership Services, through which she is working to help two local school agencies with their fundraising efforts. She is also working with San Jose-Evergreen Community College District to reinvigorate its existing foundation.

Sam Chuck, Board member

Elected partner in the law firm of Rossi, Hamerslough, Reischl and Chuck at age 31, voted president at age 33, and distinguished as a named partner at 35, Sam has been repeatedly honored as a top real estate and business trial lawyer by San Jose Magazine, inducted into the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and received the distinction of Northern California "Super Lawyer" from San Francisco Magazine. Sam's law firm has provided legal counsel pro bono for BAWSI including filing all the documents for BAWSI to secure its 501(c)3 status in 2005. Sam is married and has three young children.

Christine Eustice, Secretary

Christy has been a junior high and high school teacher in the Bay Area for 9 years. During these years, she has served in a variety of school settings and positions and has taught physical education, science, fitness, nutrition, and Life Skills in addition to coaching and serving as department chair and athletic director. She has taught in a small private school setting as well as large public schools. She was one of the first teachers in the East Side Union High School District to implement the use of heart rate monitors and pedometers into her physical education classes as part of the Physical Education Progress Grant. She served as Director of Personnel for the San Jose CyberRays. Eustice was a 4-year athlete in softball during her years at San Jose State University.

Martha Hanlon, Treasurer

Martha is the founder of Authentic Marketing, a company that brings together all the components to help executives build competitive business models and integrated marketing plans to drive their marketplace advantages. With more than 20 years of marketing experience, Hanlon has collaborated with executives of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups and global businesses. She served on the Women's Sports Task Force, a sub-committee of the San Jose Sports Authority, from 2002 through 2003. She holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Duquesne University.