Madison Nguyen takes on new role with the SVO
After a year at the helm of the nonprofit Hunger at Home, former San Jose Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen has landed at the Silicon Valley Organization as executive vice president of the former Chamber of Commerce. High on Nguyen’s agenda is pushing the SVO to be more of a driver of public policy. “I want us to get in front of the issues and not have to react as we historically have done,” said Nguyen, who replaced Derrick Seaver when he jumped over to the San Jose Downtown Association to be its director of policy and operations.
Diversity is another area where Nguyen sees room for improvement. Noting that San Jose is about a third Latino and a third Asian, she’d like to see more of those faces get involved with the SVO, especially when it comes to ethnic small business owners. “They represent the backbone of our strong economy and they need to be at the table,” she said.
Her experience as the executive director of Hunger at Home, a nonprofit that connects the business community with nonprofits, also has provided her with a new perspective on issues facing the valley.
“I would like the SVO to work more with nonprofit organizations throughout Silicon Valley,” she said. “There are issues that, historically, organizations like the SVO really haven’t touched upon like hunger and homelessness, and those issues are going to have a huge impact whether you run a small business or a large business.”
Leaving Hunger at Home was a difficult decision, Nguyen said, because she felt like she was really connecting with the nonprofit partners. The San Jose-based organization is already searching for a new executive director, and Nguyen said she’ll stay connected as a member of its board of directors.
SVO MARKS A YEAR OF CHANGE » The SVO’s member breakfast at the Silicon Valley Capital Club on Thursday felt like a business revival meeting, with CEO Matt Mahood preaching the positives a year after the group dropped its Chamber of Commerce name and streamlined its activities.
The group welcomed 120 new members in the year, conducted ribboncuttings at 13 new businesses and launched a “Women Engaged” salon-style series. The SVO’s new board chair is Comcast’s Lennies Gutierrez — the first Latina to hold that position in the organization’s 132-year history.
Mahood said a continuing theme into this year will be telling the story that San Jose is a great place to live, work, raise a family and open a business.
“The city of San Francisco has not given up trying to tell the story that it’s ‘Silicon Valley,’ ” Mahood said, noting somewhat incredulously, “The city of San Francisco is a peninsula. It’s not a valley.” MARKETWATCH » Makers Market, which holds a popular monthly craft fair at its location at Santana Row, is expanding to downtown San Jose with a pop-up monthly craft market at the San Pedro Square Market, starting Saturday.
Artisans will be selling candles, jewelry, home decor goods, succulents — who doesn’t need more succulents, right? — and more, with live music providing a nice background.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will repeat the third Saturday of the month. I’m told there’ll be a signature cocktail available at the San Pedro Square Market Bar, and I have to imagine it would involve Maker’s Mark.