Leadership

Orrin Mahoney has been on the CEEF Board since 2015.

He is a long time resident of Cupertino, California. After graduating from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1967, he came to California to work at Hewlett-Packard and received a Master’s degree from Stanford while working there. After a 35 year management career at HP, he retired and devoted his time to community activities. He is a former member of the Cupertino City Council, and has served twice as Mayor.

In addition to many other community groups, he is an active member and past president of the Rotary Club of Cupertino. He was Rotary District 5170 District Governor in 2017-2018.

He also serves on the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Management Corporation Board, Cupertino Library Foundation CEEF) Board, and the Foothill DeAnza Foundation Board.

Sonia Maiello joined the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation (CEEF) Board of Directors in January 2024. A long-time community member and dedicated volunteer, Sonia has been deeply involved in the Cupertino Union School District (CUSD), where her two sons, Thomas and Lucas, attended Montclaire Elementary and Cupertino Middle School. Her active role in the schools has given her a strong understanding of the CUSD community and its values.

Sonia is proud to have had her children benefit from CUSD and is now equally proud to give back through her service on the CEEF Board.

Professionally, Sonia has worked as a top-producing real estate agent for the past eight years. She is recognized as a top realtor at Intero Real Estate, in California, and in the United States. Her strong community connections and trusted reputation bring valuable support to fundraising efforts that benefit our local schools.

Prior to her career in real estate, Sonia spent 20 years at NASA Ames Research Center, where she contributed to major space projects, managed multimillion-dollar federal budgets, and led diverse teams. She earned her MBA from San Jose State University in 2002.

In her free time, Sonia enjoys baking and is known for sharing her homemade treats with clients and at CUSD events.

Sunita Merchia is CEO of Merchia Realty in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She is a Certified Probate & Trust Specialist with experience in Senior Housing, Residential and Commercial Real Estate. . Sunita has been a CUSD parent with extensive involvement as a school leader (TFIN) and parent representative on PAC/DELAC and served on various school in several PTA roles and responsibilities. As an active member of community Sunita brings collaboration, commitment and compassion to serve.

Mary Morris is an architect and planner who works with California TK–14 school districts on facilities planning, campus modernization, new schools, and educational environments. With a career focused on creating better spaces for students and communities, Mary brings expertise in architecture, sustainability, and school facilities planning to the CEEF Board. She is also an active community volunteer, serving on boards and committees and supporting public education, sustainability, and the advancement of the architecture profession.

Karen joined the CEEF Board in 2011 and served as President from 2015-2026.  She was first involved with CEEF during the Their Future is Now campaign in 2010.   During her tenure at CEEF, Karen designed and led the operations for several annual events like Great Schools Week, Great Schools Grocery Days and the Run for Great Schools 5K and Fun Run.  

Karen’s two children attended CUSD schools and she would like to ensure that today’s students in CUSD are awarded with the highest quality education possible. Karen believes CEEF is in a unique position right now to expand the support it can provide to CUSD. 

Karen has spent 20 years doing development work in public and private schools in the Bay Area.  Before that she spent over 15 years in the consulting industry, first working for Andersen Consulting in New York and Boston, and then leading her own consulting company in Boston, MA. Karen received her BA in Psychology and Economics from Swarthmore College and her MA in Instructional Design and Technology from the Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Katherine joined the CEEF board in 2024 excited to give back to the community as an alumna of CUSD. Katherine is currently a law student at the University of Chicago Law School and recently served as a Research Scholar at New York University School of Law. She worked with youth in the Bay Area community for over eight years and is committed to supporting early education in addition to her professional work and aspirations in higher education and academia.

Sanjay is passionate about education and believes that good education provides the foundational life skills, career opportunities, fosters critical thinking and drives long-term societal progress.  CEEF’s mission of funding excellence in the Cupertino Union School District is seminal towards achieving these educational goals.

Sanjay is Chairperson of the $347M Measure Z Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee for CUSD’s school infrastructure development.  Sanjay is on the leadership team and Trustee on the Board of Directors of the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation (CEEF).  He is Chairperson of the Sandy Liu Community Service Leadership Award, Chairperson of CEEF’s Board Nominating Committee, and member of the Endowment Investment Committee.  Sanjay is Trustee Emeritus of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland Virginia where he has served on the Investment, Finance, Trustee, Enrollment and Academic Affairs committees. 

Sanjay has had a distinguished career of 40 years in Silicon Valley’s high-tech semiconductor industry and held leadership positions in Service Management, Learning and Knowledge Management, Product Marketing and Development, Program Management, Research and Development, and Sales Service Support of software and hardware products. 

Sanjay is Charter Member of the Silicon Valley chapter of The International Entrepreneurs (TiE) and was Content Chairperson for TiECon 2007, the largest professional and networking conference for entrepreneurs in the world. He is a judge on the TiE University Pitch program and Mentor to TiE startups. Sanjay is a motivational speaker on leadership skills, management styles, careers and has headlined Global CXO Accelerator Conferences.

Sanjay is a distance runner, swimmer, cyclist, and NAUI certified open water scuba diver.

Phyllis was employed by CUSD for all of her career in education as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent. After retiring from employment, she was elected to the CUSD Board of Education where she served for many years. Phyllis continues to support the district through volunteer activities, and is a member of the Budget Advisory Committee. She also serves as a board member of the Cupertino Sister City Association, sending our first CUSD student delegation to Italy in April, 2026. She has long been a supporter of CEEF, and is excited to be a member of the CEEF Board.