Meet our 2024-2025 Leadership

Yvonne ThOrstenson

I am a longtime resident of Cupertino where my husband and I raised two children who attended Cupertino public schools, and graduated from Monta Vista High School. I earned a PhD in Genetics from UC Berkeley and worked most of my career in Molecular Diagnostics. I am a lifelong volunteer with broad experience, from youth activities, to contact tracing during the pandemic, to homeless advocacy through my faith community. I am passionate about doing my part to build a community where everyone has a place to call home.

David wang

David Wang is a Cupertino native (attended Regnart, Kennedy, Monta Vista), designer, and MIT materials engineer. He is relatively new to civic engagement, having joined the City of Cupertino’s Arts and Culture Commission in 2023 and Cupertino for All’s Board in 2024, but is excited to ensure Cupertino will be a vibrant community for residents, businesses, and visitors for generations to come. When able, David enjoys spending time with family, tending to his California native garden, and moving around (swimming, biking, running).

Abdullah enes kut

Hey! I’m Enes. I'm a sophomore political science major at De Anza College, as well as an international student. I decided to join the CFA family after facing personal difficulties with the housing crisis in Cupertino, and hope to make a difference in the field with my experience today.

jean bedord

Jean Bedord is publisher and editor of Cupertino Matters, a newsletter that keeps our community informed about what’s happening in local government in the absence of meaningful news coverage in the media. Local government impacts our quality of life, as well as our schools and the businesses we patronize. Taxpayer money pays for parks, recreation facilities, streets, bikeways, and the library, as well as day-to-day operation of the city. Information is essential for ensuring good governance and accountability of elected officials. You can sign up for updates at CupertinoMatters.org.

Jean was introduced to local politics growing up on a ranch in Wyoming. Her grandparents and parents were deeply involved in the community, with her dad serving in the state legislature. She went to University of Wyoming, where she got a B.A. in math education, followed by an M.A. in high plains archaeology. Her first experience with the publishing world came when her research was published, then referenced in James Michener’s book Centennial. However it’s hard to earn a living in archaeology…..

Computer skills were much more employable, and Jean was the first woman hired in a technical position at the Bureau of Mines in Laramie. She then worked on computerization of the academic library systems at Washington State University. Jean and her husband moved to Silicon Valley for his job at a pharmaceutical company. They have now lived in Cupertino for more than 25 years. Their son attended Cupertino schools, so they spent many hours at athletic activities. In transitioning from academia to corporate jobs, Jean returned to school as a working adult to get an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Over the years, Jean wrote for professional publications in the information industry, and spoke at numerous conferences. She’s been active in the library community, serving as Chair of the Library Commission during the campaign to build a new Cupertino library. Jean taught part-time for many years at San Jose State University in the graduate program in Library and Information Science, a pioneer program for online education

Louise Saadati

I’ve been a resident of Cupertino since 1983. We raised our two daughters here. They went to Regnart Elementary School, Kennedy Middle School and Monta Vista High School. I have a BS from UC Berkeley and a MS in Zoology from USC in Physical Therapy. I worked for 42 years as a Physical Therapist in Home Health and different hospital settings. Upon retirement in 2019 I became involved in leadership for forming different legal DOLAs (Dogs Off Leash Areas) in Cupertino. We now have two DOLAs (Jollyman DOLA, Linda Vista Little and Delicate DOLA and Linda Vista All Dogs DOLA. We should have a Memorial Park DOLA in about a year. I’m also a board member of Walk Bike Cupertino. I’m also involved in City Council Meetings and issues.

sandhana Siva

I am a freshman at San Jose State University studying ecology and urban planning. I moved from New Jersey to California at the age of 8 to Cupertino and went to Sedgwick Elementary School. I then moved to the west San Jose area near Cupertino and attended Miller middle school and Lynbrook High School. I moved back to Cupertino earlier this year and live near Sterling Barnhart Park and Saratoga Creek. I love the oak woodland and riparian vegetation in the area and love collecting the coast live oak acorns, eating California wild grapes, and noticing galls on the oak and willow trees. I also love to ride vta transit to different hiking spots and downtown. I hope to advocate for a smart growth based urban planning that is both inclusive of a diversity of people and native wildlife. You can also find me at the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies at de Anza sporting monarch butterflies in their sanctuaries or looking for California ground squirrels in hiking trails ( they are so cute 🥰 )

Philip nguyen

I went to Monta Vista High School as well as De Anza College and have worked nearby. Currently for work, I am a web developer for the VTA developing internal tools. Since middle school I have been concerned about climate change and sustainability when they showed The Inconvenient Truth in class. It was not until the pandemic when many issues people in the South Bay and beyond were facing become impossible to ignore: housing insecurity, the climate change, the environmental impact of California’s housing crisis, how the U.S. sacrifices marginalized people for the sake of profit, etc. The historical restrictive and discriminatory housing policies only work to exasperate the housing crisis and climate crisis as people have to live and drive further away, creating more emissions to get where they need to go. I have now realized the deeply interconnected nature of housing, the environment, city planning, and policy, and am motivated to co-create a more inclusive, community-oriented, housing abundant, transit-oriented Cupertino and South Bay.

I believe that housing is inherently a human right and every human deserves to have their basic needs met. Food, water, shelter and education to then be free to develop to their full potential. Denser housing built around services, food, entertainment and transit hubs - so having a car becomes optional rather than a necessity - is how cities like Cupertino can address both the housing and climate crises together. I believe community power will help us achieve this goal.

In my free time, I love to play volleyball, video games, swim, attend music festivals, spend time with my partner and just connect with others.