Richard Gross

Board Chair

Richard is a C-suite executive with extensive experience in business development, strategy, marketing and operations. An investor and advisor to numerous startups, he has also co-founded and led software, fintech, social engagement, and data analytics companies. He has also been a management consultant, economist and analyst at KPMG, Standard & Poor’s, ICF and Reuters. Richard has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations.

Kristen Badgley

Strategic Growth Advisor, HighPoint Associates

Kristen is a strategic and mission-driven executive with global experience leading services organizations through growth challenges while driving for improved performance and results. She’s a recognized people leader with a talent for building high-performance cultures and aligning teams to achieve strategic goals. Kristen has a successful track record of transforming businesses across multiple industries into value creators, identifying business opportunities from joint ventures and strategic partnerships, resulting in better profitability and improved shareholder value. She has a unique skill for building trust with executives and teams, as well as crafting strategic vision to become a change leader through business transformations, resulting in organizations’ improved business development, sales, operations, and leadership.

As an alum of both Virginia Tech and Harvard Business School, Kristen loves environments where learning is emphasized and humanity is honored. She is thrilled to join this board and organization focused on delivering dignity to families in the Bay Area.

Leslie Concilla

Owner, Da Vinci Marble

Leslie is a business owner who has developed skills in many facets of business development while managing a company she co-founded with her husband, Joe Concilla. She has leveraged her seasoned experience in banking, sales, and marketing to lead their successful company to new heights while employing 85 people. In running their company together for 20 years, Leslie has excelled in strategic planning, business development, HR and safety management, and financial analysis. In addition, she has managed daily operations of sales, warehouse staff, customer service, and marketing while growing her company to more than $45 million in sales. She also has implemented her vision for marketing her business online by coordinating with web developers to communicate with customers and improve sales by creating and enhancing the company website.

Bob Daw

Bob brings many years of global senior leadership experience in technology sales and operations for large and small technology companies including Medallia, Oracle, BEA Systems, Apple, and IBM. He and his family have been residents of Santa Clara County for over 20 years after relocating from Toronto, Canada.

With over two decades of international senior leadership experience in enterprise sales and sales operations in technology companies, Bob consistently delivers strong results through customer focus, personal integrity, strategic planning, urgency of execution, stakeholder collaboration and transparency, and developing and leveraging talent.

Brian Friss

Co-founder, DIGISTOR

Brian co-founded DIGISTOR a Secure Data Storage firm in 2001. As the Sales Leader for DIGISTOR Brian led his team to over $100mm in sales. He was responsible for brand management, marketing, and overall board-level accountability for investor return. Brian led his team through a successful acquisition to a competing firm in 2020. Prior to founding DIGISTOR, Brian was responsible for helping to build FusionStorm a large IT Services company focusing on secure database management and scalability. Brian holds several advisor and board roles including Managing Director of LFCF and a Board of Director seat with CDSG. Brian resides in Silicon Valley with his wife of 20 years and two teenage boys.

Travis Mitchell

Legal Counsel, Benchling

Travis is an attorney with demonstrated experience in securities, capital markets, employment, and data privacy law. He provides significant value to companies and clients by leveraging industry knowledge, research and analytical skills, and the ability to create and execute high-impact legal programs. He is a reputable relationship builder with both internal and external stakeholders and operates with integrity and reliability through clear and consistent communication. Travis has thorough knowledge of the shifting legal landscape with regards to international compliance, corporate governance, and the latest data privacy practices.

He has additional professional experience as a trainer, coach, and lifetime learner in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) space. He is committed to upholding justice by providing many pro bono hours annually and serving with numerous social justice and community boards and organizations.

Linda Sullivan, NCIDQ, ASID

Principal, Sullivan Design Studio

Linda holds a BS in Interior Design and an NCIDQ license. She is a bay area native and founder of Sullivan Design Studio in Menlo Park. She has been referred by the Huffington Post as “Silicon Valley’s Client Whisperer” and was named “Best Interior Designer” by Silicon Valley Magazine. Her firm has been the recipient of over 20 interior design awards, including the coveted Luxe Magazine Gold List multiple times. Linda leads her team in the design of new construction luxury custom homes and boutique commercial/hospitality projects in Silicon Valley, Lake Tahoe, Napa, and Hawaii.

Lucy Wang

Associate Vice President, Securities & Corporate Counsel

Lucy Wang is an attorney practicing in the areas of corporate law, capital markets, securities law, and corporate governance. Lucy currently serves as in-house securities and corporate counsel to a public fintech company, where her myriad responsibilities include managing public company corporate policies, monitoring board governance and procedures, and completing SEC filings and reporting obligations. She advises leadership on changes of law and best practices for public companies. Prior to her in-house career, Lucy was in capital markets practice at a large corporate law firm, where she advised underwriters in connection with securities laws, IPOs, and other public offerings. During her time at the firm, Lucy advised BAFB as a client on a pro-bono basis. Lucy has a demonstrated commitment to diversity initiatives and her Bay Area community.

Tom Wasow

Professor of Linguistics & Philosophy Emeritus, Stanford University

Mr. Wasow is the academic secretary of Stanford University, where he was a professor of linguistics and philosophy for 43 years. He has been active on issues related to affordable housing on the Peninsula since the mid-1990s, when he was appointed to a City of Palo Alto task force on homelessness. He has served on the board of the Community Working Group since its founding, and currently serves on the board of Peninsula Healthcare Connection.

Ray Piontek

Ray Piontek founded the Bay Area Furniture Bank in 2015. His motivation for doing so was his philosophy to promote hope, dignity, and stability for veterans and families in need across our community. Over the last several years, BAFB has grown to be able to provide a full complement of household furniture for thousands of individuals and families transitioning from homelessness.

Before BAFB, Ray had retired after a successful career in which he worked more than 25 years as a marketing and business development executive whose responsibilities included growth, strategy, and P&L. Ray worked at Xerox and Apple for 13 years each, and also held senior sales management positions with Autodesk, Diversified Software, and Hilti.

Ray was a proud alum of Boston College where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing. In addition to his business career, Ray served 27 years in the U.S. Navy as an aviator while also holding senior positions of command.

We are grateful to Ray for his tireless efforts to create and build BAFB. He leaves a legacy we are all deeply proud of, including improving the lives of many people in need. He will be dearly missed.