A native of San Carlos, California, Arsen Ari Kalfayan earned his
Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with minors in
Communication and Global and International Studies in 2006 from
University of California at Davis.
A native of Chicago, Illinois, Okko Grippando helped co-found
Reason to Party because it allows him to bring people together
for both fun, and benefiting the local community.
Mac serves as the primary point of contact for Reason to Party's
web presence. In addition to maintaining the website and sending
out e-mail blasts, Mac also tinkers with all the technology
necessary to make the parties a success, such as getting the
eventbrite iPhone app loaded for check-in, designing the press
wall and coordinating the audio and visual teams at the events.
Prior to joining Reason to Party's board in 2009, Lorenzo
Thione was the co-founder and Product Architect of Powerset,
Inc., an innovative search startup founded in 2005, with the
vision of bringing to consumers a more natural and effective type
of Internet search than conventional keyword search. Funded by
notable Silicon Valley VCs and angel investors, Powerset was
acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2008 to complement and innovate on
its own search technology and offering.
Matthew was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and
grew up surrounded by role models who imbued him with the virtues
of philanthropy and volunteerism. Among these were his parents,
always active and generous in the community, as well as several
important mentors in the Boy Scouts of America who left an
indelible sense of duty to help the less fortunate and taught him
citizenship to the community.
Graffiti PR is a subculture of revolutionary expressionist that
defy the rules of conventional communication. Graffiti PR was
created in 2003, by founding partner & Principal Urban
Culturalist, Shaun Saunders. A native of San Francisco, Mr.
Saunders was educated at U.C. Berkeley and worked in the
corporate sector as a Sales Executive for many years prior to
founding this company. As a dynamic and diversified niche media
company, Graffiti PR brings a cutting edge perspective to media
relations.
Reason to Party has recently expanded to Sacramento. We are
grateful to its leadership team for a thoughtful, grassroots
outreach effort in our state's capital city.
Mac serves as the primary point of contact for Reason to Party's
web presence. In addition to maintaining the website and sending
out e-mail blasts, Mac also tinkers with all the technology
necessary to make the parties a success, such as getting the
eventbrite iPhone app loaded for check-in, designing the press
wall and coordinating the audio and visual teams at the events.
Katie Mattesich is a native Sacramentan. After a childhood filled
with writing plays, moviemaking, and political debates with her
neighbor and best friend Mac, she headed off to college at UC
Berkeley. She earned a double major in Political Science and
Psychology, and then moved to San Francisco.
Emily was raised in Sacramento, but had to leave in order to
discover how much she loves her native city. She studied opera in
Santa Cruz, worked as a chef on a tugboat in Maine, spent a year
in a tiny town in Argentina, and then moved to eastern Canada to
attend Mount Allison University, a small liberal arts
college in New Brunswick.
In 2006, Emily graduated with highest honors and a B.A. in
Environmental Studies. Soon after moving home to Sacramento, she
began training in nonprofit management and fundraising.
Miguel was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and studied law at the
Christian Brothers University. He moved to California right after
graduating in 2007 to work as a Mexican Attorney to the Consulate
General of Mexico in Sacramento.
He is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in International
Commercial Law at the University of California Davis and wants to
be an Expert Attorney for business strategy between Mexico,
Brazil, and the US.
Patrick grew up in a military family and lived all over the
world, but moved to Sacramento in 1997 to attend Sacramento State
University. While there, he served as Vice President of his
fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha. In 2001, he graduated with a
Business Degree and spent time traveling in Europe and North
Africa before deciding to settle down in Sacramento.
In his professional life, Patrick manages an Enterprise
Rent-a-Car branch in Roseville. In his free time, he enjoys
kayaking, skiing, sailing, and singing in the Sacramento Choral
Society and Orchestra.
Global Glimpse's vision to have every US High School student
to gain a first-hand experience abroad that enables them to
become and act as responsible global citizens is a bold an
inspiring one.
Global Glimpse empowers high school students to become the global
leaders of tomorrow through a 3 week summer experience in a
developing country that emphasizes community service, mutual
understanding and respect, and college preparation.
Since it was founded in 1998, Equality California has
strategically moved California from a state with extremely
limited legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender (LGBT) individuals to a state with some of the most
comprehensive civil rights protections in the nation.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real
people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for
the words and images they present, and helping grassroots
organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the
stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD
promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances
equality.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal
organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families
through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education.
Ziggy Eschliman, known to most simply as The Wine Gal or The
Contessa of Cocktails, is among America's most enthusiastic,
authoritative and entertaining libation experts. For over 20
years, Ziggy has set and reported trends in all things to imbibe.
Her radio shows are broadcast throughout wine country and are
available on the internet. As a leading American speaker,
consultant, and wine writer, with personal experience extending
from the hills of Tuscany to the streets of New Orleans, Ziggy is
a driving force behind a national movement toward making wine
hip, fun and accessible.
Toad Hollow Vineyards began operation in 1994, with 3000 cases of
1993 Russian River Valley Chardonnay. Our Chardonnay is 100%
Stainless Steel fermented, using no oak at all. Since then we
have added additional wines, a Russian River Merlot (Richard
McDowell Vineyard), a Russian River Pinot Noir (Goldies Vines) a
Zinfandel from Paso Robles and a Rose of Pinot Noir from
Carneros. In 1995 we started to import wines made by our French
friends at Sieur D'Arques and now have two sparklings and three
still wines in our portfolio.
It's one thing to sip a sparkling wine and let the bubbles tickle
your throat. It's quite another thing, however, when a sparkling
wine really does...sparkle.
Stolichnaya - or more popularly "Stoli" - is one of the most
popular vodka brands on the market today. This is good because
the majority of their vodka line up is pretty good and
affordable, so when you're in doubt you can almost always rely on
a bottle of Stoli being at the liquor store. Overall the brand is
very smooth, great for mixing or for serving and sipping well
chilled and one of the best, readily available examples of
Russian vodka. --about.com
There are lots of reasons to love Kanon, but we often can’t
decide which reason we love best. Is it the fact that its
entire production process is not only organic but totally
sustainable? That it’s Swedish and who doesn’t love a Swede? Or
the fact that it tastes awesome? Well, we love all that about
Kanon, and more. But to get the word out to other people who may
not know what they’re missing, we enlisted our good friend Casey
Neistat to help us create a look into everything you’ll need to
know about just what makes Kanon so great.
Black Star is a double-hopped golden lager based on traditional
European Pilsner style beers. It is brewed with both Bavarian
Mittelfrüh and Czech Saaz hops and two row malting barley. By
hopping it in the kettle, and then again before finishing, Black
Star opens with a distinctive hop aroma and a rich, full bodied
flavor, yet closes remarkably crisp, light and refreshing.
StartOut is an organization dedicated to fostering and developing
entrepreneurship within the LGBT community. We are helping to
create the next generation of LGBT business leaders by helping
aspiring entrepreneurs start new companies, helping current
entrepreneurs to grow and expand their businesses, and engaging
successful entrepreneurs as role models and mentors for less
established entrepreneurs.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
amplifies the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real
people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for
the words and images they present, and helping grassroots
organizations communicate effectively. By ensuring that the
stories of LGBT people are heard through the media, GLAAD
promotes understanding, increases acceptance, and advances
equality.
