![]() John Housley is one of the most respected executives in the Semiconductor Industry in California. He has founded five companies and has serves on the board of numerous companies. He also serves on the board of the Salvation Army. He is a wonderful farther, a wonderful husband, a brilliant executive, and an all-around good person. I am honored to have an endorsement from John Housley. September 9, 2014 To whom it may concern: I have known Mr. Joe Lonsdale for many years through our industry work and on a personal level. I can't say enough about what an excellent person Joe is. This is in addition to the respect I have come to have for him concerning his work with young people and his giving nature to mentor and teach. Joe is an intelligent man and is always willing to step forward to help friends and strangers alike. I can highly recommend Joe without reservation for any position he may seek. John C. Housley The following letter is from Tom Langland. Tom has been president of Cal Chess the Northern California Affiliate of the United States Chess Federation. This makes him the top chess official in Northern California. I am honored to have an endorsement from Tom Langland I have known Joe Lonsdale for more than 10 years. I have known him as a scholastic chess coach and as a member of the board of Cal Chess (The Northern California affiliate of the United States Chess Federation) Joe runs the Mission San Jose Elementary School Chess team. I have directed numerous tournaments in which his team has competed. Disputes at scholastic chess tournaments are not uncommon. I have never seen Joe involved in a dispute at a scholastic tournament. His young players are particularly well behaved because Joe insists on excellent behavior. His teams have won the vast majority of state championships. He and his team have won with class and grace. The few times they did not win first place they still handled themselves extremely well. Joe has taken his teams to National tournaments and won numerous National Championship titles. Joe and his teams are a credit to Northern California Chess. For the last two years Joe has served on the Board of Cal Chess. I have been president of this board since 2006. Joe was elected treasure of Cal Chess and he took it upon himself to become the chief fund raiser for Cal Chess. In 2013 Joe set an aggressive fund raising goal and beat the goal by a large margin. The fundraising that Joe did led to a significantly improved financial condition for Cal Chess. Joe works very well with other members of the Cal Chess Board. He listens well and is a team player. Joe was recently elected to the position of board vice president. This clearly shows that rest of the board respects Joe and appreciates his contributions. I am certain that Joe will do an excellent job as a member of the board of Ohlone Community College. Tom Langland The following letter is from Chris Torres President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy. Chris and his academy have helped numerous children become chess champions. I am pleased to have his endorsement. I Endorse Joe Lonsdale for the Ohlone College Board of Directors It is my great pleasure to endorse Joseph Lonsdale Sr. for the Ohlone College Board of Directors. I have known Joe since he joined with the Torres Chess and Music Academy ten years ago. The Torres Chess and Music Academy is widely recognized as the highest quality provider of after-school youth chess programs in California and I am quite comfortable in stating that this would not be the case without the hard work and dedication of Joseph Lonsdale Sr. TCAMA students, parents and faculty often remark that Joe is a very talented educator. What many of them overlook is how hard Joe has worked to achieve his coaching successes in the face of adversity. I experienced first hand the effort that he put into the Mission San Jose Elementary School Chess Team immediately following the death of his first wife to cancer. Within months of that tragedy, Joe managed to lead MSJE to the National Elementary Chess Championship Title and in doing so, became the first chess coach to ever achieve this goal with a school from California. Joe, to no one’s surprise, later accomplished leading a second team to the National Elementary Chess Championship and in doing so has established himself as one of the best team leaders, chess or otherwise, in the Bay Area. Joe’s scholarship and background in education also give me every confidence that he will be an effective member of the Ohlone College Board of Directors. Joe’s scholarship includes a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University, an MS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Harvard University. Mr. Lonsdale was also an adjunct professor of finance in the MBA program at Golden Gate University for over 15 years. After successfully raising three sons who all graduated from prestigious universities, Joe is also well versed in the concerns of the parents of college students. Having been a college student at several top institutions of learning, a university professor and a Stanford Dad, Joe seems uniquely qualified for a leadership role at Ohlone College. Seeing Joe Lonsdale’s unwavering concern for education and quality of life in Fremont, I believe Joe’s leadership will enable Ohlone College to obtain excellent results just as his efforts have done for the Torres Chess and Music Academy. I strongly endorse Joseph Lonsdale Sr. for a position on the Ohlone College Board of Directors. Sincerely, Chris Torres President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy www.ChessAndMusic.com The following letter is from Div Harish. Div is that father of Amulya Harish a star fourth grader on the MSJE Chess team. Div makes time to be an assistant coach on the team despite the fact he is running his own business. I am honored to have his endorsement. Div created the web site where well over 1,000 people have signed in opposition to the Ohlone apartments. If you haven’t signed already go to https://www.change.org/p/fremont-ca-city-council-stop-ohlone-from-building-apartments-near-mission-blvd and sign the petition. Most of you know that the Ohlone College board of representatives, against the wishes of local residents, approved plans to build a huge commercial apartment complex on pristine land (meant for educational purposes) on the Ohlone campus. Most of the current representatives did not care that thousands of fellow citizens signed a petition expressing their opposition to such a plan. They did not care that this new development would add significantly to the over-crowded roads and schools of the community and make the situation even worse than it already is. It was disheartening to see that most of the current representatives simply did not care to represent our voices and opinions. It became clear to me that the only way to fight such bone-headed and unpopular plans, now and in the future, is to elect representatives who belong to the community, have the skills, the passion, the time and energy to understand the issues, and needs of the community and uncompromisingly represent our points of view during board deliberations. I am delighted to learn that our very own legendary MSJE Chess coach Joseph Lonsdale has decided to stand for election to the Ohlone Board. I don’t think we could have found a better person for this task than Joe Lonsdale and am very happy to endorse his candidacy. Joe has lived in Fremont near Ohlone College for over two decades. His three sons attended Fremont schools from elementary through high school, so he is well acquainted with the community and its educational standards and needs. His son Joe Lonsdale Jr.’s accomplishments as an entrepreneur and investor (counted among Fortune magazine’s Top 30 under 30 in the nation) are a testament to how good a parent and guide Joe was and is to his sons. Joe has a degree a BS and an MS in Chemical Engineering and an MBA from Harvard University, which speaks eloquently about Joe’s logical thinking skills and excellent analytical training which enables him to make good and sound decisions taking into account all sides of a debate. For the past two decades, despite having full time jobs and three boys to bring up, he setup the famed MSJE Chess Club and Chess Team. With his unique style, passion for the game and loving nature, he nursed it into one of the finest chess programs among public schools in the country and still continues to do so! He has single handedly put MSJE and Fremont on the national map! He spent over three decades working in various executive roles in the bay area and is recently retired. Unlike many of us who care about the issues but have little kids to take care of and are starved for time, Joseph Lonsdale has the knowledge, the skills, the resources, the energy and the time to contest this election and make a difference for the community. I’m sure you would agree, based on the above anecdotal facts I have shared with you, that we are lucky to have a person of Joseph Lonsdale’s calibre, character and talent standing for election to represent us. I urge everyone in the community to support him with their vote and do everything in their power to get him elected to be our representative on the Ohlone Board. Sincerely, Div Harish The Following comment is from Ivan Chan. Ivan has contributed to the school (Mission San Jose Elementary, MSJE) by serving as PTC president. Ivan is the father of John Chan who is about to enter the sixth grade. John has been a star on the chess team since he was in Kindergarten. He has been a scoring player on numerous state championship teams and has contributed to our success at the nationals. When I hear that Joe, our MSJE Chess team coach is putting his name in the hat to campaign for a seat in the Ohlone school trustee board, I am ecstatic and compelled to do a little write up to call upon our friends to give him the best support. We have known Joe for six years since my son joined the MSFE chess team in Kindergarten. I got to know Joe a bit more when I was the MSJE PTC president in 2010-2011 that enabled me to get accurate and reliable info on events and activities with student body and school affairs. Among all outstand contributions in the school, Joe has put in a big and consistent effort, year in and year out, to bring MSJE to the national chess map. He cares about all his kids on the team. He even contributes his personal time outside of the team session, at no cost, to help build a strong team during the summer to keep the kids involved with chess. His effort is duly rewarded as multiple teams became the national chess champions. What I see in Joe is more than just an excellent chess coach, a respectable person and a trusted friend. He is a superb educator too, with firm belief of doing all the right things for the kids. He has helped me personally when I was in a transition period going from one job to another due to a workforce reduction from previous employment. He also encouraged me to keep my son in the chess team during the economic hard time and offered my son to remain in the team for free and attend the additional Friday session without charge. I strongly believe that he will be a very good Ohlone school trustee broad member if elected, as he cares about the school, the community and he has a real good sense, honesty, dedication and integrity to do what is the best for students, the school and the community. I trust that he will tirelessly work to improve the Ohlone College. His platform of instituting a system that allows students to evaluate the teachers at Ohlone will allow students to pick good professors and encourages the teachers to do a good job in the classroom; his platform of managed growth around Ohlone and Mission San Jose Schools will represent us to fight off any irresponsible development from profit taking professionals and politicians that may end up in putting additional burden for the schools for years to come. I support Joe and wish him a success campaign for the Ohlone School board trustee in the coming year. This email is from Don Pan. Don is the parent of David Pan the top player on our 2014 State Championship K-6 Chess team. I got to know Mr. Lonsdale via MSJE Chess program where my son participates in. Mr. Lonsdale has been coaching MSJE Chess Team for a long time and has produced many National and State Championship titles. Mr. Lonsdale has ways to encourage kids to do their best in school and in chess. Mr. Lonsdale told many parents and kids that learning chess will help them developing skills like critical thinking, patience, good sportsmanship and honesty which I think are important to a kid's future. Mr. Lonsdale is a long time Fremont resident. He has raised 3 very successful kids along the way. He always has what is the best for the Fremont community in mind. With Mr. Lonsdale's success in life and coaching kids in Chess, I truly believe that Mr. Lonsdale will be an excellent member of Ohlone College Board. Don Pan |