Since 2020, the San José Museum of Art (SJMA) has expanded its Board with the appointment of eight Trustees: Chandra Gnanasambandam, Cole Harrell, Claudia Worthington Hess, Jeannine “JJ” Jacobsen, Lorri Kershner, Tammy A. Kiely, Wanda Kownacki, and Kimberly Lin.
These individuals represent the business and arts communities around the Bay Area. Gnanasambandam, Kiely, and Jacobsen are corporate leaders in Silicon Valley. Harrell, Lin, and Hess have deep connections to artists and arts organizations and Kownacki and Lin are well-known collectors. The addition of these eight individuals brings the number of board members to twenty-three.
"We are proud and grateful to add this diverse group of talented Trustees to the San José Museum of Art Board, building on our already strong Trustee community,” said Glenda Dorchak, Board President, San José Museum of Art. “These individuals will play a critical role guiding the Museum as we continue working towards our vision to be a borderless museum that is essential to creative life in San Jose and the Silicon Valley. I am grateful for their experience, enthusiasm, and support.”
“Now that we are moving beyond the pandemic, I am thrilled to share that the Museum has elected eight Trustees to its board since 2020. These appointments demonstrate how SJMA will emerge stronger from these challenging times. Their diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, and skills will benefit the Museum as we work towards a sustainable future,” said S. Sayre Batton, Oshman Executive Director, San José Museum of Art.
About the New Trustees
Chandra Gnanasambandam
Gnanasambandam leads Fuel by McKinsey, a group dedicated to helping start-ups, their investors, and corporate innovators lead the next wave of disruptive innovation in their industries. He serves a broad range of technology clients across software and hardware, with a primary focus on software companies. He previously led the firm’s software work in North America and was a founding partner of McKinsey’s Bangalore office. Gnanasambandam assists some of the world’s leading technology companies with large-scale transformations and has a record of helping his clients achieve significant growth in their market capitalization. He brings deep expertise in product management and engineering.
Cole Harrell
Cole Harrell is an internationally recognized specialist in traditional art from Africa and Oceania, and founder of Harrell Fine Art. Since 2013, Harrell has conducted research, consultations, and acquisitions for private collectors, cultural institutions, and corporations. Since 2015 Harrell has mounted an annual spring exhibition of classical Tribal sculpture, including Mastering Worlds; Exploring Space and Scale in Tribal and Asiatic Art. Harrell’s civic and philanthropic engagements in New York City include the Director's Circle and Chair, Young Fellows, Frick Collection; and nationally as a Friend Member at the National Gallery Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington. Harrell and his husband Tai-Heng Cheng joined the Director’s Council in early 2020. They live in New York City and Tuxedo Park, NY.
Claudia Worthington Hess
Claudia Worthington Hess is a fine art appraiser who works with museums and clients throughout the US and in Canada on insurance, donation, and estate appraisals. After raising her family and running her own gallery for 5 years (closing this business in 2009), she combined her art world expertise and business acumen and started Hess Art Advisory in 2010. Hess focuses on helping her clients know the value of their tangible assets in order to make informed decisions for insurance, donations, and estate needs. While her appraising work is primarily in the Bay Area, she does some work nationally and internationally. Hess is located in the Bay Area.
Jeannine “JJ” Jacobsen
Jacobsen oversees the Information Technology, Information Security, Human Resources, Enterprise Risk Management, Legal and Corporate Services functions for Technology Credit Union—a financial institution with strong ties to Silicon Valley’s leading tech companies starting with Fairchild Camera and Instrument Semiconductor Division (a pioneer in technology innovation). Before joining the management team at Tech CU, Jacobsen worked at Cisco Systems in San José where she supported key executive leaders—focusing primarily on performance management, employee relations, HR program management, and talent development. Jacobsen's career also includes senior HR positions at LucasFilm Ltd. and Silicon Valley Financial. She most recently served on the Board of Directors for West Valley Community Services.
Tammy A. Kiely
Tammy A. Kiely is co-head of Technology, Media and Telecom Investment Banking Services. She also serves as global head of the Semiconductor and Autotech Investment Banking Practice in the Technology, Media and Telecom Group. Kiely became head of the global semiconductor investment banking team in 2006 and assumed responsibility for the autotech practice in 2017. Tammy joined Goldman Sachs in 1999 in the Technology Investment Banking Group. She became a vice president in 2002 and was named managing director in 2007 and partner in 2014. Prior to joining the firm, Kiely worked at KPMG as a CPA in the Information, Communications and Entertainment practice. Kiely serves as co-chairman of the Greater Bay Area chapter of the American Heart Association and is a member of the Dean's Advisory Council at the Orfalea College of Business at the California Polytechnic State University.
Kimberly Lin
Kimberly Lin worked at Art Network Services in Tokyo for Japanese corporate and private clients and helped bring live art auctions to Tokyo via satellite. She was on the Board and is now currently an Emeritus member for the Magical Bridge Foundation in Palo Alto which has built one of the first innovative inclusive playgrounds for children in the Bay Area and helps to support and design similar projects. For the past three years as a former member of the Executive Board and the current Research Director for the Global Fine Arts Awards (GFAA), Lin researches exhibitions for the nominations slate. A native and current resident of Palo Alto, California, Lin previously lived with her family in New York, London, and also resided in Tokyo for nine years.
Wanda Kownacki
Los Gatos resident and art collector, Wanda Kownacki has been involved with Bay Area museums for many years. She has served on the Board of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. She is currently on the Acquisitions Committee of the San José Museum of Art and the Montalvo Lucas Arts Program advisory committee.
Lorri Kershner
Lorri Kershner has served as the President of L. Kershner Design since 1987. Kershner previously served as Instructor of Interior Design and Interior Architecture at San José State University from 2007–09. She has served on the Boards of the San José Institute of Contemporary Art, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and the Santa Cruz Arts Council. Kershner lives in Santa Cruz, CA.
Support
Operations and programs at the San José Museum of Art are made possible by generous support from the Museum's Board of Trustees, a Cultural Affairs Grant from the City of San José, the Lipman Family Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Richard A. Karp Charitable Foundation, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Yellow Chair Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the SJMA Director's Council and Council of 100, the San José Museum of Art Endowment Fund established by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and The William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
SAN JOSÉ MUSEUM OF ART
SJMA is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San José, California. The Museum is open Friday through Sunday, 11am to 6pm and until 8pm or later on the first Friday of each month. SJMA has implemented a dedicated hour of each day for our most vulnerable guests to enjoy the galleries, inviting seniors, those who are pregnant, and those with underlying health concerns as determined by CDC guidelines, to visit SJMA Friday through Sunday, 11am–12pm. For up-to-date information about SJMA, visit SanJoseMuseumofArt.org. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and free to members, college students, youth and children ages 17 and under, and school teachers (with valid ID). For more information, call 408.271.6840 or visit SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.