DETAILS | CALENDAR | CANDIDATES | SPONSORS | BOY & GIRL  FOR CANDIDATES ONLY | CONTACTS

The Greater Bay Area San Francisco Chapter is proud to announce its exceptional 2008 Man & Woman of the Year Candidates!
Gina Destito, General Manager of Unified Compliance Network
	Gina is a first generation California native, raised in Bel-Air with L.A. , O.C., "The Valley" & Santa Monica Beach as her back drop until making "The Bay Area" her home since 1987. An Italian Mom first, Gina's motto is "I have to feed you or do something for you!" She epitomizes zeal and humanity. Cancer has touched many of her family members and Gina feels she is truly blessed with their strength and inspiration. Gina is the General Manager of Unified Compliance Framework (UCF), the leader in IT regulatory compliance management. A single Mom of two terrific daughters 16 & 18, (She will tell you her greatest achievement.) and entrepreneur of a third generation recipe "Papa Destito" created in 1929 "Destito Frost" Authentic Italian Ice. She is thrilled to be part of  what she terms as "Yet, one more chapter of discovery and a yearning to make a difference, as today is the gift, tomorrow is the promise." Click here to donate to Gina Destito!
Daphne Evans, PhD Candidate in Clinical Psychology and Founder of Heaven's Door and Evans Relief Fund
	Daphne Evans is a founder of two non-profits: Heaven's Door, a wellness and consulting agency for women with cancer (www.heavensdooropen.org) and Evans Relief Foundation, an agency who helps during catastrophes such as the tsunamis and hurricanes. Daphne is an ovarian cancer survivor who is celebrating her tenth anniversary of being diagnosed in 1998. She also works with numerous cancer societies, such as Canary Foundation, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation and the Italian Make A Wish Foundation. After being a controller for law firms and high tech industries for almost twenty years, she is now pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology to help hospice families as well as surgeons and peri-operative personnel who lose patients in the OR.  She is surprised and honored to be nominated as Woman of the Year 2008 by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by a wonderful friend, Sheila Ash. Daphne is very excited about this honor and believes that this is her opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people affected by leukemia, lymphoma and blood cancers through out our community. Click here to donate to Daphne Evans!
Betsie Hidalgo, RealtorÒ with Prudential California Realty
	Betsie is a San Francisco real estate professional who first became involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through donating her time to the campaign of her good friend, and last year's Man of the Year candidate Sean Monaghan.  Last fall she joined and trained with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training and ran her first ½ marathon in the Nike Women's Race to Benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.   Since then, she has continued to be involved with the organization as an active volunteer. She is passionate about the cause because the statistics for patient diagnosis are staggering, and she feels there exists a need within our community for individuals to raise awareness and bring about meaningful difference to the lives of those afflicted with blood cancers. Through her involvement in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, she has met many patients whose stories of courage and determination are the reason she finds her work with the organization incredibly worthwhile. Click here to donate to Betsie Hidalgo!
Brian Kinion, Vice President and Controller for Success Factors, Inc.
	Brian Kinion is a California native who grew up in Concord and now resides in San Francisco with his wife.  He also has two children and three dogs.  He is the Vice President and Controller at SuccessFactors, Inc., the leading provider of on-demand employee performance and talent management solutions located in San Mateo, CA.  He has been involved with the LSS's Team in Training program for eleven seasons as a Captain, Mentor and Participant in which he has completed six marathons and twelve half marathons running in honor and memory of those with cancer.  His life has been touched in a profound way by his friend Brenda Donato who lost her courageous battle with AML in 2007 and by Cole Regan who also passed away from AML at only 21 months in 2004.  He hopes to live to see the day that the cure for cancer is discovered and is the reason why he continues to be involved with the LSS and the Team in Training program in supporting their mission. Click here to donate to Brian Kinion!
Valeria Kholostenko, Sales Manager for JetSet Beverages, Inc.
	Coming to United States with her family at the tender age of twelve from Kyiv, Ukraine, Valeria Kholostenko learned the value of community work at an early age. Inspired by her family's philanthropic work within the Ukraine, Valeria has continued their tradition of community involvement since moving to San Francisco eight years ago. In addition to her involvement in a variety of non-profit causes in the city,  Valeria has since become immersed in the world of event marketing. Valeria firmly believe the opportunities received in life deserve to be given back and is honored to help LLS continue their efforts to find cures and make a positive impact on the thousands of lives touched by blood cancers. With a bachelor's degree from New College of California in Activism and Social Change, this is the perfect opportunity for Valeria to demonstrate her abilities and knowledge of charitable work and share what she has received so freely through the opportunities given to her over the years. Click here to donate to Valeria Kholostenko!
Ludon Lee, Co-founder and CEO of Grapple Entertainment
	Ludon was born in San Francisco's Chinatown and raised in the East Bay. He has worked in the video games industry for over ten years at such companies as Electronic Arts, Glu Mobile, and D2C Games.    Ludon is currently a co-founder and CEO of Grapple Entertainment, a digital media publisher for Web 2.0 and beyond. His vision includes enabling creative Comic Book and Hollywood talents to publish new stories as digital comics on social networking websites (e.g. MySpace, Facebook, Blogger). The company will make its debut this July at Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.   An active supporter of the Asian American community, Ludon's experience includes coordinating community education for low-income immigrants, raising money for organizations, and getting involved with advocacy work. In 1996, he organized a tennis tournament for the Asian Law Caucus, a fundraising event that included sponsors from Penn Tennis Balls, Snapple Beverage Group, and local businesses. The following year, he organized a community rally to urge county officials to create education policies for monolingual immigrants who were affected by the Welfare Reform Act. Ludon continues to volunteer his time helping community organization with fundraising and youth mentoring.   Irna Cruz, a friend who works at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, based her nomination of Ludon for The Man of the Year award on  his dedication to nonprofit organizations for the last 12 years. As Ludon continues to learns more about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission, he plans to educate his professional contacts in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, in hopes of raising money for his campaign while bringing new supporters to the organization. Click here to donate to Ludon Lee!
Joseph Ols, CEO of Ols Controls
	A Cleveland native, with three stops in SoCal and one in Europe, Joseph has lived in the Bay Area on four separate occasions, hoping Los Gatos Hills will remain his home.  While Joseph currently volunteers at Saratoga High School, he and his companies have maintained long-standing community relationships through various charity events. Joseph feels very fortunate to not have an immediate family member with a blood cancer, yet was so moved as a guest at the Man & Woman of the Year Kick-Off that he decided to join the campaign and help those who are less fortunate. Joseph is founder of a yet-to-be-announced venture, however, he has previously started business units at Sun Microsystems and i2 Technologies; a career highlight for Joseph was his time as a ‘Rocket Scientist' at Rocketdyne.  Joseph has an MBA from Stanford, a MEng in Control Systems Engineering and MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkely, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.  Joseph was a member of the Basketball, Swimming, and Track and Field teams in college, and won the High Jump competition at the 2007 USA Pacific Region Masters' Championship in Track and Field after 21 years without competing.  He was also crowned a World Champion Artichoke Picker at Castroville - so apparently he is best suited for manual labor.  Joseph has traveled to 45 countries, enjoys current events, athletic activities, nature, and would love to find his Miss Right. Click here to donate to Joseph Ols!
Charleston Pierce, Universal Client Representative at Southeast One Stop Career Center
	Charleston was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay View/Hunter's Point district, and continues to reside there today.  He works as a job developer promoting community enrichment through employment for local residents. He also produces fashion shows and entertainment events throughout the Bay Area.  Charleston's family was affected by leukemia when his mother was diagnosed with the disease in 1998.  As the oldest male of fourteen children, Charleston's sense of commitment and responsibility to his family was deepened by his mother's bout with illness and her passing the next year. Accustomed to a role as dedicated family-man and community activist, his participation in this fundraising campaign is a natural next step for Charleston. His greatest desire is to enlighten,uplift and inspire through outreach and activism. He believes he can have a tremendous impact on the cause of fighting these diseases, and hopes to make a difference in many people's lives. Click here to donate to Charleston Pierce!