HP Alumni Association Volunteer Team

Elected Board Members

Chairman, Finance and Alliance Director: Shirley Kwan

Provides direction and leadership to the board. Manages relationships with HP and with other alumni organizations. Drives the yearly planning process for the organization. Manages HPAA's financial books. Develops and manages alliances to support the organization’s infrastructure and program costs. Email

Shirley's 23-year HP career included roles in finance operations management in the US, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. She worked at Intercontinental HQ, Santa Clara Division, Corporate, and Singapore. She was European Controller for the PC business, based in Grenoble, and Global Director of Internal Audit, based in Hong Kong. Most recently, she was Director of Internal Audit at Intuit. A native of Malaysia, Shirley attended college in Atlanta, obtaining a BA in Economics from Agnes Scott College and an MBA from Emory University. She is a Certified Internal Auditor and recently self-published her book of poems, Ramrom Raps.

Careers Director: Mary Tate

Responsible for HPAA's strategy to assist members with their post-HP careers. Researches recruiter and member needs in order to strengthen and expand the career-related member services. In addition, coordinates with the Bay Area Social Committee. Email

Mary has held management positions in sales and marketing for the past 20 years. For the last four years, she has been a channels and alliance marketing consultant working for Amazon Consulting and Phoenix Consulting Group. Previously, she was the Director of Strategic and Technology Alliances at iPass. At HP, she was the Global Business Manager for the iPass/Cisco alliance as well as the world-wide marketing manager for various HP partners. Prior to HP, she was a sales account executive for Digital Equipment Corporation. Mary holds a BA in Economics from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Operations Director: Curt Gowan

Responsible for HPAA's infrastructure – online forums and email lists, LinkedIn groups, website, wiki, and membership process. Moderates Career, Benefits, and Remembrance forums; escalates member issues to HP. Manages HPAA's relations with Yahoo and LinkedIn, develops and maintains the hpalumni.org website and the HPAlumnipedia reference site. Edits the bi-monthly "HP Alumni News." Email

Curt is retired after 30 years in startup and turnaround divisions within HP. He held engineering roles in R&D, quality, product marketing, and technical marketing. In retirement, Curt is doing independent research and working on pro bono projects. He has BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University.

Technical Director: Bill Parrish

Investigates and resolves technical and process problems. Works with board members to troubleshoot their respective functions and services. Works with HPAA members to make the email communication process via Yahoo Groups as reliable as possible. Drives quality and reliability for the organization and evaluates potential alternatives and enhancements. Email

Bill worked in R&D, support, and system validation for HP for 31 years and is now consulting at HP on server system validation. He has been assisting HPAA on technical and other issues since 2005. Bill has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jobs Director: Cathy Carlson

Responsible for HPAA's job posting services. Manages HPAA Jobs and HPAA WorldJobs. Approves Recruiter Members, moderates the job posts, and coaches recruiters on posting. Email

Cathy worked in manufacturing and customer support at the Santa Clara Division for eleven years. She is currently project manager for California Organics in Hollister, CA. She has been a project manager for the US Department of Agriculture, managed a local water company, and worked in construction project management. Cathy's BA is from UC-Santa Cruz, where she specialized in Agroecology and Land Use and Planning.

Transition Director and Secretary: Diana McGlocklin

Moderates the HPAA Transition forum, which provides mutual assistance for people who are in the process of leaving HP. Publishes minutes for board meetings and conducts and administers board elections every two years. Leads special projects to advance the organization. Email

Diana started at HP in 1989 as an administrative assistant – and retired in 2005 as the U.S. Public Sector Field Marketing Manager for the Imaging and Printing Group, performing market analysis and producing seminars, events, and marketing campaigns with channel partners nationwide. Diana then went back to HP as a contractor for three years. She manages golf and charity events at the Spring Ford Country Club in Pennsylvania. While working full-time at HP, Diana earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management/Marketing from Rosemont College.

Membership Director: Peg Ofstead

Responsible for qualifying, processing, and approving new HPAA members. Processes memberships for the forums, lists and "HP Alumni Association" LinkedIn Group. Leads special projects to advance the organization. Email

Peg lives in Maryland and is semi-retired after 36 years of working in the IT industry, primarily in consulting and internal IT at companies including HP, Oracle, Mobil Oil and 3M.  She is now on the adjunct faculty at Hood College, teaching graduate and undergraduate computer science classes.  She has a BA in Mathematics, and an MBA from Wharton. She retired from HP in December 2008.

Appointed Team Members