Diversity Division Council (DDC)

The DDC is made up of a group of volunteers that is intended to reflect the diversity found on the SNL/CA site. This group is chaired by Ed Allen. The director champion for the DDC is Len Napolitano. A short biography for each of the members follows:

Biographies (alphabetical order)

Edward (Ed) Allen

Ed was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to California in 1990, just after the big earthquake of October '­89. Ed currently holds an BS in Business Management, A.S. in Electro-Mechanical Design and an A.S. in Heating, Ventilating and Air-conditioning /Refrigeration. Ed'­s current position is Mechanical Designer working in Department 8948, Engineering Design Services. In addition to being a Division Diversity Council Chair, Ed also mentors Sandia National Laboratories'­ African American Outreach Committee (AAOC). Outside of work in his spare time, Ed creates and performs hip-hop music while running a personal studio "Just Plain Ghetto Records". Ed believes that fostering good ethical principles in our lives: at work or at home, he establishes meaningful relationships among people who are different. Those differences in people are what make each of us unique, and that uniqueness should be embraced.

John Beitia

John was born in Oakland and presently lives in El Sobrante. John served in Vietnam and retired from the United States Air Force. While in the Air Force, John worked as a Procurement Buyer, Branch Manager, Contracting Officer, and Executive NCO. John has been married twice and has one son, Joie, who is currently a sophomore at the University of New Mexico. John enjoys reading, Bible study, fishing, and spending time at home with his bride Yolanda. John is currently assigned to Procurement Dept. 08523-4. John believes that "people are Sandia's most important resource" and that each person is unique. John believes in tolerance; manage the person's behavior, not the person's beliefs.

Donna Blevins

I was born in Germany and lived in a refuge camp before coming to Syracuse, New York through Ellis Island with my immigrant Polish parents. Seeing their struggles has given me an appreciation for the importance of diversity. I studied drama at Syracuse University, then moved to Texas and Ohio, finally coming to California in 1995. My daughter is a writer for the Tri-Valley Herald and my husband just retired from LLNL -- but, I'm having too much fun working to retire! Outside of work I perform in community theater and volunteer at film festivals and wine tastings -- all the fun stuff. The Sandia Women's Committee recognizes the diversity, uniqueness and talents of all women at Sandia.

Adrienne Brents

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana and raised in Southern California. Adrienne has primarily worked in the Information Technology - Voice Telecommunications field for most of her adult career. In 1999, she relocated to the Bay Area while working at a prominent law firm, where she managed and configured voice systems for thirteen offices across the United States. Adrienne has been serving Sandia National Laboratories as a Quality Administrator in the Health, Benefits & Employee Services (HBE-8527) department since 2003. She is currently completing a bachelors program in Business Administration & Management from the University of LaVerne and will pursue an MBA program in the near future. In addition, Adrienne chairs Sandia National Laboratories'­ African American Outreach Committee (AAOC). Adrienne enjoys family time, bowling, Bible Study and any activity outdoors. She believes experiences can affect who we are, but we can purpose to positively infect our experiences!

Martha Campiotti

Martha was born at Tripler Naval Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is the third to the youngest of nine children. Her family moved from Oahu to the Mainland when she was 3-1/2 years old and has spent many years moving from place to place until she settled in Hayward, CA where she graduated from high school and Healds Business College. Soon after graduation, she came to Sandia in 1974. Martha has been actively involved in the Asian Pacific Leadership Committee since 1992 as a member, officer, co-chair, and now chairperson. She has served many consecutive terms as chair. She is married, Rich, a former Sandian, now retired, and has two girls, Chelsea, 24, and Chloe, 20. Martha loves to dance hula and belongs to a hula school in Dublin. She also enjoys country line dancing, volunteers for the Science Regional Science Bowls and the Expanding Your Horizons conferences, but her favorite is "hanging out with the girls" for some food and laughter. Martha feels diversity is important because she herself has been touched by racism growing up and feels people should be working together, respecting differences, and treating people fairly and equally.

Gabriel (Gabe) Gutierrez

Gabe was born in Stockton, Ca. and was raised and resides in Livermore. He received his degree in Architecture before coming to Sandia in 1992. He is currently the CAD manager for the Facilities Management Dept. Gabe has been actively involved in the HLC since his arrival at Sandia. Outside of work, his favorite activity is spending time with his wife, Lynn, his son, David, 19 and his familia. He has a passion for baseball which includes coaching Little League, attending any level baseball games, and playing church and city league softball. He also enjoys camping, concerts. Gabe feels Diversity is important because it helps us to understand each other, which enables us to be better individuals.

Gary Hall

Gary was born and raised in Oakland, California. Gary has earned a bachelor'­s degree in Business Administration/ Computer Information Systems at California State University of Hayward. He came to Sandia in 2002 and is currently the Engineering Document Control Lead for Department 8948, Engineering Design Services. Gary enjoys spending time with his family and taking family vacations with his wife, Sandy and their four children. Gary is also the manager for his oldest son'­s baseball team in Castro Valley. Gary spends his free time fishing, working on home improvement projects, and volunteering time with his church'­s youth groups. Gary is active in the Asian American Leadership Committee. Gary believes that everyone is created equally and deserves to be treated equally.

Michele Kahn

Michele was born in Palo Alto one year before Fairchild started mass-producing the integrated circuit. She lived in many Bay Area cities in the ensuing years, and currently lives in Livermore with her life partner of 16 years. She has always been technically inclined, and switched to Information Technology after 20 years of repairing building ventilation and cooling systems. Michele practices martial arts, rides motorcycles, skis, boards, shoots photos and enjoys visiting wineries with friends. She believes that a diverse team enjoys enhanced creativity and productivity. She works in Dept. 8949 installing reliable switching paths.

Dr. Leonard M. Napolitano, Jr.

Len is currently the Director for Computational Sciences and Information Technologies at SNL/CA. Len has B.S. degrees in humanities and science (with concentrations in American studies and biology), art and design, and civil engineering, as well as an M.S. degree in civil engineering from MIT. He completed an interdisciplinary PhD program at Stanford University on computer architectures for computational mechanics. When Len is away from the office, he enjoys woodworking, working on home improvement projects and practicing his culinary skills. Len is a member of the Sigma Xi honorary society. He has two children.

Robert Petro

Robert was born in Johnston, PA. He is a proud husband of 20 years, and the father of three boys and one girl. Robert has a bachelor'­s degree in Marketing and an MBA. He joined Sandia in 1992 as a Quality Administrator. His other assignments have included Supervisor in Facilities Maintenance and Site Budget Analyst. Robert is now serving as the Manager of Benefits and Health Services, Department 8527. Robert believes that personal integrity and respect for others are the foundation of successful relationships. He measures success at work and in life by the strength of his relationships and his ability to serve others. Diversity is about honoring the various talents and experiences we all have, and capitalizing on them as one unified team.®

Ewa Ronnebro

Ewa was born in Sweden and received her PhD in Structural Chemistry from Stockholm University in 1999. Afterward, she worked in Osaka, Japan as a postdoc at AIST. Ewa has now been at Sandia for three years, working on discovery and development of hydrogen storage materials. In her spare time, Ewa plays the flute, guitar, and piano, studies martial arts, teaches self-defense classes, volunteers at Tri-Valley Haven, and works with the DDC. Ewa became chair for FNNG in October 2006. Ewa's FNNG goal is to build a community so that newcomers who come from all over the world -- sometimes to live away from home for the fist time -- will have a way to meet people and feel more comfortable. Ewa enjoys participating in FNNG activities, such as the annual summer BBQ at Lake del Valle, and FNNG trips, such as hiking in Yosemite Valley and cycling from Monterey to Carmel and back.

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