Who we are 

Mission

• •We will enhance our members’ lives via professional, cultural and social activities
• •We will facilitate relationships and expand our presence with and within the Danish-American professional community
• •We will be respected in our community and among our partners and stakeholders for what we do, and how we do it.

Strategy

• •We will arrange high-quality professional and social events
• •We will provide a virtual presence that will serve as a focal point for Danish-American activities and resources in our community
• •We will publish a newsletter and other printed materials regularly to communicate with our members and stakeholders
• •We will leverage committees and ad-hoc groups to create focus and momentum to achieve our objectives.
• •We will invest in activities that will grow membership and sponsorship
• •We will closely cooperate with other organizations in Northern California

 

Board

 

PETER SCHAKOW

Having served as Chairman of the Board of DACC NCAL for 5 years now and as a player in  Silicon Valley for 25 years, Peter is the seasoned member of the board. Through various career moves, from Xerox to Sun, Peter has built an impressive array of both personal and corporate qualities, making him a steady leader in steering DACC NCAL and at VIP events, Julefrokoster and other events.

DACC is not the only organization benefitting from Peter’s many qualities – we share him with the Herms District, the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Aldersly Garden Retirement Community in Marin.

Peter holds an M.B.A. in Marketing and Finance from the University of California, Berkeley and he and his US-born wife, Charna, have two children; Michael & Jannika.

Most recently he has taken on solving the world’s climate and financial issues all at once as Co-Founder and CEO of Hope Or Cope (HOC).
 

MORTEN SØRENSEN

Another well-known Silicon Valley Dane, Morten recently returned to the DACC NCAL board as Secretary; having recently shipped his two sons off to college, Morten keeps everybody, not least of all himself, busy and is the driving force behind a substantial share of DACC NCAL activities.

Currently working on securing Cisco’s world dominance, Morten has an extensive career within IT behind (and ahead) of him with notable positions in e.g. IBM.

Morten and wife Krista live in peaceful Orinda.

MICHAEL BO HANSEN

Michael is what we all need – a Certified Financial Planner TM, specializing in cross-border planning. With a solid educational background and over a decade of international experiences, Michael has kindly agreed to manage DACC NCAL’s finances (we know where he lives….) on top of all the other board tasks coming his way.

Michael holds a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Copenhagen (cand. polit.) and has spent almost 10 years in London working for companies such as Hertz Europe and Johnson & Johnson taking on roles as Marketing Manager and Business Development Manager.

Michael is married to native Hawaiian Jennifer-Lynn; they have a son, Sebastian and a chocolate Labrador, Kona.
 

GUSTAV TOPPENBERG

Gustav Toppenberg is most importantly the newest addition to the DACC NCAL board; apart from this heavy task, he is a senior program manager in Cisco's Communication & Collaboration IT group. During his career at Cisco, Gustav has led several projects in change leadership, acquisition integration, and globalization strategy.

Gustav is a native of Denmark and has a background in strategy consulting, program/project management, and global change management.

Gustav adds a bit of glamour to the board being an MBA graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, ranked the #1 U.S. Business School for International Business by the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News and World Report.

Gustav has lived in the US for 14 years and is married to Johanna Toppenberg of Minneapolis, MN.