Meet the Board

A Message from Chuck Seufferlein:

I would argue that like no other profession, sales enables you to meet, get to know, become friends with and enjoy social events with a wide variety of people like no other. Balance in one’s life, between work and home/family life is essential but they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The social nature of professional sales can allow you to mix both. At the end of the day selling is a relationship business. I was somewhat of an introvert after graduating from both Chico State and Santa Clara and didn't’t feel like I would make a good salesmen. What I was surprised at was that through my years at Chico State and then Santa Clara, I felt I was ill equipped to sell because most of what I learned was centered around Marketing and sales was a very small portion of the marketing curriculum. I quickly took to the idea of selling because it is about problem solving, strategic planning, and working with your client to accomplish their goals. If done properly the sell itself comes with relative ease as an outcome of your helping your client problem solve and achieve their goals. What I love about selling is that it enables you to be immersed in projects/situations and deal with intelligent people to achieve great things. Simply put, done properly and professionally it never feels like selling. 

Chico was, is and will always be a very special place to me. I met my wife there, my son graduated from there and I still have many friends whom I met there some 46 years ago. Besides the beautiful surroundings there, the overall environment, the people, the open-minded/progressive attitudes are all so meaningful to me. When it came time to “give back” it was an easy decision for my wife and I as to what and where we were going to give. I began to discuss with the president and various deans the idea of supporting the sales center concept. I couldn't’t be more proud and excited how it has all turned out. 

Remember that collaboration is critical, so in your efforts to problem solve, and plan for a client, being a part of a team will give you different viewpoints and ideas that when put together in a cohesive plan, is much more powerful. You have to get to know who you’re dealing with and stay close - even through this virtual era it is imperative that you reach out, send helpful COVID-19 related reports/updates, and anticipate a time when you will be able to re-connect in person with your clients. Preparation is paramount. Lack of it will show up immediately and may cost you your only shot. 

Despite the incredibly trying times, things will get better and back to some form of normal. The opportunity that is in front of us all is to make sure there is a new normal. Virtual selling is critical now like never before. All of our meetings, training, planning sessions are done virtually and the new graduates coming out of college are going to lead the way with how to do it more effectively. The old school absolutes (problem solving, strategic planning, etc.) remain key, but now shrouding them with technology in all forms will enable college graduates the ability to become a critical element for the changes that are occurring now and will be even more pronounced in the years to come.  

Lastly, it’s so easy to be nice. I spent my entire career, life for that matter, making sure I wasn’t treating people with anything but kindness and respect. You have to make sure (to the extent possible) that everyone leaves “your experience” feeling like they were treated professionally with kindness and respect. You don’t need enemies or bad references in the business world and life in general. Be the person that people always have a good thing to say about. 

Meet the Board Members

Chuck Seufferlein - President & CEO of Newmark Cornish & Carey

chuck@newmarkccarey.com 
408-982-8406

Chuck Seufferlein has served as president and CEO of Newmark Cornish & Carey since June 2002. Mr. Seufferlein was appointed CEO in January 2000, after joining Newmark Cornish & Carey in October 1995 as an executive vice president and partner.

Mr. Seufferlein has been actively involved in the commercial real estate industry since 1975, when he began his career as a sales professional with Coldwell Banker Commercial in San Jose. During his 10 years with Coldwell Banker, he transacted some of Silicon Valley’s most significant deals.

Mr. Seufferlein’s experience during those years positioned him to become the Northern California president for the Sammis Development Company in 1985. During his six years in this role, he acquired and developed a multitude of projects throughout the Bay Area totaling over 5.0 million square feet. He continues to manage and develop projects as a managing partner with CAP Associates.

In 1991, Mr. Seufferlein rejoined Coldwell Banker Commercial, now CB Commercial, to head its Silicon Valley office as senior vice president and managing officer. He was awarded the J. Frank Mahoney Leadership Award for Management Excellence in both 1992 and 1993 by the board of directors of CB Commercial. Mr. Seufferlein served at the chairman of the world board for ONCOR International from 2004 to 2007 and was named CEO if the year by ONCOR International in 2007.

Mr. Seufferlein currently serves on several advisory boards, including the board of directors of Newmark Cornish & Carey and the National Strategic Board of Newmark Knight Frank. He also serves on the boards of C&C Capital and the College of Business at California State University, Chico.

Mr. Seufferlein holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Santa Clara and a Bachelor of Science degree in business from California State University, Chico.

Michael Carreno - Owner of PresGroup

mcarreno@PresGroup.com 
925-360-2323

Michael has over 35 years of entrepreneurial business leadership experience in the high-tech and residential real estate industries. The first half of Michael’s career focused on starting and growing a technology-based process reengineering consulting firm as well as 2 software startups that served the staffing and contract workforce industries. 

As founder and CEO of each of these high-tech firms, Michael initially focused on developing and driving the mission, vision, and market strategies for each firm. His role would inevitably migrate to sales and revenue growth. Leveraging value-based selling techniques, Michael led his sales teams in the acquisition of many multi-million-dollar accounts driving success for these startups.

In 2001, using his entrepreneurial leadership and sales experience, Michael seized an opportunity to acquire equity in a real estate startup offering outsourced sales and marketing services to the Home Building Industry. As President of Reiser Group (RG), Michael developed a B2B sales strategy for RG to acquire home builder accounts throughout California as well as creating a sales system for RG’s sales agents to represent those homebuilders in selling their housing product to consumers. From 2001 to 2008, the sales team grew from 4 to over 120 agents in over 50 new home sales centers. RG’s strong revenue growth led to making Inc 500 Fastest Growing Companies list for 3 separate years.

The severe economic downturn in 2008 through 2010 led to Michael’s departure from RG to join another startup specializing in auction style sales and marketing services to sell off completed and standing inventory for homebuilders and financial institutions across the US. As President of Residential New Home Sales at Accelerated Marketing Partners, he managed the offering of an innovative digital mass marketing technique that attracted hundreds of thousands of consumers interested in urban high rise or suburban single-family new construction product. Sales teams across the country would sell the value proposition of the different residential offerings at a local level inspiring participation in regional auctions of residential real estate.

As the economy recovered in 2012, Michael and his AMP partners launched PresGroup, Inc., a company now solely owned by Michael and his family. As a result of the significant change in consumer buying behavior caused by the digital age, PresGroup introduced a technology based outsourced sales and marketing solution. PresGroup’s value proposition offers homebuilders an outsourced service built on its proprietary real estate sales technology platform including marketing services and sales agents trained in traditional and virtual sales best practices that ensure consumers are met on their terms in our new virtual world. After several years of developing this innovative software platform for residential real estate sales, PresGroup has launched operations in Washington State, Nevada and California also seeking expansion into Florida, Oregon and Arizona. 

Michael currently resides in Alamo, Ca. with his wife and has two adult children who reside locally and work and share ownership in PresGroup. He received his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco with an emphasis in marketing and management science, along with extensive course work in computer science.

Sahil Mansuri - CEO of Bravado 

Sahil Mansuri is the cofounder & CEO of Bravado. Prior to founding Bravado, Sahil was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Expa, an early stage venture studio founded by Garrett Camp. Sahil has spent 10 years in sales and sales leadership. He was one of the first 20 employees at Glassdoor, where he built out the global enterprise sales team. Sahil was also VP of Sales at Virool and VP of Product Marketing at SalesPredict, which was acquired by eBay in 2016. Outside of nerding out about all things sales, Sahil loves to play golf (poorly), play chess (moderately well), and cook (perhaps his only real skill). He also passionately believes that the future of sales will be powered by humans.

Steve Marconi - VP of Channel Sales at Blue Prism

Steve has nearly 30 years of experience in technology sales and business development, holding several sales leadership positions with innovative technology companies such as Qlik, VMware, Veeam Software, and Emulex Corporation. Steve currently serves as the Regional VP of Channel Sales at Blue Prism, a leader in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which leverages Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and use of both the public and private Cloud. 

As an advocate of STEM-based education and outreach, Steve has the great honor to serve on the board of a non-profit children’s science center, Discovery Cube – Orange County, for over 15 years. 

Steve holds a BA degree in Organizational Communications from California State University, Chico, where he has many fond memories. He credits much of his success to the time he spent, education he received, and the lifelong friends he made while in Chico.

Steve and his wife Carrie, are proud of their blended family, blessed with 5 children ages 15 to 26 years. Steve currently lives in San Jose, CA, where he was born and raised.

Luke Seufferelein - Director at Rubicon Point Partners

Luke@RubiconPoint.com

Luke is a Director at Rubicon Point Partners, a commercial real estate investment company located in San Francisco, and is responsible for acquisition and asset management efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area and Puget Sound markets.  Since joining Rubicon in 2012, Luke has been involved in 18 acquisitions and dispositions totaling 2.2 million square feet and $867M million in total consideration.  Luke has also portfolio managed three separate accounts with AUM of $300M, asset managed 1.5 million square of office and retail space across eleven assets, and executed 19 lease transactions totaling 700K square feet and $630 million in total consideration.  Luke started his career as a broker at Newmark Knight Frank Cornish & Carey’s Silicon Valley office in 2009 where he was involved in 40 investment and lease transactions totaling over $200 million in consideration.  In 2017, Luke was nominated as Developing Leader of the Year for NAIOP’s San Francisco Bay Area chapter. Luke graduated with a BS in Marketing from CSU, Chico in 2008 and is currently an Advisory Board Member for the CSU, Chico College of Business. 

Thomas P. Villa - Executive Director of the Seufferlein Sales Program

tpvilla@csuchico.edu 
916-223-2171

Tom has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 31 years holding Vice President, General Manager and Director role’s in Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Program Management, Product Development, Engineering and IT. Tom has extensive international experience, leading the global IoT supply chain initiative for Verizon Communications.

Tom was the Head of Program Management for both the Spanish (AirTel) and USA (Primeco-AirTouch/Bell Atlantic Mobile) wireless launches. He has served on the Board of the Wholesale Application Community (WAC), co-chaired the Verizon Education Council and was a member of the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) partnership representing Verizon Communications as a partner member with China Mobile, Vodafone and SoftBank.

In the community, he has served as a Board member for the Boys & Girls Club of Sacramento and the Roseville Chamber of Commerce. He served as Chair of CSU, Chico’s Business School Advisory Board and the Board of Governors. In 2011, Tom was acknowledged as the CSU, Chico Business School Alumni of the Year.

Tom graduated from the University of San Francisco with an MBA in Finance and from CSU, Chico with a BS in Marketing and currently holds a 2nd degree black belt ranking in Kenpo, Karate. 

Tom is the Executive Director of the Seufferlein Sales Program; Lecturing at CSU, Chico and Consulting (Fresh Eyes LLC).

Herb Wong - VP of Marketing & Strategic Initiatives 

Herb has worked in the software industry for over 30 years helping customers across a wide range of industries to transform their business using technology. He has experience with many of the Fortune 100 companies which include: Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Chevron, McKesson, Cardinal Health, Intel, Walgreens, Google. 

Currently, Herb is rfxcel’s VP of Marketing & Strategic Initiatives. He is responsible for coordinating rfxcel’s global marketing efforts in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America across all of rfxcel’s industries. In addition, he is leading the effort to grow rfxcel’s new Consumer Goods vertical and develop new partnerships to accelerate growth. 

Herb has served as Chevron’s Global Services Executive for Microsoft and drove the largest revenue attainment for Microsoft’s commercial sector for two consecutive years. He has served on the Board of Directors for Street Tech which provides technical training for disadvantaged youths and has also served on the Business Advisory Board for Chico State’s Computer Science department. Herb Graduated from CSU, Chico with a BS in Computer Science. 

Olivia Leavengood - Head of People at Bravado 

Olivia is the Head of People at Bravado, a global tech start-up dedicated to empowering the future of sales. Prior to taking on her role as the Head of People, she spent two and a half years as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Bravado.

Oliva is a proud graduate of the Seufferlein Sales Program and competed in sales competitions during her time at Chico State. She began her career at IBM, where she sold the IoT portfolio and designed go-to-market strategies for IBM business partners.

When the opportunity arose to help transform B2B sales, she made the leap to start-up land and joined Bravado. During her time as Chief of Staff, she helped the company double in size, grow from a Series A to a Series B company, and migrate to being fully remote and international. Olivia is passionate about championing women in their careers by empowering, nurturing, and advocating for them in critical business moments. She believes that the promotion and inclusion of women in the world of sales create stronger teams and more diversity of thought.

Olivia holds a BS in Marketing from Chico State. She currently resides in Oakland, California with her husband. She loves traveling, road biking, great food, and even better wine.

Tim Johns - Assistant VP of Marketing Philadelphia Insurance Companies'

Tim attended college at Sacramento State University where he graduated with a BS in Criminal Justice. He always had an interest in Law Enforcement. As he got closer to graduation, Tim realized that he wanted to pursue a carrier that was more conducive to having a family with a more stable schedule. When he began his senior year, he started to look for internship opportunities in other industries. Tim came across an internship for Philadelphia Insurance companies. At the time, he didn't’t have an interest in the insurance industry, but a friend of his was interning for Philadelphia and raved about the company. So, he applied and was lucky enough to be selected.

After Tim graduated, he applied for a full time Marketing Representative Positon and was hired. He did not know much about the insurance industry but found out quickly that it was something he could see himself doing long term. He has now been with the company for nine years and was recently promoted to Assistant VP of Marketing. He currently oversees the Marketing Department for Northern California, Northern Nevada and Hawaii. He is responsible for maintaining agency relationships, growing the book of business, and retaining the current book they have. He spends most of his time traveling around meeting with the agency partners.

On a personal note, Tim and his wife just celebrated their eight-year wedding anniversary! They have two children. Their son Nolan recently turned 5 and their daughter Myla will be turning 3 in July. They all love spending time together outdoors, hiking, camping, and playing sports. In his spare time, he loves to golf, volunteer for local charities, and ride his Mountain Bike. They are a busy family, but wouldn’t have it any other way. 

David Allen - CFO for Crescent Systems, Inc

David is currently the CFO (also past CEO) of Crescent Systems Inc. (CSI), a company headquartered In Dallas, Texas, that designs and develops software and hardware communication systems for military aircraft. Prior to working for CSI, David worked for a manufacturer of marine boating products for 25+ years. David brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience in the areas of strategic planning, operations management and financial budgeting analysis.

Working with nonprofit companies is another focus area for David . One example of this is his affiliation with the national organization Conscious Capitalism. Its' mantra is utilizing business to elevate humanity. Another is his involvement with CASA (Court Appointed Child Advocate) in Placer County. He is currently mentoring two teenage boys from Reno, Nevada. He has always wanted to give back to the community and working with CASA is a perfect avenue for doing so.

David graduated from the University of San Francisco with a MBA in Operations Management and from the University of California San Diego with a BS in Management Science. David currently lives in Loomis with his wife, Stacey (a Chico state alum as well), and their twin boys.