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We take a look back at the history of the two-time Major winning Brazilian lineup as the entirety of the roster heads into the IEM Rio Major on two separate teams.
Brazil was a familiar name on the map in the early days of Counter-Strike, the World Cyber Games (WCG) tournament series supporting teams from the region by giving them the ability to compete internationally and showcase their skill against the best teams in the world. No such opportunity existed by the time CS:GO came out as WCG held its last event in 2011, and Brazil as a whole was left with little to play for and almost no international event qualifiers being held in the region.
It took a gargantuan effort from Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo to keep the scene alive in those early days until the right opportunities came along, but when they finally did, he was ready to seize the moment. The region had been neglected by big tournament organizers for too long, and FalleN was keen to show why they deserved the opportunity as he set about creating a world-beating Brazilian lineup. It was a roster that came together piecemeal over a span of two years, constantly iterating and scouting new talent allowing for continuous growth, but the team that emerged from the ashes of Brazil was one that would go down in the history books. Two-time Major champions, home of the “Brazilian Terminator,” and a team that inspired the next generation of talent from their region — this is their story.
While their glory days may be behind them, the former LG/SK players left a massive mark on CS:GO history
Pieces of the now-famed Brazilian lineup first came together for a brief period on KaBuM.TD, the trio of FalleN, Fernando “fer” Alvarenga, and Lincoln “fnx” Lau uniting in the latter months of the year for ESWC 2014. That composition was short-lived, though, and only the first two players carried on together on Keyd the following year as they attended their first Major together, ESL One Katowice.
Even attending the Major in the first place was a big moment for the Brazilian side, who had few opportunities to take part in international tournaments due to almost no domestic qualifiers playing out, and a lack of funding to travel frequently to events that were not covered by the organizer. A single Brazilian qualifier for MLG X Games Aspen proved key in that regard, helping to put FalleN‘s side on the map after they qualified and helped to show they could have an impact internationally, beating Cloud9 at the event. The team then remained in Denver in a bid to raise money to attend the ESL One Katowice Major Main Qualifier, crowding funding their travel expenses and pulling it off successfully thanks in part due to $2,500 and $1,400 donations from ESEA and Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, respectively.
Keyd immediately made a statement in Poland, beating HellRaisers and CLG in the GSL group stage to make it to the playoffs, where they were ultimately eliminated by Virtus.pro in the quarter-finals. Still, it was an important result for a team that emerged from the ashes of Brazil, and it marked a crucial turning point for the Brazilian team as they began to slowly pick up steam from that point.
Unlike most fringe teams emerging onto the scene from regions outside of Europe and North America, the FalleN-led side had shown they could compete both strategically and in head to head duels, and it was proven time and again as the team slowly began to put up results in international online leagues. A move to North America transpired so that the team could take part in ESL ESEA Pro League Season 1, with the players moving into the house of Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia for what was supposed to be a three-month stint in hopes of making their dreams a reality.
Tip: You can hover over team names to see historically accurate lineups.
It was around the middle of 2015 when the roster moved to Luminosity that things truly began to lock into place for them, the switch to the Canadian organization coinciding with the signing of a promising young rifler scouted out by FalleN — Marcelo “coldzera” David.
There may have been questions surrounding the pickup of such an unknown quantity into what was ostensibly Brazil’s top team, but it wasn’t long before coldzera shut any doubters down by showcasing his skill against elite competition. Although he wasn’t blasting people out of the server immediately, he performed well enough out of the gate for his new team in online competition and helped them match their Katowice result at the following two Majors, making it to the quarter-finals of both ESL One Cologne 2015 and DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015.
The team remained shy of title contention, however, and a substantial overhaul was made toward the end of the year in the hope of finally making it over that hump. fnx had been proving he still had the motivation to play on Games Academy, and he was called up to join the team alongside a promising supportive pillar in Epitacio “TACO” de Melo and the team’s coach, Wilton “zews” Prado.
The addition of TACO, fnx, and zews unlocked the Luminosity lineup
fnx was a known quantity for FalleN already, someone he had played alongside in a multitude of tournaments in years gone by, and he knew what he was getting on that end of the equation. What couldn’t have been predicted was just how well zews and TACO would slot into the two remaining roles, and just what the latter would do to fully unlock the potential of coldzera.
It wasn’t a pretty start to the new roster by any means. Their first official match together at the FACEIT League 2015 Stage 3 Finals at DreamHack Winter got off to a brutal beginning as fnatic laid waste to them on Dust2 with a 16-0 battering. The Brazilian side refused to roll over though, and in a display of sheer tenacity and willpower they fought back into the event, beating the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the world, Envy and TSM, as well as No. 6 ranked Ninjas in Pyjamas en route to the grand final before ultimately faltering to the Swedish supersquad for a second time.
Luminosity‘s title duck wouldn’t be broken until 2016 despite a number of deep finishes in events in the following months, including a runner-up finish to Natus Vincere at DreamHack Leipzig that showed that the result at DreamHack Winter wasn’t a one-off by any means. coldzera was a fearsome force even during that stint, always managing positive ratings and being a key factor in the team’s continued rise to success.
His performance was part of what led Luminosity to their first big title at MLG Major Columbus, a historic Major in that it was the first on North American soil, and the first to boast a prize pool of $1,000,000. Luminosity had well established their style at this point, being a team known for their strategic approach to the game, rifling aggression from fer, combat AWPing from FalleN, and most importantly, their incredible consistency at pulling off almost unimaginable bombsite retakes on the CT side. It took all of that and more, including coldzera‘s miraculous quad kill hold in the semi-finals against Liquid, for Luminosity to claim their first Major title, defeating Natus Vincere in the grand finals in a two-map series.
From there, FalleN‘s men truly began to hit their stride. They either placed deep in tournaments, made runs to the grand final, or ended up taking the trophy in the end following strong performances across the board, but particularly from either FalleN or coldzera, who were the two stand-out pillars of the team.
The latter player was coined the “Brazilian Terminator”, a nickname given to him due to his consistently impactful presence and ability to multi-frag in matches during the late round. While riflers in the new age of CS:GO might find positive ratings and impact through a mix of aggression and passive plays, coldzera was often found in the back lines, playing off his teammates to perfection and almost always capitalizing off mistakes from his opponents while making none of his own. He was also Luminosity‘s second AWPer and a fearsome one at that, ending up a key part of the team’s impeccable streak of 17 wins on Train that very year thanks in part to his undeniable prowess at holding ivy on the CT side.
Ahead of ESL One Cologne 2016 and amidst their run of form, the entire lineup completed a controversial move to SK, a change that was marred by contract disputes in the months leading up to it before coming to an amicable resolution. The conflict did not put a halt to the team’s momentum heading into the Major though, and they were successfully able to defend their title and become the second-ever team to win back-to-back Majors, following in the footsteps of the once-dominant fnatic lineup of 2015.
SK would go on to fail numerous attempts at clinching another crown that year despite remaining a title contender, managing a handful of grand final appearances but faltering at the last hurdle. Notably, the lack of titles came after zews parted ways with the team to return to a playing career, and soon after murmurs emerged of internal problems brewing with fnx, who ended up on the outs ahead of the ECS Season 2 Finals toward the end of the year. Ricardo “fox” Pacheco briefly stood in for the team for both that event and ELEAGUE Major 2017, helping the team to a semi-final finish at the latter before taking his leave.
Thus, the SK lineup entered its second iteration and era, adding João “felps” Vasconcellos to make up for the loss of fnx. coldzera continued his streak of dominance, but the team didn’t maintain their world-beating form — at least, not from the onset. It took a handful of events for them to figure out the role clashes between fer and felps, a problem which they never quite resolved in their time together but somehow managed to make work for a number of months in the middle of 2017.
From cs_summit Spring 2017 in late April to ESL One Cologne 2017 at the start of June, SK won five trophies, netting wins at both of the above events as well as at IEM Sydney, DreamHack Open Summer, and ECS Season 3 Finals to once again hold claim to the status of the best team in the world. It wasn’t long before those role clashes resurfaced, however, and within months the team began struggling to fight for titles again. A 5-8th finish at PGL Major Krakow gave way to further early exits at ensuing events, and soon the pieces began to crumble for the once historic lineup.
First came the benching of felps, who was replaced by Ricardo “boltz” Prass on loan from Immortals. Again, SK found early success with their newcomer, winning three international events pretty swiftly after making the change and managing a semi-final finish at ELEAGUE Major Boston, but cracks in the team were beginning to show. In March 2018, TACO took his leave to explore an international opportunity with Liquid, and in turn, SK added Jake “Stewie2K” Yip and transitioned to speaking English themselves.
The Stewie2K-tarik iteration of MIBR was short-lived
The team would soon move to MIBR and add Tarik “tarik” Celik for boltz in what was ultimately an ill-fated project, one that took home just one title at a mid-sized tournament. The second event under the MIBR banner also marked the end of an incredible streak from coldzera, who had recorded 84 straight events with a 1.00+ rating (58 on LAN) — from the exact moment he joined Luminosity in August 2015 to ELEAGUE Premier in June 2018.
The Brazilian Terminator remained a strong presence for the team still, recovering from the 0.99 rating he recorded at ELEAGUE with another 15 events (12 on LAN) in the green. It wasn’t enough to bail MIBR out of the hole they were in though, and even attempts to bring together pieces of the former Luminosity lineup with TACO‘s return at the end of the year proved fruitless in their effort to regain consistently world-beating form. The inability to pick up promising talent from FURIA also added to the struggle for FalleN‘s side, with the new Brazilian organization fending off interest from a number of parties over the next two years before inking five-year long contracts with their players to halt efforts entirely.
The wheels began to fall off as coldzera stepped down from the active lineup in mid 2019, later joining FaZe. The magic was lost, and different roster iterations did not bring it back by the next year when the organization decided to bench fer, TACO, and dead, prompting FalleN to step down as well. The remaining players began to filter out to different teams in 2021, with fer and fnx becoming journeymen across a handful of Brazilian teams, FalleN hoping to make it work with Liquid, and TACO kicking off a new project under GODSENT in the hopes of bringing up the next generation of Brazilian talent.
A year later, TACO was the only one still finding success, and rumors began to emerge of a reunion between the former Luminosity/SK core ahead of the 2022 season — a “Last Dance.” With a Brazilian Major slated to take place in the second half of the year, the team could have one last ride into the sunset together in a bid to relive the glory days, but even that didn’t fully come to completion. The core of fnx, fer, and FalleN ended up reunited on Imperial as coldzera opted to skip out, but even without their star member the team defied expectations at PGL Major Antwerp, nearly making the playoffs before falling short 2-3 in the final Swiss group stage. Change followed a few months later as fnx was shifted into a coaching position and Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes was added, the team aiming to find more success in Brazil with more firepower in their camp.
Imperial are hoping to have a bigger impact in Rio with chelo
While FalleN was adjusting his project ahead of the team’s appearance at the IEM Rio Major, coldzera had reunited with TACO, with the Brazilian prospects project moving under the 00NATION banner. The two experienced veterans have been set on training up the next-generation of South American talent in Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer, Santino “try” Rigal, and Bruno “latto” Rebelatto, and it has already paid off as the roster has proven they have what it takes to compete internationally.
The players from SK and Luminosity may have started out with very little to their name and taken time to become world-beaters, but since then they have flourished into much more. They are figureheads of success for the Brazilian scene. They have inspired a new generation of South American players to come forward and chase their dream, and it is evident that their historic runs had an impact as every day, new talent emerges and garners international attention — see, Lucas “Lucaozy” Neves.
The entire two-time Major winning lineup — sans coach zews — will now have the chance to play in front of the very fans and players they have helped inspire at the IEM Rio Major. It may not be from the same side of the server this time around, and they may have played events in Brazil before, but nothing quite like this. For the former SK and Luminosity members, there are few memories that will ever compare to what they are about to experience heading into their home Major, even with all of their accomplishments to look back on.
San Jose was once known as the “feminist capital of the world”—paving the way for women to enter politics and hold other positions of power usually reserved for men. And while the region still struggles to ensure equity for women, especially in tech, women have shaped San Jose’s rich history and continue to do so today.
San Jose’s population is comprised of about 49% women, according to U.S. Census data.
In celebration of Women’s History Month, San José Spotlight is highlighting 15 influential women leaders in Silicon Valley. While this isn’t an exhaustive list of all the tremendous women in our region, these individuals have broken barriers, shattered stereotypes and inspired change in Silicon Valley.
Here they are in alphabetical order by first name.
Blanca Alvarado
Rita Duarte Herrera with Blanca Alvarado in Alvarado’s home. File photo.
Prior to 1980, San Jose councilmembers were elected by voters in the entire city—instead of by council districts—which hampered women and people of color from winning political power and seeing themselves represented in office. It was seen as a form of voter discrimination, and Blanca Alvarado is one of the people who worked to change that system.
Nicknamed La Madrina, or godmother, of the East Side, Alvarado would go on to become San Jose’s first Latina councilmember and first Latina vice mayor. She was then elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 1994 and was the first Latina to serve as the board’s chair. As a supervisor, she helped establish the county’s first health insurance program for children.
Though she is officially retired, Alvarado continues to lead efforts to amplify residents’ voices. She has pushed for the closure of Reid-Hillview Airport on the city’s east side and supported the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band in defending their cultural sites from a proposed dam. Even at age 91, she remains a force to be reckoned with.
Blanca’s daughter, Teresa Alvarado, is also a notable woman in Silicon Valley. She served as the CEO of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, as well as executive leadership roles at SPUR and now at PG&E. She was a co-founder of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley.
Cindy Chavez
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez speaks at a news conference about wildfire risks from illegal fireworks. File photo.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez has notched many accomplishments during her career. As a downtown San Jose councilmember, she helped add park space to District 3 and launched a task force to help law enforcement better track sex offenders. After her time on the council, she led Silicon Valley’s top labor organizations, the South Bay Labor Council and Working Partnerships USA, and was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2013.
As a supervisor, Chavez crafted Measure A, the $950 million bond for affordable housing approved by voters in 2016. She also helped create a homeless shelter for LGBTQ youth and adults. Chavez unsuccessfully ran for mayor for the second time last year and is rumored to be eyeing another run next year.
Pay disparities and scarce child care continue to plague women in our region, Chavez told San José Spotlight. In Santa Clara County, Black women earn 63 cents for every dollar a man makes, while Latinas earn 54 cents.
“Especially as we move out of the pandemic phase of COVID and more and more offices are reopening, women and families who have come to rely on remote working are facing difficult choices,” Chavez said. “Our employers need to continue to promote remote working in all jobs where it is feasible as much as possible.”
Debra Figone
As city manager, Debra Figone led San Jose through the Great Recession. Photo courtesy of Debra Figone.
Some women remain active even after retiring, and Debra Figone is among them.
Figone broke the glass ceiling at City Hall by becoming San Jose’s second female city manager in 2007. Despite retiring in 2013, she remains a powerful figure in Silicon Valley and serves on numerous boards.
Figone began her government career at the age of 16, working part time after school and during the summer in San Jose’s parks and recreation department. A graduate of San Jose State University, she previously served as the town manager for Los Gatos before joining San Jose as its top administrator.
Figone’s role as city manager intersected with the Great Recession, during which she oversaw cuts in workers’ pay and hundreds of layoffs.
Today, Figone serves on the board of directors for the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza. She also runs a managerial consulting business, aiding the cities and towns of Los Altos, Los Gatos and Palo Alto, as well as Valley Water.
Janet Gray Hayes
Janet Gray Hayes looks on from her mayoral seat at San Jose City Council. Photo courtesy of San Jose State University.
It was nearly 50 years ago when Janet Gray Hayes started her term as the first female mayor of San Jose. Prior to that, she got her bachelor’s degree at Indiana University before earning a master’s degree at the University of Chicago. She moved to San Jose in 1956 and served on the board of directors for the local YMCA before running for city council in 1970.
As a councilmember, mayoral candidate and mayor, Hayes grappled with sexism and misogyny, as one biography notes. Some voters refused to vote for her simply because she was a woman. Before she died in 2014, Hayes recounted the first time she attended the U.S. Council of Mayors. She joined the other heads of cities at a special table, and one man asked if she was a secretary. She said, “I’m Janet Gray Hayes. I’m the mayor of San Jose.”
As mayor, Hayes helped balance the city’s budget, which was reduced from prior years due to the passage of Prop. 13 in 1978. She also worked hard to help other women gain political roles, according to her University of Chicago biography.
“By the time I left office, we had a female vice-mayor and a female majority on the city council,” Hayes said.
Jennifer Loving
When Jennifer Loving, executive director of housing nonprofit Destination: Home, thinks of the women she admires most, she thinks of two of her organization’s clients, Shaunte and Elena.
Working with these clients, Loving sees the worst traumas faced by women experiencing homelessness. But she also sees incredible resiliency, generosity and hope.
“I have so much admiration for the journey that these two women and all women who have to be homeless and what they’re able to do,” Loving told San José Spotlight. “I have seen more honor and faith and courage through the people that I know and have worked with that live on our streets, more than any other population of people in this community.”
Loving has fought against homelessness her whole life. As a child, her extended family would take her to help out at a homeless shelter they owned in Venice Beach. That experience helped show her the various obstacles faced by unhoused people, and the dangers posed to women in the streets.
Jessica Paz-Cedillos
Jessica Paz-Cedillos, co-executive director of the School of Arts and Culture, wants to demonstrate to other communities what is possible, even with stark economic divides. Photo by Lorraine Gabbert.
Jessica Paz-Cedillos credits her mother for shaping her into the leader she is today.
The co-executive director of the School of Arts and Culture at Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose said her mother came to the U.S. alone at the age of 18, raised three children on her own and weathered poverty and homelessness while living in the Bay Area.
“How often can a single mother from Oakland say all three of her kids are college graduates, gainfully employed, and homeowners?” Paz-Cedillos told San José Spotlight. “I get my laser focus, passion and fearlessness from her.”
Prior to her leadership role at Mexican Heritage Plaza, Paz-Cedillos worked at the Bill Wilson Center and then as the resource development director at SOMOS Mayfair.
She said that women, particularly women of color, have a long way to go before society achieves anything close to gender parity.
“To put it bluntly, we are not (at scale) hiring, supporting and promoting diverse female leaders with lived experience, two essential qualities I look for in leadership,” Paz-Cedillos said. “From reliable child care to an equitable distribution of chores at home to equal pay, our country can and should do better by women in the workforce.”
Madison Nguyen
Madison Nguyen was the first Vietnamese vice mayor on the San Jose City Council. File photo.
As Blanca Alvarado before her, Madison Nguyen shattered barriers in San Jose.
In 2005, Nguyen became the first Vietnamese American elected to the San Jose City Council, and later became the city’s first Vietnamese vice mayor. But even before those accomplishments, Nguyen had made waves in a political circles often dominated by white men. She was elected to the board of the Franklin-McKinley School District, becoming one of the first Vietnamese Americans elected to a school board in the U.S. After leaving the council, she served as executive director of Hunger at Home and as the executive vice president of the SVO, now known as the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.
Nguyen faced adversity just to get to the United States. Born in Vietnam, she escaped the country at four years old in a fishing boat. Now working as executive vice president of AsianNet Media, Nguyen continues to drive conversation in Silicon Valley.
“The need for greater media visibility among women of color is so critical,” Nguyen told San José Spotlight. “We live in such a diverse community with almost equal demographics and yet we don’t often see or hear from women of color when it comes to issues that directly affect them.”
Michele Lew
(L-R) Caroline Simard of the VMWare Women’s Leadership Lab at Stanford University moderates a panel discussion with Jim Wunderman, CEO of the Bay Area Council, and Michele Lew, CEO of The Health Trust. Photo by Jana Kadah.
Collaboration and mutual aid are at the core of Michele Lew’s work. The CEO of The Health Trust, which functions as both a foundation and a provider of health care services for vulnerable residents, believes that women need uplift each other to thrive as leaders.
“Many of us believe, ‘I don’t shine if you don’t shine,’” Lew told San José Spotlight. “We strive to support each other, increase visibility and collectively advance our organizational missions.”
Before joining The Health Trust, Lew worked as the president and CEO of health nonprofit Asian Americans for Community Involvement, as well as the community relations director for Stanford Health Care. She took over the reins of The Health Trust in 2017.
Lew says the COVID-19 pandemic has helped society rethink how to provide basic services to its most vulnerable residents.
Nuria Fernandez
Nuria Fernandez, former VTA CEO, waves out of a cable car at a news conference celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in 2020. Photo courtesy of Brandi Childress.
Before joining the Biden administration in 2021 as the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, Nuria Fernandez made her mark in Silicon Valley as the top leader of the area’s largest transit agency, the VTA. Fernandez, who was born and raised in Panama City, served as VTA’s CEO for seven years prior to her appointment by President Joe Biden to the FTA.
Before joining VTA, Fernandez worked at the the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. She also helped lead O’Hare and Midway airports as commissioner for the Chicago Department of Aviation.
She was the first person of color and woman to lead VTA.
“I am even more humbled to be recognized for my dedication to public service and being an influencer in the public transportation industry,” Fernandez previously told San José Spotlight. “I am among a list of great company: highly qualified, talented Black women who have mastered their craft and dedicated their lives to making their areas of expertise better.”
Sharon Chatman
Sharon Chatman, second from left, and friends take part in an event put on by Chatman’s nonprofit Building Peaceful Families. Photo courtesy of Michelle Peterson.
As a superior court judge, Sharon Chatman made an extraordinary effort to do whatever she could to help individuals work their way out of the criminal justice system. She created a calendar to track court dates for domestic violence offenders with mental health disabilities. She also coordinated multiple departments across the county to help residents complete their required coursework so that they wouldn’t end up back in jail. She served as a judge for 20 years.
Chatman founded Building Peaceful Families in 2004, a nonprofit that helps residents whose family members have been affected by the incarceration system.
Before her death in 2021, Chatman was a basketball coach for San Jose State University. She retired from the bench in 2020 and held a law degree from Hastings College of Law at University of California, San Francisco.
Susan Ellenberg
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg is pictured in this filed photo.
A few years ago, Supervisor Susan Ellenberg was an unknown in local politics. Now, she’s a formidable force in Silicon Valley, having championed measures around equity, access to child care and addressing mental health issues in the county.
Ellenberg grew up in Pennsylvania, she is a long-time resident of San Jose, having lived here since 1991. She previously worked as a real estate attorney, a social justice educator and as the senior director of development for the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, then known as the Silicon Valley Organization. She was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2018 and was recently reelected and is now board president.
In Silicon Valley’s stratified society, all women face harassment and discrimination, regardless of socioeconomic status, Ellenberg told San José Spotlight. Women need greater support to help them speak out against hostile and inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
“The risks of retaliation, being deemed ‘not a team player,’ upsetting the group or worse still result in women tolerating hostile behavior and not speaking out, often to significant personal detriment. Worse, when they do, they are often not supported by women colleagues who do not want to be seen as disruptors of the climate,” Ellenberg said. “Until women know they will be believed, supported, and protected from backlash when reporting inappropriate behavior in the workplace, that imbalance of power will perpetuate a culture of disrespect, objectification, and erasure.”
Susan Hammer
Photo courtesy of the Hammer family.
As one passes through the grand lobby of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown San Jose, it’s a reminder that this unique institution—the first jointly-owned state and city library in California history—may not have been possible without Susan Hammer.
Hammer began the partnership between the city and San Jose State University, which led to the creation of the library.
The former downtown councilmember and mayor also played a major role in other significant projects across the city, including the construction of SAP Center and Mexican Heritage Plaza. She also pushed for greater racial diversity in the city’s commissions and created the San Jose Conservation Corps.
“San Jose is such a terrific city,” Hammer said on Valley Politics before she died in 2020. “Just driving in the neighborhoods throughout this large, large city, you see that different ethnic communities are really participating in their city.”
The historic Susan and Phil Hammer Theater in downtown San Jose pays homage to Hammer and her husband’s contributions to the arts community.
Susie Wilson
Supervisor Susie Wilson takes seat at Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors with Supervisor Sig Sanchez. Photo courtesy of county archives.
Susie Wilson was a trailblazer in Silicon Valley politics, becoming the first woman elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 1978.
Wilson paved the way for other women to serve in elected office. During her tenure as a county supervisor until 1991, women held the majority of seats in San Jose City Council and the county board.
But even before paving the way for women in Silicon Valley politics, Wilson make an impact by helping families in need. In the early 90s, she volunteered for the Silicon Valley YWCA and led a fundraiser to build low-income apartments in downtown San Jose, which have since been named after her.
She was also notable for completing her undergraduate degree while serving on San Jose City Council from 1974 to 1978. As a county supervisor, she prioritized protecting the county’s Valley Medical Center from closure during severe budget cuts prompted by Prop. 13. Prior to her death in 1990, Wilson helped promote an $840 million bond to support VMC, which was passed by voters in 2008.
Yvonne Maxwell
Yvonne Maxwell, executive director of Ujima Adult and Family Services and lecturer at San Jose State University. Screenshot from a video from San Jose.
Recognizing the harm police presence can cause Black communities, Yvonne Maxwell has led the way on reform efforts and calls to allow nonprofits to handle mental health crises instead of cops.
A licensed social worker and San Jose State University lecturer, Maxwell has been the executive director of Ujima Adult and Family Services since 1991. The nonprofit, named after the Kwanzaa principle of collective work and responsibility, provides behavioral health care to local residents.
A woman of principle and courage, Maxwell has spoken out against the construction of a new jail in Santa Clara County, calling for those resources to be used to fund housing, job training and universal basic income. She also worked on a San Jose public safety committee, and she quit in 2021 to protest the group’s lack of focus on police reform, which had been its original stated purpose.
“What if behavioral health professionals responded to mental health emergencies instead of police?” Maxwell asked last year. “Sometimes the only reason a person experiencing a mental health emergency ends up in jail is because law enforcement responds to a 911 call.”
Zoe Lofgren
Rep. Zoe Lofgren is pictured during a news conference on Capitol Hill in this file photo.
The daughter of a truck driver and cafeteria cook, Congressmember Zoe Lofgren studied at Stanford University on a state scholarship. She was a staff member for Congressmember Don Edwards before being elected to the San Jose Evergreen Community College Board and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. She was then elected to Congress in 1994 and has served in that role ever since.
Now she is a top ranking member in Congress—a position she won as the underdog in her race—and was called on by congressional leadership to serve as an impeachment manager for Donald Trump and a member of the Jan. 6 committee.
Lofgren is one of the only people on Capitol Hill believed to be present for three impeachment proceedings against former President Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and Trump.
A big part of Lofgren’s work has focused on helping women pursue careers in science and technology.
“Right now, women are still underrepresented in STEM, and we need to encourage more girls to consider careers in these fields,” Lofgren told San José Spotlight. “These female physicists should be an inspiration to young women about how they can work on hugely important projects in Silicon Valley that have the potential to change the future for the better for our children and grandchildren.”
Contact Sonya Herrera at [email protected] or follow @SMHsoftware on Twitter.
PRESS RELEASE. The world’s first blockchain-based global equity crowdfunding network – the Dacxi Chain – has been unveiled. The Dacxi Chain is a unique global ecosystem that creates digital tokenized versions of company shares, which can then be quickly and easily bought and sold all over the world. Connecting investors, entrepreneurs and deal makers from across the globe. A singularly complex technical challenge, the Dacxi Chain has taken the company’s tech team four years to develop. The advanced technical features within Dacxi Chain are built on the unique capabilities of blockchain.
Dacxi CEO Ian Lowe says, “When we set out to create a global ecosystem to deliver thousands of funding deals to hundreds of thousands of investors around the world, there are many significant problems to solve. Emphatically, blockchain is the path to unlocking the limitless potential of equity crowdfunding.”
The Dacxi Chain ecosystem must be equipped to deal with tokenized assets, cryptocurrency-based investments from multi-language and multi-currency investor pools, and a range of different regulatory environments. As such, the Dacxi Chain’s development has required the origination and development of a series of new technological processes.
Fernando Pacheco, Dacxi Chain’s Chief Product Officer says, “The Dacxi Chain aggregates investor pools drawn from multiple territories around the world, and connects them to entrepreneurs who have viable new ventures that need growth funding. While it’s a simple concept, the blockchain-based technology behind the Dacxi Chain is immensely complex and has been in development since 2018.”
The Dacxi Chain ecosystem’s key features
The Dacxi Chain ecosystem features seven blockchain-specific attributes.
Trustless equity custody
Tokenization of equity ownership
International investor verification (KYC)
Cryptocurrency based international payment solution
Trustless transaction solutions
Trustless share registry solutions
Network of tokenized Secondary Exchanges
Multi-layer technology stack
The Dacxi Chain integrates local and global ecosystems, using a bespoke three-layered technology stack designed and engineered by the Dacxi Chain technology team.
The Application Layer is an efficient, frictionless ecosystem where tens of thousands of investment opportunities can be launched globally each year.
The Transaction Layer facilitates tokenization, secures equity backing, produces smart contracts, guarantees token-money exchange, and enables secondary trading and global crypto-payments in local currencies.
The Blockchain Layer is where the ownership of equity tokens is processed and recorded. It is also where blockchain staking, node management and fee transactions are managed.
“Scaling was the hardest part of the development of the Dacxi Chain,” says Pacheco. “The Dacxi Chain development team has already amassed years of experience in testing and proving our core technology. We are satisfied that the Dacxi Chain ecosystem has the capability to handle millions of transactions involving tens of thousandsof deals, from millions of investors across languages and currencies.”
The Dacxi Chain is powered by the Dacxi Coin.
The Dacxi Chain ecosystem has its own native cryptocurrency, named Dacxi Coin. Dacxi Coin’s primary uses are to facilitate streamlined global investment transfers, and as an exchange currency. As such, the Dacxi Coin is defined as a utility token, not a security.
Project tokens to be listed on Dacxi Chain exchanges will be bought and sold using Dacxi Coin. As a cryptocurrency, Dacxi Coin can flow throughout the world unimpeded, allowing entrepreneurs and investors to connect with each other across geographical borders. This globalisation of participants creates scale, and with it much-needed liquidity to early stage investing.
“As the Dacxi Chain develops in scale and reach, billions of Dacxi Coins will be in use throughout the ecosystem,” says Lowe. “This will empower entrepreneurs to access early stage funding from investors all over the world, simply and easily.”
The Dacxi Chain is expected to launch this year, with the first ventures available for funding by the end of 2022.
The Dacxi Chain at a glance
The Dacxi Chain is an integrated local and global ecosystem that uses the unique power of blockchain to provide a global crowdfunding ecosystem. Dacxi Coin is the native utility token of the Dacxi Chain. It is used to facilitate efficient, low-cost international investment transfers, and as the currency of Dacxi Chain tokenized equity share exchanges.
This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.
PFL women’s lightweight contender Kayla Harrison is seemingly grateful for her loss to Larissa Pacheco.
The former Judoka has been out of action since her trilogy bout with the Brazilian last November. The two female lightweights headlined PFL’s championship card, but few expected the main event to be competitive. In their prior two outings, Harrison dominated Pacheco, and many figured that would be the case in the third matchup.
Instead, the underdog flipped the script on the undefeated former tournament winner. Harrison and Pacheco went back and forth for five rounds, with the latter picking up the win by unanimous decision. With that, the Brazilian had won the women’s lightweight tournament and handed the former champion the first loss of her career.
Months on from the trilogy, Kayla Harrison has reflected on the upset loss. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the Judoka admitted that the defeat hurt. However, she’s now grateful for the loss.
Harrison explained that without the loss, she wouldn’t be able to improve. She also likened the experience to a spiritual awakening and admitted that it might be the best thing to happen for her.
“The loss was like a spiritual awakening,” Kayla Harrison stated. “For me, for the longest time, it was either I’d become the best of all time or die from the shame of failing. I would tell myself, if I didn’t win, I was worthless. I was fighting to earn love. That’s how I’ve felt since I was a child. If I wanted respect, then I needed to win. If I wanted love, then I had to win.” (h/t)
She continued, “…I’ve moved on. I’m healthy. The loss wasn’t because I didn’t train hard. I put in the work, the game plan was solid, but it just wasn’t my night. The lowest moment is what I needed for me to get where I need to go. You can’t rest on your past victories, but neither can you rest on your past defeats. Professionally, it’s still yet to be seen, but losing to Larissa may have been the best thing to happen to me personally.”
“I’m blessed financially. I have two beautiful children I adopted, and I’m taking this time to be as present as possible with them. I’m still in the gym every day getting better, working on the areas I need to work on—and I’ll remain patient and keep working.”
What do you make of these comments? Who do you want to see Kayla Harrison fight next? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!
All-in-one serum untuk atasi:
Bekas jerawat
Kulit kemerahan & sensitif
Pori-pori besar & minyak berlebih
Komedo & sel kulit mati
Tekstur kulit kasar & kusam
Garis halus
Acosta is on a mission to introduce the vibrant and exciting world of ballet to a new audience while at the same time celebrating the music and heritage of Birmingham.
His very first commission – City of a Thousand Trades – reflected the contribution made by immigrants and the diverse working-class communities of Birmingham who have enriched the city in a myriad of ways.
Pedro J Pacheco
The idea of a Black Sabbath ballet has been on Carlos Acosta’s mind since he first arrived in Birmingham at the start of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic surged across the country creating upheaval and havoc which included the closure of theatres.
Acosta was aware that pioneering heavy metal group Black Sabbath had played their first ever gig in The Crown pub which is just a stone’s throw from BRB’s base in Thorp Street.
The iconic pub – deemed a heritage site by music fans – has been in a shuttered and derelict state for a number of years and there were fears the place might be lost but the building was recently saved from the wrecking ball.
Perou
Speaking about Black Sabbath, Acosta said: “Black Sabbath is probably Birmingham’s biggest export, the most famous (and infamous) cultural entity to ever emerge from the city – so I was naturally drawn to the idea of a collaboration between what most people might think are the most unlikely of partners.
“The band’s enthusiasm for the project is a huge endorsement.
“They are putting their trust in us to deliver something completely new and original, and that’s quite a responsibility but one that we are beyond excited to take on.
“Everyone in the BRB company is thrilled to be involved and we cannot wait to share the vision for the show in more detail in the coming months.
“I have hand picked the creative team and will work closely with them to make a spectacular show.”
Discussing the exciting collaboration, Iommi said: “I’m looking forward to seeing how this all develops!
“Black Sabbath have always been innovators and never been predictable, and it doesn’t come any more unpredictable than this!
“I’d never imagined pairing Black Sabbath with ballet but it’s got a nice ring to it! I’ve met with Carlos several times and his enthusiasm is infectious.
“I performed alongside some of the dancers at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony and they had an incredible energy, so I’m happy to go along for the ride with them!”
Perou
The show will feature eight classic Black Sabbath tracks which includes Iron Man, War Pigs, Orchid and Paranoid.
The music will be re-orchestrated for the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and performed live, and dancers will incorporate musical instruments into their performance.
Rehearsals for the innovative ballet show commence in April.
PFL women’s lightweight contender Kayla Harrison is seemingly grateful for her loss to Larissa Pacheco.
The former Judoka has been out of action since her trilogy bout with the Brazilian last November. The two female lightweights headlined PFL’s championship card, but few expected the main event to be competitive. In their prior two outings, Harrison dominated Pacheco, and many figured that would be the case in the third matchup.
Instead, the underdog flipped the script on the undefeated former tournament winner. Harrison and Pacheco went back and forth for five rounds, with the latter picking up the win by unanimous decision. With that, the Brazilian had won the women’s lightweight tournament and handed the former champion the first loss of her career.
Months on from the trilogy, Kayla Harrison has reflected on the upset loss. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the Judoka admitted that the defeat hurt. However, she’s now grateful for the loss.
Harrison explained that without the loss, she wouldn’t be able to improve. She also likened the experience to a spiritual awakening and admitted that it might be the best thing to happen for her.
“The loss was like a spiritual awakening,” Kayla Harrison stated. “For me, for the longest time, it was either I’d become the best of all time or die from the shame of failing. I would tell myself, if I didn’t win, I was worthless. I was fighting to earn love. That’s how I’ve felt since I was a child. If I wanted respect, then I needed to win. If I wanted love, then I had to win.” (h/t Sports Illustrated)
She continued, “…I’ve moved on. I’m healthy. The loss wasn’t because I didn’t train hard. I put in the work, the game plan was solid, but it just wasn’t my night. The lowest moment is what I needed for me to get where I need to go. You can’t rest on your past victories, but neither can you rest on your past defeats. Professionally, it’s still yet to be seen, but losing to Larissa may have been the best thing to happen to me personally.”
“I’m blessed financially. I have two beautiful children I adopted, and I’m taking this time to be as present as possible with them. I’m still in the gym every day getting better, working on the areas I need to work on—and I’ll remain patient and keep working.”
What do you make of these comments? Who do you want to see Kayla Harrison fight next? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!
