Board of Directors

Jeanette Cool, Executive Director

Ms. Cool studied music at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, earning a bachelor’s and graduate degree in music theory. She was organist and choir director at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in South San Francisco (1995-2013) and secretary of the San Francisco Chapter of the American Guild of Organists executive committee (2010 – 2013). Currently, Ms. Cool is Secretary of the Board of Directors of Bright Stars of Bethlehem, a USA non-profit that supports the health, educational, cultural and spiritual development of people in Palestine through the outreach programs of the Diyar Consortium.

For many years, Ms. Cool provided business management for entrepreneurs. This work led her to a very special client: Sam Mazza. She immensely enjoyed her long tenure and relationship with Mr. Mazza, whose idiosyncratic ways and sure-footed independence set the stage for an enduring and distinct legacy in the Sam Mazza Foundation.

As the foundation’s executive director, Ms. Cool takes great pride in honoring Mr. Mazza by shaping his legacy to have visibility and long-lasting impact.

Robert C. Hood, Treasurer

Mr. Hood has 25 years of experience working in management information systems and systems theory for global transportation and finance. He has also spent 15 years as a personal financial manager and enrolled agent for individuals and small nonprofits. A Buddhist practitioner for more than 40 years, he took ordination as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition in 1999.

Anne galjour

Anne Galjour is a veteran playwright and performer whose theatrical works have been

produced by numerous professional theatres, colleges, and theatre festivals around the

country. Her plays and solo performance work have garnered numerous local and

national awards. She is a lecturer in the Creative Writing Department at San Francisco

State University. Ms. Galjour is committed to supporting the next generation of artists

and arts educators through her work on the Board of Directors of the The Sam Mazza Foundation.

Angelo Mazza, Director Emeritus (Deceased)

Mr. Mazza was the youngest of Sam Mazza’s six siblings. A veteran of the U.S. Navy who saw combat during World War II, Mr. Mazza began his professional life in the family grocery business and went on to a distinguished career in real estate in the Bay Area. He was a top executive for City S&L, Gibraltar S&L and Continental S&L, and he served as president of the Savings Association Mortgage Company (SAMCO), which sought to reverse patterns of discrimination by assisting racial minorities in securing home loans. Mr. Mazza came out of retirement to turn around negative earnings at Continental S&L, where he returned as president for two years before retiring again in 1982.

Mr. Mazza played a vital role in establishing the Sam Mazza Foundation and continued to contribute to our success through his wisdom, wit and insight until his death in 2011.