Cupertino Aims to Leverage its Ethnic Diversity

What Cupertino lacks in not having a charming downtown such as Los Gatos it makes up for in a rich, diverse culture, and looking to tap into the opportunities provided by such diversity is Mayor Mark Santoro who will lead a public discussion Thursday on “Leveraging Ethnic Diversity.”

“Our diverse culture provides our residents with many things such as great places to eat, wonderful cultural events like the Diwali and Cherry Blossom festivals, shows, dances, and a some great cricket players just to name a few,” Santoro said in an email to Patch. “Perhaps that’s why Forbes and others have ranked Cupertino as one of the five best places to live.”

Reservations for the free LED workshop filled up fast but a few seats are still available. It runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cupertino Community Hall.

The workshop will include discussions on multiculturalism and how it shapes the community, and there will be presentations by small business owners and other community leaders.

“Helping lead the LED workshop will be our sister cities. After all, who better to understand the advantages of diversity,” Santoro said.

The line-up of presenters includes:

• Asian American Business Council: Vicky Tsai
• Chamber of Commerce: Mahesh Nihalani and Mark Matsumoto
• Small business owner: Janice Chua, Bitter+Sweet
• California Cricket Academy: Mahesh Nihalani and Kinjal Buch
• Cupertino Union School District: Jeremy Nishihara
• Block Leaders: Noel Eberhardt and Matangi Rajamani

Cupertino Sister Cities

• Hsinchu Sister City: Angela Chen
• Bhubaneswar Sister City: Mahesh Pakala and Reena Rao
• Toyokawa Sister City: Asif Kausar

Small table-top break-out groups will form following the presentations to discuss various topics related to multiculturalism. A similar city-held workshop on doing business in the city resulted in a link on the City’s website which links to things you need to know when starting a small business in Cupertino. Santoro said the LED workshop will help determine if the city can improve in any way.

“The LED workshop will be an opportunity for our residents to look at what we are doing well, and where we can improve to take advantage of our diversity and make Cupertino even better,” he said.

“Cupertino is perhaps the best example in the world of how different groups can make a community better, stronger, more fun, and more successful. Cupertino is a shining example for the rest of the world of how everyone can and should live together.”