By Khalida Sarwari
The League of Women Voters of Southwest Santa Clara Valley named Los Gatos resident Hana Itani as its new president.
Itani replaces outgoing president Eleanor Yick. Her background is in real estate, and she runs two private investment companies.
Itani joined the League in 2007 after attending a luncheon for then president Fred Armstrong, the organization’s first male president. Armstrong, a longtime resident of Saratoga, died on Feb. 2.
“I stood there and said, ‘Wow, this is an amazing organization,’ ” Itani recalls. “I like that it was nonpartisan, open to women and men, and I was amazed by the wealth of knowledge and the education and the energy.”
In 2008, Itani joined the LOWV’s Great Decisions program, a group that meets regularly to discuss foreign affairs and politics. She said she plans to stay in the program because she finds it “informative and self-enlightening.”
“I enjoy the active participation of each member,” she said of the group that serves Los Gatos, Saratoga and Campbell.
In preparing for her new role, Itani will be pulling not only from her real estate career but from her 22 years in the nonprofit sector, where she has volunteered for organizations such as the American Cancer Society.
Days prior to beginning her one-year term, Itani already had a number of goals in mind. The primary ones, she said, are to increase the league’s visibility as well as boost membership and youth involvement. As part of that, she plans on reaching out to schools to build bridges between students and the league.
“I want them to feel the importance of being involved in their civic duties, and I want them to feel how important their vote is,” she said. “I want everyone to feel their vote matters.”
Itani said she also wants to introduce additional social activities to the board of directors and increase the organization’s social media presence.
Itani hails from Lebanon, where she lived until 1974 and received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She came to the U.S. with her husband on a student/wife visa so that her husband could attend UC-Berkeley. The eruption of the Lebanese Civil War a year later and her husband receiving an offer to work at Apple would seal the couple’s fate, compelling them to stay and raise a family in California. To maintain her visa status, Itani said, she continued to take classes at local community colleges.
“My destiny was to stay,” Itani said. “We are fortunate to be here.”
Itani quickly discovered that one of the best ways to learn about American culture was to become involved in her children’s schools. As a member of the parent-teacher association in the Berryessa Union School District, she helped work on curriculum reform. Itani also became involved in her children’s play groups and has fond memories of one in particular called the Toys Exchange Club.
After a stint as a financial adviser, Itani launched a career in real estate in 1986. She has lived in Los Gatos since 2005 with her husband Danny, a senior scientist at Apple, and has three adult children and seven grandchildren. Her daughter Genan works in the nonprofit field, and sons Rashad and Majed are both in high tech.
