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Charles Marsala - Gentry July 2007 Article
Mayor, entrepreneur, activist, volunteer, and philanthropist, Marsala has an unparalleled passion for community.
Charles Marsala is the type of person who never does anything half way. If he says that he’ll get involved in something---he truly does. Born in New Orleans, Marsala earned a mechanical engineering degree from Tulane University. He technical skills and entrepreneurial spirit took him on a career path that has spawned companies including InteractiveAr.com, Chix Rhul clothing, and Lista Toolboxes.
Stanford’s Program for Growing Companies brought him into the Bay Area. “I fell in love with Northern California,” he recalls. He settled in Atherton and started to get involved. A passion for wildlife photography led Marsala to join Atherton’s Arts Committee, he soon joined the Town Council, and then became mayor for 2005-2006.
Marsala credits his good friend Sheri Sobrato for teaching him the value and power of philanthropy. “Sheri’s an inspiration,” notes Marsala. “She understands the importance of exposing one group of individuals to another group—donors to non-profits, donors to other donors, and non-profits to other non-profits. At the end of the day, philanthropy is all about people and opportunity. Exposure provides opportunity.”
Marsala took these lessons of networking very seriously and has parlayed his contacts into a growing set of resources that e can call on for various causes. He currently sits on the board of numerous Peninsula non-profits, and he opens his home up to several charitable and political fundraisers each year. One of his greatest passions right now is the “greening of Atherton.” Marsala points out, “that the typical household in Atherton uses four times more energy than the average American household. There are so many things that we can co to conserve energy. Just cleaning the lint off your refrigerator vents can make a huge impact.” To help bring awareness to the town, the Atherton Environmental Programs Committee which Marsala chairs organized an extremely informative Earth Day Green Expo at Holbrook-Palmer Park in April. Encourage by the community’s participation, Marsala hopes to grow the event next year. We’re sure that with Marsala’s help it will be a grand success.
Stephanie Lingle Beasley
Charlesmarsalaatherton.com ~
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