Pi Beta Phi - San Jose Alumnae Club

10/03/2026

The 1960's called and Debby (Oregon Alpha 🦆) answered - in her 1967 high school cheer uniform! 📣 As always, our year kicked off to a lovely start (with a '60s twist) and we look forward to another year of fun, friendship, and service!

09/15/2026

Monday Member Spotlight on
⭐️Kalie Russo!⭐️

👧🏻 Meet Kalie - A software engineering project manager at Apple and mom of three!

📍Collegiate chapter? Missouri Alpha - University of Missouri

👖How do you like your denim? High rise forever. And I’ll never go back to skinny jeans either. I like my denim high and wide!

☕️ Go-to coffee order? Hot Americano with a splash of non-fat milk. I like it simple!

🍝 Favorite Bay Area restaurant? Paesano Ristorante. But I’ll also never turn down a fresh deli sandwich from Zanotto’s!

😇 Why Pi Phi? I love Pi Phi because it’s given me such a special community of women who share similar values, even though we’re all in different stages of life and come from different backgrounds. I’ve made so many wonderful friendships through Pi Phi, and I love that being part of this alum club means I get to keep making new ones!

09/01/2026

Our year kicks off this month and we have quite a slate of activities! Watch your email for Evite invitations and participation details! Looking forward to another year of connecting, serving, and shining with the San Jose Alumnae Club!

07/17/2026

Spots available for our backpack session at the Family Giving Tree warehouse! Reach out if you'd like one!

07/14/2026

07/13/2026

Our virtual Back-to-School Drive link is LIVE.

This Virtual Giving Tree (VGT) lets you easily donate backpacks filled with school supplies to students who don't have access to basic yet important learning tools. Donate today and connect students with their potential to learn, grow, and feel hope for the future.

This Virtual Giving Tree (VGT) lets you easily donate backpacks filled with school supplies to students who don't have access to basic yet important learning tools. Donate today and connect students with their potential to learn, grow, and feel hope for the future.

07/08/2026

A READING CHAMPION: I couldn’t let this week go by without acknowledging the retirement this week of San Jose resident Farrell Podgorsek. She was the librarian for 23 years at Horace Mann Elementary School in downtown San Jose and at Hacienda Science Magnet for a few years before that. I first met her not long after I took over this column in 2005 when she recruited me as one of the community leaders to take part in a Hispanic Heritage Month read-in at Horace Mann, and I’ve always thought of her as a champion of the written word.

She noted that a part-time volunteer job turned into a career. In an email to her neighbors in Naglee Park, she said her biggest takeaway was that she knows she made a difference in the lives of her students by creating a space where they felt safe — whether they wanted to read in a quiet corner, use the Maker Space or even just hang out with their friends playing games.

“The students that attended Horace Mann when I first arrived there are now adults — some married and with kids,” she said in an email to her neighbors in Naglee Park. “One of my early students has a Kindergarten kiddo at Horace Mann. Our new 4th grade teacher attended Horace Mann, and another former student works in our office.”

06/01/2026

Don't forget! Pi Beta Phi end of year Potluck is coming up - Tuesday June 2nd, 6pm - at Debby's house. Hawaiian attire encouraged but not necessary! It's never too late to join the fun!

04/28/2026

The San Jose Alum Club sends its warmest wishes to Pi Phis everywhere as we celebrate our founding on April 28, 1867!

03/30/2026

To celebrate Women's History Month we launched our inaugural Pi Beta Phi read-in with Horace Mann Elementary in San Jose! We read books centered around amazing, ambitious, and persistent girls and women, most of whom laid the groundwork for powerful change. All of the children in grades K-5 were engaged and curious and we look forward to continuing to forge our relationship with the school.
📚
Women in Science
Mae Among The Stars
Shaking Things Up
A Computer Called Katherine
Ambitious Girl
Anthology of Amazing Women
She Persisted Around The World