Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

DURING the past few months, Timothy Dayonot has been very busy as California Coordinator of the "Filipino Americans for Jerry Brown," a volunteer group of Filipino-Americans to help Jerry Brown become Governor of California. The group believes that it is important for Fil-Ams to be involved in the political process and to support and endorse candidates who are sensitive to the needs of our community.

Timothy Dayonot certainly has been an ideal example of a Fil-Am who has been actively involved in government and politics. He has served vital roles under three California governors. Tim was Community Relations Representative for former California Governor Jerry Brown. In 2000, he was appointed by Governor Gray Davis as the Director of the California Department of Community Services and Development, a position he also held for nearly two years under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. During his six years as Director, he administered nearly $1 billion in state and federal funds.

"The Filipino-American in California has no better friend than Jerry Brown," declared Tim Dayonot, current director of community services for the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. "Some politicians make empty promises but not Jerry Brown. During his tenure as California governor, his responsiveness to our community was extraordinary.

Before Brown, no Fil-Am judge presided at a California court. Gov. Brown named two: Mel Recana of Los Angeles, the first known Fil-Am judge on the United States mainland, and Ron Quidachay of San Francisco, both still active. Brown appointed Larry Asera as assistant secretary of state and consumer services and Gloria Ochoa as public advisor to the State Energy Commission," Dayonot said.

Dayonot as director of community services and development gave grants of over $1 million to Fil-Am organizations.

Born in the Philippines, Tim Dayonot is also a recognized expert and academic in the field of negotiations and a popular speaker, trainer, and negotiations consultant. A Harvard graduate, he teaches negotiations at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business MBA program and at Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He has also taught negotiations at Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. Tim has taught negotiations skills workshops for Stanford Law School, Expedia, Northrop Grumman, Amgen, UC Medical School, Grubb Real Estate, National Public Radio, the Texas Attorney General and many other groups.

At Stanford Law School, he co-taught a legal negotiation workshop sponsored by the Stanford Center on Conflict & Negotiation and was a teaching consultant to Stanford Law School’s Gould Center on Dispute Resolution. The State Bar of California has approved his negotiations trainings for continuing education credits.

Tim’s other professional experience includes serving as the Government Relations Manager for the United Way of the Bay Area, Government & Community Relations Representative for UC San Francisco and Government & Public Affairs Manager for the SF Public Utilities Commission.

Active in civic affairs, his past positions include serving as a member of the State Bar of California’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Chair of the Contra Costa Human Relations Commission, Chair of the Low-Income Oversight Board of the California Public Utilities Commission and a member of the California Board of Accountancy. He is a member of the San Francisco–Manila Sister City Committee, a Board of Member of the Filipino-American Political Action Committee, Vice-Chair of the Friends of the Filipino American Community (PAC) and a member of the Filipino-American Democratic Caucus of the CA Democratic Party.

He holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government and a law degree from the University of San Francisco. He has received additional negotiations training from the Program on Negotiations at Harvard, the Program on Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School and the Public Disputes Program at MIT. He was twice elected student body president at SF State University, where he received a BA in political science.

While teaching negotiations at UC Berkeley as previously noted, he operates his own negotiation training/consulting firm in Berkeley, California. His clients have included Expedia.com, Amgen Corporation, Northrop Grumman Space Technologies, the Attorney General of Texas, National Public Radio, Western Independent Bankers Association, Paragon Real Estate, UCSF School of Medicine, SF International Airport, SF Controller’s Office and CompassPoint.