40 Under 40: Tech Diversity - Silicon Valley

Chris Amos

Co-founder & President
Ampush

Chris Amos is Co-Founder & President at Ampush, the leading marketing software platform for buying, managing, and optimizing ads on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Prior to Ampush, Chris worked at The Carlyle Group in Washington D.C., where he evaluated leveraged buyouts in the automotive and transportation sectors. Before Carlyle, Chris worked at Morgan Stanley in New York, where he advised financial sponsor clients on transactions in the digital media, technology, and consumer industries. Chris graduated from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a dual concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Outside of the office, he can be found rooting for the Bulls, snowboarding, and learning the drums.

Ime Archibong

Director, Strategic Partnerships
Facebook

Ime Archibong is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Facebook. He leads the team focused on accelerating Facebook’s product strategy by establishing partnerships, driving product integrations and unlocking new business opportunities with leading companies across multiple industries and sectors. In this role, Ime also supports the Internet.org team, leading their global partnerships work with developers and content creators that will accelerate the next 5 billion people coming online.

Prior to joining Facebook, Ime was an Advanced Technology Business Development Professional at IBM, focused on licensing IBM¹s global portfolio of storage research technology. He started his career at IBM as a software engineer in the Systems and Technology Group before transitioning to the corporate strategy team, and then eventually the business development team.

Ime holds a Bachelor¹s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Yale University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Angela Benton

Founder & CEO
NewMe Accelerator

Born in Chicago, IL, Benton spent most of her childhood just outside Washington DC in Northern Virginia. Having her first child at 16 and determined not to become a statistic, Benton graduated high school in just three years and went on to attend several colleges, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications with a specialization in Digital Design. As a young, single mother, Benton armed with resilience and determination, steadily began making a name for herself in the world of design and technology, having worked in a number of capacities for the web giant IAC, among others. In 2007, Benton launched BlackWeb 2.0, which to this day fills a much-needed void by becoming a vital nexus for African-American professionals and aspirants interested in the digital space.

To date, Benton has received numerous accolades which include Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, in addition to Fast Company’s Most Influential Women In Technology, Business Insiders’ 25 Most Influential African-Americans in Technology, Marie Claire’s 50 Women Who Rule, Ebony Magazine’s’ Power 150 and many more.  At age 29, she was inducted into the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) Hall of Fame in 2010, and at that time its youngest inducted ever.

In addition, Benton has been featured in numerous national and international media outlets including CNN’s award winning documentary series Black in America: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Inc, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal where she was a featured essayist for the paper’s 125th Anniversary edition on The Future of Entrepreneurship.

Benton continues to passionately make strides redefining what successful entrepreneurs look like in the digital/technology arena.

Aisha Bowe

Co-founder & CEO
STEMboard

Aisha Bowe is the co-founder and CEO of STEMBoard, a technology solutions company founded in 2013 that is also committed to closing the achievement gap by empowering historically underrepresented youth build transformational technologies.

At only 29 years old, Aisha, an aerospace engineer, manages STEMBoard’s multi-million defense-contracts and private sector clients. STEMBoard is composed of aerospace and defense engineers who are leading innovative and disruptive change within the defense and intelligence community.

Aisha has actively demonstrated a commitment to educating the underserved in STEM careers. STEMBoard collaborates with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to expose and encourage more students of color to pursue STEM careers as well as hosts STEM camps at no cost for K-12 students. Over 300 students, both from the US and internationally were able to benefit from curriculum conceived, designed and executed by STEMBoard staff members.

Prior to founding STEMBoard, Aisha was a researcher at the NASA Ames Research Center. For the last four years she has served as an advisor to the board of the Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program.

Aisha has received numerous awards for her dedication to technical excellence and the principles of diversity and opportunity including: 2015 US Women’s Chamber of Commerce “Emerging Star” Award, NASA’s Engineering Honor Award, Silicon Valley’s National Coalition of 100 Black Women’s Women in Technology of the Year Award and The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) 21^st Century Trailblazers in Aviation and Aerodynamics Award.

Among her professional affiliations, she is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Aisha holds a Bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering and a Master degree in Space Systems Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Marla Britt

Technical Project/Program Manager
Applied Materials

After 13 years as an accomplished process engineer in the semiconductor industry, I have recently moved to a technical project and program management role. I am working in our Etch division overseeing our latest products. As a senior process engineer and now as a technical program manager, I lead new products through the product life cycle and integrate new upgrades to existing products that extent their uses to new technology nodes.

I’m also an overachiever with a big heart. I love to educate children on careers in STEM and am a diversity and inclusion leader.

Edwin Broni-Mensah

Founder & CEO
Give Me Tap

Social entrepreneur with a passion for water related issues. Focused on delivering solutions to enable easy access to water, through developing water technologies, infrastructure, and fund raising.

Specialties: Water aid, social enterprise, Mathematics, Computer Science, Website design and development, creativity

Stacy Brown-Philpot

COO
Taskrabbit

Kendra Desrosiers

Digital Strategy & Partnerships
YouTube

I was that sixth grader who made a website instead of a poster board for their English project. For years, I’ve been a tech early adopter, pop culture hound and undercover over lover of gifs.

Currently this manifests itself in my current gig at YouTube where I’m launching a global scaled social business program for top partners to connect with each other and the YouTube team.

I also advise startups and events on social media and digital strategy. Recently, I lead the social media, blog and mobile technology team for the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (2700+ attendees)—named by Fast Company as one of the most innovative sports companies in 2012 and even got a shout-out in an episode of “The Office.”

I enjoy reconnecting with past colleagues and alumni as well as meeting new, interesting people so feel free to connect with me here or find me on Twitter (@KD). If you’re like the NBA or rapper Young Jeezy, you might mistake me for pro-baller Kevin Durant. Those tweets are the most fun.

Brian Dixon

Principal
Kapor Capital

Nancy Douyon

User Experience Research Program Manager
Google

Nancy Douyon is a User Experience Research Program Manager at Google where she currently leads research on the end to end experience for all new and critical launches. She creates solid foundations to ensure that her team meets stakeholder, partner and user objectives through rich, insightful research and effective design. She also has the pleasure of making Google consumer services better for users by helping product teams think creatively through design evaluations and sprints.

Nancy’s daily quest is to increase the usability of products, applications, complex systems and websites across different cultural ideals and cultural practices. She consults globally on remote user research methods and emerging markets. She has been instrumental in initiating a user experience lifecycle approach that is now deployed across over 15 products worldwide.

Prior to joining Google, Nancy held research and engineering positions at IBM Interactive Research, Accenture Experience Agency, and Intel’s Mobility Group. In Nancy’s spare time, she educates minorities in tech around the globe in design methodologies, culture-related themed designs, planning and implementation of user goals in products, and personal career management.

Jotaka Eaddy

Consultant
PayNearMe & Kapor

Jotaka L. Eaddy is a dedicated and seasoned policy advocate with more than 15 years experience.

Jotaka currently serves as Head of Governement Affairs for LendUp, a venture backed financial technology company.

Within her capacity, Ms. Eaddy represents LendUp’s regulartory and legislative initiatives at the federal and state level. Additionally Ms. Eaddy’s portfolio includes strategic partnerships with community leaders, elected officials, and other key stakeholders.

Ms. Eaddy has traveled extensively, serving as a guest lecturer and strategist on human rights and progressive policy reform at various institutions and universities covering 49 states and 25 countries. She has lobbied within various international forums including the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Organization of American States, and Council of Europe, among others.

Prior to her role at LendUp, Jotaka served as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for PayNearMe, Inc.

She also served as Senior Advisor to the President and CEO and Senior Director for Voting Rights for the NAACP. Within that capacity she directed external affairs and strategic initiatives on behalf of the Office of the President and CEO and led the NAACP’s strategy to defend and expand access to the ballot box.

In 2004 she directed the national lobby and international advocacy campaign against the juvenile death penalty in the United States. Those efforts contributed to the 2005 landmark US Supreme Court decision Roper v. Simmons which abolished the juvenile death penalty in the United States.

As a student at the University of South Carolina Ms. Eaddy was elected Student Body President, becoming the first black woman to be elected to the position in the University of South Carolina’s 213 year history.

Pablo Fuentes

CEO & Co-founder
Proven

Pablo is the CEO and Founder of Proven, a leading mobile jobs company focused on the restaurant industry. He was honored as a Champion of Change and has been invited to speak at the White House about Proven and mentoring minority and women entrepreneurs. Pablo is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He also enjoys dogs, photography, and reading. Pablo obtained a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ricardo Garcia-Amaya

CEO & Founder
VOIQ

Ricardo is the founder and CEO of VOIQ Inc., an ondemand Sales Callforce. Clients like Airbnb and Stanford University no longer have to build their own outbound call center or go through the hassle of hiring one. Instead, in minutes, they can launch thousands of calls carried out by thousands of professional call agents who work from the VOIQ app on their mobile phone from home throughout the US. Ricardo’s venture is backed by the most prestigious tech investor/accelerator in the world, YCombinator.

Ricardo is also the founder of the group of the Top 20 Latino Tech Leaders in the US, a group comprised of $2.1B in company exits. Ricardo was recognized in 2015 as a Latin Innovator by the Aspen Institute in Washington D.C., and was a featured speaker at the Silicon Valley Latino Leadership Summit at Stanford University. He also has been a member of the delegation of the Department of State and the Aspen Institute, exploring the investment and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America.

Prior to VOIQ, Ricardo was an Associate at the NYC Mayor’s Office developing the 2015 technology blueprint for New York City. He also led the technology efforts of the campaign of mayor Angel Taveras: the first Latino mayor of the City of Providence, RI.

Ricardo has an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, and an undergraduate degree in Politics from NYU. He is a member of the advisory council of the World Policy Institute, a Consortium Fellow, a Management Leaders for Tomorrow (MLT) Fellow, and a 2013 Council of Urban Professionals Fellow. He is the President of the Scarsdale Alumni Association, and was recently a guest at the White House reception for Latino leaders. Ricardo is also an active contributor to the Huffington Post.

Martin Gilliard

GM, AdTruth
Experian Marketing Services

Martin Gilliard is a seasoned marketing technology executive with over 16 years experience driving innovation within the digital technology sector.  As General Manager of the Americas for AdTruth, Experian Marketing Suite, he is responsible for defining and executing the vision for the digital identity platform that is reinventing the Experian Marketing Suite and the data management industry.  Prior to this role, he co-founded DATAMYZE, a business intelligence platform for Fortune 500 marketers.  At WPP’s 24/7 Media, he led the global expansion of the multichannel digital media-buying platform by building and deploying teams in seven countries across Asia, Europe, North and South America, growing the platform business from $200M to $1B. At Microsoft, he was part of the management team that launched Microsoft AdCenter, the monetization platform for Bing and MSN. At infoGroup he helped several Fortune 100 companies leverage infoUSA’sYesmail platform and data services. Martin began his career operating a web design firm. Martin is a graduate of Bucknell University with degrees in Business Management and Studio Art.  He lives in San Francisco with his wife and young son.

Zakiya Harris

Chief Education Officer
Hack The Hood

Zakiya Harris is a Cultural Architect, Artist and Educator working at the intersections of entrepreneurship, 21st century education and creative transformation. She is the Co-Founder of nationally recognized projects Impact Hub Oakland, Grind for the Green and Earthseed Consulting. Currently she is the Chief Education Officer for Hack the Hood a technology program for low-income youth of color and winner of the 2014 Google Impact Challenge. When she is “off the clock” you can find her singing her heart out onstage, reading Octavia Butler or cooking with her 10 year old daughter.

Charles Hudson

Partner
Soft Tech VC

Charles Hudson is a Partner with SoftTech VC, one of the most active seed stage investors in Internet and mobile startups. He focuses on identifying investment opportunities in mobile infrastructure, mobile applications, and marketplaces. In addition to his investment activities, he supports SoftTech portfolio companies on business and corporate development matters. He was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Bionic Panda Games, an Android-focused mobile games startup based in San Francisco, CA.

Prior to joining SoftTech VC and co-founding Bionic Panda Games, Charles Hudson was the VP of Business Development for Serious Business until the company was acquired by Zynga in February 2010. Prior to Serious Business, he was the Sr. Director for Business Development at Gaia Interactive, an online hangout and virtual world for teens. Prior to Gaia, Charles worked in New Business Development at Google and focused on new partnership opportunities for early-stage products in the advertising, mobile, and e-commerce markets. Prior to joining Google, he was a Product Manager for IronPort Systems, a leading provider of anti-spam hardware appliances that was acquired by Cisco Systems for $830 million in 2007.

Charles was also the founder of the Virtual Goods Summit and Social Gaming Summit, two of the leading conferences in the free-to-play games space.

Charles spent several years working at In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital group for the Central Intelligence Agency. While at In-Q-Tel, he focused on identifying investment opportunities that could deliver significant value to the CIA and the commercial market in both the short and long term. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Stanford University.

Nicole Isaac

Head of Economic Graph Policy Partnerships
LinkedIn

Nicole Isaac, is the Head of the Economic Graph Policy Partnerships at LinkedIn. In this capacity, she works with local, state, federal and international electeds on leveraging strategic information for investments in the 21^st century workforce and to provide critical labor insights. Nicole previously served as Principal at theGROUP, where she managed relationships with Forture 100 companies.Nicole also taught at International Business at Georgetown University.

Nicole was previously a Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, where she guided President Obama’s policy priorities before the Judiciary, Financial Services and Appropriations Committees. Nicole was Deputy Legislative Director for the Office of the Vice President. From 2007 through 2009, she worked as Floor Counsel to the Assistant Majority Leader, Senator Richard Durbin and assisted with the management of the Senate Floor. Previously, she worked as Assistant Counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel and drafted hundreds of pieces of legislation for members and committees of the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, during 2006, she served as law clerk to the Honorable DikgangMoseneke, the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.

Nicole completed her Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and also a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, respectively, in 2004. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University. She also completed a Master of Studies program in International Human Rights Law at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. She is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ibi Krukrubo

Assurance Partner
Ernst & Young, LLP

As an Audit Partner focused on tech companies in Silicon Valley, I have spent my career staying connected to my clients, being responsive to their issues, and bringing them insights.

For more than 12 years, I have served private and public companies ranging from Fortune 500 multinationals, to VC backed companies and fast growing start-ups. I have taken clients public and continue to serve them, as well as worked through several S-1s before a company either went public or was acquired.

As part of EY’s technology practice, I regularly advise clients on various technical issues including revenue recognition, equity accounting, and business combinations. I have extensive experience working with software, hardware and cloud computing companies on SEC filings and significant transactions (IPOs, acquisitions, debt offerings). In addition, I’ve helped develop EY’s internal and external thought leadership on revenue recognition and audit quality and presented at external events such as the Financial Executives Institute meetings.

Outside of EY, I am involved with America SCORES, United Way, and the National Association of Black Accountants.

Ernst & Young LLP has more than 1,900 people in its San Francisco, San Jose and Redwood Shores offices who serve a diverse client base of innovative and entrepreneurial companies spanning the technology, real estate, consumer products, asset management and insurance, banking and capital markets, health care and social media industries. Ernst & Young LLP is a market leader in the Bay Area, serving more than 75% of the region’s companies listed on the Silicon Valley 150. The firm celebrates the successes of Northern California’s entrepreneurs through its EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ program, founded in 1986.

Chris Lyons

Chief of Staff
Andreesen Horowitz

Vanessa Mason

CEO & Founder, Riveted Partners and Founder, WISE Health

Vanessa Mason is CEO and founder at Riveted Partners, a digital health consultancy advising early-stage digital health startups on product development, design thinking and user acquisition, and co-founder at WISE Health, a nonprofit that aims to spark innovative solutions and strategies to build healthy communities. She also serves on the Health IT advisory board for Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) for Health Disparities Research at Morehouse School of Medicine.

She led product development and marketing for ZeroDivide’seHealth portfolio of digital health products focused on reducing health disparities. Vanessa fostered talent acquisition and investment opportunities for XX in Health, a community of female digital health entrepreneurs and healthcare executives at Rock Health, a digital health incubator. Prior, she shaped product commercialization planning for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Vanessa has facilitated strategic partnerships and organizational development for projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. She also led global health service design initiatives in Mozambique, Argentina and Brazil and supported mobile health product development for clients in west and east Africa.

Vanessa has written about diversity in tech issues and events for Women 2.0 and spoken at conferences such as the Office of the National Coordinator on Health IT Consumer Health IT Summit and and the upcoming Tech Inclusion Summit in San Francisco. She also supports diversity in tech by volunteering for causes including the #Yes We Code Hackathon and Women of Color in Tech Bay Area. Vanessa earned her BA in psychology from Yale University and her MPH in global health from Columbia University.

Isaac Matthews

Aerospace Engineer
NASA Ames Research Center

Isaac Matthews is an engineer with the Millennium Engineering and Integration Company in NASA Ames’s Mission Design Center. There, he has worked on projects ranging from the test development of an advance power conversion system called an RTPV (radioisotopic thermal photovoltaic), to the LEAF-Lite Program (laser enhanced arc jet facility) – a facility development program to test entry systems for the Orion capsule (to be used in the manned-mission to Mars).

His passion for space and aeronautics has been evident from his previously held appointmentsconducting research on electric and ion propulsion systems at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), and aeromechanics analysis and jet engine control systems development at GE Aviation. However, he is equally passionate about mentoring and contributing to the development of an ecosystem of diverse engineers and scientists, uniquely capable of addressing the pressing challenges of the day and of the future; he unflinchingly credits the role of mentors, family, and a positive peer group with his continued progress.

Isaac received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland – Baltimore County as a Meyerhoff Scholar, and a dual masters in nuclear engineering and the Technology and Policy Program from MIT. Isaac will be continuing his graduate studies in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University focusing on the development of statistical learning and decision making frameworks for air and space traffic management systems.

Aston Motes

Founder
Assorted Bits

Aston Motes was the first engineer at Dropbox, where he worked on a wide variety of products, from the Dropbox.com website to the API thousands of 3rd-party developers use today. Since leaving Dropbox, he’s shifted focus to the music industry and has helped build most notably Merchbar, an app featured multiple times by Apple, where you can buy amazing merch from your favorite artists any time, any place. In addition to business pursuits, Aston has continually given back to the community as a mentor to students at every career stage through organizations like Black Girls Code, Mission Bit, Code2040, DevBootcamp, Girls Who Code and CodeNow. And he’s a startup advisor as well, mentoring other entrepreneurs directly as well as through organizations like NewMe and Black Founders. Aston also sits on the board of Fast Forward, a new tech non-profit startup that accelerates tech non-profit startups.

Matthew Mugo Fields

Co-founder, Rocket Group & President
Red Bird Advanced Learning

Matthew Mugo Fields is the President of Silicon Valley-based enterprise Redbird Advanced Learning and Co-Founder of its parent company Rocket Group.Matthew is a serial entrepreneur and leader in education, committed to improving learning through technology and innovation.

As an immigrant from Barbados, raised in the Philadelphia areawith limited resources, Matthew benefited from the support of an inspiring group of educators and mentors who helped him succeed academically and eventually become the first college graduate in his family.

Matthew graduated with honors fromMorehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., where he later worked as a management consultant and developed several tutoring programs for the Atlanta public schools system. In 2002, he became one of the first people to simultaneously earn masters degrees in business and education from Harvard University.

Motivated by a desire to do for others what was done for him, Matthew has devoted his career to transforming education to ensure that academic success is attainable for many more children across the globe. This commitment led him to become the co-founder of Rocket Group;a diversified family of education companies that has served more than 500,000 students while delivering innovative mathematics and language arts curricula, teacher training programs and early childhood products and services to students and schools in over 60 countries.

In 2013, Matthew led Rocket Group’s education technology expansion by establishing its Redbird Advanced Learning subsidiary. Built upon a ground breaking research partnership with Stanford University, Redbird is uniquely positioned at the intersection of learning science and advanced technology. Redbird provides digital curricula, technology consulting and staff training to schools, while its GiftedandTalented.com portal provides personalized courseware, expert tutoring andother online educational tools directly to families to help students become advanced learners.

Marlon Nichols

Director/Founding Partner
Intel Capital/Cross Culture VC

Marlon Nichols is an Investment Director at Intel Capital (iCap) and Founding Partner at Cross Culture Ventures (CCV). CCV is an early stage venture capital firm with a focus on ‘cultural’ investing.  At Intel Capital Marlon leads investments in women and minority led technology startups through iCap’s Diversity Fund.  As a member of the Software and services investment sector, Marlon also invests in cutting edge software companies.  Prior to joining the Diversity Fund, Marlon championed the seed stage investment program for the Ultrabook and Perceptual Computing investment sector. Specifically, Marlon worked closely with the startup ecosystem to source, invest in, and advise early stage high growth technology companies that produce cloud services, internet, and mobility solutions with an emphasis on new user experiences and perceptual computing. Marlon spent his first two years with Intel Capital focusing on enterprise software investments.

Marlon started his career in enterprise software where he successfully led the deployment of many global software and business process improvement initiatives for Fortune 100 enterprises. During his software career he was a member of a three person team based in London, UK that was responsible for the European expansion of Frictionless Commerce (FCI). After exiting FCI via acquisition to SAP, Marlon joined Edgewater Strategy, a boutique consulting firm where he led post M&A technology integration initiatives for the Blackstone Group’s real-estate division. Later, in the role of principal strategist, he led digital strategy initiatives for media companies such as Warner Music Group and McGraw Hill.  Prior to joining Intel Capital Marlon served as the Lead Fund Manager of BRV, Cornell University’s evergreen venture capital fund.

Marlon is a Kauffman Fellow, holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University and an MBA degree from Cornell University where he was a Roy H. Park Leadership Fellow.

Mekka Okereke

Senior Manager, Software Engineering, Google

I design, build, and launch products. I run the online store for Google Play, covering both digital and physical products. Google Play is one of the largest online digital ecosystems on earth, and is the authoritative source for Google hardware products including Chromecasts, Nexus devices, Google Glass, and Android Wear. https://play.google.com/

Sometimes I think up, start, and run companies. Some of my products and companies have been very well received. A long time ago I was featured in the Inc Magazine Article “Facing the Capital Gap”: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060201/priority-finance.html.

Prior to Google I worked at Amazon, where I helped build the Amazon Appstore and launch the Kindle Fire. I’m really happy with what we accomplished at Amazon. I worked hard. I had fun. I made history.

Specialties: Mobile Apps, Mobile Web, APIs, Wireless, Software Design, CTO, iOS, Objective-C, Android, Java, Javascript.

Stephen Ozoigbo

CEO, African Technology Foundation

CEO
The African Technology Foundation
December 2013 – Present (2 years 4 months)

Mentor – Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI)
Santa Clara University
August 2013 – Present (2 years 8 months)

International Advisor
Relativity
April 2014 – Present (2 years)

Board Advisor / Investor
Arnergy
December 2014 – Present (1 year 4 months)

Advisor
Travel Noire
January 2014 – Present (2 years 3 months)

Devin Pauley

Engineering Program Manager
Apple

My passion: To conceptualize, design, and create!

Highly accomplished creative self-starter and excellent team builder with executive level contacts.

• 40 Under 40: Tech Diversity in Silicon Valley Award
• University of Oklahoma Regents Alumni Award
• Given Tech Talks at UC Berkeley, University of California, and the University of Oklahoma
• Recruited engineering talent at Top Engineering schools for 2013 Internship positions for Lab 126
• Managed several stealth initiative projects (SW, HW, PD)
• 360 degree understanding of all aspects of part (molded, stamped, die cast) fabrication
• Knowledge of global wireless and enterprise ecosystems
• Experience with NDA, Statement of Work Documents, Master Development Agreements
• Three Patents Issued:
  • US 20120281366 – Battery Retention System
  • US 20120295458 – Method and Apparatus Pertaining to Movement of a SIM-Card Tray
  • US 8,834,208 – Low profile electrical connector

Laura Weidman Powers

Co-founder & CEO
CODE 2040

Kalimah Priforce

Headmaster, CEO
Qeyno Labs

Kalimah Priforce is just a kid from Brooklyn making “hackathon” a household word in every community as Headmaster CEO of Qeyno Labs – a leader in harnessing the STEM interests of high potential youth from low-opportunity settings through their “Hackathon Academy,” an inclusive innovation school that prepares youth and their mentors to build web and mobile apps that hack isolation and accelerate opportunities.

At eight years old, KalimahPriforce held a successful hunger strike against his Brooklyn group home to add more books to its library, which drew the attention of a community of Buddhist monks and nuns who privately tutored him until the age of 14.

He left both the group home and the Buddhist order as a lost teenager, but in Harlem, NY,  legendary educator Dr. Lorraine Monroe discovered and mentored his potential to be an innovator. By 16, Kalimah started his first tech startup that primarily served low income neighborhoods and the elderly. In 2000, his younger brother was shot and killed behind their childhood elementary school, inspiring Kalimah to accept his Bodhisattva path to transform children’s lives towards mindfulness of their purpose and hack their own isolation.

From providing Oakland with its first Startup Weekend to launching hackathons for Prince, Essence, and Pres. Obama’s “My Brothers Keeper”, hackathons powered by Qeyno are bringing tomorrow’s talent into today’s tech with an inclusive vision that truly lives up to Dr. King’s dream.

Kalimah has been featured on the cover of USA Today, the MSNBC mini-doc, “Swimming in Their Genius”, the indie award winning film “Code Oakland” and recognized by the White House as a Champion of Change. He is a 2013 Echoing Green fellow, a StartingBloc Fellow, College Board Professional Fellow, Hive Global Leader, and Millennial Trains Project 2015 participant.

Erika D. Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Materials Research Scientist, ERC Inc. at NASA
NASA Ames Research Center

Erika D. Rodriguez, Ph.D. is a materials research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center working on characterizing thermal protection systems (TPS) for space exploration missions. Dr. Rodriguez holds a B.S. in Engineering Science from Smith College and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University.

Dr. Rodriguez is an avid advocate in promoting females in the STEMs. She has been a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) for 13 years and has been the VP of Career Guidance for the SWE Santa Clara Valley(SWESCV) Section. As the VP of Career Guidance she runs the scholarship program which awards college funds to female high school and college students who are studying the STEMs.

Dr. Rodriguez has also been involved in the TechWomen program which is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She was a cultural mentor for a Civil Engineer Emerging Leader from the Gaza Strip. During her mentorship, she gained an appreciation of the current state in Gaza Strip and what it means to be a female engineer in an oppressive country.

A female mentor once told her, “We, as female scientists and engineers, have the unforeseen duty to educate and mentor the next generation of females. If we do not, no one else will.” Through her mentorship, Dr. Rodriguez always reminds her students that if people are not laughing at one’s dreams and aspirations, then one is not dreaming and aiming high enough. She also reminds her mentees to never be afraid to share their stories. It is only then that they can be part of history.

Merline Saintil

Head of Operations, Office of the CTO, Intuit

Merline is an international technology executive, business advisor, and operations expert, having distinguished herself as a leader in fast growing sectors of cloud computing, mobile, online payments and commerce.

Nuria Santamaria

Head of Multicultural Strategy
Twitter

Nuria Santamaría Wolfe leads Twitter’s Multicultural efforts in the United States. Ms. Santamaría helps connect world-class brands with Hispanic, African-American and Asian-American consumers leveraging the Twitter platform and its advertising products.

She has worked at the intersection of digital media, marketing and technology for over ten years. Prior to Twitter, Ms. Santamaría held leadership positions at firms including MediaLink, EQAL (acquired by EverydayHealth) and Consorte (acquired by AudienceScience). She began her career in technology consulting at Accenture.

Ms. Santamaría graduated from Stanford University with degrees in Economics and Spanish.

Michael Seibel

Partner
Y Combinator

Ayori Selassie

Senior Solutions Engineer/ President, Boldforce
Salesforce

Key Accomplishments:
• Invented the Life Model Canvas as a framework for personal development – lifemodelcanvas.org
• Honored with GHC Women in Computing Award by the Anita Borg Institute of Women in Technology for her contributions to Underrepresented Groups.
• Honored with the Women Leaders in Technology Award from The All Stars Project
• Honored with the Silicon Valley 40 Under 40 for Tech Diversity Award by The BayArea Registry
• Honored with a Certificate of Recognition by US Department of State from Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton for outstanding contributions to global diplomacy for women in STEM fields in collaboration with the TechWomen Mentoring program.
• Invited to present at SXSW in 2013 & 2015 on Tech Thought Leadership & The Age of Instant Gratification.
• Honored as Woman of the Month across the Salesforce organization (nominated by peers & leaders.
• Developed & released Badgeforce App on Salesforce App Cloud, currently available on the Salesforce AppExchange.
• Winning Vinci/Yetizen/Jim Henson Company Education Gaming Hackathon for Best Game Design for Stunt Run & The Amazing Wind.
• Organizing the first Startup Weekend Hackathon in Oakland & Essence Festival Hackathon in New Orleans with YesWeCode

Noteworthy Projects:
• Customer Onboarding & Early Warning Intervention automation system
• Recruiting Portal and Applicant Management System (AMS)
• Contract and Entitlement Management System for Service & Support
• SLA response & tracking system for Sales Operations, Service & Support
• Time and Expense Management Integration for Professional Services
• Launched the IT Hackathons initiative as a platform for employees to demonstrate creativity, independence and increase retention & development of talented IT personnel.
• Founded BoldForce – Employee resource or affinity group for employees of African and African-American Descent

Wayne Sutton

General Partner
BuildUp.vc

Wayne Sutton is a serial entrepreneur and general partner at BUILDUP. Wayne experiences ranges from years establishing partnership with large brands to early stage startups. As a leading voice in diversity and inclusion in tech, Wayne shares his thoughts on impact and culture in various media outlets such as the WSJ and USA Today. In addition to advising early stage startups and diversity advocacy groups, Wayne is passionate about team building, founder coaching, culture, UI/UX and mentoring entrepreneurs who are passionate about using technology to change the world.

Erin Teague

Director of Product Management
Yahoo

Erin Teague is a Director of Product Management at Yahoo, where she is responsible for new user growth for Yahoo’s Fantasy and Sports products. Prior to Yahoo, Erin worked as a Product Manager at Path and Twitter where she focused on user growth, product strategy and analytics. Erin began her career at Morgan Stanley, where she designed algorithms embedded in electronic trading applications as a Software Engineer and Product Manager in the firm’s Algorithmic Trading Technology group.

In 2015, Erin was recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley” by Silicon Valley Business Journal, “The Next Generation of Tech Stars” by Refinery29, and one of “10 Black Women Making Major Moves in Tech” by BET Networks.  She has also named one of Glamour Magazine’s “35 Women Under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry” and one of Business Insider’s “Silicon Valley 100.”  Erin is honored to serve on the board of several Silicon Valley startups as well as the Wells Fargo Advisory Board, University of Michigan’s Computer Science and Engineering National Advisory Board, and the Code2040 Advisory Board.

Originally from Michigan, Erin holds a MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Morgan Stanley Fellow, and a BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan, where she graduated with honors as an Intel Scholar.

Christina Trampota

Managing Partner
CGM Squared

Christina leads dynamic companies as they continue to innovate and evolve with the mobile and digital technologies of today and tomorrow.  As Senior Director of Global Marketing Innovation at Visa she is responsible for shaping Visa’s marketing innovation agenda to drive brand and business results.  Prior to Visa, she was Founder and Managing Partner of CGM Squared, where she consulted with a variety of clients from Fortune 100 brands to startups, with an emphasis in mobile and high growth companies.  Christina brings over 15 years of experienceincluding large influential brands such as AT&T and Motorola, as well as startups funded by Sequoia, Greylock and Kleiner Perkins.

She has diverse experiences including marketing, products and business development in both big brands that exist in public corporations and early stage startups with minimal resources and funding and knows how to succeed in both.  The award-winning business results have been recognized by leading industry and consumer publications and events, from Fast Company and Forbes, to MacWorld and GSMA.  Christina works with teams, policies, customers and resources around the world, selling global solutions with regional differences in place to succeed.

Christina is also a speaker at industry conferences and writer on Digital Marketing, with articles and quotes in publications ranging from Fast Company and 1 to 1 Media to EContent and HourlyNerd.  She also works as an advisor for mobile startups in Avion Ventures and Momentum Accelerator as well as nonprofit marketing leaders via the Social Media for Nonprofits organization. Christina is an Adjunct Professor at San Francisco State University teaching Mobile Marketing and also guest lectures at other universities.

She has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

Bari Williams

Counsel
Facebook

Attorney with experience in business and corporate law and governance, with demonstrated abilities in:

• Negotiations and drafting of technology licensing agreements and vendor agreements.
• Transactional legal drafting; commercial terms for vendor agreements.
• Drafting industry and strategic analysis for market and business research purposes.
• Drafting speeches and presenting at national and regional student conferences on law.
• Project management – event planning and deliverables.

Glenn Williamson

Senior Software Engineer
Intel

Glenn P. Williamson is a well-established leader who has been recognized globally, as a change agent and thought leader within the professional, non-profit, and for profit related industries.  As a veteran philanthropist and technologist, Mr. Williamson served as a member of the board of directors, mentor and volunteer activities for over 10 organizations.

As the youngest of nine siblings, Mr. Williamson was baptized in the world of altruism and humbleness, which quickly expanded into the key competencies of his character.    Through life challenges, Mr. Williamson made a personal commitment to aspire to achieve in every field of human endeavor regardless of the challenges he may face.  As a person who has meet challenges up front and personal by losing both his parents to cancer, he always looks to this bible version, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, of love and of sound mind”, 2 Timothy 7:1 as encouragement to persevere.

He started his educational career by attending “THE” Tuskegee University, where he majored and graduated in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.   In addition, he received a Master of Business Administrations (MBA and Engineering in Software Engineering and received a certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI).  During his tenure, he has been an avid contributor to the world of technology with over five US patent filing.

During his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, volunteering, riding his motorcycle, and traveling.  In closing, Mr. Williamson typically recites an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together” because as a team, we all can win, achieve and change the game.   He plans to take these key skills to further invest in the gaps within our technology communities by being the change he wants to see in his life, community and profession.

Jason Young

Co-founder & CEO Mindblown
Labs / Hidden Genius Project

Specialties:Personal Financial
Product Management

Roy Clay, Sr.

Founder & Former CEO
ROD-L Electronics

Silicon Icon Honoree

Shellye Archambeau

CEO
Metric Stream

Game Changer Honoree