Cause-Tech Startups: The Opportunity in Good

#sxsw #causetech

Unbeknownst to many in the tech industry, there are a number of programs focussed specifically on technology designed to improve the web, community and society in general. If you're interested in using your skills to help communities, you've got an idea for a social cause startup or you'd like to invest in something that drives change -- join Mozilla, Code for America, Kapor Center for a discussion on technology for social change.

What You'll Learn:
- Examples of How Technology is Helping Shape Our Landscape for Good
- Ways Developers, designers, researchers and techies can get involved at the Local and International Level
- The Sustainability Model for a number of Cause-tech Ventures
- Who is funding the Space and how to open up those opportunities

Presenters

Dana Oshiro

Sr Mktg Mgr

Code for America

Dana Oshiro is the Senior Marketing Manager at Code for America. In the past she has worked as an analyst, content marketer and tech writer for ReadWrite's startup channel. She has been published by the New York Times, Mashable and Wall Street Journal and continues to write for The Next Web and her personal blog http://villagerswithpitchforks.com. She tweets from @danaoshiro.

Diane Tate

Program Mgr

Mozilla

Diane (Bisgeier) Tate is Program Manager for Mozilla's Developer Engagement Program. She previously managed Mozilla's WebFWD startup program.

Before Mozilla, she worked with various startups in marketing and communications roles and served 8 years in Charles Schwab’s technology division as a product manager and Communications Director for the Chief Information Officer. Pre-Schwab she was an executive recruiter and venture capital associate in Silicon Valley and took time out to get her MBA at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Lane Becker

Code for America

Lane Becker has been hanging out on the Web since it was invented, from his work-study job building websites for the University of Texas at Austin in 1994, to his first, sadly failed startup in 1999, and on to more successful ventures: co-founding Adaptive Path, the first user experience design firm, in 2001, and Get Satisfaction, an online customer service community platform, in 2007.

In 2012, Lane co-authored a New York Times bestselling book, “Get Lucky: How to Put Planned Serendipity to Work,” about harnessing serendipity as a business practice. He's currently working with the non-profit Code for America to develop an open-source solution for city websites.

Nicole Sanchez

Managing Partner

Kapor Center for Social Impact

Nicole is a serial social entrepreneur, having founded several organizations focused on justice issues involving marginalized and under-represented populations.

After graduating from Stanford, Nicole spent several years at City Year, a model AmeriCorps program, and became its first National Program Director. She then returned to Stanford as Associate Director for the Program in Ethics in Society where she co-founded “Hope House Scholars,” a program in which Stanford professors teach college-level courses to recently incarcerated women. Nicole also helped launch the Stanford Center on Ethics, a multi-disciplinary institute that ensures ethics training for all students in the university’s professional schools. In addition, Nicole led two student-focused endeavors—one that aimed to close the achievement gap in Berkeley, CA and one that engaged young people in the US in global poverty alleviation.

Inspired by the private sector partnerships she developed as a leader in the social sector, Nicole returned to school to pursue her MBA from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. She received her MBA in May 2012, focusing on organizational behavior and culture.