GIVING TECH LABS
about us
we build technologies and sustainable business models to solve social issues.
Inspired by our mentors and partners Jeff and Tricia Raikes approach to venture philanthropy and Impact Investing to tackle social challenges where high market risk and potentially disruptive impact exist. We put together an elite team of technologists, tech entrepreneurs, and business leaders operating under a tech innovation lab model to provide best in class technology and sustainability models to deliver results in a sector which has been largely ignored by technologists.
our leadership
luis j. salazar
cofounder & ceo
As a serial tech entrepreneur and Global Fortune 500 executive, Luis has led the launch of more than 25 global products and companies in the consumer and business spaces and is a recognized expert on reinventing processes, creating mobile cloud-based solutions at Microsoft, Yahoo, Xerox, GMI, Bing, Jobaline, Giving Compass, VidaNyx, and others.
shelly cano kurtz
co-founder & cmo
Recipient of over 50 industry awards, Shelly has led over 200 global campaigns in tech, media, and entertainment. She is an experienced Sales & Marketing Executive for Tech Startups and Fortune 500 companies, including NBC Universal, Comcast, Make.TV, Giving Compass, and VidaNyx.
Joel Rosenberger
cto
Joel is a tech entrepreneur and leader in Cloud computing, SEO, LAMP and Microsoft Tech. He has been a tech executive at 2nd Watch, Kantar, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft. Joel holds patents for network bandwidth estimation, tech profiling devices associated with wireless networking, mainframe integration, and social networking.
frank mckeown
vp engineering
Frank is a software and hardware executive with experience in the video, surveillance, IoT, healthcare and enterprise software industries. He is also experienced in the tech startup scene, helping them grow from zero to over $100M in annual revenues. He was the technology leader at Apollo Video Technology, OmniM2M, InDemand Interpreting, Talyst, WebMethods, TransLink and Wall Data. At Microsoft, he co-led the dev team in charge of Biz Talk.
dr. ying li
advisor chief data scientist
Dr. Ying Li is the winner of the 2012 ACM SIGKDD award for her outstanding contributions to the data-mining field. She has filed and holds over 70 patent applications in the area of data mining, machine learning, computational advertising, software performance optimization, computer program tracing, profiling, and analysis and she Chairs/Co-Chairs more than 15 international conferences. Dr. Li received B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mathematics from Peking University, Beijing, China, and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
michael rawding
alliances and global biz dev
Michael is a global executive with deep operating experience in Asia and emerging markets. He was the President of Microsoft Greater China, President of Microsoft Japan, and President of Microsoft Asia. He also was a business leader in the Unlimited Potential Group at Microsoft, focused on enabling technology amongst underserved communities in emerging markets. He served on the Boards of Town Hall Seattle, the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Chairman of the Washington State China Relations Council.
tricia raikes
board advisor
Tricia Raikes is the co-founder of the Raikes Foundation. She has been recognized as a White House Champion of Change for her work on youth homelessness. She serves on the boards of Giving Compass, the College Success Foundation and the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
jeff raikes
board advisor
Jeff Raikes is the co-founder of the Raikes Foundation. Jeff retired from his role as CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2014. He came to the philanthropic world from a 27-year career at Microsoft Corporation, where he was a member of the senior leadership team and president of the Microsoft Business Division. He serves on the boards of Costco Wholesale, the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of CS and Management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Microsoft Alumni Network. He is Chair of Stanford University Board of Trustees.
our values
we believe that using technology and sustainable business models to drive impact and change in society is our opportunity and our responsibility.
creativity
we turn new and imaginative ideas into reality; we encourage each other to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions.
passion
passion is at the heart of everything we do; creating technologies and business models to address social issues is our IKIGAI (the reason for waking up every morning)
expertise
we are experts, each one in our subject matter, and by combining our expertise we make magic happen!
diversity
we love the unique colors that make us who we are; we are solving complex problems in a diverse society, and that requires a diverse team!
social impact
we believe in doing well while doing good and doing well is measured in terms of social impact; in addition to return on investment, we also seek a measurable positive impact on society of everything we do.
we bring to the nonprofit sector years of expertise launching successful products, marketing plans, cloud-based digital transformations and winning strategies in over 17 countries reaching from a few hundred to more than 700 million users.