Founding Team

Our team includes a deep bench of experts who have been leaders in commercial technological innovation, local / regional / federal government, global intergovernmental organizations, arts and entertainment, K-postgrad academia, and the philanthropic / non-profit sectors. We organize ourselves in three dimensions, the core founding team, our beloved family of advisors, and global networks tapped for specific project-based engagements.

Award-winning entrepreneur, engineer, and tech evangelist. Served as the third U.S. chief technology officer from 2014-2017 after spending eleven years as vice president at Google leading new business development, and later at Google[x]. PlanetOut CEO, General Magic and co-founder of the Malala Fund. Board member of MIT, Vital Voices; Member, National Academy of Engineering.

While leading the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) from 2014-2018, she co-created the UN Solutions Summit and led global public participation in UN General Assembly high-level events, including the SDG negotiations and Summit, the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, and dialogues with the candidates for UN Secretary-General. Yale University graduate.

Served in the White House as Special Advisor to the US CTO and Assistant to President Obama. Her background is in biosciences [Oxford], disruptive megatrends [Goldman Sachs], frontier tech [Google X], human effects [Amazon], public service [America’s Promise], and inclusive innovation [FabCity]. She is Founder & CEO of Omission Studio - a complex systems design practice.

Anjali Sastry

Senior Advisor | Senior Lecturer MIT

Faculty of MIT Sloan School of Management as a Senior Lecturer. Explores practical aspects of organizational and managerial effectiveness in settings facing complex challenges and pressing needs and brings expertise in system dynamics. Founded and led Global Health Lab and has carried out over 100 high impact field projects in the developing world. MIT B.S. Physics and Russian; PhD U Michigan.

Dan Hammer

Senior Advisor | Data Science

Dan Hammer is the winner of the Pritzker Environmental Genius Award. He is a Fellow at National Geographic, a Senior Advisor at X, and founder of Earthrise Media. Hammer works to make satellite imagery of the Earth more accessible to journalists and educators. He was a Senior Advisor to the US CTO, a Presidential Innovation Fellow at NASA, and earned his PhD from UC Berkeley.

David Lonnberg

Program Operations & Design

Current masters student at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. From 2016-2018 he served as Coordination Specialist at the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service where he co-developed systems for global stakeholder participation in UN high-level events. While at St. Francis College in Brooklyn for his BA, David played in the NCAA Water Polo Final Four twice and received the NCAA Elite 89 award. He is originally from Sweden.

Jennifer Erickson

Media + Economic Uplift Expert (2018-2020)

Served as Assistant Director of Innovation for Growth in the Obama White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She previously served as Special Adviser to the First Minister of Scotland and Director of Competitiveness and Economic Growth at the Center for American Progress. She started her career at Bain & Company and the Bridgespan Group.

Roberto Borerro

Program Consultant | COVID-19 Rapid Response for Indigenous Peoples (2020-2021)

Roberto Múkaro Borrero has over 20 years of experience engaging the United Nations system, has served on the staff of the International Indian Treaty Council and the American Museum of Natural History, and consulted for UNESCO and PBS. He is a member of the Taíno Tribal Nation. In 2012, he was traditionally sanctioned a kasike (chief) of the Guainía Taíno tribal community.

Ryan Katie Burke

Economic Uplift + Strategy Expert (2017-2021)

Served for three years in the White House as a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy in National Economic Council (NEC) under President Obama. Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, previously at Hope Street Group, McKinsey & Co., and Lehman Brothers. Recently completed coding bootcamp at the FlatIron School.

Sanjeet Ahira

Creative Direction

Sanjeet is the Founder and CEO of Omission Studio - a design practice that exists at the intersection of pure artistic creativity and advanced scientific and technological inquiry.  Sanjeet’s repertoire traverses the worlds of design, architecture, advanced technology, craft, and fine art.  He’s led high-profile and speculative projects at Google Robotics, Autodesk Research, and Heatherwick Studio.