The Team
The shift7 team includes a diversity of experts with track records of transformational achievement in technology, Federal and regional government, the United Nations, industry, academia, management consulting, arts and entertainment, and the non-profit sector. We structure ourselves in three dimensions: core and extended team (full and plus-time), and a talent network we spin up for particular project burst 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.
Puneet
Kaur Ahira
Co-Founder & Chief Architect
Served in the White House as Special Advisor to the US CTO and Assistant to President Obama. Previously she was the Program Director at Solve for X at Google[x] and a Portfolio Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Puneet is an Oxford Graduate in Human Sciences and Industrial Ecology, a board member of Global Minimum and an Advisor to Fab City.
Susan
Alzner
Co-Founder, Strategy & Ops
While leading the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) from 2014-2018, she co-created the UN Solutions Summit to lift up entrepreneurs advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 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.
Cassidy
Lichtman
Program Operations
Joined shift7 after competing for five years with Team USA on the United States National Volleyball Team that was ranked #1 in the world. Upon retiring from the US team, she coached the 2016 National Championship Stanford Volleyball Team before developing an education outreach program for the civic engagement program, Countable. Cassidy graduated from Stanford in 2011 with a BA in Political Science and an MA in History.
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.
Jennifer Erickson
Media + Economic Uplift Expert
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.
Ryan Burke
Economic Uplift + Strategy Expert
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.
