Doug Jaffe, Chair
Doug Jaffe is a consultant and advisor to philanthropies and non-profits in the K-12 education sector. Doug has spent over a decade working to improve public education, most recently as a Senior Fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in their US education program. Prior to joining the foundation, Doug held leadership roles at the New York State Regents Research Fund and the New York City Department of Education where he led human capital, strategy, data and technology initiatives. Doug began his career installing computer systems and networks for local businesses while in high school before joining Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) after college. Doug holds a Bachelor’s degree from Clark University, a J.D. from Columbia Law School, and is an alumnus of the Broad Residency in Urban Education.
Katy Knight, Vice Chair
Katy Knight is the Executive Director at Siegel Family Endowment, a foundation focused on understanding and shaping the impact of technology on society. Katy brings diverse professional experience to the role, drawn from her previous work in education, technology, and community-based organizations.
Immediately prior to joining SFE, Katy worked on community engagement at Two Sigma Investments. Her earlier career includes several roles at Google on the public affairs and community relations teams, and before that, various roles in the worlds of nonprofit development and real estate.
Katy earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and is a proud alumna of Prep for Prep.
Sarah Holloway, Treasurer
Sarah Holloway is a member of the faculty at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) where she teaches social entrepreneurship and nonprofit management, runs the Management program and oversees a campus-wide entrepreneurship initiative focused on global Education Technology for the Center for Development Economics & Policy. Sarah is a serial K-12 education social entrepreneur and the co-founder of MOUSE.org and CSNYC.
Lucy Sanders, Secretary
Lucy Sanders is CEO and Co-founder of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). Lucy has worked in R&D and executive positions at AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Bell Labs, and Avaya Labs for over 20 years, where she specialized in systems-level software and solutions (multimedia communication, and customer relationship management). Lucy was awarded the Bell Labs Fellow Award, the highest technical accomplishment bestowed at the company, and she has six patents in the communications technology area. Lucy currently serves as a Trustee for the Colorado School of Mines, the Center for American Entrepreneurship in Washington D.C. and the International Computer Science Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. She has served on the Information Technology Research and Development Ecosystem Commission for the National Academies and the Innovation Advisory Board for the U.S. Department of Commerce. Lucy received her B.S. and M.S. in computer science from Louisiana State University and the University of Colorado Boulder, respectively.
Leigh Ann DeLyser
Dr. Leigh Ann DeLyser has spent her career building the K-12 computer science (CS) field. As a managing partner of CSforALL (csforall.org), she oversees programs and strategic planning and supervises research to build support for high quality CS education at all levels. A former high school and university CS educator, Leigh Ann understands challenges faced by teachers, administrators, and students developing their competency in the field and accessing high-quality learning opportunities and resources. Her influential “Running on Empty” report guides policies and research that support high-quality program implementation. Previously, Leigh Ann was Director of Research and Education at CSNYC, which built a foundation for CS in New York City public schools. She received a PhD in Computer Science and Cognitive Psychology, with a focus on CS education, from Carnegie Mellon University.
Michael Dubno
Michael Dubno is a founder and partner of Gadgetoff, a world renowned organization that brings innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs together once a year for a special event. Gadgetoff has attracted hundreds of participants with thousands of patents and billions of dollars in net worth. Mr. Dubno recently retired from Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the CIO of Global Markets, Risk Technology, and Quantitative Strategies. He completed the technology merger between the bank and Merrill Lynch, revamped the technology and operations areas, and created a set of strategic platforms for calculating risk, electronic trading, and managing the Global Markets businesses. Mr. Dubno worked as CTO and partner for Goldman Sachs, where he created Wall Street’s premier risk system (SecDb), the firm’s first electronic and program trading systems, the firm’s Institutional Portal and Private Wealth Management sites. He pioneered the use of the Internet at Goldman Sachs and also created the Investment Research software platform. Mr. Dubno is on the board of Cerebellum Capital, an innovative hedge fund based on machine learning. Mr. Dubno was the acting CTO for part of Senator Obama’s first presidential election campaign. He serves on a Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee taskforce to assist the TSA. He is the co-chairman of the charity organization FIRST in New York City, which inspires and engages students in the studies of science and technology. Mr. Dubno wrote a top selling video game; parts of the CP/M operating system and briefly attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His hobbies include: robotics, welding, machining, art, artificial intelligence, and volleyball.
Evan Korth
Evan Korth is a Clinical Professor of Computer Science at NYU where he is faculty advisor to their chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and Tech@NYU, as well as coach of the ICPC Programming Team. In addition to teaching some foundational CS courses, he teaches ‘Information Technology Projects,’ a course in which students solve real-world problems with NYC companies, including some well-known startups. In 2006, he revived the long-defunct Computers in Society course. Evan is a Co-founder of hackNY, Director of the New York Tech Meetup and Girls Who Code, TechStars mentor, VP of the Internet Society of NY, and a member of the investment committee for the NYU Innovation Venture Fund.
Hope Taitz
Hope Schefler Taitz is currently the Managing Partner of ELY Advisors. After graduating with honors from the University of Pennsylvania majoring in economics and concentrating in marketing, Ms. Taitz began her investment banking career first as a mergers and acquisitions analyst and then as an associate at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Ms. Taitz continued as a Vice President at The Argosy Group (now part of CIBC) and a Managing Director at Crystal Asset Management before founding her own money management firm, Catalyst Partners. Now acting as a consultant focused on analyzing and investing in the consumer industry in both early and late-stage, Ms. Taitz sits on the boards of Apollo Residential Mortgage, Inc., Athene Holding Ltd., Athene Life Re Ltd., Athene USA Corporation, Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company, Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York, Athene Annuity and Life Company, Athene Life Insurance Company of New York, Diamond International Resorts, Inc., Lumenis Ltd., MidCap Finco Holdings Limited, MidCap FinCo Limited and MCFeeder Limited. She is a founding executive member of Youth Renewal Fund and a current executive board member of Pencils of Promise. Ms. Taitz also sits on the board of the Future Project and acts as the Co-Chair of the Westchester division of the Penn Alumni Interview Program for the University of Pennsylvania.
Jose Antonio Tijerino
Jose Antonio Tijerino is president and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF), a national nonprofit focused on education, workforce, social impact, and culture through innovative leadership. HHF is acknowledged as a creative, agile, impact-focused organization that has been recognized by The White House, U.S. Congress, Fortune 500 companies, other nonprofits, and the Government of Mexico. Tijerino also serves as executive producer of the Hispanic Heritage Awards at the Kennedy Center broadcast on PBS Stations.
Dr. Nicki Washington
Dr. Nicki Washington is a professor of the practice of computer science at Duke University and the author of Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field. Dr. Washington has led partnerships with the Howard University Middle School of Math and Science, Google, Exploring Computer Science, and Washington, DC Public Schools to introduce computer science courses and teacher professional development across Washington, DC high schools. She was a lead writer for the K-12 CS Framework (led by Code.org) and South Carolina K-12 Computer Science and Digital Literacy Standards. At the undergraduate and industry levels, Dr. Washington’s efforts to recruit and retain students/graduates of color in computing include creating and implementing the first Googler-in-Residence program at Howard University in 2013. She is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University (B.S., ‘00) and North Carolina State University (M.S., ’02; Ph.D., ’05), becoming the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. at the university and 2019 Computer Science Hall of Fame Inductee. She is a native of Durham, NC.
Chad Womack
Dr. Chad Womack currently serves as the Senior Director of National STEM Programs and Initiatives at the UNCF. At the UNCF, Dr. Womack has raised over $70M to support a portfolio of STEM programs that include the Annual HBCU Tech Innovation Summit, HBCU CS Academy, HBCU Center for Excellence in Computing and Computer Science, and the Ernest E. Just Life Science Initiative. In addition, Dr. Womack is the Founding Director of the UNCF Fund II Foundation STEM Scholars Program – a $50M and 10-year commitment to support 500 academically talented African American high school students pursuing STEM as majors in college and careers in the tech industry. Dr. Womack also manages several partnerships and programs in collaboration with several Silicon Valley tech companies including Google, Facebook, and Genentech.
Fred Wilson, Founder, Chair Emeritus
Fred Wilson has been a venture capitalist since 1987. He is currently a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and also founded Flatiron Partners. Fred has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
