After graduating from Drexel University with an electrical engineering degree, I began my career as a hardware engineer for Unisys Corporation, working on their high-end A-Series mainframes. As a result of my prior Unisys co-op experience, I was given a lot of responsibility and trust early on. I was very fortunate to have great mentors and exceptionally talented teams – and found myself promoted through the ranks.
As VP & GM of hardware engineering, I had the opportunity to lead the teams responsible for creating several of Unisys’ most successful enterprise server products, ones that generated billions of dollars in revenue and made a huge impact on the world. It was really neat to have several of my inventions become patents in the field of high-speed computer processing. One of the servers I helped architect is even in the Guinness Book of World Records for its performance.
I thought there might be something interesting in the then-burgeoning open source market, and so I helped develop a plan for a software & services business within Unisys to take open source into the enterprise. I was given the go-ahead to lead this new business unit, and within three years of operation, our team was able to grow it to over $100M in highly profitable revenue.
I was thrilled to co-found the Open Solutions Alliance, a non-profit industry consortium comprised of some of the world’s top open source companies to help usher in the then-new era of open source software. And I was incredibly honored to be named by Network World as one of the top business leaders in open source software. Even more rewarding was Unisys being named by the industry as “open source’s biggest services gun.”
Having been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, I fell in love with building companies – particularly those with a mission to make a difference in the world. I joined a few boards and subsequently ran Healthy Humans, a healthcare startup connecting patients and caregivers around a model of collaborative health to reduce the incidence of chronic disease, partnering with some of the world’s top physicians.
I subsequently co-founded ROAR for Good, a wearable tech B-corporation focused on reducing assaults and empowering women. ROAR launched a very successful crowdfunding campaign, leading to the company’s initial development and shipment of over ten-thousand safety modules around the world, helping impact many lives.
I was honored to deliver the commencement addresses for Drexel University (2020) and Penn State University School of Graduate Professional Studies (2015).
I was an early advisor and partner for TechGirlz, a nonprofit focused on reducing the gender gap in technology occupations. And I developed and taught the career track curriculum for the Philadelphia chapter of Girl Develop It, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping women pursue careers in software development. I am an advisor for Drexel’s HeForSWE, a coalition of men advocating for women in engineering and working with women to create an inclusive and diverse tech culture. I gratefully support Hiring Our Heroes and their efforts helping transitioning veterans and their spouses find success in the next stage of their careers. And I was honored to receive the 2017 Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year award from Drexel University.
I speak and write on topics related to leadership, business strategy, product-market fit, fundraising, social-impact business, lean startup, productivity, personal growth, self-improvement, and male allyship in the business environment.