About - Community Tech Network

Our mission is to unite organizations and volunteers to transform lives through digital literacy.

We believe that access to the Internet is a human right, and that those without the skills to use a computer are at risk of social and economic disadvantage. Public services and essential information are increasingly moving online, and many people are unable to access those resources. Many fine organizations are working to spread Internet connectivity to the underserved, but access to technology is only a partial solution. Connectivity needs to be coupled with digital skills training that is relevant and delivered in a way that won’t intimidate the adult learner.

In 2018, Community Tech Network turned 10 years old. Our goal to delete the digital divide has been consistent, but the pace of change means the goalposts are constantly being moved. Therefore, CTN must continue using its decade of experience to build a more inclusive digital world for the future in which everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of life online.

During its next 10 years, CTN will be taking the good fight beyond the Bay Area, initially in central Texas, with a mission to establish additional digital inclusion hubs wherever we find meaningful partnerships that serve communities in need of digital skills. Contact us if you’d like to partner.

History

Community Tech Network gained its 501(c)3 nonprofit status and became an independent nonprofit organization in 2008 with grant support from the Full Circle Fund.

However, our origins can be traced back to 2001, when we started as a program of TechSoup (then called CompuMentor) to address a rapidly growing need for public digital literacy training. In 2007, our role was reviewed in a community survey, the results of which clearly indicated an ongoing need for CTN’s digital literacy work, and the transition to charitable status was made.

Back in 2008, when CTN became a nonprofit, Twitter was just a fledgling social media experiment, Facebook had barely begun its rise to world dominance, and Instagram wasn’t even a twinkle in its creator’s eye. Ten years on, the internet is central to everyday life, and access to it has become a right, not a privilege.

During those 10 years, CTN grew from one volunteer Program Manager and a handful of helpers to an organization of over a dozen staff, 60 active volunteers and 50 partner locations. It also spread its sphere of influence beyond San Francisco to the wider Bay Area. Today, CTN is led by an active and diverse Board of Directors comprising community leaders, business leaders, and technology advocates from local nonprofits.

Staff

Kami Griffiths

Executive Director/Co-Founder

Austin, TX

With nearly 15 years of experience working in the public sector, Kami has developed a passion for helping people gain access and better utilize technology, after witnessing firsthand how the digital divide and low literacy levels were aiding the cycle of poverty. She has worked for the City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation, managing 27 public access computing centers, teaching computer classes and establishing their volunteer trainer program. As the Training and Outreach Manager for TechSoup Global, Kami greatly expanded her knowledge and understanding of the nonprofit technology field, having conducted over 200 interviews with librarians and producing over 100 webinars. She is a founding member of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) and speaks nationally about digital inclusion.

Laurie Sanchez

California Program Director

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Laurie had a substantial career in the for profit world, working for large corporations like Fireman’s Fund Insurance (3 years) and North American Mortgage Company (7 years), and smaller enterprises from LLCs to entrepreneurial start-ups (10 years). Thematically, she has worked in the space that is between end-product technology and the user of it. She has managed internal and consumer-facing help desks, telecommunications and network functions, as well as training and customer support operations. She negotiated and managed large vendor contracts and managed corporate-wide technology implementation projects. In 2008, she shifted her career to the nonprofit arena working for TechSoup for four years before joining Community Tech Network. In parallel, Laurie has volunteered in homeless shelters and multiple arts organizations. She served on the Boards of AXIS Dance Company and Robert Moses’ Kin for 3 years each. She is in her tenth year serving as a SFMoMA School docent and her fourth year as an Art Docent for the Goldsworthy sculptures in The Presidio.

Jessica Looney

Austin Program Director

Austin, TX

As a Program Manager with nearly 20 years in the field Jessica has managed projects for clients including Camp Fire USA, Austin Opera, The Thinkery and many others. As Knowbility’s Community Programs Director, Jessica oversaw the fundraising, organization, development, promotion, and marketing of their global outreach efforts. Her work on these programs includes rallying top tech talent to implement, teach, and advocate for accessible web design; organizing communities both locally and abroad to learn and practice accessibility; and working to provide classroom support nationwide for students who use assistive technology. Specializing in nonprofit program management Jessica speaks at conferences, leads training workshops, and brings a whole-team approach to leadership. Jessica has a degree in Nonprofit Administration from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX.

Eric Babb

Digital Literacy Program Manager

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Eric is a Kansas native with a background in teaching at the high school and college level. As a lecturer at the University of Kansas, Eric was the College Algebra course coordinator, supervising a staff of teaching assistants and tutors. While at KU, Eric oversaw the development of a blended learning classroom that combined short instructional videos and group activities to help learners at all levels. With a focus on curriculum development, Eric hopes to build upon the strong foundation at CTN and continue to support and motivate volunteers and those working to bridge the digital divide. Eric has degrees from the University of Kansas in Secondary Math Education and Civil Engineering.

Jared Boddum

Bilingual Digital Literacy Instructor

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Jared has been involved with CTN for many years as a volunteer. In the spring of 2017 he joined as a staff member and provides digital literacy support at senior centers and housing developments, focused on the Mandarin Chinese and Spanish bilingual/monolingual populations. His dedication to closing the digital divide resulted in winning multiple awards, including CTN’s 2017 Digital Changemaker Award. Jared had a background in technology training, translation, and consular communications. He has studied at Georgetown University and the University of California, Berkeley and is multilingual, with an active knowledge of seven languages.

Heather Cardes

Senior Digital Literacy Program Manager

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

A native of Oakland with over 5 years of experience in adult education, Heather is driven by her passion to provide access to equitable educational opportunities for underserved communities. With a background in program support, curriculum development, and instruction in nonprofit, university, and community college settings, Heather has focused her career on empowering her students through English language and digital literacy training. She has also volunteered as a tutor for English language learners through the nonprofit Mujeres Unidas y Activas and the SEIU UHW-West & Joint Employer Education Fund. She is fluent in Spanish and holds a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology and Latin American/Latino studies from U.C. Santa Cruz, a master's degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from San Francisco State University, and a certificate in educational technology from Merritt College.

Calvin Clites

Development Coordinator

Austin, TX

Calvin is a recent graduate of the University of Texas’ History and French Language Departments, where he began his work in the Austin nonprofit sector as the Development Executive at Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance. While with LARA, Calvin spent much of his time connecting his peers with Austin-area nonprofits focusing on serving the city’s growing refugee population access public transportation, adapt to everyday life in the United States, and set up their own plots in the city’s community gardens. Calvin is returning to Austin after spending the last 5 months in Paris, France, where he served as the Assistant to the Executive Director at Pierre Claver, a school for adult refugees. His work in adult education at the school inspired him to seek out similar organizations as soon as he returned to Texas. He is passionate about the power of giving in the non-profit sector and education that conquers cultural, socio-economic, and age barriers.

William Dean

Digital & Adult Literacy Instructor

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

After teaching high school English for many years, William felt a tremendous accomplishment when he retired several years ago. Still, he was motivated to continue his teaching and learning experiences. He is a volunteer tutor in the San Francisco Library’s Project Read program where he coaches adults to read. In 2015, he started at CTN as a digital literacy tutor through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). He receives much satisfaction supporting the seniors in their various pastimes. After tutoring in the computer lab at several senior centers, he became involved as one of the actors with Castro Senior Center Radio Players. In July 2016, William joined CTN’s staff as a Program Coordinator, He expects to share insights and experience developing adult literacy with our volunteer corps to support seniors in improving both technology and reading literacy.

Jannell Mateo Rivas

Bilingual Digital Literacy Program Manager

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jannell has personal, professional, and volunteer experience working with underserved communities. She is fluent in Spanish and has a variety of experience mentoring, teaching, and leading groups of people. During her time at San Francisco State University, she studied Child and Adolescent Development and grew in her passion to meet the needs of both the youth and adult populations. Even more so, she is excited to share her skills and knowledge to further support San Francisco adult communities through digital literacy.

Eve Li

Bilingual Digital Literacy Instructor

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

After studying at City College of San Francisco, Eve transferred to San Francisco State University and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She believes that no one is too old to learn and especially appreciates seniors who have the courage to learn new things at their age. She feels thankful that this society provides them chances to learn and is grateful that she can share her own ability with others. The result is a win-win: learners acquiring new knowledge and her finding her value in society.

Ghazal Rezvani

Digital Literacy Program Manager

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

A proud Bay Area native, Ghazal holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare, with a minor in Global Poverty and Practice, from UC Berkeley. She has experience in direct-service, development, and research with various nonprofits and organizations in the Bay Area, focusing on women, children, and immigrant populations. She is fluent in Farsi, and is passionate about working to alleviate societal inequities. Ghazal is excited to join CTN in ensuring access to digital literacy, and subsequently vital resources, for marginalized communities.

Kate Sheludziayeva

Administrative Manager

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Kate immigrated to the United States from Belarus in 2011. In Belarus, Kate studied psychology and volunteered as a surveyor. She also volunteered in a nonprofit organization to provide support to physically disabled youth so they could integrate into society. She has experience as an office assistant at San Francisco General Hospital and recently earned a certificate from the Office Assistant Program from LEN Business and Language Institute. She is fluent in Russian and is studying English as a second language at CCSF. She considers herself to be tech savvy and wants to help people stay connected in the digital world, especially those who are immigrants. She thinks CTN is the right place to share her enthusiasm for helping people.

Sabrina Tam

Bilingual Digital Literacy Program Manager

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Sabrina is a native of Hong Kong. She first came to the States as a cultural exchange student in the early 90’s. After spending several years in Arkansas and South Carolina, she decided to make the Bay Area her home. Along with her patient and caring personality, Sabrina brings to CTN her extensive experience managing multi-cultural projects in the financial services, advertising and market research arena. Sabrina is fluent in English and Cantonese, and conversational in Mandarin. She wants to use both her language and technical skills to help people to enjoy the benefits of using technology and not feel left behind in the digital age.

Board

Margaret Schoelwer

Board Chair

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Margaret is a Senior Manager at Accenture, focused on high tech and platform clients in San Francisco and across the bay area. Over the last six years at Accenture, she has developed expertise in digital transformation, strategy, and enablement in sales and sales operations. Prior to joining Accenture, Margaret was a Product Manager in Online Strategy for Fidelity Investments, based in Boston. She has called San Francisco home for more than four years now after growing up on the east coast and two stints in Chicago. Margaret holds an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and a BA in Classics from Northwestern University.

Barrington Dyer

Secretary

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Barrington Dyer is a shareholder at Polsinelli LLP. He takes a creative and strategic approach to resolving intellectual property disputes for startups and Fortune 500 companies. He is dedicated to helping clients solve their most complex issues related to the establishment and protection of their intellectual property. Barrington has experience representing clients in a variety of high technology industries, including computer networking devices, semiconductor devices, computer memory, smartphones, mobile apps, computer software and internet-related technologies. He has represented clients in patent, copyright, and trade secret disputes in federal court, and litigated patent validity before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. Prior to becoming an attorney, Barrington worked for a media technology company developing a video-on-demand content delivery and management system for content providers. He applies his experience as an engineer when counseling clients on technological issues that intersect with the law.

John E. McDermott

Treasurer

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

John is the Vice President of Finance at TechSoup Global, a 200 person technology focused non-profit based in San Francisco. John joined TechSoup Global in 2001 and is now the senior financial executive responsible for all aspects of the organizations financial management including creating and executing against annual budgets, overseeing the preparation of all audits and tax returns, as well as continuously managing all ongoing financial aspects of TechSoup Global’s global operations. Prior to joining TSG in 2001, John spent his first seven years in the Bay Area helping to launch and grow a number of early stage technology startups. During the two years immediately prior to joining TechSoup Global, John was the co-founder & CFO of MyRaptor.com an online travel portal that received significant funding before the bottom fell out of the venture capital market in early 2000. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Mr. McDermott graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University with a BA in History in 1992 – before heading west to follow his dreams (and escape the East Coast’s humidity).

Charles Aston

Austin, TX

Charles has over 20 years of Information Technology experience and is currently the Director of IT for DFI Resources in Austin, Texas. During his 19 years at DFI, he has spent his career leading the organization through numerous technological changes and transformations. He has been involved in numerous projects, leads and manages people, plans and develops budgets, and is the primary decision maker for technology within the company. He has been serving on the internal leadership team for several years. Charles has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Texas A&M University.

Eric Beattie

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Currently Eric is a Principal Scientist leading a chronic pain therapeutics screening program at Teva Biologics (Redwood City, CA). He has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from UCSF, two postdoctoral fellowships in Cellular Neuroscience from UCSF and Stanford, and has over 18 years of combined biotech / academic research, publication, and grant writing experience. Eric has also ventured away from the science lab and used his extensive cross-disciplinary professional network in the Bay Area to consult for digital health, elder care, dementia care, biotech and digital health companies. He has also consulted for nonprofits serving the elder community. This work highlighted the unmet need that elders have for better internet connectivity and understanding how to use their med tech digital devices, computers, and smartphones. This unmet need drove him and his wife, Marymoore Patterson, to create the nonprofit “Teen-Elder Tech-Connect” which brought tech-savvy teens together with elders to bridge this tech and generation gap.

Danielle Bowers

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Danielle Bowers is an HR Manager for Google’s central talent strategy team based in Mountain View, CA. Prior to joining Google’s People Operations organization, Danielle co-founded the News Lab and spent four years building the global team, developing news products, and launching a research and development effort for news at Google. In 2011, Danielle joined Google and was one of the first members of the company’s Revenue Intelligence team where she consulted with top tier publishers to help grow their businesses. Danielle has her B.S. in Management Science from UC San Diego and her M.B.A from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. She has a deep passion for learning and for dedicating her efforts to making the world a better place for everyone.

Jackie Burniske

Austin, TX

Jackie Burniske is the Director for K–12 Initiatives in the UTeach program at the University of Texas at Austin. Jackie works collaboratively with academic partners, districts, and schools to develop long-term professional development programs that support academic initiatives and educator training and development. She has dedicated her career to education from being a teacher to a leader in education nonprofits. Ten years of her teaching was in international schools in Ecuador and Malaysia. She has worked with a number of education nonprofits where she has focused on innovative uses of technology for teaching and learning, professional development, educator quality, and communications. She holds a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in curriculum and teaching from Michigan State University.

Lauren DeBarr

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Lauren brings financial and analytical expertise to the CTN Board. She is an Experienced Assurance Manager at BDO in San Francisco and has more than seven years of public accounting with a focus on technology companies. She has worked with a variety of businesses throughout the Bay Area including venture backed startups and large, public companies and has been involved with their transition through the various phases of growth including IPO and merger processes. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is a licensed CPA in the state of California.

Dr. Robert Friedman

Austin, TX

Robert has over a decade of experience in the non-profit sector focused on developing an inclusive and ethical digital community. As the Executive Director of the Permanent Legacy Foundation, he will build a trusted and respected organization that can guarantee secure data storage for all people, permanently. Prior to joining the Permanent team, Robert led the Mozilla Foundation’s Internet Health agenda in Texas, working with community leaders to advance digital inclusion, internet decentralization, open innovation, online privacy and security, and web literacy. As a Portfolio Strategist and educator in Chicago, he worked with museums, cultural institutions, community-based organizations, and schools to achieve more equitable access to digital learning opportunities for all young people in the region. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Chicago, where he first came to deeply appreciate the legacy of human knowledge while exploring the history of our universe.

Sarah Gerrish

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Sarah Gerrish brings more than eight years of experience in nonprofit marketing and fundraising to CTN. Having lived in the Bay Area on and off since 2007, Sarah feels a strong connection to the communities in San Francisco. She has worked closely with six nonprofits in the Bay Area in a variety of capacities, from advising their leaders to hands-on volunteering. Sarah graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee with an MA in Communication and a certificate in mediation and negotiation. She currently works for the San Francisco SPCA.

Janyka Kelly

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Janyka Kelly is a Solution Engineer with Sprint Business based in San Francisco, California. She’s been with Sprint for 25 years and has held many positions within the company including project management for wireline installations for fortune 500 companies. Over the past 8 years she’s focused on non-profit and public service wireless technology connectivity. She’s passionate about bridging the digital divide for K-12 and Elderly. She’s participated in earning funds for the One Million Project and Project Connect. Janyka brings diversity of knowledge of solutions available by wireless networks. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from California State University, Sacramento.

Ashleigh Rogers

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Ashleigh brings technology program and project management experience across the healthcare and software delivery spaces to the CTN Board. As a consultant, Ashleigh has provided program management expertise to major bay area healthcare and technology organizations including Washington Hospital, Practice Fusion, Autodesk and Alameda Alliance for Health driving critical project delivery and organizational alignment goals. Ashleigh has deep experience in dispersed team management, business model creation, budget management, and large scale project implementation. In the non-profit sector, she has volunteered for extended periods in Africa and Europe driving educational forum delivery and continues to expand her involvement in the Bay Area. In her role with CTN, Ashleigh seeks to expand CTN’s offerings to bridge the digital divide between patients and new software systems that are changing the traditional healthcare landscape.

Joyce Shanahan

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Joyce has worn a number of hats in her 30+ years of experience – lawyer, entrepreneur, executive director, small business consultant and non-profit founder. Regardless of role, her primary passion is expanding access to information and inclusion in the global marketplace. She is excited about the potential of emerging technologies to level the playing field worldwide. Before relocating to the Bay Area, Joyce’s position in Chicago was leading an industrial council and small business incubator, where she grew the nonprofit from 3 employees to 18 over a 12 year period, eventually earning NBIA’s Incubator of the Year award, among others. After 4 years of travel in developing countries, Joyce was drawn to Silicon Valley by its entrepreneurial spirit, tech scene and ocean (where she swims year-round).

Max Zipperman

San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Max is a strategy and operations professional in the San Francisco Bay Area passionate about increasing access to the tools needed to thrive in the digital age. He has experience scaling internet and internet infrastructure companies and has led numerous non-profit consulting projects. He currently leads strategy analytics for a high growth ad business at Google. Previous to that, he joined Google Fiber to help figure out how to deploy fiber optic internet infrastructure quickly, cost-effectively nationally. A consultant by training, he started his career at Deloitte Consulting; he produced original research and connected executives to innovators in the SF Bay Area as a fellow at a technology industry think tank, consulted on M&A and commercial real estate location strategies, and served as a team lead on pro-bono projects for Oakland USD, an orphanage in Nicaragua, and a local healthcare nonprofit. Max holds a BA in Economics from Claremont McKenna College.

Funders

With the valued support of members of local and regional business communities, Community Tech Network remains poised at the forefront of technological empowerment and education in the San Francisco Bay Area and Austin, TX. We invite the support of any individual or organization that recognizes alignment between our mission and their own. We welcome contributions of time, resources, information, financing, and services, and are always happy to discuss possibilities with our supporters. Feel free to contact us for more information on how you or your organization can support CTN!

Accenture
Adobe
AT&T
The Barrios Trust
California Consumer Protection Foundation
Christensen Fund
Clover Health
Comcast – Internet Essentials
Consumer Technology Association Foundation
Cornerstone Advisors
Crescent Porter Hale Foundation
Dell
Frontline Arts Web Design
Full Circle Fund
IBM
Junior League of San Francisco
Latino Community Foundation
Microsoft
Mobile Beacon
Monkeybrains
MsJones Design
Polsinelli
Salesforce
SF City & County Department of Aging and Adult Services
Sprint
Symantec
Twitter
Werner-Kohnstamm Family Fund
Western Digital
Yahoo Employee Foundation
Zelle LLP

We are also very fortunate to have many generous individual donors. If you would like to contribute to our work of closing the digital divide, visit our donation page.

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