"Technology and Social Enterprise" Dinner Series Event

Dinner Guest Bios

Professor Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger (Associate Professor of Public Policy)

Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger is Associate Professor of Public Policy. His research focuses on information and communication technology policy as well as European Union and transatlantic issues. In 1986, he founded Ikarus Software, a company focusing on data security. He was voted Top-5 Software Entrepreneur in Austria in 1991 and Person-of-the-Year for the State of Salzburg in 2000. He cochairs the Rueschlikon Conference on Information Policy, the faculty group on information technology policy, and the governance of information seminar series. He is the cofounder of the SubTech conference and a member of the ABA/AALS National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists. He advises businesses, governments, and international organizations on regulatory and policy issues. He holds a bunch of law degrees, including one from Harvard and an MS (Econ) from the London School of Economics. In his spare time, he likes to travel, go to the movies, and learn about architecture.

Heiner Baumann (Partner, New Profit)

Heiner Baumann is a partner and the Chief Knowledge Officer at New Profit, a national venture philanthropy firm that helps social entrepreneurs grow to scale.  Heiner leads New Profit's investment selection and manages New Profit's international investments.  He also serves as adviser to other institutional funders on performance-based philanthropy, effective capacity building and catalytic innovations.  He oversees New Profit's investment in KickStart, an anti-poverty organization that uses low-cost technologies to help small-scale entrepreneurs in Africa lift themselves out of poverty.  Until October 2002, Heiner was a Senior Engagement Manager for McKinsey & Company's Nonprofit Practice, where he consulted to leading philanthropic organizations. Prior to joining McKinsey, he served for two years as the President of AIESEC Switzerland, an international nonprofit organization promoting responsible business and sustainable economic development. Heiner received a Masters degree in applied economics and organizational behavior from the University of Zurich and a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. He serves on the Boards of Directors of KickStart, Friends of the Children-Boston and the Swiss Society of Boston.

Jim Fruchterman (CEO, The Benetech Initiative)

A technology entrepreneur, Jim Fruchterman has been a rocket scientist, founded two of the foremost optical character recognition companies, and developed successful social enterprises. Jim co-founded Calera Recognition Systems in 1982. Calera developed character recognition that would allow computers to read virtually all printed text. In 1989, Jim founded Arkenstone, a nonprofit social enterprise, to produce reading machines for the disabled community based on the Calera technology. Following the sale of the Arkenstone product line in 2000, Jim used all of the resulting capital to fund Benetech, with an explicit goal to use the power of technology to serve humanity.

Jim has also been active in public service, with two stints on U.S. federal advisory committees. He was named as an Outstanding Social Entrepreneur 2003 by the Schwab Foundation and, as such, participated in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2003, 2004, and 2005. He also received the Robert F. Bray Award from the American Council of the Blind in recognition of his outstanding efforts to make literary works accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

Jim believes that technology is the ultimate leveler, allowing disadvantaged people achieve more equality in society. He notes with pride, "I'm an advance scout for social applications, finding exciting technology waiting to be turned into non-commercial tools for disadvantaged groups."

Jacqueline Dubow (Program Coordinator, infoDev at the World Bank)

Jacqueline Dubow, a French national, joined the World Bank Group in 1995.  She is currently the Program Coordinator of the infoDev program, a multi-donor grant program supporting innovative ICT projects targeting poverty reduction.  Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked on HIV/AIDS prevention communication for the World Health Organization and managing an HIV/AIDS communication and behavioral change program for Family Health International, a U.S. non-profit organization.  She has an extensive background in international development on issues of health, education, technology, and governance.  Jacqueline received a Master of Sciences in mass communication from Boston University in 1989.  She also received a Master of Education and a Master of Arts from the University of Aix-en-Provence, in France.

Jeff Mao (Coordinator of Educational Technology, Maine Learning Technology Initiative)

Jeff is the Coordinator of Educational Technology for the Maine Department of Education. Jeff's primary focus is the development and management of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). The MLTI is the world's largest 1 to 1 educational laptop program with close to 38,000 laptops deployed to every 7th and 8th grade student and teacher in the State of Maine.

 Jeff has worked in education since college gradutation. Like so many educators, he has been in schools all his life. He has been involved with educational technology from the start. He began his teaching career with Brewster Academy, Wolfeboro, NH as that school began one of the nation's first 1-to-1 projects in 1993. He went on to teach and manage technology programs at the Allendale Columbia School, Rochester, NY before returning to Maine in 2002. He served as the Director of Technology for the Noble School district (M.S.A.D. 60) in North Berwick, ME  for two years before joining the Department of Education's Technology Team in 2004.