Today’s Woman in Tech: Lauren Woodman, CEO of DataKind
Lauren Woodman is the new CEO of DataKind, a global nonprofit which sits at the intersection of data science and the non-profit world to help mission-based organizations with data science expertise and talent in service of humanity. She has spent 25 years working at the intersection of technology, development, and policy. Previously, she was the CEO of NetHope, a consortium of 60 of the largest global nonprofits and tech companies from 2014-2020. Before that, she held a variety of positions in the private sector, government, and the UN, including managing Microsoft’s global education and government programs for more than a decade and serving as an executive at the Software and Information Industry Association. Currently, she is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Board of Stewards for its Initiative on Digital Economy and its Trustworthy Data Collaboration. Lauren holds degrees from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Smith College. She lives in Seattle with her partner and two daughters.
When did you become interested in technology? What first got you interested in tech?
Oddly, I wasn’t particularly interested in technology at a young age. I got interested in tech when I was in college. Working in the computer center paid more than washing dishes during my freshman year – and I could work late night hours, rather than early morning hours – so I took a job there. It was so interesting to learn new systems and imagine new processes and ways of doing things. I was hooked.
When I started my professional career, my real interest was international development policy. I could find a job in science policy, though, so I took it. That ultimately turned into tech policy just as the Internet was beginning, back in the mid-1990s. Tech and economic development policy, especially at the international level, are inherently intertwined, and I’ve never looked back.
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-woodman-175877.html
Lauren Woodman is the new CEO of DataKind, a global nonprofit which sits at the intersection of data science and the non-profit world to help mission-based organizations with data science expertise and talent in service of humanity. She has spent 25 years working at the intersection of technology, development, and policy. Previously, she was the CEO of NetHope, a consortium of 60 of the largest global nonprofits and tech companies from 2014-2020. Before that, she held a variety of positions in the private sector, government, and the UN, including managing Microsoft’s global education and government programs for more than a decade and serving as an executive at the Software and Information Industry Association. Currently, she is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Board of Stewards for its Initiative on Digital Economy and its Trustworthy Data Collaboration. Lauren holds degrees from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Smith College. She lives in Seattle with her partner and two daughters.
When did you become interested in technology? What first got you interested in tech?
Oddly, I wasn’t particularly interested in technology at a young age. I got interested in tech when I was in college. Working in the computer center paid more than washing dishes during my freshman year – and I could work late night hours, rather than early morning hours – so I took a job there. It was so interesting to learn new systems and imagine new processes and ways of doing things. I was hooked.
When I started my professional career, my real interest was international development policy. I could find a job in science policy, though, so I took it. That ultimately turned into tech policy just as the Internet was beginning, back in the mid-1990s. Tech and economic development policy, especially at the international level, are inherently intertwined, and I’ve never looked back.
Continue reading: https://jaxenter.com/women-in-tech-woodman-175877.html
