Who we are

José has worked as a software engineer in different industries for more than 12 years. He is passionate about developing innovative human-centered solutions. José identifies solutions using technology that can improve the experiences of people. He has a Computer Science degree from the Universidad Catolica del Ecuador and a Master of Information Technology from The University of Melbourne. In his free time you can find José trying to learn and understand what being human means.

Derek Caelin is a technologist who has spent years training activists and civil society organizations in developing countries and conflict zones on how to use digital tools to communicate, mobilize, and organize. Derek is particularly focused on creating, researching, and sharing open source technology so that all people can benefit from free, collectively produced software. His writings on community-maintained software, games for social impact, privacy, and the effect of tech platforms on society, have been published in Foreign Policy and OneZero.

Steve is a senior executive and gifted product strategist with a 30-year career ranging from hands-on software engineer to public company CEO. He has substantial experience in organizing teams and attacking new opportunities and markets while ensuring a balance between specific tasks and the “bigger picture” of a successful outcome. After consulting for three years on various high-impact social good projects, he joined Tech Matters in late 2019.

Jim is a serial tech and social entrepreneur, who has already proven how technology can change entire fields in the social sector. He was the founder and CEO of Benetech for nearly 30 years, delivering large-scale change in partnership with hundreds of organizations as part of social enterprises addressing education, disability, human rights, and the environment. In addition, he has advised hundreds of diverse social enterprises on the use of technology and data. He previously founded two successful for-profit Silicon Valley tech companies in the machine learning/artificial intelligence field, and is an active angel investor in and board member for several companies. Jim has been widely recognized for his social change work, including being selected as a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Schwab Social Entrepreneur Award, and the Caltech Distinguished Alumni award.

Steve is a Software Engineer with 20-years’ experience leading projects in industries including e-commerce, healthcare, video games, road haulage, finance, and consumer electronics, in organizations ranging from a three-person start-up to large multinationals and the Welsh National Health Service. He came to software the long way around, after studying History & Economics at Manchester University. He joined Tech Matters to work on the Aselo project in December 2021 and is based in Galway, Ireland. In his free time, he helps out at local Autism charities but also consumes large amounts of bad TV.

Nick has 17 years of experience joining two parallel paths: software engineering and international development. Nick began his career developing early, large-scale artificial intelligence software at Amazon.com. He later managed software teams at Sift, a Silicon Valley machine learning company that protects companies like Airbnb and Twitter from online fraud. Nick spent six years in conflict relief in Burma and South Sudan, capturing human rights, migration, and multi-sector program data using methods from hand-delivered paper to smartphones to satellite modems. He leads the technology development for the Aselo helpline project, joining Tech Matters in mid-2019.

Jana is a seasoned user experience designer and an occasional serial entrepreneur. After co-founding the first online wedding planning site, Wedding Channel, Jana spent almost a decade working on Amazon’s Recommendations and Bestsellers teams. Jana joined the Tech Matters team in March of 2020 as the UX Designer for the Aselo helpline platform. Jana also serves as a Startup Advisor at the University of Washington mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs.

Hana is a strategic designer with a passion for human-centered design. For the past two decades, she has designed digital products for various organizations in multiple fields — brilliant start-ups, large e-commerce platforms, and the University of Washington. She’s a huge supporter of design for social good and strives to tackle important social problems. Hana joined Tech Matters in October 2021 as a principal user experience designer for Terraso. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and practicing yoga.

Dee is a Product Manager interested in leveraging innovative technology to build empathy-driven solutions that empower individuals and their communities. She has experience building SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business software after working at Yext, a New York-based technology company, and has worked on pro bono projects for international social enterprises as a past fellow of the MovingWorlds Institute. She joined Tech Matters in December 2020 to lead the product management for Aselo and is based in New York City.

Joan has 20+ years’ experience in product management/marketing. She has successfully brought numerous products to market working closely with end users to ensure their needs are represented during the software development process. Joan also has experience with software localization and cultural adaptation having operated a multilingual communications firm. She has been with Tech Matters since it was founded.

Paul Schreiber has been building software and teams for the past two decades. Most recently, he led development for FiveThirtyEight at ABC News and The Undefeated at ESPN. Previously, he spent eight years as a Mac OS X engineer at Apple, served as the founding CTO at TurboVote and codeveloped the 2008 Obama campaign’s voter registration tool. Paul has a Bachelor of Mathematics in Computer Science (and a minor in French) from the University of Waterloo. Paul runs a house concert series, advocates for bicycling and safe streets and is always up for a hockey game.