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About Us

Headshot of Mark Zitter
Headshot of Nancy Spector
Mark Zitter
Founder
Nancy Spector
COO

As SpringboardAI’s Founder, Mark is focused on helping the social sector harness AI safely and productively, ensuring that all mission-driven staff have the tools and confidence to expand their impact. 


Mark brings decades of experience in healthcare entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and nonprofit leadership. He founded and successfully exited two healthcare companies focused on market research, data analytics, and patient services. He is also an active angel investor, venture partner, and private equity advisor. 


Mark created and chaired the founding board of SFJAZZ and has founded or funded numerous nonprofits across the arts, healthcare, and social entrepreneurship. He has published articles and led webinars on nonprofit effectiveness and board leadership.


Mark attended Wesleyan University and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Nancy joins us to advance our progress to launch. She has a background in growing startups in the for profit and nonprofit sectors. At Springboard, she is focused on building scalable processes and contributing to growth strategy.

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Nancy has a BA from Brown University and and MBA from the Haas School of Business, Berkeley

Advisor, Philanthropy Partnerships

As SpringboardAI’s Philanthropy Partnership Director, Jude builds relationships with philanthropic funders to expand the organization’s reach and impact. He focuses on identifying funding partners, expanding access to AI training, and refining the organization’s offerings to bring value to both funders and their grantees.


Jude brings nearly 30 years of experience connecting technology and philanthropy. At the Skoll Foundation, he helped grow annual grantmaking from $30 million to $180 million and led collaborative funding partnerships. As CEO of VolunteerMatch he ran a $6.2M national volunteer marketplace with 23 employees serving 80K+ nonprofits.

 

Jude holds a BA from Swarthmore College. 

Jude O'Reilley
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Christine Gallagher

As Developer of SpringboardAI’s Learning Platform, Christine leads the creation and rollout of engaging, practical AI training tools, exercises, and resources that enable ongoing and advanced learning for members. She focuses on designing interactive curricula that make AI approachable and valuable, helping participants continually improve their AI skills and impact.


Christine brings 17 years of experience in marketing, business coaching, and entrepreneurship. As the founder of She’s Got Clients, she has trained thousands of entrepreneurs, helping them develop the skills and confidence to grow their businesses.


Christine holds a BA from Temple University and an MA from Drexel University. 

Learning Platform Content Lead
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Adam Walker
Platform Developer & Facilitator

Adam joins SpringboardAI as Platform Developer and Facilitator, building the technology that supports a seamless participant experience. He focuses on scaling the platform, streamlining communications, and leading interactive AI training sessions. 


Adam brings a background in digital marketing and entrepreneurship, having founded a podcast-first content agency, launched a digital transformation consulting practice, and co-founded 48in48, a nonprofit that builds free websites for nonprofits. He also brings experience facilitating AI training sessions, helping nonprofit organizations understand and apply AI tools to their work.

 

Adam holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. 

Devi Thomas is Global Head of Community Development & Engagement at Google, where she drives technology-based social impact initiatives worldwide. Previously, she served as Global Head of Nonprofit Community Capacity at Microsoft Philanthropies, leading teams to build and scale innovations with and for nonprofits. Earlier roles included directing global content and communications at Salesforce.org and designing cause-marketing and advocacy campaigns at the United Nations Foundation.

Devi led the 2025 field scan on AI adoption in the nonprofit sector that formed the basis for Springboard AI.

Devi serves on the board of Project Scientist, which works to advance girls in STEM, and has been recognized as one of the Top Women in Communications and as a Social Impact Pioneer. She holds a Master's degree in International Relations, Economics, and Communications from Boston University.

Devi Thomas

Board of Advisors

Jim Friedlich is Executive Director and CEO of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which supports the sustainability and public service mission of local news. Previously, he was CEO of Empirical Media Advisors, a consulting firm focused on the digital transformation of major news organizations. Earlier, he spent a decade at Dow Jones & Company leading global advertising sales, consumer marketing, and business development across The Wall Street Journal and a broad portfolio of media properties. He co-founded ZM Capital, a media investment firm, and was a seed investor in Business Insider.
 

Jim serves on the boards of Dice Holdings and WFMU public radio and is a director of the Bard Center for Civic Engagement. He holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Jim Friedlich

Evan Kaplan is a serial entrepreneur and technology executive with over 30 years of experience building and scaling companies. He is currently CEO of InfluxData, the company behind InfluxDB, the leading time series database. Previously, he served as President and CEO of iPass Corporation and founded Aventail Corporation, a pioneering SSL VPN company acquired by SonicWall/Dell. He also served as an Executive in Residence at Trinity Ventures.
 

Evan is a board member and treasurer of One Heart Worldwide, which partners with the Nepalese government to improve maternal and neonatal healthcare in remote communities. He is an advisor to several early-stage AI companies and holds degrees from Western Washington University and the University of Washington.

Evan Kaplan

Curriculum Advisors

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Kyle Behrend is an AI and automation specialist and  founder of AI Impact Hub, an online community for nonprofit professionals, working directly with organizations on AI strategy, implementation, and staff training.

 

Kyle has collaborated with OpenAI on its nonprofit training academy and delivered more than 200 workshops on  practical AI adoption for mission-driven organizations. Kyle writes on AI and nonprofit operations through his newsletter, Practical AI for Nonprofits. 

Kyle Behrend

Meena Das is the founder and CEO of  NamasteData, a consulting practice advancing human-centric data and responsible AI for social impact organizations.

 

Meena also leads the AI Equity Project, a multi-year community-driven research initiative designed to help nonprofits adopt AI responsibly and inclusively. Previously she built Data Is For Everyone, a resource supporting data literacy in the sector. She developed the Community-Centric Data Principles, a framework now referenced across the nonprofit field, and writes and speaks widely on data equity and ethical AI, including as a contributor to AFP Global and a member of the Forbes Coaches Council. Earlier in her career she held positions at Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon.  

Meena Das
Cassie Gruenstein

Cassie Gruenstein is a consultant, facilitator, and coach designing human-centered work in the age of AI.

 

A nationally recognized strategist, she combines human-centered design, equity-driven strategy, and systems thinking to help organizations build values-aligned programs and culture. Her clients include international NGOs, philanthropies, affinity groups, and Fortune 500 companies. She has led multiple initiatives in the tech for good ecosystem since 2017, advancing the use of technology for social impact. Cassie writes and speaks on sustainable, human-centered performance through Rise Culture, a framework she is designing for working well in the age of AI. Cassie is also the co-founder of AIxImpact, a peer-learning network helping nonprofit consultants navigate AI adoption.

Darian Rodriguez Heyman

Darian Rodriguez Heyman is a nonprofit strategist, fundraising expert, and best-selling author.

 

Darian's organizations,   www.helpingpeoplehelp.com and AI4NP.org, help mission-led organizations maximize impact through best practices in AI and other issues. He previously was the Executive Director of Craigslist Foundation, was the Commissioner for the Environment for the City & County of San Francisco, and was the Editor-in-Chief of a newsletter for non profits. Darian recently served as ED at Numi Foundation and has served on the boards of multiple non profits including International Planned Parenthood Foundation and San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper.

Tim Lockie

Tim Lockie is CEO of The Human Stack, dedicated to building organizational capability for social impact through human empowerment.

 

Tim is also a 20-year veteran of nonprofits and tech and an international keynote speaker and AI trainer.  In 2021 Tim pioneered and introduced Digital Guidance®, a framework to transition social impact organizations from being resistant to technology toward a state of digital resilience.  Previously he founded Now IT Matters, a Salesforce solutions provider.

Gianluca Mauro

Gianluca Mauro is an AI entrepreneur, educator, and public speaker. 

 

Gianluca is the founder of AI Academy, which has trained more than 12,000 individuals and teams to understand and apply AI. He also founded Epiphany, a generative AI startup focused on corporate learning and development. Gianluca teaches AI strategy in Harvard's Executive Education programs and is the author of Zero to AI. He led a Guardian and Pulitzer Center investigation into gender bias in AI image-recognition algorithms, work also covered by Cosmopolitan, Politico, and national broadcasters in Germany, France, and Italy. 

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