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Akhtar Badshah, Co-Founder and Chief Catalyst

Entrepreneur, Humanitarian, Author, Acclaimed Speaker and Advisor

A seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in international development managing a corporate philanthropic program and co-founding a global nonprofit for social enterprise.  Badshah has also taught architecture and urban development at MIT and is a published author, and an acclaimed international speaker.   His expertise is in the areas of corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, information technology for development (ICT4D), nonprofit development, and creating opportunities for youth. 

Badshah has experience in creating a vision and then executing on it.  He has built global programs with a diverse team, based on a conviction that programs need to be effectively global and appropriately local. Badshah has worked effectively with a diverse set of stakeholders from government, business, and nonprofit leaders, to academics, to ordinary citizens.   His approach is to set the vision, provide direction, engage stakeholders and develop effective partnerships.  He has travelled extensively around the world, has experience working on global programs, and works comfortably in any socio-economic and culturally diverse environment. 

Badshah has authored Purpose Mindset: How Microsoft Inspires Employees and Alumni to Change the World (forthcoming Nov 2020), Our Urban Future: New Paradigms for Equity and Sustainability, co-authored Technology at the Margins – How IT Meets the Need of Emerging Markets and co-edited Connected for Development – Information Kiosks for Sustainability.  He has also published numerous articles in international journals on CSR, ICT4D, megacities and sustainability, housing, and urban development.  Dr. Badshah has also lectured at numerous universities around the world on issues of Technology and Development, Social Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility.  He also blogs on the Huffington Post.

Dr. Badshah has extensive experience in serving on numerous board.  He is currently the Chairman of the Board at Global Washington, and Vice Chair of the Broad, Microsoft Alumni Network. He has previously served on the boards of Council on Foundations, the Telecentre.org Foundation, United Way King County, Youth Empowerment and Sustainability, and has served on the Advisory Board of the US Chamber’s Corporate Citizenship Center, World Affairs Council, and Santa Clara University Center for Science and Technology. 

Dr. Badshah is a doctoral graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He very active in the Seattle area community.  Twitter: @Akhtarbad

Genevieve Tremblay, Senior Catalyst

Designer, Strategist, Creative Technologist, Public Scholar and Futurist

Genevieve Tremblay is an impact driven leader working across disciplines and sectors to bring vision and clarity to innovative educational, cultural and community initiatives. She is part of a global community as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEEs), modeling inspiring digital, social and immersive technologies (VR, AR, XR) that amplify learning, engagement and virtual collaboration. She is working with faculty leaders in the US and abroad to support digital transformation efforts, quickly assimilating and sharing emerging communication technologies that support, deliver and enhance immersive learning and collaboration experiences in both informal and informal learning environments. In her capacity as Fulbright Specialist, she is actively cultivating partnerships with foreign host institutions abroad to develop global arts, emerging technology and education advancement initiatives. She is a GIX mentor at the Global Innovation Exchange, working with students pursuing their Master of Science in Technology Innovation (MSTI) and a program advisor for the social impact and leadership programs, AST: Accelerating Social Transformation and xTech + Impact, hosted at The Evans School for Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington.

She is Co-Founder and US Executive Director of ASKXXI: Arts + Science Knowledge Building and Sharing in the XXI Century, an international exchange program fostering US- Chile collaboration in arts, emerging digital/virtual technologies and the ecological sciences. The 2018 ASKXXI pilot program, sponsored through a US Embassy (Chile) public diplomacy grant, was hosted at the Center for Research in Biodiversity and Sustainable Environments at the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción. Tremblay also led the Chile-US team in the curatorial development of the ASKXXI exhibition, ‘Retícula 2019: Ecology and Art Reimagined for the XXI Century', which connected relevant lines of research in both regions and ignited wider societal conversations about ecology, natural and cultural diversity. The program now serves as a network connecting global earth stewards through research and creative collaboration.

Genevieve has provides vision and strategy to regional, national and international public art and urban planning efforts that build cultural infrastructure, generate economic value and public benefit. She is a Founding Board Member of Indigo Arts Alliance, an Arts Residency and Incubator in Portland, Maine committed to the artistic development of citizens of color. Genevieve serves on the board of Restart Partners, a nonprofit COVID-19 response organization focused on empowering communities during these unprecedented times. This global initiative provides science-based, data-driven resources to assist governments, nonprofits, businesses, and communities plan, purchase, and distribute PPE, and to change social mask wearing norms to protect vulnerable populations. She is also a founding Board Member of Third Place Technologies, a non-profit organization that researches and develops innovative social technologies that foster community empowerment and well-being. She served full tenures on the Port of Seattle Commission Arts Oversight Committee (10 year) and Bellevue Arts Commission (8 year), providing guidance to cultural and arts projects and programs in the Puget Sound region.

Genevieve received her BFA (Intermedia) from Carnegie Mellon University and her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art (Studio for Inter-related Media).  She and her family live in Bellevue, Washington. 

Twitter & Instagram: @gentremblaze