The NY Tech Alliance Welcomes 5 New Board Members
We are pleased to add 5 new members to our board: Donnel Baird, Georgie-Ann Getton, Xian Horn, Shaun Johnson, and Jeff Lindor. The board now counts 19 members, reflecting the breadth of the NY tech ecosystem and the diversity of its members.
“I am so pleased that Donnel, Georgie-Ann, Xian, Shaun, and Jeff have joined us on the Board in our work in such a pivotal year, as New York City looks to rebuild from the impact of Covid 19 and prepares to elect a new mayor. These times require strong voices from across our tech community, and I know we have that in these five innovative leaders.” — Thatcher Bell, Chair of Board, NY Tech Alliance.
Meet our New Board Members
Donnel Baird joins the NY Tech Alliance Board of Directors with years of experience as a climate tech founder. Baird attended Columbia Business School, where he received his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial studies in 2013. In that same year, he founded BlocPower, a smart buildings platform that markets, engineers, and finances renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies to buildings in underserved market segments. At scale, their technology can lead to a 2–7% reduction in US GHG emissions in the next 2–3 years. Baird is also a Second District Board Member at the New York Federal Reserve Bank and an Echoing Green Fellow.
Georgie-Ann Getton is an author, serial entrepreneur, community builder, speaker, and diversity in tech enthusiast. She holds a B.S. in Business Communications with a specialization in Graphic Communications from Baruch College and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship Essentials from HBX | Harvard Business School. Getton currently works as a Strategic Execution Consultant at GSD Solutions, a company she founded in 2018 that helps individuals and companies get more done by building simple, efficient, and impactful brands that drive organic growth. She enjoys learning as well as teaching new and creative ways to find solutions to problems.
Xian Horn is an advocate, speaker, blogger, and exemplar for the AT&T NYU Connect Ability Challenge in the creation of Assistive Technology. Horn has Cerebral Palsy and has been a fierce advocate for those with disabilities, making sure they have equitable inclusion and opportunities in all parts of life with her aim being to serve and connect humanity as a whole. Horn is the Founder and Executive Director of Give Beauty Wings, which offers self-esteem programs for all ages that are tailored to individual and organizational needs, providing mentoring, vocational support, educational and media outreach. Most recently in 2016, she founded Changeblazer, Inc, an advocacy, vocational, and leadership consultancy working with organizations looking to diversify and focused in aiding the underserved, especially those who have disabilities. In addition to managing her advocacy and consultancy companies, Horn is a contributor to Forbes Women, writing on leadership, empowerment, and disability.
“The past year has accelerated our efforts to make the NY Tech Alliance more inclusive, broadening the scope of our events and introducing new programs such as the NY Tech Volunteer Corp. I’m looking forward to the energy and ideas our new board members will bring to our work together.” — Andy Saldaña, Executive Director of the NY Tech Alliance.
Shaun Johnson is an experienced entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working across the fields of technology acceleration, early-stage development, and ecosystem development. He has extensive experience in the entrepreneurship sector, working as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Georgetown University, the Associate Director for Fordham University’s Fordham Foundry, the co-founder at Startup Institute, and as an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at The New School’s Parsons School of Design since 2019. Most recently, Shaun has been working as a leader at Venwise, a membership for C-level executives in high-growth companies with a mission to build a peer community that promotes learning. He also works in Operations at Blockgraph — a blockchain-enabled software that allows TV and media companies to control, connect, and safely activate their data at-scale.
Jeff Lindor brings many years of experience finding solutions that enhance the lives of people of color across the globe to the NY Tech Alliance Board. In 2014, Lindor received his master’s degree from The New School in Urban Policy Analysis & Management. In the time since, he has founded multiple companies. In 2016, he founded GroomedSuccess, a minority-owned business that provides professional development services for young men and boys of color. Some of their clients include the NYC Department of Education, NYC Administration for Children’s Services, NYC Department of Correction, and the City University of New York — Fatherhood Academy. Most recently in 2017, Lindor founded and is currently the CEO of The Gentlemen’s Factory, a workspace and community designed to enhance and connect men of color, providing them with the space, resources, and connection to help maximize their potential.
Click here to learn more about our Board Members.
