A group of tech-forward nonprofits that collaborate to learn and improve. Let's do more good, not reinvent wheels.

About Us

Founded in 2011, CTOs for Good is an invitation-only group of technical leaders at nonprofits that deliver social impact primarily through technology and digital strategy. We support each other in doing big things on lean budgets. We share best practices and lessons learned around technology choices, managing technical teams, scaling social impact, and much more. We also have two sister groups: CMOs for Good and COOs for Good.

Who We Are

Annual Unconference

CTOs for Good gathers once a year for a private, two-day unconference. This annual event allows us to come together in person to share best practices, discuss common challenges, and learn from each other. We’re also joined by guest speakers from industry-leading companies who share their wisdom with us. Many thanks to our generous sponsors and hosts who make these events possible.


November 9-10, 2023

San Francisco

Hosted by
Code for America
Guest speakers
Bhawna Singh, Okta
Sharon Mandell, Juniper Networks
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club, SF CTO Club

January 12-13, 2023

New York City

Hosted by
DonorsChoose.org and Candid
Guest speakers
Yvette Pasqua, EXOS
Juan Pablo Buriticá, Ritchie Bros
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club, SF CTO Club

October 1, 8, 15, 2021

Virtual

Guest speakers
Lisa Dussealt, Compaas
Kwame Thomison, Teachers Pay Teachers
Lisa Gelobter, tEQuitable
Food and drinks sponsor
PagerDuty

October 9, 16, 23, 2020

Virtual

Guest speakers
Leslie Miley, Google
Dr. Kanika Bell, Clark Atlanta University
Food and drinks sponsor
PagerDuty

September 12-13, 2019

New York City

Hosted by
DonorsChoose.org and Candid
Guest speakers
Maria Belousova, Grubhub
Jon Wiliams, NY CTO Club
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club, SF CTO Club

September 20-21, 2018

San Francisco

Hosted by
Code for America and Google's Community Space
Guest speakers
Nick Caldwell, Looker
Julia Grace, Slack
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club, SF CTO Club, Google.org

September 18-19, 2017

New York City

Hosted by
DonorsChoose.org and Foundation Center
Guest speakers
Yvette Pasqua, Meetup
Igor Shindel, AppNexus
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club

September 29-30, 2016

San Francisco

Hosted by
PLOS and Kiva

Guest speakers
Leigh Honeywell, Slack
Randy Shoup, StitchFix
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club

October 5-6, 2015

New York City

Hosted by
DonorsChoose.org and Idealist
Guest speakers
Minerva Tantoco, City of New York
Daniel “dB” Doubrovkine, Artsy
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club

September 18-19, 2014

San Francisco

Hosted by
Wikimedia and Kiva
Guest speaker
Matt Cheney, Pantheon
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club

September 23-24, 2013

New York City

Hosted by
DonorsChoose.org and DoSomething.org
Guest speakers
Kellan Elliott-McCrea, Etsy
Steve Jacobs, Gilt
Food and drinks sponsor
NY CTO Club

August 23-24, 2012

New York City

Hosted by
DonorsChoose.org and DoSomething.org
Guest speakers
Lon Binder, Warby Parker
Joshua Levine, E*TRADE

February 22-23, 2011

Miami

Hosted and Sponsored by
Knight Foundation

Hangouts

We host several video hangouts each year with guest speakers who are technical experts on topics of shared interest. Past hangouts include:

API Design: Best Practices and Pitfalls

Matt NovackTwilio

How Facebook Can Better Support Tech-Forward Nonprofits

Joanne SpragueFacebook

Web Application and Operational Security

Michael CoatesTwitter

Hiring Developers with Non-Traditional Professional Backgrounds

Jeff CasimirTuring School

DDoS Lessons Learned

Gary BurnsMeetup

Email List

Our very active group email list enables our members to quickly and easily access the collective wisdom of the group. When members hit a particularly troublesome technical issue or are grappling with a tricky management decision, they can reach out to the group for advice and help. Often times another member has solved a similar problem and can offer insight or can connect them to someone in their network who can help. This reduces the number of times we "reinvent the wheel" and helps us all scale our organizations more quickly.

Core Values for Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to continuous improvement.
We strive to treat others the way they'd like to be treated.
We will fight the default of exclusion.
We succeed together when we trust each other.
We hold each other accountable.

Learn more

Membership

Membership to CTOs for Good is by invitation-only. We have voted to limit membership and to grow slowly to ensure that we keep it intimate , build deep trust, and stay well within our Dunbar limit.

A big thanks to the NY CTO Club for sponsoring our annual unconferences since 2014!

Apply to be a Sponsor