For All of Us
“Our member and sponsor commitments to our mission inspire and motivate us to make an ever bigger impact in the year to come. WTIA is here to help, and there’s a lot of work still to do.”
WTIA is blessed with more than 1,000 member organizations, more than 120 board and committee volunteers, more than 80 full-time and part-time staff and interns; plus several dedicated contract partners. We exist thanks to the contributions of these many organizations and people.
All that support creates some fabulous outcomes.
- Nearly 8,000 employees in startups get affordable, high-quality healthcare for their families.
- More than 1,500 women, people of color, and veterans now have careers in tech.
- More than 100 of the most promising new startups in our region have raised over $100 million and launched their products.
- More than 200 leaders across the country have engaged in rebuilding their recruiting, onboarding, and professional development programs to be more inclusive in the pursuit of equity and diversity.
- Nearly 700 leaders across the country are collaborating on implementing blockchain applications.
Thank you all for your generosity of time, treasure, and effort!
Michael Schutzler
President and CEO
To foster a robust, equity-centered technology sector that empowers thriving communities.
2021 Total Budget
2021 Expense Breakdown
DEI Center of Excellence
Under the leadership of Chief Diversity Officer Yolánda Chase, WTIA launched its offerings of products and services designed to support tech organizations in their quest for operationalizing the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The subscription framework offers thought leadership, consulting support, leadership development, assessments, a micro-learning platform, toolkits, guides, and a peer learning community.
The DEI Center of Excellence (COE) products and services are anchored in anti-racist principles, policies, and practices that address systemic inequities in talent development while inspiring positive cultural change within organizations. Our offerings are intended to develop the capabilities of partner organizations to hire, retain, and promote Black, Brown, Latina/o/x, indigenous, and other people of color.
The inaugural WTIA DEI Summit attracted nearly 400 registrants. Renowned author, journalist, and researcher Dr. Pamela Newkirk delivered the keynote remarks, sharing valuable insights about impactful DEI work. Panel discussions featuring DEI practitioners, business leaders, scholars, and HR experts shared best practices in diversity-focused recruitment, retention, and organizational development change initiatives.
Three organizations — early adopters of the Anti-Racism in Tech Pact — stood out from the rest with deliberate actions to promote organizational change. Congratulations to CodeFellows, Amperity, and Outreach for lifting up the values of equity and inclusion by dedicating resources for and making meaningful investments in DEI talent management and community engagement efforts.
In recognition of successfully building the WTIA DEI Center of Excellence and offering robust DEI service offerings, Yolánda Chase was named a finalist in the Diversity & Inclusion Officer / Role Model category of the WomenTech Global Awards. The award honors the exemplary contributions of top women leaders championing diversity in technology.
DEI Highlights
Moving the Dial: Advancing
Actionable Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion Strategies
Supporting Employee
Engagement Through
Employee Resource Groups
Seeing the Difference:
Building Essential
Cultural Competence Skills
WTIA Leadership Summit: A DEI Fireside Chat
Bias, Empathy,
and Hiring
Policy Speaker Series
- Building a Global Tech Hub with
Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson
and Representative Vandana Slatter
- Ethics in AI Innovation with Chief Responsible AI Officer at Microsoft, Natasha Crampton,
President and CEO at EqualAI, Miriam Vogel,
and Co-Founder at Fairly AI, Fion Lee-Madan
- Welcome to Washington Fireside Chat with
Tanium CEO Orion Hindawi
and Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain
One of the most important parts of the WTIA community is just that — our community. We work to support and delight our members with programs and services that strengthen businesses, solve problems, remove roadblocks, and most importantly, grow and bolster the technology community in Washington State. Through events, industry-specific resources, peer groups, and benefit programs, WTIA leverages the collective power of our members to help our community thrive. We have more than 1000 members, some of whom have been with us since the start in 1985. But we are growing exponentially — so the average tenure is only three years!
The depth and breadth of knowledge provided in this cohort is profound for first time founders and entrepreneurial veterans alike. As a first time founder, I have grown tremendously in my knowledge base through the Founder Cohort program at WTIA.
Shawna Ruff, CEO of Intention Labs
Apprenti uses an innovative skilling model that combines paid on-the-job training and education with placement in a high-skill tech role. Apprenti partners with the tech industry to identify mid-tier jobs ready to be filled by newly trained apprentices regardless of educational background, which expands opportunities for those from historically underrepresented communities to access a tech career.
In 2021, Apprenti helped launch the tech careers of 422 apprentices, training them for roles with retained wages up to $104,000. Since 2016, Apprenti has placed more than 1,000 apprentices at 59 employers in 15 states, including Washington.
15 states
to apprenticeship
placed in the US
$67,000 average income nationally
197% in
Washington State
WTIA uses the group buying power of our member companies to offer benefit and insurance solutions for tech employers.
In 2021, the 401(k) Multiple Employer Program (MEP) assets under management grew 84%, from $25M to $46M with enrollment growing 54%; Property and Casualty insurance provided commercial, home, and auto insurance advisory services to 256 customers growing revenues 90%; and our health program continues to help small firms provide affordable, high-quality healthcare, serving more than 7,700 employees and 14,500 covered family members at 435 member companies.
As the state industry association representing the technology sector, WTIA plays a critical role in policy conversations across Washington State and at the federal level. WTIA works closely with our members, community partners, and policymakers to advance solutions to pressing challenges for the technology sector and communities — with a focus on a range of priorities, including workforce development, DEI, higher education, and STEM programs, and the startup ecosystem.
- Advocated for policies to strengthen and grow Washington’s technology sector and partnered with policymakers on developing and shaping legislation
- Advanced thought leadership and economic research to provide actionable data to policy stakeholders
- Expanded strategic partnerships with aligned organizations and launched a new Innovative Cluster Accelerator focused on blockchain technologies and quantum computing
- Grew the Policy Steering Committee with an expanded membership and revenue model to power high-impact policy work
Sign-on letter from 125+ CEOs opposing the capital gains tax to protect Washington’s startup ecosystem
Have BIPOC or AAPI Founder,
Co-Founder or Key Employee
Have Female Founder,
Co-Founder or Key Employee
Located Outside of
King County
- Canadian Market Accelerator for ten Canadian Extended Reality (XR) startups
- Canadian Market Accelerator for ten Canadian SaaS startups
- Supported nine Korean startups with the fourth version of the Technology Revolution Together program
- Conducted pilot accelerator with the Taiwan Tech Arena and three Taiwanese startups
- Awarded $300,000 through the Build to Scale Grant Award with the Economic Development Administration to expand programming across the state over the next 3 years
- Included as a sub-recipient for the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s Congregate Accelerator to help tourism, performing arts, travel, and hospitality industries recover from the pandemic by meeting innovative startups
- Selected as the contractor to run the accelerator elements of the Find Ventures Equitable Innovation Accelerator
Webinars
WTIA webinars covered a wide range of topics and convened subject matter experts to provide our members and the broader tech community with useful and timely information. Webinars were hosted approximately once per month for various business units and had varying audience makeups depending on the topic.
Fireside Chats
WTIA Founder Fireside Chats welcomed local founders to come and share their stories, knowledge, and wisdom. Founders discussed various topics, from victories and failures to mental health and resiliency, trends, leadership through the pandemic, and much more.
Apprenti Webinars and Q&As
The Apprenti team hosted quarterly webinars in addition to various Q&As. These events were geared towards organizations and individuals that were not yet involved in our tech apprenticeships, and sought to both educate and hopefully encourage them to become partners or apprentices in our program. These were highly successful and extremely well-attended events.
DEI Summit
The WTIA DEI Center of Excellence hosted its inaugural DEI Summit and was met with much success. The Summit welcomed Pamela Newkirk, Ph.D. as keynote speaker, and included three separate panels sharing unique difficulties faced by people of color in the workplace. The panels discussed lived experiences and offered solution points to consider, for both employees and employers.
The WTIA Cascadia Blockchain Council is helping blockchain companies from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA to Vancouver, BC reach their full potential. It serves as the subject matter experts and collective voice to better advocate for constructive public policy and educate key stakeholders, especially investors.
WTIA was awarded a grant as part of the Department of Commerce’s Innovation Cluster Accelerator. This grant will give WTIA $550,000 over the next two years to begin steps towards building blockchain and quantum computing clusters in the state.
We worked closely with the Department of Financial Institutions, producing a town hall event at the beginning of the year and working with them subsequently to develop resources and provide feedback on their Center for FinTech Innovation.
We grew our Blockchain Council Slack channel to more than 900 engaged members in order to keep momentum behind our blockchain work in the coming year.
Amy Morrison
President, Lake Washington Institute of Technology
April House
President, HR Benefits Inc.
Arry Yu
Chair, WTIA Cascadia Blockchain Council
Ben Golden
GC
Bradd Busick
Chief Technology Officer, MultiCare
Gena Cook
Founder, Navigating Cancer
Brian Hilgendorf
CFO, Optio3
Colleen Kerr
VP, WSU
Craig Sherman
Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
Dan Waggoner, WTIA Secretary
Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine
Dave Cotter, WTIA Chair
CPO, Leafly
Dave Parker
CEO, Trajectory Series
Derrick Morton
CEO, Flowplay
Ed Lazowska
Bill & Melinda Gates Chair, UW CSE
Emily Parkhurst
VP of Content, 6AM City
Gena Cook, HRBI Chair
Founder, Navigating Cancer
Gilbert Wootton
Managing Partner, Accenture
Harini Gokul
Customer Solutions Leader, AWS
Heather Redman
Co-Founder, Flying Fish Venture Capital
Irene Plenefisch
Government Affairs Director, Microsoft Corporation
James Newell
Partner at Voyager Capital
Jennifer Carlson
Co-Founder, Executive Director, WTIA Workforce Institute & Apprenti
John Cofano
CEO, Goodwell Technologies, Inc.
Joseph Williams
Seattle Director, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Keith Downer
Co-Founder, My Ready Cash
Kelly Michel
Principal, KME Retirement Consulting
Kha Dang
GC, Drift
Kraig Baker
Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine
Kristen Forecki, WTIA Vice Chair
Vice President, Convoy
Kristen Hamilton
Co-Founder, Koru
Laura Ruderman
CEO, Technology Alliance
Len Jordan
Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group
Leslie Feinzaig
CEO, FFA
Margaret Rojas
Assistant Director, North Sound Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization
Michael Horwitz
Vice President of Engineering, Comcast Technology Solutions
Michael Schutzler
CEO, WTIA
Michelle Ferris, 401(k) Chair, WTIA Treasurer
Director of Finance, All Star Directories
Mike Avent
Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Partner at Perkins Coie LLP
Priya Priyadarshini
General Manager – Employee Career & Development, Microsoft
Randa Minkarah
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Transform, Inc.
Rebecca Lovell
CEO, Denali Financials
Robert te Winkel
CFO, WTIA
Scott Ruthfield
Founder & CEO, Rooster Park
Seth Rapkin, 401(k) Chair
Senior Vice President – Wealth Management
Shannon Jurdana, AHP Chair
CEO, Vimly
Shannon Swift
Founder/CEO, Swift HR Solutions, Inc.
Steven Maheshwary
Governor’s Sector Lead, Information & Communication Technology, Washington State Department of Commerce
Todd Enos
CFO, Allied Inventors
