Meet our Content and Communications Associate: Maddy Chung
Fast Forward welcomes our new Content and Communications Associate: Maddy Chung.
“I’m fascinated by the intersection of social impact and technology,” I wrote in my LinkedIn bio the summer after graduating college. At least I I thought I was–I knew about a few tech nonprofits, which I’d later learn they are called–but didn’t really know about the work being done where these two industries converge. More importantly, I was unsure about how I could fit into the picture. When I found Fast Forward, I was beyond excited about the work they do to advance social impact tech (seriously, I could barely contain myself). I was drawn to the organization’s “impatient optimism,” which is the belief that technology can, and should, be used for good.
My captivation with Fast Forward was born out of my experiences in both the nonprofit and tech worlds. In high school, I volunteered with Breakthrough, an education nonprofit that supports underserved middle school students. The relationships I built with these students made me acutely aware of my own privilege, and illuminated the disparities in resources and opportunities created by our education system. I began seeing and caring about the inequality around me and in the world.
Majoring in American Culture Studies helped me investigate this inequality from an academic perspective, which only strengthened my interest in a mission-driven career. Tech came into the picture through my internships with Girls Who Code and Salesforce’s Office of Equality. At Girls Who Code, I supported summer coding programs that changed girls’ lives. At Salesforce, I helped drive the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts. I could tell these two organizations were just two small pieces in the much bigger picture that was the intersection between social impact and tech. How else was technology being leveraged to make social impact? Did nonprofits and tech companies work together to do so?
Fast Forward was the answer to my questions. I’m so excited to be joining the team to use my passion for writing and marketing to amplify the incredible work being done by tech nonprofits, help them scale their impact, and expand the ecosystem of social impact tech. Outside of work, you can find me hiking, biking, and running through San Francisco or baking up another healthy (ish) treat.
Originally published at Fast Forward.
