Carol Rava has been named CEO of the Technology Alliance, the Seattle-based trade organization that advocates for the tech industry.
She will replace Susannah Malarkey, who held the CEO role since the organization was formed in 1996 with assistance from Bill Gates Sr.
“Today Washington is known as a technology-friendly state – for companies and increasingly for students. This is in a large part due to the work of the Technology Alliance over the past 20 years,” said Rava in a press release. “I am honored and humbled to take the helm of this organization and look forward to continuing to create an education, economic and research climate conducive to innovation and supportive of the technology sector at-large.”
Rava previously co-launched Get Schooled, a digital and game-based platform to motivate low-income teens to graduate from high school and go on to college. She’s also the former executive director of strategic planning and partnerships at Seattle Public Schools and deputy director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Those skills should serve the 45-year-old Rava well at the Technology Alliance, which over the years has pushed hard for additional resources related to STEM education in Washington state.
Malarkey announced her retirement last May, saying at the time that it was time to hand the baton to someone else.
“I really care about this region. I am a fifth generation Northwesterner. I am not going anywhere,” Malarkey told GeekWire. “But I think it is someone else’s turn to take the Technology Alliance through its next 20 years.”
In a press release, Technology Alliance Chair Cheryl Vedoe said that “Carol will build on our past accomplishments as we face the challenges of growing and sustaining our success as a leading technology state.”
