Our story

When COVID-19 struck in Spring 2020, life changed for everyone. Universities across the U.S. abruptly sent 14 million students home, all while campus activities, internships, and even full-time new grad offers were canceled. Despite their personal challenges, students sprang to action to support each other virtually as the pandemic worsened and instances of social and racial injustice ensued. These moments of selflessness revealed an intrinsic desire in college students to care for and help others.

At the same time, one-third of global nonprofits were projected to shut down due to a lack of digital access. This was especially alarming, as vulnerable communities and families needed the support of nonprofits more than ever during these tumultuous times.

Moved by the compassion of their fellow classmates, and spurred by the critical needs of both students looking for work and nonprofits seeking digital support, Computer Science students at Stanford created Develop for Good. The organization supported teams of students as they developed technical products for nonprofits, and later partnered with Silicon Valley tech companies to engage industry professionals as mentors to the students. As a result, Develop for Good provided tech students with guided, real-world project experience while they simultaneously helped the people and causes they cared about most.

Today, Develop for Good powers social good through students from all colleges and backgrounds. The Bay Area nonprofit especially prioritizes making its valuable, hands-on project experiences accessible to underserved and underrepresented students in tech to accelerate their careers. It strives to empower the next generation of diverse tech leaders to learn by doing good, all while furthering the digital transformation of the nonprofit sector. At its core, Develop for Good hopes to create a world where students, nonprofits, and corporations are dedicated to furthering technical education, advancing digital equity, and helping one another unlock their fullest potential.

Board of Directors

Justin Tinker

ML Engineering, Cofactr

Craig Young

Founder, Inspiring Service

Christina Ward

Strategy & Operations, YouTube

Kristen Swanson

Head of Design, Okta

Amay Aggarwal

Founder, Anglera

Mary Zhu

Founder, Develop for Good

Board of Advisors

Mendel Rosenblum

Founder, VMware
CS Professor, Stanford

Scott Forstall

iPhone Co-inventor
Former Chief of iOS, Apple

Kevin Wang

Founder, Microsoft TEALS
and Mentors in Tech

Jerry Cain

CS Professor, Stanford
Facebook 'Like' Button Co-inventor

Erica Hanson

Head of Developer Relations,
FlutterFlow

Bob Murata

Director of Program
Management, Adobe

Garron Engstrom

Social Impact Manager,
Meta

Rosalyn Mahashin

Founder, Resilient Moment

Minlan Duan

Founder, Jvolve

Philip Chow

Founder, Humanitas.ai

Lisa Wong

Advisor, Tech Leader

Our team

Mary Zhu

Founder & Executive Director
Mary Zhu graduated from Stanford University in 2021, completing both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science in four years. Born to immigrant parents and raised in New Hampshire, Mary grew up receiving nonprofit support and is particularly passionate about giving back and serving the economically disadvantaged. Mary founded her first 501(c)3 nonprofit in high school by baking and decorating cakes for charity. She has long advocated for skills- and passion-based volunteerism, and spoke at TEDxStanford about “Rethinking volunteerism: donating your comparative advantage.”

Mary Zhu

Executive Director
Mary graduated from Stanford University with both her BS in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) and MS in Computer Science (Human-Computer Interaction) in just four years. She has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, a TEDxStanford speaker, and an invited guest at The White House Summit on STEMM Equity & Excellence. Currently, Mary is striving to beat her personal record of holding a 15.5-minute plank.

Kiki Liu

Program Director
Kiki is a passionate advocate for equity in tech and a firm believer in the power of design to drive social change. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and minors in Consumer Psychology and Design to better understand how systems shape access and opportunity. Kiki is deeply committed to uplifting first-generation and low-income communities through thoughtful, human-centered technology.

Interested in joining our full-time team?

Apply to our open roles here!

Volunteer management team

Aditi Sandhu
Product Lead
Aleksandr Molchagin
Product Lead

Alex Nguyen

Product Lead

Amy La

Product Lead

Ananya Aatreya

Product Lead

Asmita Malakar

Product Lead

Anish Sinha

Engineering Lead

Christiaan Koh

Product Lead

Jason Mai

Product Lead

Jenny Cho

Engineering Lead

Jeremy Kwok

Product Lead

Karuna Adhikari

Product Lead

Kiki Liu

Design Lead

Lara Canonizado

Graphics Lead

Michelle Vu

Product Lead

Parker Conrad

Product Lead

Rohan Pal

Product Lead

Salina Mu

Graphics Lead

Shraavasti Bhat

Product Lead

Simerjeet Mudhar

Product Lead

Sunny Sun

Product Lead

Vimala Machiraju

Product Lead

Zaryaab Khan

Product Lead