Cheryl Contee

Cheryl Contee is the award-winning Founder and Chair of Do Big Things, which brings together a diverse team that uses new narrative and new tech like blockchain, AI, bots and machine learning to make the world a better place for everyone. Do Big things is proud to partner with inspiring nonprofits, NGOs, foundations and political campaigns to achieve unprecedented breakthroughs. Cheryl is also the author of Mechanical Bull: How You Can Achieve Startup Success, a best-selling guide on how to navigate Silicon Valley and startup culture like a pro to ensure your startup’s success.

Previously, she was the co-founder and CEO of Fission Strategy, which helped the world’s leading non-profits, foundations and social enterprises design digital ecosystems that create change globally. She is also the co-founder of groundbreaking social marketing software Attentive.ly at Blackbaud, the first tech startup with a black female founder on board in history to be acquired by a NASDAQ-traded company. Her company Fission helped write the early source code for Crowdtangle, earning sweat equity in a successful social enterprise startup acquired by Facebook in Dec 2016.

Cheryl co-founded Jack and Jill Politics writing as “Jill Tubman” on the leading top black audience targeted blog during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles. Cheryl has been listed among The Influencers 50 in Campaigns and Elections magazine. Cheryl was named as an Affiliate of Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. She was inducted into the first The Root 100 list of established and emerging African-American leaders. Huffington Post included her as one of the Top 27 Female Founders in Tech to Follow on Twitter in 2011, as did Black Enterprise. Fast Company named her one of their 2010 Most Influential Women in Tech.

Cheryl has been featured in many media outlets including the Washington Post, New York Times, San Francisco Magazine, C-SPAN, Black Enterprise, BBC, MSNBC and CNN. She serves on several boards and advisory committees including Netroots Nation, Citizen Engagement Lab & Digital Undivided. She received her B.A. from Yale University and has an International Executive M.B.A. from Georgetown University. Cheryl’s the proud parent of a rapidly growing little boy and lives with her family in the Bay Area.