Tom Loveland

Tom Loveland, Founder and CEO, established Mind Over Machines in 1987 and continues to drive its efforts to better business and the world through smarter use of technology.

Tom is a passionate technology advocate whose activism extends well beyond Mind Over Machines. In response to the passage of Maryland’s “tech tax” in 2007, he co-founded the Maryland Computer Services Association and, with other business groups, led a grassroots lobbying effort that resulted in an unprecedented repeal of the $200M+ tax before it took effect. The most pivotal player in that effort was the data!

In 2010, Tom was appointed by Baltimore’s mayor to serve as “Google Czar,” leading a drive to entice the search engine giant to choose Baltimore for initial deployment of Google Fiber, Google’s ultra-high speed broadband access project. Though another city took the prize, the BMore Fiber project helped galvanize broadband efforts on the state level, and in late 2010, Maryland won one of the largest Federal grants for broadband and became the first state in the nation with all counties and major communities connected via high speed fiber.

Tom currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the Baltimore Industry Roundtable for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. He has served on the boards of the Tech Council of Maryland, the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, the Baltimore Efficiency and Economy Foundation, and the Greater Baltimore Committee’s President’s Advisory Council. He is a member of Leadership Maryland’s Class of 2004 and the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Leadership Class of 2011, and a founding member of Baltimore Angels, an angel investment group. He occasionally speaks to business groups and has keynoted on the state and national stage.

Tom has been recognized as an Influential Marylander, Innovator of the Year, Connector of the Year, Maryland Power Player, Top 50 Influential Marylander, and Baltimore Extraordinary Technology Advocate. He attended the University of Washington, St. John’s College, and the University of Chicago. Tom is a 5th-generation Oregonian, spent summers working as a machinist in Alaska salmon canneries, and has called Baltimore his home since 1986.