Tina-Marie Gulley is now CEO for Ada Developers Academy after serving as interim chief executive since April.
“Her passion for empowering underrepresented groups in tech and her vision for Ada’s future aligns perfectly with the organization’s mission. We look forward to seeing the impact of her leadership,” said Latoya Singleton, Ada’s board chair, in announcing the news today.
Seattle-based Ada is a tuition-free, software development boot camp for women and underrepresented sexual, gender and racial minorities. It launched as a Technology Alliance project, and became a standalone nonprofit in 2020.
The organization grew over the years and showed impressive stats in getting graduates placed in jobs. But in the wake of the pandemic, it cut its available spots and laid off nearly half of its staff last year. Former CEO Lauren Sato resigned and interim CEO Shawna Young briefly took her place, followed by Gulley.
Gulley served on Ada’s board for many years and has long history as a marketing leader at Seattle-area companies such as Edelman, Amplero, SmartFocus, Avalara and others.
Going forward, Ada is working to strengthen its curriculum with a focus on artificial intelligence, and will be expanding its partnerships outside of the tech sector.
— Another member of the Outreach C-suite is moving on to a new role.
Mike Zinne, former chief customer officer of the Seattle-based sales automation software company, shared news today that after seven years, he’s returning to Quiq as its chief experience officer.
Earlier this month, Outreach CEO Manny Medina announced his departure from the startup he helped launch.
“The adventure of building a category and growing a business while serving a worthwhile mission was an amazing experience and has taught me so much,” Zinne said of Outreach in a LinkedIn post. He thanked Medina and the rest of the team for their support and collaboration.
Quiq is a Bozeman, Mont., company using artificial intelligence to facilitate conversations between brands and their customers. It operates on dozens of platforms, including SMS, Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat, Google Business Messenger, and others. Zinne will work remotely.
— Kartik Talamadupula, former director of AI at Symbl, has taken the role of head of AI for Wand AI.
Wand is developing AI-driven solutions for advanced data analysis, decision-making and workflow automation. Talamadupula said he is focused on leveraging AI planning, reasoning and learning to facilitate collaboration between humans and technology.
Wand is based in San Francisco, but Talamadupula will remain in the Seattle area.
Symbl made other recent changes to its leadership, hiring a new CTO and assigning a new chief AI engineer.
— Ron Marquardt, vice president of advanced technologies and innovation at T-Mobile, is joining the board of directors at Seattle’s Technology Alliance.
— Brian Turner retired from the board of MicroVision after serving more than 20 years, including as board chair from 2012 to 2023. The Redmond, Wash., company is a leader in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) lidar technology.
CEO Sumit Sharma said Turner “helped the company navigate through various dynamic market environments.”