Philanthropy Innovation Summit 2025 | Salon Sessions

Freada Kapor Klein, Ph.D., is an entrepreneur and investor focused on gap-closing startups and strategies. As a Founding Partner at Kapor Capital, Freada invested in seed-stage tech startups that create positive social outcomes and achieved top-quartile financial returns.  

She is Co-Chair at the Kapor Center, which strives to make the technology ecosystem and entrepreneurship diverse and inclusive.

In 1976, Freada co-founded the Alliance Against Sexual Coercion, the first organization in the U.S. to address sexual harassment; and she was a founding team member of the Hollywood Commission, chaired by Anita Hill. 

She launched SMASH.org in 2003, which provides rigorous STEM education and access to social capital for low-income high school students of color.  SMASH’s vision is to create a computer science ecosystem in which every student, regardless of their zip code, can thrive in the global economy. 

Freada serves on startup and non-profit boards, including the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Board of Visitors and the National Board of the NAACP–where she has helped launch NAACP Capital, a $200M fund of funds. 

Freada and her husband, Mitch Kapor, are co-authors of Closing the Equity Gap, which identifies how to create wealth while simultaneously addressing the inequalities in startup investing.  Freada elaborates on topics covered in the book in her TED talk “How to Use Venture Capital for Good.” 

Dr. Allison Scott is the CEO of the Kapor Foundation, which focuses at the intersection of racial justice and technology and works to remove barriers in access and opportunity, such that the promise and potential of technology can be harnessed to create a more equitable future. 

Under her leadership, the Foundation works to: (a) expand equity in K-12 computer science education, (b) increase diversity within tech companies and VC firms, and (c) advance equitable tech policy to transform the technology ecosystem.  The Foundation’s strategies include producing research, deploying strategic grants, supporting policy advocacy, and investing in tech entrepreneurs and venture funds. Dr. Scott is currently a Principal Investigator on multiple national grants to expand equity in computer science education and in her previous role as the Chief Research Officer, authored foundational research on inequity in CS education and disparities in the tech sector.  Previous positions included: Chief Research Officer at the Kapor Center; Program Leader for the National Institutes of Health’s Enhancing the Diversity of the Biomedical Workforce Initiative; Director of Research and Evaluation for the Level Playing Field Institute, and Data Analyst for the Education Trust-West. Dr. Scott holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Hampton University.  

Kathy Kwan is a Bay Area philanthropist who led and subsequently spent down the assets of the Eustace-Kwan Family Foundation between 2006 and 2023. During her tenure, Kathy funded over sixty programs and organizations in higher education, K-12 schools, safety net organizations, and local non-profits across the SF Bay Area.  

Through experience, she has found that mid-size, multi-year investments help organizations build momentum and achieve big things on complex problems. She also believes leaders matter and often focuses on building organizational capacity, acquiring skills, and creating infrastructure.

Kathy is specifically interested in activating the next generation of philanthropic funders. She helped fund the development of Stanford PACS’s “Guide to Effective Philanthropy” and has shared her experience with multiple audiences. 

She serves on UC Berkeley’s Board of Visitors, the Letters & Sciences Advisory Board, and UC Berkeley’s Foundation Board.