Dedicated to Helping Others Succeed

Benetech’s President, Betsy Beaumon, Recognized as Silicon Valley Woman of Influence

Betsy always believed in the power of technology to help others. It was this conviction that led her to found Social Online Service, the first online information and referral portal for connecting individuals in need with social service organizations.

Meanwhile, she learned how to successfully scale technology companies through leadership roles at Silicon Valley staples such as Lam Research, Cisco and BEA Systems. It was during this time that Betsy found her true calling: taking all the Silicon Valley knowledge she had accumulated around developing and scaling software at for-profit companies and applying it to developing and scaling software to drive positive social impact.

At Benetech, Betsy works tirelessly to apply her software expertise to the social sector. She has transformed how 500,000 people with disabilities read and made it safer for human rights defenders in over 50 countries to document human rights violations. Her vision for a Born Accessible future—meaning all digital content is made accessible to every member of society from the moment it is created—is fueling the next generation of Benetech’s efforts to empower people with disabilities to read in ways that work for them.

All Betsy’s accomplishments underscore her drive to create communities for change. She realizes that a problem tackled by a community is much more likely to be solved than if tackled by a single individual or organization. She is always mindful to directly engage the communities closest to an issue to identify and develop solutions. With this approach, she has built communities for change across accessible books, human rights, and social-good innovation. Betsy leads these communities with an infectious passion.

Congratulations, Betsy, on this well-deserved recognition!

Betsy Beaumon is a 2017 honoree of the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence award program that shines the spotlight on local businesswomen, community leaders, and philanthropists who are a force in the region.