Literacy Bridge
Directors
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Cliff Schmidt
President
Cliff Schmidt started Literacy Bridge in 2007 to address global poverty and disease by making practical knowledge accessible to those who need it most. With help from an international team of volunteers and supporters, he created an audio computer called the “Talking Book” for people with minimal or no literacy skills, living in rural areas without electricity or Internet access.
In 2010, Cliff was awarded a full scholarship to the Global Social Benefit Incubator Program at Santa Clara University and received the Microsoft Alumni Foundation Integral Fellow Award by Bill and Melinda Gates. In 2011, he was awarded a membership by President Bill Clinton to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Prior to Literacy Bridge, Cliff was an open source software consultant and served on the board of the Apache Software Foundation. He also represented Microsoft in industry standards bodies and was a nuclear engineer and officer for the US Navy. He received his B.S. in Cognitive Science from MIT and his M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from University of Washington.
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Arthur Tao
Vice President
Arthur Tao has more than 20 years of management and development experience in the software industry. In addition to his work at Literacy Bridge, he provides business and product leadership in an early stage startup. Previously, he worked at Microsoft, DEC, and Merck as a senior program manager. He has extensive experience in the management of large and complex software projects, international outsourcing, and working in a multi-national and multi-corporation environment.
Arthur grew up in Hong Kong, came to the US for college, and received his B.S. from Swarthmore College, and his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. Arthur holds a patent in the area of high performance and high volume database application processing.
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Kevin Reed
Secretary and Legal Counsel
Judicial Commissioner Kevin Reed is a magistrate judge of the General Sessions Criminal Court in Shelby County, Tennessee. He began his legal career by practicing law for the Shelby County Public Defender. He then went into private practice for ten years developing an intellectual property and entertainment law practice. As a magistrate judge he sets felony bonds and presides over preliminary hearings and petitions for orders of protection in domestic abuse cases.
In addition, he is a board member of the Oak Spring Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit organization established to service the needs of the people of Northeast Shelby County. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and his JD from Howard University School of Law.
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David Hijirida
Treasurer
David Hijirida, CFA, began his career as a management consultant and has worked over 10 years in the financial services industry across marketing, planning, and corporate strategy roles. He currently works at Amazon.com as general manager of the Global Credit business, managing and developing new credit and payments related business initiatives.
David holds degrees in physics from both MIT (BS) and Cornell University (MS); he also holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. David earned his CFA charter in 2008.
Advisors
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Joe Appiah-Kusi, M.D., MPH
Dr. Joe Appiah-Kusi is a physician, educator, researcher, policy analyst, strategic planner and humanitarian. He has been a professor at a couple of universities including University of Washington and University of Phoenix teaching courses in the humanities, ethics/law, public affairs, history, multiculturalism, doing business in different cultures and comparative health care system. He was a General Practitioner for the U.S. Army Medical Command in Europe, Adviser to WA state DSHS, Medical Practice Investigator for WA state Medical Disciplinary Board & the Board of Medical Examiners. Has received a number of distinguished awards including UN/WHO Fellowship, AMA, AHA and SAMA Fellowship. He is a renaissance scholar and global citizen diplomat serving as an Adviser to Seattle Art Museum on the interpretation of African and the Oceanic Art collection.