UpSurge Baltimore CEO Jamie McDonald is stepping down from the technology ecosystem builder after leading the organization through its first two years.
McDonald will leave at the end of the year in order to spend more time with her husband Tom, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease shortly after the launch of UpSurge in 2021. Both of them wanted the nonprofit to be ready to thrive without McDonald before she stepped down, she said. UpSurge quickly established itself in the city as one of the hubs of the local technology scene during McDonald's tenure, constantly hosting networking events and playing a key role in luring organizations like the STANLEY+Techstars accelerator to the region.
UpSurge is currently searching for a new CEO, with applications due by Sept. 29.
“I had to learn a lot about what shape UpSurge was going to take, how our team would develop and how our technology ecosystem would embrace the work," McDonald said. “But at the same time, me and Tom had a lot to learn about what it would mean to live with Parkinson's."
McDonald hopes to spend more time traveling and visiting family before her husband loses more of his mobility. She will continue to remain involved in Baltimore as an entrepreneur in residence at UpSurge, advising startups as they develop and raise money. Before UpSurge, McDonald worked as a managing director at Alex. Brown Inc., an investment firm, and as the chief strategy officer for GivingTuesday.org.
McDonald said she and her team tried to put a uniquely Baltimore spin on technology by focusing on creating a diverse equitable ecosystem through a philosophy called equitech in order to prove that innovation can happen outside of the traditional tech hubs like Austin, Texas, and Silicon Valley.
“We think Baltimore can be a model for the world,” McDonald said.
McDonald said she is proudest of bringing a more focused approach to innovation that led to a wider group of organizations, from universities to medical systems, working to foster entrepreneurship. She pointed to the University of Maryland Medical System deciding to invest a portion of its investment portfolio in socially conscious companies as an example of the success of this wider ecosystem. Other notable accomplishments include the Greater Baltimore Committee’s efforts to get Baltimore designated as a regional technology hub. UpSurge has also become an important source of data about the startup scene as well, collecting information on large funders of companies, like venture capital firms, and the number of startups in the area in order to track the technology scene’s growth.
“If somebody had told me when we started [in 2021] that by 2023, there would be over 430 startups in Baltimore I would be really surprised,” McDonald said.
