A local nonprofit that’s focused on growing an accessible and inclusive tech community is getting a new leader.
TechBuffalo today named Jeffrey Botteron as its next president and CEO, following several months of a national search process. The current CEO and president, Sarah Tanbakuchi-Ripa, joined the organization in November 2021 as an executive on loan for three years from M&T Bank. She remains an M&T employee but is currently on maternity leave.
Botteron has a background in education, nonprofit leadership and technology.
“Through my entire career, I have been deeply committed to educating people and building career pathways that are accessible to all and that produce life-changing outcomes,” he said in a news release. “TechBuffalo and its many dedicated community, philanthropic, educational and industry partners are doing tremendous work in Buffalo and Western New York. I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Most recently, he helped in Indiana to lead the creation of Career+ Pathways, a program that gives students from kindergarten through post-secondary education “career-connected” learning opportunities. The program grew from a pilot with six schools to 21 schools serving about 16,000 students in nine counties in Indiana.
He has also worked as the Lafayette Catholic School System’s director of learning design and technology; GEO Academies’ chief academic officer; and director with the Indiana Department of Education. Botteron has also been a consultant for nonprofit organization leaders.
Founded in 2020, TechBuffalo last year was selected to join Microsoft’s TechSpark program. Last year, the nonprofit had more than 2,000 people attend over 25 events.
Earlier this summer, news broke that the nonprofit got into round 2 of the TechSpark program, which will bring more best practices, resources and funding coming to Western New York.
