A tech community creating rising tides together

New Tech is the largest and most active, respectful, kind, and helpful community of Pacific Northwest technologists assisting each other with the next step in each other’s tech careers and tech companies. We build real relationships to connect and support each other while having as much fun as possible with you.

Our special sauce is a truly relationship-oriented engaged community that loves our region and cares about each other. We believe that doing business together is more  productive when we’re  being real, happy and human in our conversations. You know, like dropping by the neighborhood Saturday afternoon BBQ.

About New Tech Northwest

You can attend, advertise to, present at, or sponsor our monthly one-of-a-kind special Seattle, Eastside, and Portland events (cumulatively averaging 350+ attendees each month), or our bi-annual job fairs (averaging 500+ candidates), to connect with the PNW tech community’s finest.

Together, this is where we celebrate the world class innovation being developed in your backyard (the 2nd biggest tech talent pool in North America) with you while inspiring and supporting each other to create more together. Join us!

How We Started

The seeds of New Tech Northwest started in 2012. Brett Greene and Red Russak took their experiences attending New York Tech Meetup and New Tech Boulder and added some Seattle spice to launch New Tech Seattle. Over 250 techies attended the first Meetup to get innovation inspiration from 5 companies, celebrate Seattle’s tech community, and connect with new friends. The next month attracted over 350 techies and within a year New Tech Eastside and New Tech PDX launched (with New Tech Tacoma not far behind) to expand across the region creating New Tech Northwest. By 2015 we had over 9,000 techies in our community, mentored multiple other tech groups to grow tech communities across North America, had hundreds of startup and enterprise companies showcase their technology on our stage, helped hundreds of people find technical and non-technical tech jobs, hosted delegations from over a dozen countries, and spoke at the White House by invitation.

What We Do

We gather and connect everyone in the technology community in support of growing each other’s tech careers and companies. This includes entrepreneurs, employees, and executives from startups to Fortune 50’s, investors, and newcomers wanting to learn about the community. Through in person and online events and job fairs we connect techies to innovation, education, networks, resources, and jobs. In service to the tech community, we share with the media, meet with the government, and develop partnerships.

Who We Are

New Tech Northwest is the hub connecting you to the spokes of all Pacific Northwest tech organizations and companies. With Seattle being the #1 American city to find tech workers with over 100 engineering centers, being the #9 startup market in the world, as well as the #2 tech talent market in North America, and Portland being #16, this is a very fun and exciting region to live and work in.

We’re a dynamic world-class tech ecosystem with generous leaders in artificial intelligence, cloud, space, ecommerce, robotics, big data, fintech, biotech, virtual reality, and more.

We celebrate our innovation economy while growing inclusivity, collaborating to build more opportunities, and being more human and helpful together. We also partner with many non-profits and give back to organizations supporting STEM education for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ folks, women, girls, and underserved populations.

Brett’s first experience of building inclusive communities was as a DJ, Music Director and Program Director of KUNV, Las Vegas’ community radio station, when he was in college. That community was based on gathering and supporting everyone who was passionate about punk rock, underground alternative rock and jazz music. This is the root of New Tech’ Northwest’s spirit of bringing together everyone who is passionate about innovation and technology to share community goodness together.

What We Believe In

Being Human.
While our events are B2B and help people in their careers, we’re all people who want to be understood, loved, and respected. Listening, sharing, and having fun are core values for us. We believe that the journey is more fun and successful when we start by being real, curious and supportive with each other. Some had described their experiences at our events as “always feeling like I’m coming home,” and “going to church where there’ no religion, just cool people who make you feel great.”

Being Collaborative. Success is sweeter when it comes from lifting each other up and being there for each other. We share our stories and skills, and celebrate the accomplishments of everyone in our community, because this is the way. We highlight the wins of community members because it inspires others to give themselves permission to act on their ideas. This creates great products, services and companies that will make tomorrow greater than today.

Giving Back. We believe the world is abundant. We are givers because sharing our good fortunes is where true fulfillment lies, and we wouldn’t have as much joy or success without the generosity of our community. We’re all benefiting from the amazing Pacific Northwest spirit, companies and ecosystem that others built before we were here. It’s important to honor that and give back to continue creating this world where we’re better together.

Connecting You to the Pacific Northwest Tech Community

60,000 Technologists and Growing Strong!

60,000+

Community members

1,700+

Event presenters

500+

Events hosted

40+

 Diversity events

10,000+

Job Fair candidates

1

Invitation to speak at the White House

Our Team

Brett Greene

Founder, New Tech Northwest & Executive Coach for Tech Founders and Professionals with ADD/ADHD
Award winning innovation ecosystem builder with ADHD, a Masters degree in counseling psychology, and over 15 years of coaching hundreds of tech entrepreneurs and leaders. Brett has coached multiple companies through acquisitions, worked with multi-platinum bands, is a Forbes Top 35 Social Media Power Influencer, spoke at the White House, and will forever be the last pick on sports teams for very good reasons.

Red Russak

Co-Founder, New Tech Northwest
Accomplished startup community builder, enterprise sales professional, and devoted husband and father. Red is always looking to help grow communities both locally and abroad

Kathleen May

Marketing and Communications Director, New Tech Northwest
Business, and Technical Communications Specialist who loves working with innovative companies to shape brand stories into compelling messages that attract new customers and clients using persuasive writing, deep research and thoughtful interviews. Kat is also a shameless foodie lucky enough to have called San Francisco, Seattle and Boulder home.

 

Christy Johnson

Founder, New Tech DEI

Mom, Serial Entrepreneur, intrapreneur and board member. Award winning educator committed to helping people reach their full potential. Christy’s life adventure has included being a high school math, European history and economics teacher in Bellingham Washington, teacher trainer throughout Washington state and in Russia, strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company, VP of strategy at a private equity backed portfolio company, early stage employee at two startups from day one, earning an MBA and a masters in Education, and builder of the University of Washington’s women in entrepreneurial leadership program. She has worked with hundreds of startups, founders, entrepreneurial leaders, Fortune 50 companies, non-profits and government officials. Christy loves working with committed teams to solve hard problems and allowing everyone to have access to opportunity. 

 

Elizabeth Scallon

Diversity & Women in Tech Coordinator, New Tech Northwest
Award winning leader in the PNW startup ecosystem, Elizabeth is a scientist, mentor, and 15-year leader in scientific and technological innovation. Previous to Amazon Alexa Startups and Fund, Elizabeth led the team at CoMotion Labs at the University of Washington coaching and growing the robust bench of NW tech and biotech startups, and helping the University to be best in class for Innovation. An out lesbian from before the L Word pilot episode, Elizabeth has a passion for spotlighting and developing outsider voices, a tendency that aided her biotech startup team at VLST (her title: Head of Ops) grow to 50 employees and $35M in funding.

Thubten Comerford

Founder, NewTech PDX (NTNW Affiliate)
Thubten is a serial tech entrepreneur, new media publisher, international public speaker, and tech community organizer. He began his tech marketing career at Apple Computer in 1990, where he realized his path was to help ordinary people maximize their use of technology. Thubten is very active in the Pacific Northwest’s startup community and has been a Tibetan Buddhist teacher since 1997.
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