Jim Fruchterman is an engineer and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

. He was the founder and longtime CEO of

Benetech Benetech is a nonprofit social enterprise organization that empowers communities with software for social good. Previous projects include the Route 66 Literacy Project, the Miradi environmental project management software, Martus (human rights ab ...

, a Silicon Valley nonprofit technology company that develops software applications to address unmet needs of users in the social sector. In 2018, Fruchterman started a new nonprofit called Tech Matters to develop technology solutions that can benefit social sector organizations. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

and the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

Early life

Fruchterman was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in the Chicago area. He graduated in 1976 from St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Fruchterman received his B.S. in Engineering and M.S. in Applied Physics from Caltech in 1980 and went on to Stanford University to pursue a PhD, but left school to join the

Percheron The Percheron is a horse breed, breed of draft horse that originated in the Huisne river valley in western France, part of the former Perche province, from which the breed takes its name. Usually gray (horse), gray or black (horse), black in col ...

private enterprise rocket project as its electrical engineer. The rocket blew up on the launch pad, but it launched Fruchterman's career as a serial entrepreneur. Fruchterman went on to co-found Calera Recognition Systems, one of the earliest optical character reading companies that used machine learning to recognize most fonts, before founding Benetech based on the Calera OCR technology.

Benetech

Jim Fruchterman, a technology entrepreneur, established Benetech in Palo Alto, California, in 1989 under the name of Arkenstone with the goal of developing reading machines for individuals who are blind. Between 1989 and 2000, Arkenstone distributed more than 35,000 reading machines across sixty countries, supporting twelve languages. In 2000, the reading machine business was sold to Freedom Scientific, and the organization subsequently adopted the name Benetech. Fruchterman led Benetech for 30 years. Under his leadership, Benetech established software social enterprises in the areas of education, human rights, and the environment. Its largest enterprise is Bookshare, an online library of accessible

ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

for people with print disabilities, such as

visual impairment Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

, and severe

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

. In the fall of 2018, Fruchterman stepped down to start a new nonprofit project called Tech Matters with a stated goal of taking what Benetech had learned about leveraging technology to help other nonprofits become more effective.

Tech Matters

Tech Matters is a nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, California, founded by Fruchterman in 2018. Tech Matters assists non-technical social change leaders with technology (including its limitations), while also developing and implementing technology for the social sector. Tech Matters projects include: * Aselo, an open-source contact center platform designed for helplines to handle text conversations as well as voice calls. * Terraso, an open-source software platform designed for local leaders, farmers, and ranchers pursuing sustainable land management efforts. * The "Better Deal for Data," a data governance initiative aimed at establishing ethical guidelines for data collection, storage, and use, focusing on benefiting individuals and communities rather than private companies.

Honors and awards

Fruchterman received a

in 2006 as well as the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2003, Fruchterman was awarded the Outstanding Social Entrepreneur award from the

Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a Swiss not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 that provides platforms at regional, national, and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs ...

. He received the Robert F. Bray Award in 2002 from the

American Council of the Blind The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is a nationwide organization in the United States. It is an organization mainly made up of blind and visually impaired people who want to achieve independence and equality (although there are many sighted ...

in recognition of his efforts to make published works accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. In 2003, Fruchterman received the Francis Joseph Campbell award from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

for outstanding contribution to the advancement of library service for people who are blind or physically disabled. He also received the Access Award from the

American Foundation for the Blind The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is an American non-profit organization for people with vision loss. AFB's objectives include conducting research to advance change, promoting knowledge and understanding, and shaping policies and practice ...

. In 2013, Fruchterman was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award by Caltech and a Migel Medal from the

. In 2016, Fruchterman was awarded an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.), by

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

References

External links

*
Tech Matters

Jim Fruchterman's Beneblog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fruchterman, Jim 1959 births California Institute of Technology alumni MacArthur Fellows Living people American social entrepreneurs