About

UnaMesa Association

The UnaMesa Association is a 501(c)(3) public charity formed in 2006 under the leadership of Greg Wolff following a fellowship at Stanford University in the Reuters Digital Vision program for Social Entrepreneurs. A Silicon Valley technologists with deep expertise in machine learning and psychology, Greg recognized two fundamental challenges for social innovations:

  1. Silicon Valley does a terrible job of creating innovations in healthcare, education and social services because markets (and therefore Venture Capital) does not value community or relationships.
  2. Secondly, smart, dedicated, skilled entrepreneurs who identify a social need and promising solution often fail because they expend all their time and energy starting a non-profit and raising money before they can demonstrate value in the real world.

UnaMesa provides a fast track for social entrepreneurs to put their ideas into practice. Success is measured in strengthening communities and creating caring interactions with scalable innovations. In the long run, UnaMesa and our network of innovators seek to catalyze a new approach to valuing relationships and meaningful interactions -- enabling an ecosystem of innovations driven by Social Capital that operates on par with the transactional world of Venture Capital.

UnaMesa Association
654 Gilman St
Palo Alto, CA 94301
EIN number: 20-5643483

Payments or donations can be sent directly to our accounting group:
UnaMesa Association
C/O Infrastructure Group
1900 Embarcardero Suite 109
Palo Alto, CA 94303

Please direct all inquiries to support at unamesa.org

Board Members

    • Dan Doherty, MD PhD
      Board Member

      Dan is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington and one of the top researchers studying Joubert syndrome and other hindbrain malformations and neurodevelopmental disorders. In his clinical work, Dan cares for children with all types of central nervous system abnormalities.

    • Eunyun Park, PhD
      Board Member

      Eunyun is an HR executive who pioneers new ways of helping organizations become more effective by increasing the meaningful connections between and among staff and clients.

    • Margarita Quihuis
      Board Member

      Margarita is a social entrepreneur and co-founder and director of the Peace Innovation Lab at Stanford University working to develop new models of collaboration and wealth creation.

    • Sarah Shannon
      Board Member

      Sarah is the Executive Director of the Hesparian Health Guides and has been bringing relevant, reliable, and accessible health information to communities around the globe for more than 30 years.

    • John Toupin
      Board Member

      John Toupin is a community minded, serial entrepreneur. John was a co-founder of Live360 and contributed to the success of many Silicon Valley Firms

    • Greg Wolff
      Founder, Executive Director

      After leading R&D efforts for major tech companies, Greg founded the UnaMesa Association to drive community-based innovations in healthcare, education, and social services through new approaches to valuing interactions and assessing social impact.

Support an UnaMesa project

Your contributions go directly to supporting specific projects.

InPlay

Launched in 2015 to close the opportunity gap by connecting students to out of school learning experiences. InPlay now serves over 10,000 families each year and is continuing to grow and partner with school districts and counties.

Visit the InPlay site
Contribute to InPlay

Precision Health Equity Initiative

launched in 2023 to help translate digital health innovations into better, more equitable healthcare with an emphasis on early detection and early intervention of serious health conditions. Initial focus areas include cancer screening, maternal wellbeing, and elder care.

Visit the PHEI site
Contribute to PHEI

Recent Graduates

The Magical Bridge Foundation creates the world's most inclusive playgrounds. After signing contracts with several bay area cities, the Magical Bridge Foundation spun out into an independent nonprofit. Similarly, the Belle Haven Action founders began working with UnaMesa to strengthen local, at risk communities. After several years serving the community and securing several contracts, Belle Haven Action spun off into an independent nonprofit.

Visit the Magical Bridge Foundation
Visit the Belle Haven Action site