Founder and CEO
Foster Skills is an award-winning social enterprise supported by Microsoft, Mayor Thomas Menino, AOL Co-Founder Steve Case, and the White House that develops innovations, like RateMyFosterHome.com, MyHome, and Got Skills Workforce Program, intended to help state governments improve the child welfare system.
In 2014, I led Foster Skills through reinvention; developed strategy, innovation and co-creation processes. I also designed and coded up the new website.
Led successful partnership development with FosterMore, Massachusetts Court of Improvement, and Clinton Global Initiative. Developed: statewide Foster Youth Handbook with Massachusetts Court of Improvement, which has been disseminated 8,000x; organized two social protest attended by Massachusetts politicians; drafted policies (One Judge, One Family); workforce program for foster kids with support Mayor Walsh, State Rep. Gloria Fox, State Street & Boston Children's Hospital.
Junior Product Manager
Case Commons is an award winning nonprofit tech startup founded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that is implementing user-centered design, data science, & technology to overhaul legacy enterprise child welfare systems. Although, we compete against IBM, CGI, our value proposition is we are the only COTS and SaaS. Our revenue is $25M. Developed: UX Inception-Invention; Case Commons: Business Model and Child Welfare Framework; Growth Hacking Strategy.
Advised: CEO on marketing use cases; Director of Product Management on change management; and Head of Data Science on analytical triggers and creating dashboards for supervisors. Helped to secure new clients, specifically California by helping with 1.3 billion RFI/RFP to overhaul legacy systems by leading product documentation efforts for internal and external stakeholders.
Associate
Beyond helping to write memos for President Obama, working with Supreme Court Justice's Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, and preparing Senior Advisor David Axelrod for Meet The Press, I maintained and updated the Recovery.gov website to visualize how much money was being apportioned to states, which led to the Presidential town halls in North Carolina and Virginia. ; and led White House efforts to stand up a series of online seminars for recipients of recovery act funding--public and private organizations--to adhere to reporting requirements by leveraging resources at White House New Media Office and Recovery Implementation Office. Vice President Biden touted the webinars.
Associate
Wefunder - a Paul Graham backed Y-Combinator startup - was founded by MIT Sloan and Techstars Alumnus. Wefunder helped to craft the Crowdfunding portion of the JOBS Act that President Obama signed into law. I reported to the Co-Founder and President Mike Norman. Performed technical backend quality assurance for ~20 clients’ investment platform profiles. Vetted ~300 startup companies in high tech, energy, consumer, social innovation, and environment spaces. Created videos with venture capitalists (Dave Balter, Eric Paley, Paul Singh, Jeffrey Bussgang, and Fred Wilson). Managed all external communications, including social media and helping our President write a blog on Convertible Notes and researching Reg. D.
Sr. Consultant
Wayfair LLC—formerly known as CSN Stores—is the largest e-retailer for the home and one of Forbes ‘America’s Most Promising Companies’. Was split between retail operations and corporate communications.
• Trained 15 new employees on new business development.• Had 34% CR and 60% NPS.
• Successfully piloted Agility Program that increased workforce management capabilities.
• Helped PR team secure 5+ Top 5 market media placements and TV spots (KCAL, KTLA, Rachel Ray) by pitching HGTV celebrities (Justin Cave and John Gidding).
Consultant
nuEX is Northeastern University's new venture incubator that was created to develop new business ideas, diversify revenue streams, and advance a new model of education that moves beyond traditional boundaries. My job was to advise the Vice President of Innovation.
Strategist
BlackStartup is a crowdfunding site geared towards finding funders for minority led startup businesses that was accepted in at Yale Entrepreneurship Institute. Our work was featured in VentureBeat, The Grio, JetMag, Savoy, and Yahoo Small Business.
Advisor
Infobitt.com is founded by Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia. Infobitt is the world's first crowdsourced news site focused on front page news. I am a strategy advisor.
Massachusetts Open Data Committee - Education
The Massachusetts Government Innovation Officer Tony Parham and DESE invited me to figure out creative ways to use Massachusetts Open Data with executives from IBM, Harvard Professors, and other developers. This led to the Mass EduData Challenge: Tech Teams Leverage Open Data to Enhance Educational Outcomes.
United States Conference of Mayors - Cities United Initiative
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter asked me to join his Cities United (see video) planning committee for the Youth Summit to bring awareness to minority youth crimes. I recruited speakers, secured technology to help track participants, contributed to brainstorms, and worked with fiscal sponsors (Casey Families and Knight Foundation).
Legal Assistant
Reported to Massachusetts Appeals Court Clerk Joseph Stanton Esq.. Had weekly discussions with judges and practiced framing the issues in civil and criminal cases. I also helped with the roll out of new digital docketing system, Forecourt Paragon. Observed sessions at the Superior, Appeals, and Federal Courts.
Staff Recruitment Coordinator
An education-focused nonprofit founded by two Harvard Law School graduates. Reported into SVP, Director of Talent Management, and Director of HRIS. Managed hiring process and talent management initiatives. Established partnership with New Sector.
Freelance Blogger
Published 24 pieces about entrepreneurship, big data, child welfare, policy, and sports, which have included input from MacArthur Foundation Fellow, HBS Rosabeth Moss Kanter, MIT Enterprise Forum Director Lesa Pearson, City Year Alan Khazei, Boston Mayor Walsh, Youth Villages CEO Patrick Lawler, graduates from Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. Here's a link to my pieces.
Guest Lecturer
Invited to give 20+ undergraduate honors and masters social entrepreneurship and policy courses. The three lectures that received the highest ratings: "Entrepreneurship in Human Services", "Crossing the Chasm in Mobile App Product Development," and "Design Thinking with Rapid Prototyping."
Senior Advisor
Advised:
- A startup that is revolutionizing the 1B interactive whiteboard industry by developing a board with liquid crystals that has a competitive advantage.
- Chief Scientist and CEO on raw materials cost-saving, go-to-market strategies, and product development cycle.
- Facilitated meetings with U.S. Patent Office Reviewers.
- Helped to developed feedback mechanisms and conducting competitive analyses.
Achieved: Won 1st place and ‘Fan Fave’ in Husky Startup Challenge Demo Day and was featured in engadget and news@Northeastern.
Young Leaders Council
As The Sports Museum continues to grow programmatically and financially, the organization knows it is important to add input and manpower from the next generation of Boston leaders.
I am one of 22 Young Leaders Council members who have a vested interest in seeing The Sports Museum’s education programs reach the next level of success. The primary focus of the Young Leaders Council is to oversee the management of Team Sports Museum at the 25th Anniversary Rodman Ride for Kids on Saturday, September 26, 2015.
The Executive Director of The Sports Museum is Yale and Harvard Law grad Rusty Sullivan.
SaaS & Mobile App for Child Welfare
Developed/ Designed/ Led Product Development:
- Theory of Change, Beneficiaries Table, Logic Model, and Logo Design
- Front-end web development with parallax scrolling (PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery).
- Mobile-app digital mockups, Web-based heroku application (Ruby Rails), iOS app.
Achievements:
• Invited to present to the Massachusetts CTO, GIO, CIO, Innovation Fellows, and folks at MassIT.
• Selected to participate in Clinton Global Initiative in Miami 2015.• Presented at Code for America's National #CodeAcross Hackathon.
• Yale University Grad Geoffrey Litt touted our product on his blog.
• The Case Foundation wrote a feature: "How 'Tech for Good' Is Disrupting The Foster Care System," which was reposted Mobile Alliance for Global Good.• Invited to present at Open Mind's Technology Institute.
• Presented at Leadership Council for Children's Services (Yahoo Finance).
• Cambridge City Councillor Candidate and Managing Director of Emerson University's Engagement Lab touted our civic tech product during her campaign.
• Presented the Vice President of Innovation at the Annie E. Casey Foundation Kathleen Feely.
• Received The Voqual Fellowship, which is a $30,000 award to bring your idea to life in 6 months.
• Submitted comment on new proposed State Automated Child Welfare System (SACWIS), here's link.
Eco-friendly Women's Fashion Apparel Startup
Developed:
- Financial Models, Projections, and Pricing Model.xlsx;
Achievements:
- Awarded 10,000+ in Gap Funding from Northeastern University; 10,000 in VC money.
- Featured in BostInno and Boston BizJournal.
SaaS & Mobile App for Primary (Health) Care Industry
Developed/ Designed:
- Logo, website, and business strategy (see: www.physiocare.io).
- Financial projections using a pro forma analysis.
- Mockups and wireframes for mobile iOS application and web-based app.
- Product and Experience Workflows and Feedback Mechanism
- Partnership Relationship Evaluation & Go-To-Market Strategy
Achievements:
• Presented to 100 health care providers, technologist, and entrepreneurs.
• Selected to join IDEA: Northeastern's University Venture Accelerator
• Awarded The New England Innovation Center's Health Care Disruptor To Watch Award in 2015.• Selected as a Stanford Entrepreneurship Fellowship.
California Citizen Services Emergency Notification App
Developed/ Designed:
- See GitHub Repository for code base.
- CA ADPQ Journey Final (see .pdf, here)
- Mockups / wireframes for mobile iOS application and web-based app.
- Conducted Stakeholder Analysis Interviews
Learning / Media:
- Attended a FEMA Emergency Management Course
- IBM Government Responds to Agile Challenge: How We Developed A Working Prototype in 3 weeks? (Huffington Post)
- IBM Government Responds to Agile Challenge: How We Developed A Working Prototype in 3 weeks? (IBM.com)
Achievements:
• IBM was selected / accepted into California's Agile Preferred Vendor Pool, which will allow them to bid on $100s of millions of dollars
Strategy Portfolio (Frameworks and Tools)
As an innovation consultant, I am always tweaking and developing new strategy frameworks:
- UX Quotient Framework
- Lean Rapid Prototyping Methodology (Based on Eric Reis's Lean Strategy)
- BIB Methdology
- Ideas Cubed + Business
- Customer-Centric Continuous Innovation (CCCI) Model
- Concept-To-Reality Matrix
Other ventures and projects:
Customized Search Engine for Foster Kids
Coded up a resource site, MyHome, answering foster youth's FAQs using PHP, JQuery, HTML, and CSS. The search engine is attached to a customized SQL database that runs off of keywords. Site is visited ~10,000 times/ yearly.
Virtual Reality Memory Palace for Health Students
Tufts Med and Cornell students worked with me to mock-up, code a virtual reality MVP.
- Developed Logo Design
- Pitched at Tufts MedStart.
- Polled ~150 health students; 90% said they would use our product.
StartingBloc's Rapid Prototyping Social Innovation Scrimmage
Led a team that used rapid prototyping to hack the foster care space. ReWork, Yesware, and StartingBloc put on a rapid prototyping scrimmage for social enterprises in Boston.
Developed:
- Financial product: Foster Card
- Revenue Generating Housing Complex: Recycle
- Social networking feature: Acorn
Video:
Microsoft Civic Tech Challenge
Concepted and coded up FundIt, which allowed Generation Citizen program participants to take their projects to the next level by finding dedicated, niche-specific funding streams through an aggregated search engine.
Developed:
- Front- and back-end feature for GC students to find fiscal opportunities to fund their civic projects
Achieved:
Honored as one of the top three civic tech participants and best in collaboration f
TEDxTeachersCollege
Theme: Agents of Change
As a TEDx speaker, I shared my secret method on how to use entrepreneurship and change the world. Other speakers included: Forbes 30 Under 30 Law & Policy Winner Lauren Burke and KIPP Director Leyla Bravo-Willey.
Boston Neighborhood Network
City Councillor Tito Jackson and I appeared on BNN to discuss foster placements.
TEDxNortheasternU
As a TEDx speaker, I shared my recipe on how to start a social venture and gain traction. Other speakers included: Chairman of Boloco and CEO of Smart Lunches (and former CEO of Yankee Candle).
United Way Youth Venture
Keynote for United Way Youth Venture Kick-Off, which is part of Ashoka as well. See link here: http://www.uwyv.org/In_the_News.php.
Seminar: Why don't we care about all kids?
Gave a talk to senior management at Harvard University's Teaching Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital. Daniel Pink, Dr. Robert Sutton, and many more prestigious researchers, scientists, and business leaders have given a talk on this medium. I am the youngest whom was invited to give this talk. Here's the link management grand rounds site.
Georgia GovTech Summit
Sat on a panel to discuss Blockchain 101. Was asked to give a 15-minute education session on what Blockchain is and isn't.
Hong Kong Social Enterprise Summit
Invited to speak at International Social Enterprise Summit on future of social entrepreneurship.
Harvard Law School Workshop: How to Build a Social Enterprise?
Presented to 30+ Harvard--JD, LLM, and Masters--students on how to build a social enterprise via developing a competitive advantage, market segmentation, and rapid prototyping.
Harvard Medical School Primary Care Innovations Conference
Presented Physiocare.io's poster board on 'Preventative Primary Care. Also, sat in on sessions about care plans and how technology is being used to improve care planning.
Plenary Speaker
Alan Khazei founded Opportunity Nation. I spoke about my own personal story of opportunity and received the only standing ovation amongst a list of socialites (Governor Patrick, Fareed Zakaria, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Michael Bennett, and Serena Williams). As a result, my talk appeared on Reuters. Here's the link: http://reut.rs/1mN42WX.
Open Minds Technology Executive Institute
Invited to present on child welfare technologies--RateMyFosterHome.Com and MyHome--at an executive Institute on Health and Human Services.
Radio Speaker Series
"Angie Austin is the former morning show host and weather anchor for KWGN-TV Denver and current host of The Good News with Angie Austin heard on the Crawford Broadcasting stations in Denver, Colorado. Austin has also anchored weather on NBC4 in Los Angeles, KEYT Santa Barbara, and was the FOX News-San Diego morning show host."
Keynote Speaker
The President of the METCO Scholarship Committee invited me to be the keynote speaker for the graduation. Previous speakers were Governor Deval Patrick, NESN's Liz Walker, and VP of Walgreens Steve Pemberton. I received a double standing ovation.
Social Innovation Panelist
Barclay's sponored the social innovation panel at the Reaching Out MBA conference. I spoke on a panel with the Executive Director of Boston Cares Patrice Keegan and Wendy Foster, President & CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay. Jessica Friesen of Boston University School of Management Moderated the Panel.
Technology in Child Welfare
The Leadership Council for Children's Services is a network of industry leaders dedicated to supporting the sustainability of organizations providing children’s services. President to Executives of children’s services organizations that seeking to learn about new technologies in the child welfare space.
Lenovo and NAF Kick-Off
Presented at Largest Single Lenovo-Hosted Volunteer STEM Event in U.S. See press release, here.
Citi T4I Awards @ IMF
Co-Design Quantified UX
Blockchain 101 - NC GovTech
Gave a Blockchain 101 at the North Carolina Digital Government Summit. See link to powerpoint presentation, here.
McKinsey Agility Hackathon
Tied for 1st in the McKinsey Agility Hackathon.
City of Boston Foster Care Rally
Presentation on Global Skills Crisis to Danish Ministry of Finance
Presentation to Columbia School of Social Work Management Caucus
"Marquis - you are talented, incredible, and one of a kind. The way your mind works is incredible. Everyone I have met who knows you, says you're incredible. I appreciate all of your help on my campaign. You are going to change the world." - City Year Co-Founder and Massachusetts Senate Candidate Alan Khazei
"Maybe it’s time that we begin marking Black History Month by celebrating the ongoing accomplishments of people like Cabrera, rather than just replaying the same old collection of profiles on nice people doing nice things in memory of the MLKs and the Harriet Tubmans of the world.”
- James Burnett, Reporter at The Boston Globe
"During my many years as the Vice President of Human Potential (HP) for City Year Inc., I have worked with countless talented and dedicated corps members and young professionals. Marquis stands out as an individual with immense ambition and ability. I was struck by his maturity, "can-do" attitude, perseverance, multi-tasking skills, emotional intelligence, and thirst for knowledge. Marquis is a quick study and a highly adaptable young man. In his time here, he effectively worked under three different supervisors with different managerial styles. He is a savvy networker and natural leader. His role required him to build trust and strong working relationships with various staff members both at Headquarters and at our 18 sites across the country. Marquis was able to understand and navigate the structures and systems in such a way so as to inspire confidence and cooperation from staff members who have been here for years."
- Nancy Routh, Senior Vice President at City Year
"Tireless, determined, smart, courageous, innovative. These are the first five of a great many descriptors that come to mind when I think of Marquis Cabrera. During the past three years, I have watched as Marquis created a successful nonprofit, mentored students, colleagues and allies in policy making, and become a respected champion for foster children in Massachusetts. We've often talked about his future, the boundaries of which don't exist. Given Marquis' intelligence, work ethic, and charisma, he will succeed at every endeavor and challenge that he takes on. This is a young man who will make a difference in the world, a fact that cannot be doubted. Just look at what he has already accomplished."
Dr. Greg Goodale, JD, PhD, Tenured Professor at Northeastern University
"The qualities that stood out were Marquis' ability to adapt to fast-moving and flexible culture; he was always willing to step up and play whatever role was needed, especially when crises arose. Marquis also helped design the program; he was a wonderful sounding board for ideas about how to make our services of higher quality, more integrated in the community, and serving more youth."
- Phillip Steigman, Development Officer at College Bound"He's the brightest student Middletown High School has ever had walk through its doors."
Dr. Kenneth Eastwood, Superintendent, Enlarged City School District Superintendent
"Marquis is the best student I have ever had sit in an undergraduate classroom. He's a sharp and quick thinker who has one of the most interesting minds.
Krista Larsen, JD, Professor, Northeastern University
"Marquis is a natural leader. He is a mentor, coach, motivator, and teacher; he inspires his team to do their best by example. Whatever he brings out in others, he demands from himself tenfold. Marquis is always the first one up and working and the last one to bed; he is absolutely tireless and passionate about his mission. Marquis is constantly learning and improving, and I can't imagine a realistic situation in which he wouldn't be able to persevere and excel. I can't recommend Marquis enough."
- Eddie Vaisman, Data Scientist (and 1st employee) at Cens.io
"During his time here at Middletown High School, Marquis was the cadet commanding officer of our Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) Program and was a most positive influence on his classmates. I am pleased to say that Marquis has kept in touch and that over the years I have been able to observe not only his personal growth, but his academic performance and his leadership potential as well. While his accomplishments are noteworthy and speak for themselves, they alone would not earn him my recommendation. During a twenty-plus year naval career I served in numerous operational billets including two command tours; in other billets I served at the Pentagon and taught at the Naval War College. I have watched Marquis develop as a citizens and am happy to say that he is well-respected by his peers and is particularly effective as a leader—as his accomplishments make very obvious. He is level-headed, self-possessed, and a standout in a most positive way."
Commander Andrew Wall, United States Navy (Ret.)
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