Author of This Little World: A How-To Guide for Social Innovators (Routledge, 2024), Shelly Cano Kurtz is a social entrepreneur and consultant who has founded numerous social innovation organizations and initiatives, including a social impact incubator, an evidence management solution for nonprofits and government agencies, and a data insights platform for entrepreneurs who are creating public interest technology. She is also an advisor for Concordia, a bi-partisan organization dedicated to building cross-sector partnerships, and the Center for Workforce Inclusion, a nonprofit focused on workforce development for older Americans. Kurtz has been involved in over 200 go-to-market campaigns and regularly serves as a mentor for social innovators in the U.S.
Shelly Kurtz is the Founder and Principal of Eagle Pointe Advisors, supporting philanthropies, nonprofits, and social impact organizations as a strategic CXO. Kurtz co-founded Giving Tech Labs, an innovation center for Technology for the Public Interest (Tech4PI), x4i.org, a market intelligence platform for social innovation organized by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and VidaNyx, a digital evidence SaaS platform.
Recipient of over 50 industry awards, she is an experienced Sales & Marketing Executive for Tech Startups and Fortune 500 companies, including NBCUniversal, Comcast, Make.TV (acquired by LTN Global), Giving Compass and VidaNyx. Her last venture was recognized by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea. She is on the board of directors of VidaNyx, Inc., a company she co-founded in 2018 to protect child survivors of abuse. Today, it is the leading digital evidence management system in use by 11,000 government and nonprofit agencies across the US protecting over 200,000 survivors. Shelly is also an advisor to solo entrepreneurs, start-up ventures and impact organizations, while supporting women and young people with career coaching and mentorship.
The daughter of a Cuban immigrant, Kurtz is a first-generation college graduate and received her degree from Pacific Lutheran University. Kurtz lives in Gig Harbor, WA, with her husband, two children, and an English Cream golden retriever.
