Ruben Harris is a Bay Area transplant from Atlanta, Georgia where he served as an Advisor for Forge and organized Atlanta’s first Healthcare Hackathon. Over the past couple of years, Ruben has worked with academics, organizers, and union leaders at Honor and AltSchool focused on improving healthcare and education. Ruben began his technology career working in Partnerships and Sales after writing a viral blog post called Breaking Into Startups about how he moved to San Francisco without a job and landed a position 3 weeks later. After receiving thousands of emails asking how to break into tech, Ruben co-founded the Breaking Into Startups Podcast to demystify the process, resulting in a social media reach of ~3 million people, 100,000+ downloads, 10,000+ website visits per month, over 100+ reviews on iTunes, a Facebook Community of 8,000+ people, invitations to be a Contributor for TechCrunch and Black Enterprise, and a network that includes the most powerful CEOs, Venture Capitalists, and talent in Silicon Valley.

Prior to working in tech, Ruben worked as an Investment Banker focused on Food, Consumer, and Retail companies in Chicago and Atlanta. As a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, he recruited others to focus on issues related to food security, climate change, and agriculture. In 2010, Ruben worked on operational improvements for Senior Living Communities after completing a double major in Business Administration and Music.
During college, Ruben organized 50+ events for nonprofits, athletes, and celebrities including Tyrese, Kim Kardashian, and Jay-Z. Ruben has been playing the cello for ~25 years, has taught music, and has performed in venues all over the world – including Carnegie Hall – and landed placements from Def Jam. He is also an active member of the NAACP.