By Cynthia Lo, Skills-Based Volunteering Program Manager & Mobile Pathways Advisory Board
I have always been interested in human rights and creating social impact within the corporate world. After completing my Bachelor of Arts, Honors Arts and Business at the University of Waterloo, I then completed my Master’s in Human Rights from the University of London. I am a strong supporter of the United Nations’ Sustainability Goals 10.7, "to facilitate orderly, safe, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.”
I was born in Hong Kong and currently live in Toronto Canada. Immigration rights are important to me because of the struggles and challenges that both my family and close colleagues have endured.
I am working to move the issue of human rights forward by connecting corporations and showing them how they can contribute to the cause.
I work as a Program Manager at GitHub where I lead the Skills-based Volunteering Program (SBV) and serve on the social impact team. I am also a member of Mobile Pathways’ Board of Advisors where I have been able to expand my reach in the human rights social sector.
Through GitHub’s Tech for Social Good portfolio of programs, my colleagues and I are able to work with social sector organizations to support and strengthen their tech solutions in public health, international development, racial equity, and more. GitHub created its SBV program to better support those organizations, and to also connect with partners to scope out tech projects, virtual projects, volunteers, and future partners.
GitHub recently worked with Mobile Pathways to develop a skills-based volunteering project to complete data analysis and create data visualization pertaining to important migrant and immigrant rights. The project helped Mobile Pathways better assist immigrants so they can receive fair access to justice and gain legal support through technology.
I see Mobile Pathways as one of the many organizations that leverages the type of tech that is accessible for individuals that need it. Since Mobile Pathways’ technology is mobile device/SMS accessible, it’s not overly technical and doesn’t require a "techy" background.
My role on the Mobile Pathways’ advisory board is an opportunity to provide more strategic guidance from my experiences working in the social impact sector and particularly in a tech company. In addition to that work, I also serve on a board for educational programs for young girls learning coding skills. When not working, I enjoy the outdoors and have previously scuba dived in Western Canada, Spain, and Iceland.
