Mario Morino, a former software entrepreneur, is chairman of the Morino Institute, chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), and a special partner with General Atlantic Partners.

Since its inception in 1994, the Morino Institute has worked to find ways to support and enhance the lives of young people from low-income families. Because it is impossible to make fundamental change without addressing the larger social and economic context, Mario and the institute have sought to understand the forces in these young people’s lives, with particular emphasis on opportunities and challenges presented by new waves of technological innovation, wealth creation, and the accelerating transfer of responsibility for social-service delivery from government to the nonprofit sector.

To advance the Morino Institute’s mission, Mario joined forces in 2000 with a host of nonprofit and commercial leaders and launched VPP, with a goal of making capital available for helping established community-based organizations grow in scale and effectiveness. Once formed, VPP was incubated by the Morino Institute, which continues to provide operating capital, management assistance, and significant professional resources to VPP.  To date, VPP’s generous investors have committed in excess of $30 million, and these funds are now being invested in some of the region’s most promising nonprofit organizations that serve children and families. Under Mario’s leadership, VPP hopes to inspire philanthropists, corporate and nonprofit leaders, and public policymakers to help increase the effectiveness and the flow of capital, talent, and other resources to nonprofit organizations showing the greatest potential for improving the lives of children.

Simultaneously, Mario serves as a special partner with General Atlantic Partners, LLC, a global private equity investment firm focused on information technology, process outsourcing, and communications. Mario has been affiliated with General Atlantic since 1983, when his software firm, then called Morino Associates, became General Atlantic’s second investment. Since the late 1990s, he has served as an advisor to General Atlantic’s managing partner, Steve Denning, in matters related to overall strategy, and he has supported General Atlantic with its portfolio companies and its investment activities worldwide. In this capacity, Mario currently serves as a member of the board of the directors of Ai Metrix.

Mario also serves as a trustee of Case Western Reserve University (his alma mater), The Brookings Institution, and The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management-The Goldman Sachs Foundation Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures.

Mario’s honors and awards include: KPMG and Washington Techway’s Tech Legend Award (2002), induction into the Washington Business Hall of Fame (2001), National Ernst and Young Supporter of Entrepreneurship (2000), Washingtonian magazine’s Washingtonian of the Year (1999), American Academy of Achievement’s Golden Plate Award (1999), Greater Washington Area Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (1998), and KPMG High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year (1993).

Prior to establishing the Morino Institute, Mario enjoyed a 30-year career in the information technology industry during its developing years. In 1973, he co-founded the software firm Morino Associates, which merged with another firm in 1989 to become LEGENT Corporation. LEGENT was acquired in 1995 in what was then the largest transaction in the computer software and services industry.

Mario lives in Cleveland, OH, with his wife and three children and frequently commutes to the Washington, DC, area.