Jim Fruchterman founded the innovative nonprofit organization Benetech in 2000. Since then, two of Benetech’s major projects, Bookshare.org and Martus, have been launched independently.

While starting two successful technology companies, Jim became increasingly frustrated that ideas for socially beneficial technology applications were dropped when huge financial returns weren’t attainable. Jim forged a vision: to show the technology community how to bridge the gap between possibility and profitability to serve disadvantaged communities, bringing tools to the people who need them most.

With this in mind, he launched Benetech in 2000 and used the nonprofit to launch two separate initiatives. The first, Bookshare.org, has become the world’s largest online library of books (more than 15,000 in all) for people with disabilities. The second, Martus, is a technology that enables human rights workers to securely collect and disseminate information on violations, helping activists fight injustice in 50 countries.

Jim is a serial entrepreneur and serial social entrepreneur. In 1989, he founded a nonprofit, Arkenstone, that became the world’s largest provider of reading systems for individuals with disabilities, serving 35,000 individuals in 60 countries. He used all proceeds from the sale of Arkenstone’s operations to launch Benetech.

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