Graham Andrew Dugoni (born November 24, 1986) is an American entrepreneur and former professional soccer player who is the founder of Yondr, a company that pioneered the concept of phone-free spaces with its sealed pouches.

Early life and career

Dugoni was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in 2009. He worked at a ranch in Wyoming during the summer, where he got a foot injury that kept him from playing soccer for a while. He later taught English in Vietnam and worked in finance in Portland and Atlanta.

Career

College and amateur

Dugoni attended Jesuit High School, where he played both soccer and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

(as a placekicker). He was a member of the 2004 NSCAA Youth and EA Sports All-America teams, was named to the All-Star team at the prestigious adidas Elite Soccer Program (ESP), and was a member of the Region IV Olympic Development Program and Super-Y Regional Olympic Development Program teams before going in to play four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

. He played 56 games in his career, tallying three goals and an assists for seven points. During his college years Dugoni also played with

Portland Timbers U23s Capital FC is an American soccer team based in Salem, Oregon, United States. Although founded in 2008 as part of the development system for the Portland Timbers USSF D2 organization, beginning in 2011 they were part of the development system ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

, helping them win the PDL National Championship in 2010.

Professional

Dugoni turned professional in 2010 when he signed for Norwegian club

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...

of the

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

. He made his professional debut, and scored his first professional goal, on November 7, 2010, in a game against

Nybergsund Nybergsund is a village in the municipality of Trysil in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located about south of the village of Innbygda which is the municipal centre of Trysil. The village is best known for serving as a hiding place for the Norw ...

. Dugoni returned to the United States in 2011. After impressing at open tryouts, Dugoni was invited into camp by

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

of the

USL Professional Division The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, and played in the Carolina Challenge Cup. He signed for the team on March 23, 2011.

Yondr

Dugoni founded Yondr in 2014 after attending

Treasure Island Music Festival Treasure Island Music Festival is an annual two-day music festival. Prior to 2018, the festival took place on Treasure Island, California, located in the San Francisco Bay. In 2018, the festival moved to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, located in O ...

in 2012 and witnessing a drunk concertgoer being recorded by onlookers without his permission. Dugoni started questioning modern technology's impact on freedom of expression and starting researching

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

, and the

philosophy of technology The philosophy of technology is a sub-field of philosophy that studies the nature of technology and its social effects. Philosophical discussion of questions relating to technology (or its Greek ancestor ''techne'') dates back to the very dawn of ...

. After experimenting with several options, he designed the Yondr pouch, which has a magnetic security tag that can be unlocked with a proprietary device. Dugoni later visited schools around San Francisco to promote the pouch. Since the invention of this pouch, many artists, school districts and even courthouses have utilized it.

References

External links

*
Duke bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dugoni, Graham 1986 births Living people Soccer players from Portland, Oregon Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Capital FC players Mjøndalen IF Fotball players Charleston Battery players USL League Two players USL Championship players Men's association football defenders American soccer players American businesspeople American inventors American people of Italian descent