Tara L. Lemméy ( ) is an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

expert, and innovation strategist. She is CEO and founder of LENS Ventures, an innovation and investment firm based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Lemméy was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2013 by

Fast Company (magazine) ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

and one of the MCP 1000: The Most Creative People in Business. She is an inventor with over seventy US and international utility and design

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

Innovation and economic policy

Lemméy is a member of Rework America, the Markle Economic Future Initiative created by the

Markle Foundation Markle Foundation is a New York-based private foundation established in 1927 by American industrialist / financier John Markle and his wife, Mary. Its focus is technology, health care, and national security. History Formally incorporated on Apr ...

to invent new strategies and scalable solutions for jobs, broad participation in economic prosperity, economic security and growth in America. Lemméy is a co-author of ''America’s Moment. Creating Opportunity in the Connected Age'' (2015), a book by Rework America. Lemméy has spoken on

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environme ...

and

innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

— at DO USA, Techonomy, TED India, Fortune Brainstorm Tech, Future in Review, Digital Media and Learning Conference, and has been published in

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

, and the

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...

. Lemméy is CEO and Founder of LENS, an innovation and investment firm that works with institutions in creating next markets. She was an early advisor to

Nest Labs Google Nest is a line of smart home products including smart speakers, smart displays, streaming devices, thermostats, smoke detectors, routers and security systems including smart doorbells, cameras and smart locks. The Nest brand name was ...

and CEO

Tony Fadell Anthony Michael Fadell (born March 22, 1969) is an American engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor. He was senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple Inc. and founder and former CEO of Nest Labs. Fadell joined Apple Inc. in 20 ...

, led the strategy for

Ribbit Ribbit may refer to: * Onomatopoeia for the sound that a frog makes. * Ribbit (Pillow Pal), a plush toy frog made by Ty, Inc. * Ribbit (telecommunications company), a telecommunications company based in Mountain View, California, acquired by BT Gr ...

acquired by

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

, and served on the board of Discovery Mining acquired by

Interwoven ''Interwoven'' is a 2016 American drama film directed by V.W. Scheich and starring Mo'Nique, Myles Cranford, Jon Eiswerth and Brooke Burgstahler. Cast *Mo'Nique Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known professionally ...

, now part of HP. Lemméy was CEO and founder of Net Power & Light, a developer of patented technology for high-fidelity video collaboration and live experiences in sports, entertainment, education, and healthcare. Lemméy was profiled in ''The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion'' (

John Hagel III John Hagel (or John Hagel III) is a management consultant and author. Hagel has spent over 40 years in Silicon Valley. He is the founder of two technology startups and served as the Senior Vice President for Strategic Planning at Atari, Inc. He s ...

John Seely Brown John Seely Brown (born 1940), also known as "JSB", is an American researcher who specializes in organizational studies with a particular bend towards the organizational implications of computer-supported activities. Brown served as Director of Xer ...

and

Lang Davison Lang may refer to: *Lang (surname), a surname of independent Germanic or Chinese origin Places * Lang Island (Antarctica), East Antarctica * Lang Nunatak, Antarctica * Lang Sound, Antarctica * Lang Park, a stadium in Brisbane, Australia * Lang, ...

), in 2010 (

Bloomberg BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

). She is a regular participant at the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

, contributing to "Solving the Dilbert Paradox" a report from the Aspen Round Table on Talent Development''.'' She was the Founding Chair of Policy, Law & Ethics at

Singularity University Singularity Education Group (using the public names Singularity Group, Singularity University or SingularityU) is an American company that offers executive educational programs, a business incubator, and business consultancy services. Although ...

and has been a visiting lecturer at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

, Columbia, and

U.C. Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

National security, technology and privacy

Lemméy served as a co-chair of the Technology Working Group on the

's Task Force on National Security in the Information Age and was the lead architect of the SHARE information environment recommendation which became the ISE, the new way of information sharing for the intelligence and national security community post 9/11. Lemméy was on the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

Privacy Advisory Committee, which provides external expert advice to the Department's Secretary and the Chief Privacy Officer on matters relating to

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

preservation in relation to

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

improvements. Earlier, Lemméy was President of the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...

and was a member of the founding board of

TRUSTe TrustArc (formerly TRUSTe) is a privacy compliance technology company based in San Francisco, California. The company provides software and services to help corporations update their privacy management processes so they comply with government laws a ...

Public diplomacy

Lemméy has collaborated with the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

on public diplomacy and outreach programs around the world with her speaking tours on entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth, most recently in Switzerland and Turkey. In 2009 she was part of the

U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

's Technology Delegation to Mexico, which explored ways for U.S. technology companies to support Mexican citizens’ resistance against the country's drug cartels. In 2010 she was a delegate to the

White House Council on Women and Girls The White House Council on Women and Girls was an advisory council within the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs of the Executive Office of the President of the United States. It was established by on March 11, 2009, with a broad mandate to advi ...

Women's Entrepreneurship Conference, which was formed to address critical challenges and opportunities and identify public policy initiatives needed to move the women's business agendas forward. Previously, Lemméy was a Commissioner on the Embassy of the Future Task Force at the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

as the "Ambassador from

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...

" contributing to the commission's Report that provided key recommendations for making the diplomatic pursuit of U.S. interests abroad more effective in the 21st century.

Future of learning and higher education

Lemméy created DGREE.ORG — an initiative funded by the

Lumina Foundation Lumina Foundation is a private, Indianapolis-based foundation with about $1.4 billion in assets. Since its founding in August 2000, Lumina has made grants totaling more than $250 million. History Lumina Foundation is a conversion foundation crea ...

to envision the future of higher education and exploring how technology and innovation can drive new models for student-centered, lifetime learning. In 2010 Lemméy hosted the DGREE Summit which brought together business leaders, venture capitalists, education foundations, and university leaders and accreditors to focus on student-centric learning in a sustainable educational ecosystem. Lemméy has collaborated with

Professor

Michael Sandel Michael Joseph Sandel (; born March 5, 1953) is an American political philosophy, political philosopher and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory at Harvard University Law School, where his course Justice was the unive ...

to create a Global Classroom to pioneer the use of mobile technology and mobile video for global live debates about justice, rights, and democracy. The series of live experiences in the fall semester of 2012 brought together students of Sandel's course Justice with those in China, India, Japan and Brazil, featuring a guest appearance by philosopher

Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, ...

joining the Harvard audience in

Sanders Theater Memorial Hall, immediately north of Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is an imposing High Victorian Gothic building honoring Harvard men's sacrifices in defense of the Union during the American Civil War"a symbol of Boston's commitment ...

live from New York. The video recordings of the Global Classroom experiment were featured in Sandel's EdX

massive open online course A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, m ...

in 2013. The Global Classroom experiment was covered by the BBC,

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

and was recognized by ComputerWorld's 2013 Honors award program.

Health and integrative medicine

Lemméy is part of the leadership team at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, with her role at the Center focused on innovation. Lemméy has collaborated with

Andrew Weil Andrew Thomas Weil (, born June 8, 1942) is an American celebrity doctor who advocates for alternative medicine including the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Early life and education Early years Andrew Thomas Weil was born in Philadelphia on June 8 ...

and Victoria Maizes on Public Forum on nutrition and health, part of the center's annual Nutrition and Health Conference. Lemméy moderated the Public Forum on “Food and Health: Public Policy and Personal Choice” with Weil,

Robert Lustig Robert H. Lustig (born 1957) is an American pediatric endocrinologist. He is Professor emeritus of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he specialized in neuroendocrinology and ...

and

Michael Pollan Michael Kevin Pollan (; born February 6, 1955) is an American author and journalist, who is currently Professor of the Practice Non-Fiction and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professo ...

, held in 2011 in San Francisco.

Awards and honors

* Fast Company MCP 1000: Most Creative People in Business * Fast Company 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2013 * 2013 ComputerWorld Honors Laureates (Mobile Access)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemmey, Tara Living people 21st-century American inventors American designers American technology company founders American technology chief executives American women chief executives American women company founders American educators Business speakers Women inventors American venture capitalists American women investors Private equity and venture capital investors Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American businesswomen