Twitter Co-Founder Pushes New Effort to Use Technology for Social Good

The Twitter co-founder Biz Stone will announce that he is joining forces with a nonprofit technology group to start ConvergeUS, a charity that seeks to combat social problems with new technology.

The nonprofit’s goal is to make resources of large technology companies more available to nonprofit, academic, and government organizations, said Rey Ramsey, chief executive of TechNet, who said he approached Mr. Stone to work with his group. While ConvergeUS filed for nonprofit status in spring 2010, Mr. Ramsey said the past year has been spent preparing and planning. He said he considers this evening’s debut at a Washington event an opportunity for the organization to begin its mission in earnest. ConvergeUS will pick three causes to focus on each year, collaborate with nonprofits working on the cause, and then go to work finding ways technology can help. ConvergeUS will work closely with TechNet -- whose members include companies like Apple, Dell, Google, Facebook, and Yahoo -- to find the right tech companies to fulfill the chosen causes’ needs through technology.