Mario Morino

Mario Morino is chairman of the Morino Institute and co-founder of Venture Philanthropy Partners. His career spans more than 45 years as entrepreneur, technologist, and civic and business leader. He is the primary author of the book Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity (2011), which is informing efforts in more than 60 countries to increase the impact of nonprofits, foundations, and public-sector entities. In the early 1970s, Mario co-founded and helped build the Legent Corporation, a software and services firm that became a market leader and one of the industry’s 10 largest firms by the early 1990s. He retired from the private sector in 1992. Since then, he has sought to “level the playing field” for children of low-income families focusing almost exclusively on economic, social, and educational issues. Mario founded the Morino Institute in 1994 to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, advance a more effective philanthropy, close social divides, and understand the relationship and impact of the Internet on our society. In 2000, Mario co-founded Venture Philanthropy Partners as a philanthropic investment organization that concentrates investments of money, expertise, and contacts to improve the lives and boost the opportunities of children of low- income families in the National Capital Region.