Nonprofit Technology Bio

Maxwell Pearl (previously Michelle Murrain) received his B.A. in Natural Science and Mathematics from Bennington College, and his Ph.D. in Biology from Case Western Reserve University. He was an HIV/AIDS educator and advocate in the early part of the HIV epidemic in Cleveland, OH, and was part of training hotline workers that staffed the first statewide HIV/AIDS Information hotline. Max taught at Hampshire College from 1989 through 1999, as Assistant and Associate Professor of Biology. He conducted studies primarily on the AIDS epidemic, particularly as it affected women and people of color. He was also involved in AIDS education and advocacy during the first half of the 1990s. He was involved in several grant-funded projects to enhance in-service science education for educators in the region, particularly in terms of use of technology in the classroom. He helped organize two conferences on technology in education, in 1998 and 1999.

In 1995, Max started a consulting practice that served the non-profit and educational sectors, primarily in the areas of developing database-driven web-sites, the implementation of Open Source software, and strategic technology planning. He was a nationally recognized leader in the nonprofit technology field. He was on the steering committee of the Non Profit Open Source Initiative (NOSI), and was a member of the boards of NTEN, the Nonprofit Technology Network, and of Aspiration, an organization that fosters software development in the nonprofit/NGO sector. Max has written many articles and reports for scholarly journals, educational and nonprofit audiences, and the public.

Max lives and works in Northern California.