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Karl Kleissner

email
charly@kleissner.com
web site
www.klfelicitasfoundation.org
network map[network map]
personal story
Dr. Charly Kleissner is a philanthropic entrepreneur utilizing his high technology background in his venture philanthropy. Together with his wife Lisa he co-founded KL Felicitas Foundation (www.klfelicitasfoundation.org) which focuses on enabling social entrepreneurs, empowering rural communities, and advocating a sustainability, mission, and social investment strategy.

Dr. Kleissner is also co-founder of the Social-Impact initiative (www.social-impact.org) helping social entrepreneurs worldwide to accelerate and increase their social impact. Dr. Kleissner serves on the Advisory Board of multiple not-for-profit companies like Acumen Fund, Global Social Benefit Incubator, and Global Philanthropy Forum.

Dr. Kleissner is supporting multiple social venture and micro financing funds committed to double and triple bottom line returns. He is on the Advisory Council of MicroVest and Acumen Capital Market I.

Dr. Kleissner has over twenty years of experience as a senior technology executive in Silicon Valley. He held executive and senior engineering management positions at Ariba Inc., RightPoint, NeXT Software Inc., Digital Equipment Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Company.

Dr. Kleissner is now focusing on breaking down the barrier between the for-profit sector and the not-for-profit sector by creating social enterprises as hybrid business structures, insisting that both vehicles can be effective for achieving social change.

Dr. Kleissner is taking an entrepreneurial approach towards philanthropy by adhering to the following three strategic imperatives: First, a leveraged and holistic investment strategy including sustainability, mission, and social investments. Second, a venture based strategic portfolio approach focused on results and metrics by investing not only financial resources, but also time, know-how and access to networks. Third, an innovative and high risk approach focused on cross-sector partnerships, hybrid business models, and early stage opportunities.

Dr. Kleissner is teaching workshops and seminars about social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial leadership, social enterprises, and hybrid business models and financing structures.

Dr. Kleissner earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science specializing in distributed databases from the University of Technology, Vienna. He authored two software patents and published numerous articles. In 2004, Dr. Kleissner received the ‘Distinguished Alumnus’ award from the University of Technology, Vienna.