DON LISTWIN

TECHNOLOGY INVESTOR, CEO, PHILANTHROPIST

I have 35+ years in the technology industry, built a successful tech career at Cisco (#2 executive), been the CEO of a public company, invested in several other leading technology companies, and founded the Canary Foundation in 2004 to focus on early cancer technology. I currently serve on nine boards, am the CEO of RapidAI, and also serve as a technology partner at Sequoia Capital and Rally Ventures.

Don Listwin

With a focus on developing networking and data center technologies for the Internet, I began my career in 1980 at Develcon in Canada, marketing data switching technology for the mini-computer era. In the mid-1980s, I relocated to Silicon Valley and joined Cisco Systems in 1990. During a 10-year tenure at Cisco, I built the IBM business unit, the Access business unit, and the Service Provider line of business —overseeing business totaling more than $12 billion in annual revenue. In 2000, I became CEO of Openwave, which invented much of the early mobile Internet technology.

After 25 years of senior leadership operating experience, I founded the Canary Foundation in 2004 and dedicated myself to philanthropic work in science and technology for the early detection of cancer. The Canary Foundation is the world’s first non-profit organization focused solely on the funding, discovery, and development of tests for early cancer detection. I continue to be deeply involved with other cancer-related organizations. In 2009, I was appointed to the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisors. I am a member of the Stanford Advisory Board for the Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection at Stanford and in 2018 I was honored to be awarded the Dean's Medal—the highest honor bestowed by the School of Medicine to individuals whose contributions have significantly advanced the mission of Stanford Medicine. I am also a consulting professor at Stanford University.

In 2018, I joined RapidAI as CEO. RapidAI is the worldwide leader in cerebrovascular imaging analysis, delivering the proven software tools that healthcare professionals around the world use to successfully identify and treat more stroke patients than ever before.

I live part-time in Belize where I scuba dive daily and work on restoring and protecting the barrier reef. In 2010, my wife and I built the non-profit BelizeKids.org to support local community and education initiatives and have created a partnership with Stanford to deliver eye care for the local community.

A native of Canada, I hold a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada where I continue to actively support student entrepreneurs.

Current Boards
Current Boards

BelizeKids • Canary Foundation (Founder & Chairman) • AwareX • Calix • D-wave • POET Technologies • RapidAI • Robin Systems • Teradici

CEO Experience
Notable Boards
Previous Boards

EXPANDING, POSITIONING, LEADING
Public Health

President and CEO of RapidAI

rapid-ai

Since 2018, I have been leading an experienced group of neurologists, radiologists, and technologists to expand the business five-fold, positioning RapidAI among the biggest public health improvements in the last decade. RapidAI is redefining stroke care, empowering physicians to push boundaries and improvement outcomes. As the leader in brain imaging analysis, we are advancing stroke care and helping healthcare professionals save more lives.

TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
For New Technologies

My investments range from seed through sizable stakes in public entities.

I like helping to solve technology and market development problems. As an engineer and entrepreneur, I think just about any problem can be fixed with the right amount of leadership, intellect, and time. I believe in a systematic approach that involves many disciplines collaborating to share information and working together around the world to give an edge. This is how we do groundbreaking work bringing new products to market.

Seed
Seed


Zededa is a new distributed IOT platform

UberFlip is a next-generation marketing engagement platform

Private
Venture
Public
Philanthropic

NOVEL PROJECTS
For Community Development

BIG EVENTS
Creating Awareness and Driving Impact

NETAID was an anti-poverty initiative that started as a joint venture between the United Nations Development Programme and Cisco Systems with a concert event in 1999 and included simultaneous activities harnessing the power of the internet to raise awareness and money for an international coalition in 40+ countries.

netaid
sjgp

SAN JOSE GRAND PRIX was an annual street circuit race in the Champ Car World Series in San Jose, California. The race had three different title sponsors over the course of its three-year existence, bringing awareness to Canary Foundation and the importance of early cancer detection.

BIG IDEA
Advancing Early Cancer Detection Through Groundbreaking Discoveries

CANARY FOUNDATION was founded in 2004 as the world’s first non-profit organization dedicated solely to the funding, discovery, and development of tests for cancer early detection. With a collaborative approach, we’ve moved faster than science typically moves, from theory to tractable problem to clinical use in many cancer areas.

canary-foundation
canary-center

CANARY CENTER AT STANFORD FOR CANCER EARLY DETECTION is a world-class research facility with a mission to discover and implement minimally invasive diagnostic and imaging strategies for the detection and prognostication of cancers at early, curable stages.

CANARY CHALLENGE was an annual fully supported bike ride, offering 50-kilometer to 100-mile rides. Over the course of its five-year existence, funds raised were donated to the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI) and the Canary Center at Stanford to benefit cancer research and innovative supportive care programs while bringing awareness to the impact of early cancer detection.

canary-challenge
cancer-conference

EARLY DETECTION OF CANCER CONFERENCE SERIES brings together experts in early detection from multiple disciplines to share groundbreaking research and progress in the field. This is part of a long-term commitment to invest in early detection research, to understand the biology behind early-stage cancers, find new detection and screening methods, and enhance uptake and accuracy of screening.

BIG LOVE
Helping Communities in Belize

BELIZE VISION CLINIC was created by BelizeKids.org in conjunction with BCVI (Belize Council for the Visually Impaired) and the San Pedro Lions Den. It is a free clinic for San Pedro kids and adults to receive examinations from Stanford Medicine doctors in a brand new office installed and operated by BelizeKids.org, a non-profit organization focused on helping kids in Belize.

vision-clinic
catholic

SAN PEDRO ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL is the largest on the island with over 700 students. To say that the school is “bursting at the seams” is an understatement. We built 3 additional classrooms for the kindergarten classes and renovated the rest of the school—painting the exterior, replacing ceiling fans, electrical, and the roof.

NEW HORIZON SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST PRIMARY SCHOOL has over 500 students. We built 2 new classrooms as well as a palapa for shade and picnic tables for instruction and lunch activities. Safety railings were repaired, a new staircase was built and the entire school was painted.

adventist
hol-chan

HOL CHAN MARINE RESERVE is off the coast of Belize and includes Coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangrove forest. We’ve worked with them to create “no-take” zones to help wildlife flourish which in turn will help attract more sustainable tourism.

SAN PEDRO TOUR GUIDE ASSOCIATION is one of the longest active tourist guide associations in Belize. Its main responsibility is to ensure proper consultation and dialogue with fishing guides, recreational fishers and other stakeholders. We’ve donated and overseen the installation of mooring buoys and anchors to mark snorkel and dive sites in Hol Chan to support tourism.

tour-guide
dolla-dive

DOLLA’ A DIVE in conjunction with local dive shops is supporting the local Vision Clinic supported by Stanford University and the Lions’ Den. Divers are asked to donate a dollar a dive to nurture local community healthcare.

COVID FOOD DRIVE is coordinated by the San Pedro Tourist Guide Association to provide direct support to over 300 hard working men, women, and children impacted by the halt to tourism and industry due to the borders being closed for over 7 months. To date, $50,000 has been raised.

food-drive
boca

BOCA DEL RIO PARK PLAYGROUND was renovated through the construction of four gazebo style palapas—each with its own picnic table— a complete playground set, basketball court painting and nets installation as well as planting flowers and shrubs to provide a better recreation space for the community to also enjoy the beach.

INVESTING, INFLUENCING, ADVOCATING
From Ideas into Action

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