Carlos Manuel Valdes Martinez grew up in Havana, Cuba. Arrived in the United States in 1981 at the age of fifteen. He is a technologist and a social entrepreneur. He founded three family run companies, all working in some fashion to eradicate the digital divide in America.

Carlos started his technology career at the Miami Herald in 1987. He grew from systems programmer to manager of all the computer systems at One Herald Plaza and beyond.

While at the Herald, Carlos founded Zipdata.net, a thirty one year old technology and support company in Miami, Florida. In his role at Zipdata, Carlos he has provided strategy consulting and technology investment advice to major non-profits in Florida. Working with the Health Foundation of South Florida, has served as a technology rider for non-profits organizations. He helped improved the technological capabilities of many non-profit organizations in Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Broward.

Carlos is also the CEO of Bluejeanware, a software development company with clients like the Knight Foundation and Epilepsy Florida. Here he employs many recent immigrants as software developers. One of Carlos’ great accomplishments is to help bridge the cultural gap for these individuals in the American economic landscape. He has many stories of people like himself embracing their own American dream.
Carlos co-authored the WELS System. An suite of applications to measure the quality of child care help improve it. The software makes education in child care measurable and accountable. WELS works with the Early Learning Coalitions throughout the State of Florida, The Children’s Trust, the University of Washington State, City University of New York, Florida International University, University of New Mexico, The Department of Education in the State of Delaware, and others to improve the quality of subsidized childcare for all.

Carlos is a past board member of the WOW Center in Miami. He is currently a member of the Cuban Studies Advisory Group for Harvard University, the De Moya Foundation, and FACE.

For fun, Carlos enjoys sailing on Biscayne Bay, he is an avid barbecue connoisseur, and a software developer at night. He has five children and wishes they did not play so many video games. He predicts that in the future, machines will build things, not humans. And humanity will need to be prepared.