Your Challenge

Stakeholders are increasingly putting pressure on organizations 

to step up and provide ESG solutions 

My Story…

I am Yaqui – Native American on my father’s side. 

There’s something powerful about knowing your ancestors resisted conquest for centuries, even when their culture was threatened with extinction.

Here we are in 2021, and similar to my Yaqui ancestors, saving our planet/culture is imperative. 

Hi. I am Margarita Quihuis. 

I am the Executive Director of the Peace Innovation Lab (PIL) at Stanford University. The research at Stanford focuses on how entrepreneurs can leverage innovation, mass collaboration, persuasive technology, and social technologies to change society for the better.

My time is divided between academia, holding a number of board positions, and consulting.

My consulting practice is uniquely positioned to advise companies to navigate climate change, innovation, social impact, and profit during our ever-changing global economy. This private sector work leverages academic research and processes to make Environmental, Social, and Governance solutions attractive, both for an organization’s bottom line, and their stakeholder’s demands for ethical impact.

Serving on a number of boards, I bring a unique perspective, technical and executive knowledge, and the wisdom of a Latino woman with a distinct lived experience. 

“Margarita is an invaluable board member for The SCAN Foundation and Alive Ventures, our Foundation’s for-profit subsidiary. Margarita challenges us and brings insight and clear recommendations on innovative approaches. She helps us think critically about applying human-centered design principles to our work. She consistently asks provocative questions, which has led our Foundation to expand our portfolio’s ESG impact investments. Her expertise, particularly around entrepreneurship, technology, and social behavior, has been beneficial to our work and how we aim to transform care for older adults.”

Sarita A. Mohanty, MD, MPH, MBA

President and CEO, The SCAN Foundation

Why work with me?

I have decades of experience with:

• Sustainability, innovation and social impact
• Startups and acquiring capital
• Entrepreneurship for women and POC

I’ve led and collaborated with:

• The City of The Hague on developing bridges between Silicon Valley and Dutch social impact startup communities.
• Cities in Denmark around integrating immigrants and refugees into the civic and economic mainstream.
• A multinational bank to create a common company culture that spanned multiple countries and languages.
• A health insurance provider to develop mediating technologies for elder care.
• The first technology incubator for women and WOC to increase their access to venture capital.

As executive director, I launched Astia, the first technology incubator for women entrepreneurs, where I  raised $67 million in venture funding in the first 18 months of operation. 

Margarita is a unique person in Silicon valley who approached her business dealings with a personal touch. Her ability to cut through to the emotional heart of the matter and the underlying dynamics between team members complements her business savvy and strong understanding of markets and business models. Her global vision and concern for the broader context in which we live are also refreshing.” – Sameer Bhatia, CEO Octane Technologies

As a recognized thought leader and public speaker in the areas of innovation, technology, access to capital and entrepreneurship, and emergent social behavior, I’ve advised, mentored, and addressed numerous corporations, start-ups, and academic institutions on:

• How to build trust and a culture for innovation
• Return on Integrity: Why Ethical Businesses are More Profitable
• Building ESG native products from the ground up

Honors include being named one of Women’s eNews “21 Leaders for the 21st Century.” I was named “One of the 100 Most Influential Latinos in Silicon Valley” by Latino Leaders Magazine and received their Maestro Award.

I’ve served as a consultant to the US State Department on entrepreneurship and  been widely quoted in the Asian Venture Capital Report, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, US News & World Report, Forbes ASAP, CNN, and CBS MarketWatch.

It would be my pleasure to talk with you to discover how we can work together to provide solutions to integrate ESG into your organization’s core principals. Or how I can support your corporate board with strategic ESG compliance initiatives as a board member. 

As anyone working in this space knows, the gaps between business interest and social good can be large and treacherous. There is no one I could recommend more than Margarita as a reliable guide to help navigate those gaps and realize their dream of creating a more just, sustainable, and hospitable world. – Greg Wolff, Executive Director, UnaMesa Association