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Jill Ratkevic
Founder @ Black Swans | Silicon Valley's Top Strategist | Leader of Open Source Software Movement
Jill Ratkevic is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in moving people and companies forward. With a keen eye for simplifying complexities, she serves as a trusted advisor to executives and excels in crisis management. Jill has a track record of building award-winning communications teams that consistently surpass expectations. She is recognized in the industry for her strategic counsel, leadership, and brand-building expertise.
As an 'angel' who shapes brands, Jill has played a pivotal role in scaling Y Combinator from Boston to California, working with over 200 companies in various sectors such as VCs, SaaS, Developer, Robotics, Space, and Silicon. Her background includes contributions to notable publications like ZDNet, LinuxDevices, and Forbes, showcasing her profound insights and thought leadership. Additionally, she has been instrumental in taking several tech giants from inception to success, including GitLab, Heroku (Salesforce), New Relic, Meteor, Cloudant (IBM), and pioneering the launch of early DevOps companies like CircleCI.
Throughout her career, Jill has held prominent communication roles at leading organizations such as Salesforce, MuleSoft (Salesforce), FACEBOOK's Wit.ai, LogLogic (TIBCO), Sun Microsystems, AMD, BEA (Oracle), Heavybit, Zencoder (Brightcove), LexisNexis, and more. Her expertise in cultivating brands and fostering innovation has earned her the reputation of being the 'startup whisperer' in Silicon Valley, guiding companies from securing funding to scaling operations effectively.
Jill Ratkevic's educational background includes studies in Business/Corporate Communications at Boston University and Rutgers University. She has also been actively involved in various organizations, having served on the Board of Directors at the Linux Professional Institute (LPI), founded Black Swans at Black Swans, and held key positions at renowned companies like LogLogic, Bite Communications, Ziff Davis, MontaVista Software, and Abbott.
For more information, you can reach out to Jill Ratkevic via Twitter (@blackswansmedia.com) or visit her website at www.blackswansmedia.com. Contact via email can be made to [email protected].
