Mike Koss

Co-Founder/CTO
Mike Koss started his career at Microsoft in 1983 as a software developer, and over the next 19 years played a pivotal role in some of Microsoft’s most iconic programs. He was a developer on the original Excel spreadsheet team, and later founded the development teams for Outlook and SharePoint. After Microsoft, Mike joined the Seattle startup community as an angel investor and served in tech leadership roles for a series of technology startups. Mike has been passionate about technology education and supporting the developer community, co-founding the Seattle Google Developer Group (GDG) and later building developer tools as a Staff Engineer at Google. Mike has been a board member at the Seattle Museum of Flight for more than 17 years, where he developed software for educational programs and now serves on both the Technology and Executive Committees. In his role as Chief Technical Officer for Reskill Americans, Mike focuses on curriculum development and the mentoring program.

“I began my career in software development at the dawn of the personal computer industry. My coworkers were predominantly white males back then, and today, nearly 40 years later, it’s a shame that the demographics of the industry have barely shifted. I joined the board of Reskill Americans because I believe the fastest way to end the racial inequity in tech is to give everyone access to software development training. I’m excited to work with Reskill Americans to help people get the skills they need to build a career in one of the world’s fastest growing and most highly paid industries. I know a software development career is very rewarding and full of new challenges. It’s hard to think of another career where you get to be constantly learning and have as much fun!”

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