Honoree: Saerin Cho

Chief Eligibility Counsel & Deputy General Counsel
TechSoup
Global University of San Diego School of Law

Saerin Cho is chief eligibility counsel, deputy general counsel, and on the Senior Leadership team at TechSoup Global, a 501(c)(3) social enterprise with offices in the U.S., Poland, and the U.K. In her dual capacities -- both legal and non-legal -- her primary mission is to ensure that TechSoup maximizes its impact of serving as the bridge between technology and resource providers and changemakers worldwide, in a legally compliant way.

TechSoup connects civil society organizations and changemakers around the world to the resources they need to design and implement technology solutions for a more equitable planet. TechSoup has facilitated $15 billion market value of technology donations and funding for over 100 donor partners and has created community-based technology platforms supporting 1.2 million registered NGOs in 236 countries and territories. It has created one of the largest active NGO databases in the world. TechSoup Global Network (TSGN) includes 63 independent organizations providing NGOs around the world with highly localized programs and services in 39 languages.

Saerin leads the Global Eligibility Team that defines civil society in 236 jurisdictions and the specific validation processes to verify them and supports the TSGN Global Partners as they navigate the changing legal and political environment in their jurisdictions. She also serves on the tribal entities working group, which works to identify and amplify equitable funding practices with respect to Native communities.

As deputy general counsel, Cho also advises on general legal matters such as contracts, taxation, compliance, and data privacy. After an unexpected departure of a colleague, Saerin took over the massive project of drafting the master agreement and related statements of work that govern TechSoup’s legal relationship with all of its NGO global partners. This has been a multiyear project and since Saerin took over the project in the fall of 2021, she has been able to make substantial progress and as of this writing was on track to reach the signing on or before July 1, 2022.