Meet the team!

Technology should work quietly behind the scenes, leaving room for people and their relationships. The more advanced it becomes, the less effort it should take to use it. What matters is whether it helps us care for one another—and for ourselves.

We want genus to make it easier to find the resources and wisdom we need, save and share a useful idea, and turn that idea into something people can try. It should help us build communities of care, where we can offer what we know and find support when we need it.

The stories we heard along the way, and the remarkable people we met, helped us see what that could mean. Families, volunteers, and people on the front lines showed us things we would not have understood on our own. Their experiences shaped the platform, and the people who join us will keep shaping where it goes.

The people giving care every day bring knowledge we need to listen to. A family member, a volunteer, or someone on a frontline team may see a need we have missed. We want those ideas to have a place to grow and reach others who could use them.

Listening has to change what we do. When families told us that counting calls to Mom or Dad felt like a contest, we removed the comparison. That is the kind of feedback we need—even when it means rethinking our own work.

We build dashboards, content, and tools with partners. We start by asking what someone is trying to make possible, then work through an idea together. Our team and partners review and refine what we build, guided by our purpose: helping people care, connect, and contribute.

Tell us what you’re seeing. What helps? What gets in the way? What do you wish existed? Bring your feedback, your questions, or an idea that is still taking shape. You do not need a finished proposal to start a conversation. Trust grows through listening, following through, and being willing to learn.

That is the future we want to help build together: care connected with purpose.

genus, the company, is not for sale. We welcome partners who understand their markets, communities, and needs and want to build with us in a direction that aligns with the mission.

For very large organizations, purchasing a copy of the genus code for safekeeping can be part of the arrangement for a specific audience or use. It gives the organization another way to plan for continuity: keeping access to the code behind the system its community depends on.

We expect most organizations to choose to have us manage and host their version, either in their own AWS environment or in ours. We continue advancing the platform through weekly development. A managed arrangement lets partners stay connected to that work, with updates and responsibilities agreed for their environment.

The code is one part of that confidence. genusCommunity Foundation helps protect the mission through governance and guardrails for participation, shared learning, and the integrity of records. Where a program uses immutable recordsimmutable records×Records designed to preserve an agreed history rather than silently overwrite it. Which records are included, who can access them, and how corrections are recorded must be defined for the program. This does not mean every record in genus is immutable., those guardrails need to make clear what is preserved, who can access it, and how corrections are recorded. Long-term trust depends on both the technology and the people responsible for it.

We take on custom work when it supports that shared purpose. Partners bring their knowledge, skills, and resources; together, we consider what would help and what it will take to build and review it.

To prepare for a meeting, we may connect you with an AI agent to talk through your idea and questions. This helps our team arrive with more context. You can also use the contact form to share what you want to discuss with us.

No two families work in exactly the same way. What someone needs today may be different tomorrow. Time, energy, health, distance, and family dynamics all affect what each of us can offer.

We can be a caregiver in one circle, a volunteer in another, and a spouse, parent, or child in our own family. Sometimes we are the person offering support; sometimes we are the person who needs it.

genus is shaped around those changing circles of carecircles of care×The people connected around someone’s life. Your role may differ in each circle—and change over time.. The aim is to help people connect in ways that fit their lives, with clear choices about participation and sharing, rather than expecting every person or care program to follow the same path.

We continue to build genus as a platform that others can build on. Its features take on new meaning when a partner brings its own knowledge base, values, practical wisdom, and purpose. Together, we can shape the tools around the organization’s vision and mission, and the needs of its community.

That reaches into the everyday details: workflows that fit how a team gives care, messages that reflect its voice, and content grounded in what it knows about the people it serves. Learning loops—listening, trying, reviewing, and improving—help the organization keep adapting that support. The technology becomes a way to put its knowledge and intentions into practice.

The ecosystemecosystem×A shared platform where partners contribute tools, knowledge, skills, and resources that can work together.Explore more about ecosystem continues to evolve through weekly work: improving the platform, adding knowledge, refining tools, and learning from the people using them. Each partner adopts what fits their needs and their program; a change in the wider ecosystem does not mean every service changes at once.

That is what we mean by an ecosystem: a shared foundation with room for others to contribute, adapt, and grow. The value comes from connecting those contributions so they can help where they are needed.

Care is full of small discoveries: a question that invites someone to talk, an activity that brings people together, or a familiar phrase that makes a difficult moment easier. We want to help people notice those wins and choose what is useful to share.

Imagine a volunteer who finds that a particular way of opening a call helps someone feel comfortable. The volunteer could contribute the approach without sharing the person’s private story. After review, that idea could become a prompt or learning resource another volunteer can find when it fits the situation.

This is an example of the learning we want to support, not automatic recording or a promise that one technique works for everyone. Shared ideas need context, permission where required, and people who can judge when they are helpful.

carePhysicscarePhysics×Our framework for connecting love, purpose, and communication with research-informed approaches to engagement.Explore more about carePhysics starts with the essence of care: love, compassion, purpose, and communication. We bring those human foundations together with research-informed models of engagement to ask how support can become more understandable, meaningful, and useful in everyday life.

We call carePhysics our foundation. It acts as a guide and guardrail for engagement: helping us ask whether an interaction respects the person, supports meaningful choice, and strengthens connection. It also influences our governancegovernance×How decisions are made, who reviews them, and how people remain accountable to the mission. This includes the principles and responsibilities used to guide changes, participation, and the use of information., shaping how we consider decisions and changes as the ecosystem grows.

Yes, we wrote a book about it—more than 400 pages. Our AI agents use that work as a guide when helping develop new features and create content. It also gives our team a shared foundation for carrying the mission forward, with people reviewing what is produced.

The science helps us ask better questions and choose approaches worth trying. Evidence for a model or a particular intervention is not proof that every combination will work for every person. We still need to listen, try thoughtfully, and learn from what happens in the real setting.

Three models that help us ask better questions:

• COM-BCOM-B×COM-B looks at what helps someone take action: what they know and can do, the time and support around them, and what motivates them. It helps teams see where more support may be needed.View research ↗ about COM-B (opens in a new tab)
• Self-Determination TheorySelf-Determination Theory×This theory looks at three needs behind motivation: having meaningful choice, feeling capable, and feeling connected to others. It helps teams consider how to support people’s willing participation.View research ↗ about Self-Determination Theory (opens in a new tab)
• Fogg Behavior ModelFogg Behavior Model×A model that asks whether someone has the motivation and ability to act when a prompt arrives. It helps teams consider whether the next step is manageable and the invitation comes at a useful moment.View research ↗ about Fogg Behavior Model (opens in a new tab)

We wish we could say we live this way all the time. Caregiving can stretch our patience, energy, and understanding. Some days we listen well; some days we need to pause, ask for help, or try again. The hope is to practice these ways of being more often, with care for ourselves as well as for others.

That mindset also shapes how we work with partners and the people we serve, and how we develop ideas, content, and products. We start by listening to what matters to the partner and its community. Their knowledge, values, and purpose help guide what we build together, so the tools can express their mission in everyday care.

This meaning grew from a question: “What does it mean to be genus?” Describing the ecosystem was only part of the answer. We also needed words for the thinking behind it: how we listen, consider a request, and decide what might genuinely help.

Sometimes none of the choices in front of us quite fits. Being genus means making room to understand the person and the circumstances, bring different perspectives together, and consider another approach. It gives us a framework for thoughtful decisions, while leaving room for judgment, creativity, and learning.

It is a personal code of ethics shaped by compassion, family, faith, spiritual practice, and the many ways people find meaning. We do not all share the same beliefs. We can still share an intention to listen, acknowledge one another, and bring something helpful to an encounter.

We sometimes picture an interaction on a scale from −5 to +5: from responding as poorly as imaginable to responding perfectly. In this way of thinking, neither endpoint is reached. The purpose is to pause and ask: Did I hear the person? Did I acknowledge what mattered to them? Did I share something useful? Given the circumstances, what could I have done differently?

Difficult moments and challenging exchanges are part of care. Reflection is not a demand to be cheerful or agreeable, or to accept harm. A caring response can include a boundary, a disagreement, or asking for help. Deliberately hurtful actions can accumulate across a circle; thoughtful actions can also build on one another.

The point is not the reward we receive. It is the good we see come from what we do, even when no one notices. Perhaps a number cannot capture that. We use it as a prompt for reflection, not a rating of a person’s worth or a validated clinical measure.

We call this idea the Jack ScoreJack Score×A personal reflection on an interaction, imagined between −5 and +5. It prompts learning rather than judging someone’s worth., named for Joe’s father, Jack Gleason, whose experience inspired fresh thinking about care and connection. Here it is an invitation to reflect—not a feature that scores people or records their interactions.

The people closest to a need often see what would help first. A family member asks a question. A volunteer notices a missing step. A frontline team finds a better way to work. Those contributions help us decide what to improve and what to build next.

A partner’s knowledge and purpose help us judge what makes an idea useful. We work together to connect a new feature with the organization’s existing workflows, messaging, content, and ways of learning, so it supports the work people are already trying to do.

We added an Innovations feature to give those ideas a place to start. Where it is enabled, frontline teams can describe a challenge, what they need, and the value a change could bring to the people they serve. AI helps make the idea clearer, and the person can refine it before choosing what to send to our team for review.

From there, we can work on it together. For focused improvements, we can often take a good idea into production within days, helping a team respond to the needs in front of them. Timing still depends on scope, testing, and any privacy, clinical, or integration review. The people who raised the need help us understand whether the change actually serves their audience better.

We are working on bringing the same kind of capability into the family Care App. Different kinds of care call for different resources, routines, and support. We want families and their circles of care to help shape what is useful to them, while keeping those resources connected within a shared system, with appropriate permissions and review.

That is what building together means to us: making it easier to share a need, try a useful idea, and carry what helps into other communities of care. People remain responsible for deciding what is ready to use. Not every suggestion becomes a feature, but each conversation can help the system grow safely and with purpose.

Mission stewardshipMission stewardship×Keeping people, families, and community benefit central as the ecosystem grows.Explore more about Mission stewardship is the role of genusCommunity Foundation within a protected participation environment. It helps community partners, nonprofits, researchers, sponsors, and care organizations work together around that purpose.

Partner control and protected shared learning are central principles. Participation should make clear who can use information, for what purpose, and under which agreements. Learning across communities should not require opening up private family records.

Trustworthy evidence of progress can help communities understand what is helping and where more support is needed. The way that evidence is collected, protected, and shared must be defined for the program. The mission is to learn responsibly and carry the benefits back to the people who make that learning possible.

We live at a time when more people than ever can turn an idea into a tool, a game, or a new experience. Creating something is only part of the work. The magic is helping it reach the person who can benefit, in a form and at a moment that makes sense in their life.

That is the direction for genusLabsgenusLabs×A planned pathway for developing and reviewing ideas that could become useful tools—or products of their own.: helping people bring an idea to life, connect it with a real need, and learn whether it takes hold. Ideas may come from families, volunteers, care teams, developers, or someone who simply sees a better way to help.

Before release within the ecosystem, tools need review for usefulness, accessibility, audience fit, and the information they may handle. We anticipate that some ideas nurtured through genusLabs could grow into products of their own, while contributing to the wider ecosystem.

This remains a planned direction, not an open publishing service today. Our aim is to make room for new creators and a wide variety of communities while keeping care, purpose, and connection at the center.