About Us

ABOUT TOGETHERVILLE

Togetherville is a social online community for families where parents create safe online neighborhoods for their kids (under 10) to play and connect with the real-life friends and family they already know and trust. Best of all, it's fun and it's free.

Today's kids are growing up in a world that requires a whole new set of skills to become responsible digital citizens. In Togetherville, your kids learn much more than computer skills: they explore how to be creative, express themselves and learn in a fun, interactive and ad-free way. We help them use technology to connect with the important people in their lives - safely and responsibly.

To keep your child safe in Togetherville, we give you complete control over the kids - and grownups - who interact with them online. Because Togetherville neighborhoods are built from your own social network, there is no way anyone anonymous or unknown can ever interact with your child.

HOW IT WORKS

Togetherville mimics adult social networks in a kid-appropriate way. Each neighborhood is built around each specific child and remains closed to outsiders. Kids have their own profile pages, complete with their photos. In Togetherville, kids can

• play games and brainteasers
• watch videos
• create artwork
• send and receive gifts
• update their status with pre-screened text phrases, called "quips," such as "Who is going to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid?" and "Aced the test. Oh yeah!!"
• send "safe" messages to friends
• and comment on or "Heart" their friends' activities.

All achieved with active participation from friends and family. You and your child build the neighborhood by creating an account on Togetherville.com. You sign in with your Facebook login - no need to create a new username or password. Togetherville automatically finds your Facebook friends and their children who already have Togetherville, and you easily build your child's neighborhood from there. You can "allow" specific friends to become part of your child's neighborhood or invite others in who may not already have Togetherville accounts.

Grownups have their own login page and parents have full access to their child's activity at any time, from any location. To get started, sign up here.

While Togetherville is envisioned for all kids under 13, the initial beta version is targeted towards kids 6-10 (and all young readers). To learn more, read how we keep your kids safe and check out our FAQs.

OUR STORY

Togetherville is the brainchild of parent Mandeep Singh Dhillon. While living on assignment in India, his young kids were happily using the computer to connect with friends and family back home, but he wanted them to have more ways to play independently while keeping them safe and connected. Mandeep believes that the Internet-connected computer is the greatest learning device ever created and was surprised that so many of his friends were reluctant to put their kids online. As a dad, Mandeep wanted to make sure his kids were safe, and he also wanted to help them learn how to be productive and responsible online. Mandeep conceived of a new type of online community where kids and their families and friends can connect, and where kids learn to be good digital citizens from those interactions. He then assembled some of the best minds in social networking, technology, child development, and online safety, including graduates of Stanford University's Learning, Design and Technology Program, and Togetherville was born.

OUR TEAM

Togetherville Co-Founders

Mandeep Singh Dhillon has been prepping for the position as co-founder and CEO of Togetherville since he played his first game of PONG in North Carolina at age 6 and then became the proud owner of an Apple computer at 8. Now, as the father of three children - ages two, five and eight - he has a deep, personal interest in creating a safe online place for younger children to learn and play, with parental control and supervision. Prior to founding Togetherville, Mandeep was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. Before that, he was an associate at Latham & Watkins, an international law firm. Mandeep graduated from Duke University and received his MBA and JD from the University of Virginia.

Rajveer "Raj" Singh Tut is co-founder and head of product for Togetherville. Raj has firsthand experience with children's use of technology: As a child, he begged his parents for his first PC, and then proceeded to hack it. Raj's passion for learning and education fuel his involvement in Togetherville. He oversees all operations of Togetherville, including leading the product development team and incorporating user feedback into the experience. Before Togetherville, Raj was a consulting analyst with Accenture. Raj holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Mandeep and Raj are supported by a hard-working and passionate team (including parents) based in the heart of Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, Calif. The Togetherville team is comprised of children's technology advocates, and their mission is simple: allowing kids to safely play and learn with family and friends online.

OUR ADVISORS

The Togetherville team is a diverse and passionate group of dedicated parents, volunteers, staff and advisors with two things in common: a love of technology and kids.

Kids and Parents Advisory Panels

The Kids and Parents Advisory Panels are central to our product development and constantly offer feedback to help us improve site features and functionality. We currently have dozens of members. The Kid Advisors range in age from preschoolers to teenagers, all of whom keep us close to our mission, and our Parent Advisors are raising them. To participate in either panel, email Advisors@Togetherville.com.

Child Development and Safety Advisors

Anne Collier, Executive Director, Net Family News; Co-Founder, ConnectSafely.org

Anne is the founder and executive director of Net Family News, Inc. and co-Director of ConnectSafely.org, a Web-based interactive forum and information site for teens, parents, educators and everybody interested in the impact of the social Web on youth and vice versa. Anne also currently serves as co-chair (with Hemanshu Nigam of News Corp.) of the Obama administration's Online Safety & Technology Working Group and on the advisory boards of the London- and Washington-based Family Online Safety Institute, the National Crime Prevention Council's Circle of Respect Initiative, and GetNetWise.org, a project of the Washington-based Internet Education Foundation. Previously, Anne worked on print, radio, TV, and Web versions of the Christian Science Monitor and has written for Microsoft's Staysafe.org, GetNetWise.org, Children's Technology Review, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's NetSmartz.org.

Ann McCormick, Founder, The Learning Company

Ann is founder of The Learning Company, a children's educational software company. As Chairman of the Board and Lead Designer, she shaped the design of the company's first 16 products. Ann has served as advisor to education and technology leaders in 15 nations and consulted with Apple Computer, IBM, Northern Telecom, and many other companies. She served as Vice President of VPL, a virtual reality company, and has lectured at Stanford, Harvard and the University of California. Among her awards are the Parent's Choice Award, Best Software of the Year from Learning Magazine and Entrepreneur of the Decade from Junior Achievement. Ann earned a doctorate in Education at the University of California at Berkeley, where she was invited to deliver the 100th Anniversary Commencement Address. Ann now tutors children, consults for start-up companies, and is launching her next venture for online learning.

Scott Traylor, CEO, 360KID

Scott is the Chief KID, CEO, and founder of 360KID, a kid-focused content and technology company dedicated to creating a love for learning through products that educate as well as entertain. His clients include Pokemon, Girl Scouts, Sesame Workshop, LeapFrog, Discovery Channel, Hasbro, Highlights for Children, PBSkids, Nickelodeon, and many others. 360KID is a multi-award winning and three-time Emmy nominated company. For more than 12 years, Scott has held a position with Harvard University's Extension School as a computer science teacher, teaching graduate students about the business of interactive development. Scott is continually reading, analyzing and synthesizing research covering all aspects of kids and learning, including new technologies, gaming and different consumer-based delivery systems. Scott is an active participant in business organizations in Los Angeles and Boston.

Technology and Social Media Advisors

Reid Hoffman, Linked In, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder

Reid is an entrepreneur and serial investor, most recently serving as the CEO of LinkedIn. As LinkedIn's founding CEO from 2003 to 2007, Reid built the company to profitability, with over nine million members. He returned to the CEO position in December 2008. Prior to LinkedIn, Reid was executive vice president of PayPal, where he was responsible for all business relationships, including business development, corporate development, international and government relations, and banking/payments infrastructure. Reid helped facilitate the company's acquisition by eBay and was responsible for partnerships with Intuit, Visa, MasterCard and Wells Fargo. He has held management roles in large technology companies, including Fujitsu Software Corporation and Apple. In addition to his continuing role as executive chairman at LinkedIn, Reid serves on the Board of Directors for SixApart and Mozilla Corporation.

Yee Lee, consumer internet product guy, founder, investor

Yee was an early product manager at PayPal and Slide. He has also founded two companies, TipMobile and Crave, through EIR programs with Venrock and Matrix Partners, respectively. After Skype spun out from eBay, Yee was recruited to join their product management team. He's learning about the "late-stage startup" scene now, but remains active as an early-stage investor and advisor, working with companies like Togetherville, CrunchyRoll, GroupCard, and Wildfire Interactive. You'll find Yee's online ramblings at http://framethink.wordpress.com and @yeeguy.

Cory Ondrejka, Co-Founder, Second Life

Cory is the co-founder of Second Life where he architected the core code and hired the team responsible for Second Life's growth to over 12 million residents. The ecosystems he helped create led directly to the success of Second Life, as well as the ongoing use of Second Life as a platform for music, education, and business. Prior to that, Cory traveled an eclectic path from the US Naval Academy and nuclear power to defense contracting and video game development. More recently, he served as Executive Vice President for Global Digital Marketing at EMI Music. He was also a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California where he taught a course on online communities and coordinated the MacArthur grant, driving research for the Public Diplomacy and Network Culture Project.

Rusty Rueff, Former CEO, SNOCAP; Former EVP, Electronic Arts

Rusty is currently a Corporate and Philanthropic Board Director, Corporate Advisor, Consultant and Investor. He was most recently CEO of SNOCAP, the world's first end-to-end solution for digital licensing and copyright management services. Prior to joining SNOCAP, Rusty was an Executive Vice President for Electronic Arts (EA), one of the world's largest interactive entertainment software companies. For more than 10 years prior to joining EA, Rusty held a variety of positions with the PepsiCo companies. Currently, Rusty serves on the Corporate Boards of Glassdoor.com and HireVue. He is an executive trustee and vice-chairman of the board of the San Francisco based American Conservatory Theater, and he serves as secretary/treasurer of The Grammy Foundation in Los Angeles. He co-authored the book, Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business, (Prentice-Hall. 2006), and regularly contributes to a number of blogs including Glassdoor.com's Clearview Collection and two of his own: Bolts of Thinking and Purposed worKING.

Bill Scott, VP of Product Engineering, Meebo

Bill is the vice president of Product Engineering at Meebo. Prior to Meebo, he was the director of User Interface Engineering at Netflix, where he guided the team's efforts to excellence in user experience engineering. Before that, Bill led engineering for Yahoo! Teachers, a web 2.0 community that allowed teachers to gather, organize and share web resources and lesson planning. At Yahoo!, Bill was an Ajax design and development evangelist, and the Design Pattern curator. Before Yahoo! Bill led User Experience at Sabre Airline Solutions and co-founded Rico (an open source Ajax framework, openrico.org.) For 20 years Bill has bounced back and forth between design and engineering projects, creating products in areas as diverse as video games, widget libraries, war gaming, IDE tools, airline management and Web consumer sites.