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Mary Gao

Mary Gao

CEO, investor, and co-founder with a passion for tech and social impact

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Joined May 2026
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Summary

Mary Gao demonstrates strong entrepreneurial drive as the Co-Owner and CEO of Axlora, a venture she currently leads. Her prior experience includes co-founding Immigrants Like Us, a non-profit leveraging technology to provide free legal immigration services, showcasing her dedication to social impact alongside business acumen. She also played a foundational role in Upsolve, a non-profit focused on bankruptcy assistance, highlighting her sustained involvement in impactful tech startups. rocketreach+2
As a Partner at General Catalyst, Mary Gao contributed to the venture capital firm's innovative Customer Value Fund (CVF). This fund offers a unique funding model by investing in companies' Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies and linking repayment to customer value, providing an alternative to traditional debt financing. Her role also involved supporting early-stage founders through initiatives like 'SF Founder Fridays,' indicating her commitment to fostering the startup ecosystem. weekday+2
Mary Gao possesses a unique blend of technical and business expertise, holding a BA in Computer Science from Harvard University and a BS in Business/Commerce from NYU Stern School of Business. This dual background is evident in her career, from her role as a Software Engineer at Joro App to her CTO position at Immigrants Like Us, and her current CEO role at Axlora. forbes+1
Mary Gao is deeply committed to leveraging technology for social good, particularly in the realm of immigration. As co-founder and CTO of Immigrants Like Us, she developed an application to streamline asylum processes, informed by her own experience as a Chinese-Canadian immigrant and her volunteer work with refugee organizations. She also contributed to the 'hümble' project during her time at NYU, which aimed to provide charging solutions with a charitable focus on Syrian refugees. forbes+1
Mary Gao demonstrates an interest in financial literacy and effective altruism, as evidenced by her series of Medium articles on 'Personal Finance 101'. These writings cover debt, budgeting, investing, and giving, providing practical advice and advocating for strategic donations to highly-effective non-profits and causes like ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Her personal giving also includes donations to her high school, UWC Pearson, showcasing a commitment to her educational roots. medium

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Personal Finance 101 — Debt, Budgeting, Giving

April 1, 2021

A Medium article offering practical advice on personal finance, including debt management, budgeting methods (like using Google Sheets for tracking income and expenses), and strategic giving. The article targets 20-somethings and international students in the US, emphasizing financial stability and effective altruism.

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Personal Finance 101 — Banking, Credit Score, Savings

Part 1 of her personal finance series, covering essential topics such as opening bank accounts, the importance of credit scores and how to achieve a high one, and strategies for saving for major life events like buying a house.

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Personal Finance 101 — Investing

Part 2 of her personal finance series, discussing investment strategies, the order in which to fund different accounts, and approaches to portfolio allocation.

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