Douglas Gene Carlston

Founder and CEO of Tawala Systems, which enables ordinary people to use the web more easily and effectively, Carlston launched the company in September 2005, based in San Rafael, California, and conceived it to help people organize and communicate with groups in their daily lives.

He previously served as CEO, chairman, and co-founder (with his brother Gary) of Brøderbund Software, a major software publishing firm that produced such hit titles as "Myst", "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" and "Prince of Persia". Their sister, Cathy, joined the company a year later. Brøderbund was acquired by The Learning Company for $420 million in 1998, and the combined company was sold to Mattel in 1999 for $3.6 billion.

Carlston received his Bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1970 and also studied Economics at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1975. Prior to founding Brøderbund in 1980, he worked as an attorney.

He has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Public Radio International (PRI) and of the Carlston Family Foundation (formerly the Brøderbund Foundation), and has served on the Boards of the MoveOn Political Action Committee, the Ploughshares Fund, the Albanian American Enterprise Fund, A.H. Belo Corporation, and the Long Now Foundation. Carlston has also served on the Committee on University Resources of Harvard University and on the Board of Advisors of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.