Karla Ballard is Founder and CEO of YING, a peer-to-peer skill-sharing and global time-sharing platform (IOS /Android App). YING engages members and organizations in a complimentary currency that supports community and individual benefits. The platform helps groups and communities facilitate on-demand skill exchanges in order to assist with tasks between members. The platform has a b2b enterprise engagement for NGOs and corporations. It also assists with creating a plug-in play-sharing ecosystem for any affinity group.

Ms. Ballard was formerly SVP of Participant Media’s TAG division, a social-action agency working with brands, foundations, and the public sector to ignite compelling campaigns that drove impact in vulnerable communities. Prior to joining Participant Media, she worked with Ogilvy & Mather as the SVP and lead for The IMPACT Studio, working on projects that ranged from the state of California to Sony Pictures Television. Previously, Karla worked at One Economy Corporation, where she led a vital division of a $51 million BTOP grant focused on broadband adoption, and became an appointee to the Federal Communications Committee on Diversity in Media. In addition, she created and led corporate relationships with partners such as Comcast/NBC, Verizon, Participant Media, Sprint, City Year, and others.
 
She is a current advisory board member of Blue Star Families, and Co-Chair of Shareable, Hashtaglunchbag, and USC’s Next Gen Council for Stephen Spielberg’s SHOAH Foundation. She has been a visiting speaker at Harvard, UCLA, and Georgetown University, and is a former board member of Northern Virginia Community College, the nation’s second largest community college. Karla is also the co-founder of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, the first Urban League in the state of Delaware. She has also served as the first female national president of the National Urban League Young Professionals.

In 2012, Ms. Ballard was awarded the Keeper’s of the Dream award in NYC from the National Action Network.