At Wevise, we’re lucky to work with volunteers who bring passion, purpose, and a deep commitment to breaking down barriers in tech. But few embody that mission as powerfully as Theresa Bui, our June 2025 Volunteer of the Month.
Theresa leads Wevise’s marketing efforts, an ambitious and foundational role that has shaped the way the organization communicates, defines itself, and grows. “I think of Wevise as a startup nonprofit,” she says. “And one of the first things any startup has to do is figure out who they are. So one of my first jobs was helping us define and describe ourselves: what do we stand for, who are we trying to reach, and how do we reach them?”
With more than 20 years of high-tech marketing experience, Theresa brings strategic clarity and startup know-how to a growing nonprofit with a big vision. But her connection to Wevise runs much deeper than a professional interest. It’s personal.
Theresa’s father, a celebrated architect and professor in Vietnam, faced enormous challenges trying to restart his career after immigrating to the U.S. following the fall of Saigon. Despite designing national landmarks in his home country, including the National Library of Vietnam – which still features a plaque in his honor – he struggled to find teaching or professional opportunities in America. “He had no network here,” Theresa recalls. “He didn’t know the system, the lingo – he had no one to help guide him. And if someone like him, with all his credentials and experience, couldn’t break in, imagine how hard it is for others.”
That memory fuels Theresa’s commitment to Wevise’s mission of supporting first-gen students, career switchers, and underrepresented individuals trying to break into tech. “The mission resonates deeply,” she says. “Because I’ve seen what it means to be shut out.”
Theresa was a driving force behind the Chicago TechPath Alliance’s launch event in early June – a major milestone for Wevise and a high-stakes moment that tested the team’s ability to deliver. “To me, it felt like our first product launch,” she says. “Like any launch, it was messy and scary – we didn’t know if we could pull it off. But we did. And now we’re already hearing inspiring stories from mentors and mentees. That’s what makes it all worth it.”
One moment that stood out for her? Mentor speaker Bevin Joseph, whose bootcamps teach tech skills to young Black men – in barbershops. “It was absolutely genius,” Theresa says. “That kind of innovative thinking is exactly what we need more of.”
When she’s not leading strategy at Wevise, Theresa is the Chief Marketing Officer of SymphonyAI, an AI company based in Silicon Valley. She’s built her career by working with early-stage companies, sometimes riding the wave of success through acquisitions, and other times learning from the chaos of failed exits. But her marketing journey wasn’t always part of the plan. Theresa began as a financial analyst before launching a months-long self-discovery journey, interviewing professionals in different fields until she found a role that excited her. One of those informational interviews was with a startup founder who offered her a marketing role – and her career took off from there.
Today, Theresa lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner and two children – one in college, the other in high school. When she’s not working, she loves to travel and has visited more countries than she can count. Her kids, she jokes, probably have more passport stamps than most adults.
Asked what she loves most about volunteering with Wevise, Theresa doesn’t hesitate: “It’s that we’re all in different parts of the country – and even different parts of the world – but still working together with shared purpose. That kind of collaboration feels really special.”
