Shaharris is the founder and Supreme Commander (actual title) of NeedList.ORG, a tech charity that helps shelters get free groceries delivered weekly.
Recently, during the 2021 pandemic, he helped launch Taco Bell in Malaysia as Head of Marketing and Technology; as of November 2023, there are 22 outlets.
Most of his professional life was spent as founder and CEO of HackerNest, a global nonprofit that produced 1200+ tech events (hackathons, tech socials, innovation trainings, job fairs, etc.) in 65+ cities with partners including the US/UK/Canadian governments, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Stanford, Harvard, Dove, Deloitte, Grindr, Airbnb, banks, law firms, and hundreds others. He raised ~$4m in sponsorship and was a prolific speaker, advisor, and consultant for numerous public and private sector organizations. In 2016, he received the Institute for Global Leadership's Boryana Damyanova Award for Corporate Social Responsibility for his work on HackerNest.
Past career blips include:
- founding a VC-backed tech startup alongside a web development firm to fund it and a coworking space to house it
- working with the UNDP on HIV/AIDS
- copywriting for DDB
- private equity financial analysis for Centaur Capital Partners
- voice acting for cartoons
At Tufts, he was a member of the EPIIC 2001-2 colloquium on Global Inequities, the Chair of the TCU Judiciary, a member of the International Relations Director's Leadership Council, a campus resident advisor, and a women's self-defense instructor.
Trivia: Shaharris was the "before and after" guy in a Head & Shoulders commercial, went to 11 schools in 10 years, and used to build and donate computers to shelters as a hobby.