Kevin Ross

2017 Integral Fellow — FIRST Washington

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“When I left Microsoft in 1996, I wanted do something about the quality of students that were coming out of college. I wanted them to have the passion, the inspiration, the spark and excitement about the work that I did.”

Lydia Johnston calls Kevin Ross a superhero.

“He’s been at the front lines of innovation. He empowers all the people around him,” she said. “If you ask any student in FIRST Robotics who knows Kevin, they’ll say ‘I want to be Kevin when I grow up.’” 

Kevin was a design engineer at Microsoft for nearly a decade but when he left the company he vowed to help re-ignite the passion for science and technology in youth through STEM learning so they become excited and engaged technology leaders.

In his final year on Microsoft’s Redmond campus, he was supposed to hire 10 people. He conducted 400 interviews to find those 10 people. He was disappointed in the quality of candidates. It’s not that the interviewees weren’t intelligent, but Kevin said many didn’t have “spark.” They weren’t tinkering with their own tech projects or exploring new concepts on their own.


 “The day I left Microsoft, I had a keen interest in doing something about the education system,” he recalls, adding, “I honestly felt powerless about how to tackle such an enormous problem.”

He found what he calls his “jumping on point” in 1999 as founding chairman of Washington FIRST Robotics, which is now FIRST Washington. He helped form the first robotics teams in Washington. 

Today, there are nearly 12,000 students on 1,032 teams in Washington and more than 5,500 people have volunteered to help inspire children in the state to learn more about robotics through FIRST Lego League Jr. (ages 6-9), FIRST Lego League (ages 9-16), FIRST Tech Challenge (ages 12-18) and the FIRST Robotics Competition (ages 14-18).

Kevin’s work isn’t just local. He’s helped build For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, FIRST, on a national scale and there are now FIRST programs in all 50 states.

PHOTO COURTESY FIRST WASHINGTON

He’s currently co-chairman of the FIRST Executive Advisory Board, working to increase diversity of the engineering community by engaging more girls and minorities in getting involved with FIRST and the growing STEM community. 

He’s still very hands on at the regional and local levels where he is still a board member for FIRST Washington and he personally mentors three robotics teams at Cedarcrest High School in Duvall, Washington.

PHOTOS COURTESY FIRST WASHINGTON

Lydia Johnston credit’s Kevin and her experience with FIRST Washington for setting her on her career path. 

“I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I was in high school,” she said. “For me, FIRST Robotics was the opportunity to try something new and see the impact on the people around me. It had a huge impact on me. It led me to where I am today.”

She’s now a software engineer at Microsoft and a mentor for FIRST Washington.

Kevin says Microsoft alumni can help make a difference for young people like Lydia by being a volunteer or a mentor for any of the FIRST programs around the world or at FIRST Washington, where he hopes to double the number of teams in the next five years.

“Which means we need to double the number of mentors we have in the next five years, too,” he said. 

He knows that getting started — overcoming the hurdle of feeling unqualified or who to ask for permission — can seem like the hardest part, but it doesn’t have to be.
“Finding yourself a jumping on point can be hard,” he said. “We ended up starting an organization that a group of us said ‘let’s own this problem.’ If you are passionate about something, and you want to start a nonprofit to do something. Do it. 

“You just need to get out there and start proposing solutions and start building a network of people who are going to help you out.”

If you’re moved and inspired by Kevin’s story here are a few ways for you to engage with FIRST:

  • Donate money! Gifts of all sizes, services, and resources help FIRST Washington serve more students. 
  • Volunteer! Learn about mentoring students and other ways to volunteer. Contact FIRST Washington to get involved!
  • Learn more about FIRST Washington: Go here.
  • Learn more about FIRST in other areas of the country, go here.