About Us

Know Our Story

We get asked this question all of the time: Where did the name “17minds” come from?

Well, this traces us back to the origins of the company, when our team was amidst a conversation with another parent of an autistic child when she remarked:

It sometimes feels like it takes 17 different minds to care for my child.

These words stuck with us and have been a major inspiration for the entire team as we continue the journey to integrate everything into the 17minds platform, transforming the way data is measured and shared around children with autism and those invested in the child’s well-being.

Meet the 17minds Team

Co-Technology Officer

Cael MacEachern

Since middle school, Cael has been interested in anything to do with entrepreneurship due to the industry’s dynamic nature. Due to his interest in Entrepreneurship, Cael is double-majoring in Economics and Computer Science as a junior at American University. Among his many accomplishments, such as helping other startups, perhaps his most notable is the website he designed for the French-American Chamber of Commerce’s DC branch. Besides entrepreneurship, Cael is part of the 17minds family because he has a younger brother who is diagnosed with a learning disability and has directly experienced the problems with mental health services currently available. In Cael’s spare time, he loves playing ultimate frisbee, learning new songs on the piano, and hiking all nearby mountains.

Co-Technology Officer

Joey Lamborn

Ever since he wrote his first line of code, Joey has been dedicated to building software for social good. This attracted Joey to the 17minds team, where he is crucial in helping engineer backend and data science tools to improve care for children with autism. Joey is a junior at American University, studying physics and computer science, and aside from 17minds, Joey assists with research for data scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. When not coding, Joey likes impersonating Jimmy Hendrix on guitar, learning new languages, and cooking award-winning cornbread.

Chief Business Officer

Josh Wilens

While Cael and Joey are the technological gurus, Josh specializes in the business aspects that 17minds faces on a daily basis. A current senior at American University, Josh is passionate about making sure no business blockades will stand in the way of 17minds providing the sought-after help for children with autism. This past summer, Josh interned at a Fortune 500 company and will continue to do so in the fall, gaining access to incredible resources that will aid the 17minds journey. He is also the Founder and current President of the American University Consulting Club, and President of the AU Club Basketball Team. In his spare time, Josh loves traveling, cycling, watching old Seinfeld episodes, and cheering for the Chicago Cubs.