About us

Built by a caregiver, for caregivers.

Watch Our Own began with one son caring for his mother an hour from home. Today it brings families, friends and caregivers together around the people they love.

Patented · HIPAA-compliant · Independently evaluated by HITLAB

A woman leans in to talk with her father, who sits in a wheelchair in a sunlit garden

"There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers."

Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady of the United States

One family's juggling act became an app for every family

As the primary caregiver for his mother, who lived one hour away from his New Jersey home, Watch Our Own founder Giancarlo Paolillo oversaw coordination of her care while keeping family up to date, helping to raise three young children and working up to 60 hours a week.

It's incredibly stressful keeping all of the balls in the air while making sure you're present for a loved one. And it's a scenario millions of Americans live every day.

As his mother's health declined further, he needed to spend more time with her, managing her daily schedule, medications and more.

At the time there were some apps to help caregivers, but you needed three separate apps just to manage care for one person. As an experienced developer who had built complete solutions for some of the country's top corporations and for first responders, Giancarlo knew there had to be an easier way.

Giancarlo's mother
  1. The problem

    Three separate apps to manage care for one person, and no single place for the whole family.

  2. 2019: Setting out

    Giancarlo assembles a team of experienced developers and advisors to build one app that does it all.

  3. 2020: Watch Our Own launches

    An all-in-one caregiving app with the patented Family Emergency Response System (FERS), which can notify every caregiver of an incident and connect directly to local EMS.

"We began Watch Our Own to provide the tools missing for caregivers to enable balance, reduce stress and give peace of mind. These tools are not just for families with special caregiving needs, but for all families."

Giancarlo Paolillo, CEO & Co-Founder

The team behind Watch Our Own

Sherrie Simms with family

Sherrie Simms

President & Co-Founder

Giancarlo Paolillo

Giancarlo Paolillo

CEO & Co-Founder

Peter Borodich

Peter Borodich

Head of Development & Founding Member

David Modoski

David Modoski

Head of Infrastructure & Founding Member

Guided by leaders in health, policy and finance

Dr. Glenna Crooks

Dr. Glenna Crooks

Advisor

Health policy leader & author

Dr. Shenae Samuels

Dr. Shenae Samuels

Advisor

Founder & CEO, MAP Data Studio

Cesar A. Baez

Cesar A. Baez

Advisor

Managing Partner, SOELA Partners

Roel C. Campos

Roel C. Campos

Advisor

Former SEC Commissioner

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Highlights

  • 20+ years in Human Resources across financial services and pharmaceuticals
  • Senior roles advising leaders on people strategy
  • Expertise in talent management, employee relations and organizational design
  • Master's in Business Management; Bachelor's in Finance Management

Sherrie has spent more than 20 years in Human Resources in the financial services and pharmaceutical industries, holding senior roles managing people, advising leaders on people strategies and counseling employees.

She began her career in finance at Beneficial Management Corporation (later acquired by Household International), and within three years moved into human resources to work more directly with people. Since then she has held positions of increasing responsibility across recruitment, employee relations, training, employee development, talent management and organizational design.

Sherrie holds a Master's degree in Business Management and a Bachelor's degree in Finance Management. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family.

Highlights

  • Former CIO at ACN and YipTV, and CTO at X Plus One
  • Scaled Vonage from 6 to 36 points of presence in under two years
  • Led e-commerce technology serving 30 million+ credit card customers at Household International (now HSBC)
  • Built turnkey systems for New Jersey police and fire departments

Giancarlo is a technology executive who has led engineering and infrastructure at companies serving millions of customers. He has served as CIO at YipTV and ACN, CTO at X Plus One, and Head of Emerging Technologies at Household International (now HSBC), where he was responsible for e-commerce solutions supporting more than 30 million credit card customers in the U.S. and Europe.

As Senior VP of Engineering at Vonage, he scaled infrastructure from 6 to 36 points of presence in under two years as the customer base grew from under 100,000 to more than 2 million.

Across his career he has built data centers, disaster recovery sites and security teams from the ground up, led SOX compliance programs and redesigned software architectures to scale. He began his career designing turnkey systems for police and fire departments and municipalities across New Jersey, including Jersey City, Union City, Morristown and Newark.

Highlights

  • First civilian to receive the Surgeon General's Medallion
  • Reagan appointee responsible for a $70 billion U.S. health portfolio, including the CDC, FDA and NIH
  • Led Merck's policy group, ranked best in the Fortune 500
  • Founder & CEO, Strategic Health Policy International; author of The NetworkSage

Glenna was named a Disruptive Woman to Watch for the creative solutions she has developed for governments and businesses worldwide. As an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, she was responsible for U.S. health policy with a $70 billion program portfolio, including oversight of the CDC, FDA and NIH. She later chaired the National Commission on Rare Diseases and advised the NIH and the Department of Defense, helping advance medicines for children and people with rare diseases, maternity care, organ transplant programs and biosecurity.

As an executive during Merck & Co.'s "Most Admired Corporation" years, her policy group was recognized as the best in the Fortune 500, making her one of the few leaders to have held senior policy and P&L roles in both government and industry. Today, as Founder and CEO of Strategic Health Policy International, she is known as a "one-woman think tank." Her book The NetworkSage: Realize Your Network Superpower introduced a method for understanding the networks that support people, now applied to family caregiving in her forthcoming Longevity Pioneering.

She was the first civilian to receive the Surgeon General's Medallion, public health's highest award, and has also received a Congressional award for her rare-disease work and the Marie Curie Award. A graduate of Indiana University and a Fellow at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania, she once trained for the Olympics in martial arts; today she practices tai chi and donates her Zen paintings to raise funds for children with special needs.

Highlights

  • Founder & CEO, MAP Community Data & Evaluation Studio
  • Former Senior Research Scientist at Memorial Healthcare System and Duke University
  • Former Assistant Professor and Program Director, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
  • PhD in Health Services Research and MPH, University of Florida

Shenae is the Founder and CEO of MAP Community Data & Evaluation Studio and a health services researcher focused on improving health outcomes and advancing health equity. Through her MAP Framework™ (Mission. Action. Proof.), she helps mission-driven health and human services organizations define, measure and communicate their impact to strengthen strategy, credibility and funding.

Before founding MAP Data Studio, she rose from Research Scientist to Senior Research Scientist at Memorial Healthcare System and Duke University, leading research on patient outcomes across clinical areas including oncology. She has also served as Assistant Professor and Program Director at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Shenae earned her B.S. in Health Education, MPH and PhD in Health Services Research from the University of Florida, and received competitive fellowships including awards from the CDC, the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and the Graduate School Preeminence Award.

Highlights

  • Ellis Island Medal of Honor recipient (2006)
  • Inaugural Head of Alternative Investments for New Jersey, overseeing a $72 billion pension plan
  • Co-founded Hicks Muse's Latin America private equity initiative, deploying $3 billion+
  • Managing Partner, SOELA Partners; Founder, Centinela Capital Partners

Cesar is a private equity executive with more than 30 years of experience across private equity, institutional investing and alternative asset management. He is Managing Partner of SOELA Partners and founder of Centinela Capital Partners, and previously led strategy, institutional business development and private equity for Deutsche Bank Alternative Investments.

As the inaugural Head of Alternative Investments for the New Jersey State Investment Division (2003–2005), he oversaw a $72 billion pension plan and built its first alternative investment program. Earlier, as Partner at Hicks Muse Tate & Furst (1994–2001), he co-founded the firm's Latin America initiative, deploying more than $3 billion, while also serving as President and CEO of CEI Media Holdings, the largest media holding company in Argentina.

Cesar received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2006. He serves on the boards of Lenox Inc., the Smithsonian Museum Latino Gallery and SportBLX, and holds a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration from Wagner College, where he later taught Alternative Investments to MBA candidates.

Highlights

  • Former Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2002–2007)
  • Appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed twice by the U.S. Senate
  • Retired Senior Counsel, Hughes Hubbard & Reed
  • Former federal prosecutor; U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and Harvard Law School

Roel advises senior management and corporate boards on their most sensitive legal and regulatory matters, focusing on internal investigations and on matters before financial regulators including the SEC, DOJ, CFTC and FINRA. He also counsels boards on cybersecurity, corporate governance and cryptocurrency.

From 2002 to 2007 he served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, presiding over hundreds of complex enforcement cases and rulemakings. Earlier, as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, he tried major narcotics cartel cases and won convictions of several cartel leaders for the kidnapping and murder of a DEA agent. He has also practiced corporate and securities law, raised venture capital and run a radio broadcasting company.

A frequent speaker and author on SEC enforcement, governance and cybersecurity, Roel has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Fox Business, and coauthored Guiding Principles for Cyber Risk Governance and Primer on Cybersecurity for Boards of Directors. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy and served five years as an officer before attending Harvard Law School.