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Way back in 1982 the Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) was standardized and the concept of a world-wide network of fully interconnected TCP/IP networks called the Internet was introduced.  Back then, only the most imaginative minds could foresee how the web was going to change our lives.

The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of our generation, and depending upon your age, the web has more than likely always been a part of your life, or it has radically changed it.  I think it’s fair to say that it has ushered in a new revolution as important as the industrial revolution.  The Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other, shop and get our information.  Over the past few years the influence of the Internet has spread beyond the confines of “cyberspace”and has affected every aspect of our lives.

Our “Disruptor of the Day” Shelia Lirio Marcelo & Care.com is a perfect example.

A daughter of entrepreneurial parents and a believer in the social value of technology, Sheila’s passion for family led to her founding of Care.com in 2006.  Prior, Sheila served as an executive at successful internet companies Upromise, a service helping families save for college; and TheLadders.com, an executive job search engine.

Care.com (www.care.com) is the largest and fastest growing service used by families seeking high-quality care providers, providing a place to easily connect with hundreds of thousands of care providers, share care giving experiences and get advice.  The company addresses the unique lifecycle of care needs that each family goes through – child care, special needs care, senior care, tutoring and lessons, pet care, housekeeping and more.  To help ensure safety both online and at home, Care.com provides mom-reviewed profiles, monitored messaging, access to background checks, recorded references, and educational information on the interviewing process.  Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions, technology companies, and professional services firms offer Care.com memberships as a benefit to employees through its Workplace Solutions program.

Sheila and Care.com have been featured in national news outlets including NBC’s Today, Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Parenting and Fortune. Most recently, Sheila’s executive style was chronicled in New York Times reporter Adam Bryant’s The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed.

In 2009, Sheila’s was recognized as a Top 10 entrepreneur at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit and one of the “40 under 40″ executives in Boston Business Journal.  She received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010 for New England; and, for 2011, was awarded a Marshall Memorial Fellowship and named as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for which she is co-leading a global task force on Women & Technology.

An advocate for female entrepreneurship and education, Sheila is an active alumni of Harvard Business School, serving annually as a Finalist Judge for the Harvard Business School Business Plan Competition and an adviser to the school’s Rock Entrepreneurial Center. She has also served on the International Selection Panel for Endeavor, an organization providing resources and advice to high-impact entrepreneurs from developing countries.

Sheila serves as a Board Trustee and member of the strategic committee of the Philippine Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that regularly works with the Philippine government, academie and industry to pursue sustainable economic development of the Philippines through initiatives in technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Thanks to individuals like Sheila Marcelo and organizations like Care.com our lives have changed for the better, and I can’t wait to see what the future looks like!