Though he may not be a household name when compared to other former Bobcats who have excelled professionally in athletics or the arts, Thomas Swalla, a member of the MHS Class of 1996, has quite a story to tell.

The serial entrepreneur who now resides in the Los Angeles area has led seven startup tech companies and sold his most recent one, Dotmatics, to Siemens for $5.1 billion earlier this year. Swalla still feels a strong connection to the town where he grew up, and in an effort to give back, he recently announced a $50,000 donation to the Marshalltown Youth Foundation (MYF).

“I obviously feel pretty blessed and thankful for everything that’s happened in my life, and while Marshalltown ended up not being my future, it certainly was my foundation,” he said. “Just growing up in Marshalltown and going through all the activities, whether it’s Little League or the Y or all the teachers you have and coaches and mentors, I felt like it was a great childhood. And I felt like people that have solid foundations generally can go on to achieve other things in life… Having that fabric built into you from an early age is what kind of propels you to accomplish your goals.”

While the Marshalltown of today looks different than it did when Swalla was growing up here, he hopes the contribution can make an impact in the lives of students who are involved in activities and feels an obligation to use his resources for good. Swalla reached out to Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Superintendent Theron Schutte about the best way to utilize the donation, initially suggesting paying off outstanding lunch debt — which is no longer necessity because all of the MCSD’s meals are now free due to the high percentage of free and reduced lunch students.

After their first conversation, the MYF popped into Schutte’s head as he sits on the organization’s board of directors.

“Knowing that he really wanted to do something for the kids and families that most needed help, I thought this helps kids in the arts or music. It helps kids that want to do athletics. It’s targeting the populations that we want to try to make a difference for because (Swalla) told me about the positive impact that athletics had on him growing up,” Schutte said.

The superintendent worked with fellow MYF board member Carrie Barr to share more information about the organization and its goals, and Swalla felt that was a perfect fit for the types of activities he hopes to promote — athletics, academics and the arts, specifically.

“It’s not just a donation. Kids are the architects of the future, and investing in them, giving them access to these opportunities, instilling confidence in them, exposing them to other teachers and mentors outside their homes, I just feel is really, really valuable,” he said. “And so if I can help do that even in a little small way like this, I believe so strongly in it.”

Dotmatics, the seventh software company Swalla has either started or led as CEO since 1999, specializes in software that helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies discover new molecules to fight diseases. It all started when he met a man on an airplane who would give Swalla $1 million to launch his first company, and he dropped out of the University of Iowa as a result before later returning to complete his degree.

“That kind of started me on the path of entrepreneurship and software in particular,” he said.

Swalla cited research pointing to kids who are involved in extracurricular activities having higher rates of success later in their lives, and he also serves on the board of a national foundation called Wrestle Like a Girl promoting girls wrestling and leadership lessons, which has become especially popular in Iowa since it was sanctioned as a high school sport.

“It’s very much aligned with how I think. It’s like, drop barriers, give people access, let them experience whatever it is… just let them experience it, and hopefully other mentors and people come into their lives,” he said. “But at the end of the day, all of it’s good. You win, you fail, you succeed, you go through hard times, you’re important. All of those things are important, and I think the most important is just how the kids have confidence.”

And Swalla, who will be returning to town for his 30-year class reunion in 2026, said there will likely be more donations to come in the future. To learn more about the MYF, visit https://www.marshalltownyouthfoundation.org/.