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Mission/Overview
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EW ACTION TEAM (Program Staff &Volunteers)
Michael
Abrams, MA Michael Abrams holds a Master’s in Mathematical Sciences from Johns Hopkins, which he attended on a University Fellowship, and a Bachelor’s, cum laude, from Hunter College. Other awards include being a finalist in the National Merit Scholarship competition, and a participant in Argonne National Laboratory’s Undergraduate Research Program. Michael’s work history includes employment as a Systems Engineer in the Advanced Research Divisions of both Westinghouse and Sperry Corporations, where he helped develop next-generation radar systems for the US military. In addition, he has contributed to research efforts at Columbia University’s School of Public Health and the Stevens Institute of Technology. Michael has served as an Adjunct Professor in the Statistics Department at Florida International University. With extensive experience tutoring college students in Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, Michael is currently a Course Developer and Adjunct Professor at Excelsior College, a virtual university and will start a MA in Individualized Studies program at Goddard College (Environmental Studies Concentration) in Fall 2007. The caviat
for Michael becoming EW’s first official Research Fellow centers
on his study of ‘quality of life’ (QOL), as a means of transcending
the conventional approach of gauging social development by
total economic output (GDP). Ultimately, he intends to use
his work as the basis of a textbook for a college-level course
that would introduce students to the subject of ‘QOL and Its
Measurement’. The Earth Charter reminds us that, “We must
realize that when basic needs have been met, human development
is primarily about being more, not having more.” Precisely
what this ‘being more’ entails, at the level of society, will
be the focus of his work at Goddard College, which EW will
apply to its like-minded evaluation system. Read
more about Michael's
work on EW's
Inspired Citizen Journal & Blog. Kachina
Katrina Zavalney, MA Kachina Katrina is an extraordinary organizer, community builder, event planner, greener of everything she touches, educator, and organizational development consultant. Empowerment Works has distinguished Kachina as an official "Research Fellow" for the "community organizers tool kit" she is developing for inspired people who want to do something about the problems in this world, and don't know where to start. Outlining specific practices and resources for local solutions, EW looks forward to applying this educational resource and capacity-building tool in global programs and within the PIE network. In addition to having a global program platform for her work, being an EW Research Fellow also enables Kachina to fund raise for its completion through EW as non-profit fiscal sponsor. Kachina Katrina has been referred to as a master net worker, connecting broad spectrums of people together through important issues and innovative solutions. She has learned and practiced community building sharpening organizing skills with the City Repair project in Portland, OR since 1999, becoming their national outreach coordinator. Read more about & download Kachina's Toolkit via EW's Inspired Citizen welcoming her to EW! Jay
Levin Jay Levin is one of the pioneers and leaders in the independent media industry. He has led companies in the publishing, TV Network and Internet industries. Mr. Levin is known for his wide knowledge, his general editorial and business creativity, and his experience as a leading independent culture and news specialist with an extensive range of contacts. As the Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the Los Angeles Weekly, under his editorial, marketing and sales leadership the newspaper became the largest circulation and most advertising-rich weekly paper in the country and won numerous journalism awards. While he was heading the LA Weekly, the paper founded the popular magazine LA Style. Later he created Planet Central TV, a startup cable television network. He currently heads up RealTALKLA.com Dianne
McCutchan, MA Dianne McCutchan has helped build EW from the ground up- since 2001. Formerly director of consulting and information services for the Nonprofit Support Center in Santa Barbara, Dianne is now serving as the Development Director of the United Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara. In that role, she is growing resources available for youth development programs, athletics, summer camp and teen programming. She has chosen to focus on local youth, as a means of providing compelling alternatives to youth violence, bridging the achievement gap, and helping acquire and implement tools for academic success. Applying her MA in Anthropology from University California Santa Barbara, Dianne lectured college courses on Women in Development, and community psychology giving much needed exposure to issues faced by the global communities EW serves. At home in California Ms. McCutchan, with over seven years experience in nonprofit management, has successfully implemented a variety of youth education programs emphasizing teenage pregnancy prevention work and public education. Her professional roles include Project Coordinator for United Boys & Girls Clubs and a collaborative grant project with Planned Parenthood and other partners focused on teenage pregnancy prevention; Launching Teens and Toddlers, a youth development program FOR at-risk youth in Santa Barbara through Empowerment Works. Later as Executive Director of "Children: Our Ultimate Investment", in Los Angeles, Dianne multiplied Teens and Toddlers programs and funding where it is needed most. Rick
Pinckert An Information Technologies expert with a strong cultural background Rick guides the Digital Village committee of The Global Summit. Rick's day job is Network Administrator at the USC Annenberg School for Communication where he manages the distance Learning technical program, Video Conferencing and decision-making role in evaluating new technology for internet content sharing for faculty and students. Previously, he served as Director of Technical Services at USC's Advanced Bioinformatics and Biotechnology Center, where he directed and supervised IT technical support teams. Influenced by his aunt the world-famous psychic Jean Dixon he began what was to become a long history of research into alternative healing and metaphysics including studying with Yogi Bhajan 1970, the Yuen Method of Chinese Energetic Medicine and advanced courses in Meditation and Healing with the Southern California Psychic Institute. As Executive Producer he is premiering "Stellar Transformation"; a TV show about how people can transform themselves with alternative healing arts. As an active member of the LA grassroots cultural community, he has been involved in various productions including the Program Director for a Four Star Records project, "Little Elmo" that initiated neighborhood children's theatre projects with performances at The Los Angeles Garden Theatre Festival. Craig
Spahr Through his diversified corporate and volunteer service career, Craig Spahr has developed and honed his business sense and savvy and is extremely adaptable. His ability to read and relate to people and situations brings greater depth and clarity in decision making processes. Working in Public
Relations for Creative Citizen LLC, Craig has made the choice
and is dedicating his life to bring about creative solutions
for a socially, environmentally and economically just presence
on this planet for all. In 2004 Craig along with an international delegation traveled to Guatemala, where on behalf of the Mayan People, this delegation along with United Nations attorneys began the long and arduous task of drafting indigenous rights documentation for the Maya throughout Central America and Mexico. Now
living in San Francisco, familiar with energetic, creative,
deadline driven and performance oriented environments, Craig
is excited to bring this energy to The Global Summit Team.
David
C. Jamali (Zimbabwe
& Australia) Born and raised in Zimbabwe, David is East Asia Program Officer with Oxfam Australia focusing on Timor Leste. Before working on the East Asia desk; he worked on the Oxfam Australia’s Horn of Africa Program in the same role focusing primarily on the Somaliland program and helping on the Ethiopia program. He has been with Oxfam Australia for almost 4 years. Before going to Australia, he worked with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association for 8 years, starting with the role of Field officer and helped to build the Economic and Social Rights Outreach Program of the organization and later moved up to become the National Programs Coordinator and was responsible for managing all the organization’s programs and acted as Executive Director. David managed donor relationship and large budgets for institutional donors like the Ford Foundation, European Commission (EC), HIVOS, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), USAID, Danish International Development Aid (DANIDA), Netherlands, British Embassy grants, Swedish and Canadian Embassy grants. In addition to his broad international development and human rights achievements, David is a sculptor/artist, current affairs host on a independent radio station in Melbourne and proud new father of a beautiful baby girl, Maya. Read about David's May 2007 trip home to Zimbabwe Jenny
Huang, MS Jenny Huang specializes in advanced software architecture design and agile software development processes with the aim to enhance organization productivity and align IT solutions with business objectives. As a senior Technology Consultant at a major global communication service provider, Jenny is responsible for the research and development of industry standards for next generation operations support systems. In this capacity, she also serves as co-chair for both the Service Delivery Framework program at the TeleManagement Forum and the Telecom Interest Group at the Object Management Group - two of the largest global consortia who advance and create the software standards for the Communication and IT industries. Just recently, Jenny received the TM Forum Distinguished Fellow Award, she is the first minority woman honored with this title since the establishment of the forum 20 years ago. To see the ceremony, Click here. Ms. Huang has extensive experience working side by side with the industry’s top talents, and she is now eager to apply her knowledge and influence at the grassroots level. Jenny firmly believes that the solutions to humanity’s most pressing issues require global interventions that harness good ideas and effectively transform them in to practical solutions. Since 2006, Jenny has served as a full time volunteer and Executive Director of the International Free and Open Source Software Foundation (iFOSSF). As a committed supporter of EW's vision of multi-sector collaborations, she will assist the organization in creating the processes and technologies that can enable people to make educated choices regarding public investments and channel market forces to support novel ideas with measurable results. Jenny holds a Bachelor degree in Economics and a Master degree in Computer Science. She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children. Dana
Arak,
Atty Dana is a multi-talented attorney, human rights activist, author and founding partner of BlueGreenStar Studios which provides sustainable solutions for creative media - leading the way in evolving Hollywood towards social responsibility. In addition to specializing in trademark law, she dedicated her time to helping launch new green businesses. Her entry point to EW came with her efforts to develop a project in Cambodia promoting sustainable food production to fund local education, complimented by eco-tourism project honoring local culture. Susan
Daya Hamwi,
Atty Daya became a lawyer at the tender age of 23. However, during 13 of her 18 years in legal practice, she has been working as a mediator and has been a dedicated advocate for indigenous peoples rights. She is now serving as Legal Adviser and Counsel at Settlement Works, a center for dynamic family resolution. Susan holds a Juris Doctorate Degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Arts, Law and Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has been a member of the State Bar of California since 1989 and completed the LA County Bar Association's mediation training program in 2001. Susan lives with her seven year old son, also near the water, in Venice, California. Adam
Krim Adam Krim brings to EW a rich background in both marketing and finance. After graduating from the Wharton School of Business and serving at Deloitte Consulting in SF, he moved to LA in late 1999 where he began launching startups. He joined Business.com when they shifted to the cost per click model. After excelling there for 18 months, he left to start a liquor company Progressive Brands, helping to raise $3M and building their main brand – HAN. Adam currently serves as Director of Business Development at Affiliate Fuel, owned by Experian. While his corporate job keeps his high tech marketing skills on the leading edge, Adam's long term passion project is “The Confluence Group” a revolutionary online and offline social network based marketing firm, and EW Partner In Empowerment! Dr. Emanuel Bassene Senegal Professor and Director of Senegal's National University University Anta Chiek Diop Medical School Department of Ethnobiology. Dr. Bassene is a native of the southern Casamance region of Senegal. His insights into the indigenous Diola culture and scientific research experience make him an invaluable adviser and co-creator of the Casamance Institute of Arts & Sciences vision since 2001. Craig
Chirinda Principal of Nova Capital Group, Craig promotes trade and investment into the southern Africa region, which is the place of his childhood. Although he is based in the States, he is actually a Zimbabwe national. He has handled nearly US$4 billion in leads, financing deals, and joint ventures flowing into Africa and if that isn’t enough he speaks seven languages. And he has managed to get all of this under while still in his early twenties. As an international trustee, based in Harare, Zimbabwe, Craig has developed an extraordinary local oversight committee and outreaching globally to promote economic self reliance in expanding markets for EWZ Beyond Fair Trade™ crafts. Read a great interview with Craig Here David
Whortley Director of Serious Games Institute in Coventry England, David Whortley is a renowned expert in online communications and lectures globally on the social impact of Second Life and other virtual worlds. In his role as EW Global Trustee, he is providing EW and participants of the Global Summit a physical address in the UK at Serious Games Institute along with access to over 70 international communication spaces in the “Soft Landing Zones” project sponsored by the UK Trade & Investment Dept. David became involved in EW in 2007 after co-chairing day 3 of the International Symposium on Digital Earth with EW's Melanie St.James. Cathleen
Muthoni Gitau Ms.
Gitau is a multi-talented artist, filmmaker and businesswoman.
Born in Nairobi, Kenya to a fashion-ista mother that owns the
successful MANG Boutique, and worldly Filmmaker father, Muthoni’s
horizons opened early, and she had the opportunity to be mentored
by the best in both worlds. In 1998 Cathy interned at McCann
Erickson Worldwide and wrote commercials that led her to the
national airwaves and the National University Arts Achievement
Award for Advertising. Previously she worked as a Public Relations
Officer for Choice Programs UK where she was featured on National
radio and television interviews promoting the International
Youth Challenge in Kenya. In 2002 Cathleen registered media
communication company, GITTS
INTERNATIONAL in 2002 with a desire to build her media outreach
and help alleviate poverty in Kenya and ultimately Africa. GITTS
is an acronym for Great Ideas Transforming Today’s Society. |
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