Pretty cool. Christine thought of and initiated this project before leaving for the Android team, so it's good to see it come to fruition.
"Silicon South Africa: Google Launches Incubator For African Startups" TechCrunch
Another project Christine worked on in Nigeria: G-Nigeria Day2010
Showing posts with label africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label africa. Show all posts
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, July 18, 2010
East Africa Railway Project: Dead Deal
Our firm’s cause-related project in Africa faced what many companies encountered. It's not called the "Dark Continent" without reason. Our team really wanted to do good and help create change in East Africa, but this became a dead deal.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Include Africa at the G20 Summit... Sign the One Petition!
ONE.org is rallying a petition drive for a good cause to consider:
This spring, leaders from 20 of the world's largest economies will come together for the G20 summit in the United Kingdom. They'll be discussing the global financial system, and working on setting a course for the world to get out of the financial crisis. It is crucial that a representative from the African Union be present at those meeting to represent many of the world's poorest nations, and give voice to their concerns.
As host of the upcoming G20 summit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown can invite a representative of the African Union to participate.
Sign UP!
This spring, leaders from 20 of the world's largest economies will come together for the G20 summit in the United Kingdom. They'll be discussing the global financial system, and working on setting a course for the world to get out of the financial crisis. It is crucial that a representative from the African Union be present at those meeting to represent many of the world's poorest nations, and give voice to their concerns.
As host of the upcoming G20 summit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown can invite a representative of the African Union to participate.
Sign UP!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
"Obama's Opportunity to Help Africa" By George Clooney
Good op-ed by George Clooney and David Pressman, who are co-founders of the international advocacy organization Not On Our Watch. Also by John Prendergast who co-chairs the Enough Project (www.enoughproject.org).
I was wondering if they asking for military intervention in the end? Economic sanctions rarely work. Take Iraq during the Clinton years, where more than twice as many Iraqis died than the Bush years and over 560,000 deaths were children under 5 years of age (UN report) due to sanctions.
I was wondering if they asking for military intervention in the end? Economic sanctions rarely work. Take Iraq during the Clinton years, where more than twice as many Iraqis died than the Bush years and over 560,000 deaths were children under 5 years of age (UN report) due to sanctions.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Events: Village Enterprise Fund, Computer History Museum 2008 Fellows Award, Kafka on the Shore
Christine and I attended a dinner and auction event for the Village Enterprise Fund Sunday evening. Bill & Julie Hooper were nice enough to invite us as their guests. They were Club Sponsors and Julie volunteered to help organize the evening's activities.
It was held at the Sharon Heights Country Club and was well attended with good energy. The Village Enterprise Fund was founded by Brian Lehnen in 1987. Its mission is "to break the cycle of poverty in rural East Africa by providing training, seed capital, and mentoring for sustainable, income-generating small businesses." This is what they do:
Business training empowers groups of five or more people to select, create and operate a small business. It covers:
* Assessing the market for the product or service
* Marketing skills
* Re-investing profits for growth
* Basic recordkeeping
* Group dynamics and decision making
* Confidence building
Seed capital grants of $100 or $150 go to trained groups with approved grant applications. We provide grants in two installments. The first $50 or $100 (depending on the type of business) gets the operation up and running. The balance ($50) follows approval of a progress report that shows several months of revenues and profits. Rural start-up businesses include:
* Agriculture (maize, cassava, tomatoes, peanuts)
* Animal husbandry (goats, chickens, pigs)
* Skilled service and construction (tailoring, carpentry, welding, bicycle repair)
* Retail (vegetable kiosks, restaurants and cafes, household goods)
On-going mentoring provides personalized advice and encouragement for at least one year. This coaching helps new entrepreneurs gain confidence, overcome the typical challenges of a new venture, understand local market opportunities, become self-sufficient and grow their businesses.
Empowerment grants ($300) go to our most successful entrepreneurs. These incremental investments take an existing business to a new level. They facilitate additions of employees, branch office openings, acquisitions of capital equipment and inventory expansion.
It's a great organization that has funded more than 16,000 small businesses in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. More than 75% of these businesses are operating after 4 years which is double the rate in the U.S. Their intern program has inspired many young people, such as Matt and Jessica Flannery who founded Kiva.org, towards the cause. Anyway, check out their site and consider getting involved.
Tuesday evening Christine are attending the Computer History Museum's 2008 Fellows Award. I'll be sitting with a bunch of Googlers. This year's honorees are:
* Jean Bartik was one of the first programmers of the groundbreaking ENIAC computing system in 1945. She later assisted in converting the ENIAC system into one of the first stored-program computers.
* Bob Metcalfe led the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet.
* Linus Torvalds created the Linux kernel and oversaw open source development of the widely used Linux operating system.
The event details are here, but the tickets are sold out.
Also if you're in Chicago or visiting there, check out "Kafka on the Shore" which is playing at the Steppenwolf Theatre. It's playing through November 16th, 2008. My good friend, Dave Rhee, has a major role in it. The Chicago Sun-Times has a great review here.
Overview
A young boy’s coming of age parallels an old man’s search for destiny in a modern day Japan where the borders between everyday reality, dreams and imagination are constantly crossed. In this world premiere adaptation of the popular novel, encounter talking cats on the streets of Tokyo, World War II soldiers trapped in time, Colonel Sanders and Johnnie Walker. Experience the unexpected in this fantastical tale about waking up to your own life.
Tony Award-winner Frank Galati adapted and directed Haruki Murakami’s after the quake during Steppenwolf’s 2005-2006 Season. This critically-acclaimed production went on to successful runs at Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Rep. Haruki Murakami, author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and other novels, is an award-winning writer whose work has been translated into 34 languages. Learn more about Haruki Murakami at www.harukimurakami.com.
It was held at the Sharon Heights Country Club and was well attended with good energy. The Village Enterprise Fund was founded by Brian Lehnen in 1987. Its mission is "to break the cycle of poverty in rural East Africa by providing training, seed capital, and mentoring for sustainable, income-generating small businesses." This is what they do:
Business training empowers groups of five or more people to select, create and operate a small business. It covers:
* Assessing the market for the product or service
* Marketing skills
* Re-investing profits for growth
* Basic recordkeeping
* Group dynamics and decision making
* Confidence building
Seed capital grants of $100 or $150 go to trained groups with approved grant applications. We provide grants in two installments. The first $50 or $100 (depending on the type of business) gets the operation up and running. The balance ($50) follows approval of a progress report that shows several months of revenues and profits. Rural start-up businesses include:
* Agriculture (maize, cassava, tomatoes, peanuts)
* Animal husbandry (goats, chickens, pigs)
* Skilled service and construction (tailoring, carpentry, welding, bicycle repair)
* Retail (vegetable kiosks, restaurants and cafes, household goods)
On-going mentoring provides personalized advice and encouragement for at least one year. This coaching helps new entrepreneurs gain confidence, overcome the typical challenges of a new venture, understand local market opportunities, become self-sufficient and grow their businesses.
Empowerment grants ($300) go to our most successful entrepreneurs. These incremental investments take an existing business to a new level. They facilitate additions of employees, branch office openings, acquisitions of capital equipment and inventory expansion.
It's a great organization that has funded more than 16,000 small businesses in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. More than 75% of these businesses are operating after 4 years which is double the rate in the U.S. Their intern program has inspired many young people, such as Matt and Jessica Flannery who founded Kiva.org, towards the cause. Anyway, check out their site and consider getting involved.
Tuesday evening Christine are attending the Computer History Museum's 2008 Fellows Award. I'll be sitting with a bunch of Googlers. This year's honorees are:
* Jean Bartik was one of the first programmers of the groundbreaking ENIAC computing system in 1945. She later assisted in converting the ENIAC system into one of the first stored-program computers.
* Bob Metcalfe led the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet.
* Linus Torvalds created the Linux kernel and oversaw open source development of the widely used Linux operating system.
The event details are here, but the tickets are sold out.
Also if you're in Chicago or visiting there, check out "Kafka on the Shore" which is playing at the Steppenwolf Theatre. It's playing through November 16th, 2008. My good friend, Dave Rhee, has a major role in it. The Chicago Sun-Times has a great review here.
Overview
A young boy’s coming of age parallels an old man’s search for destiny in a modern day Japan where the borders between everyday reality, dreams and imagination are constantly crossed. In this world premiere adaptation of the popular novel, encounter talking cats on the streets of Tokyo, World War II soldiers trapped in time, Colonel Sanders and Johnnie Walker. Experience the unexpected in this fantastical tale about waking up to your own life.
Tony Award-winner Frank Galati adapted and directed Haruki Murakami’s after the quake during Steppenwolf’s 2005-2006 Season. This critically-acclaimed production went on to successful runs at Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Rep. Haruki Murakami, author of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and other novels, is an award-winning writer whose work has been translated into 34 languages. Learn more about Haruki Murakami at www.harukimurakami.com.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
@BarCamp Africa... Morning Panel
Christine and I are at BarCamp Africa today. Very cool so far. The morning panel is here:
Professor Sebastian Teunissen. Executive Director, Clausen Center for International Business and Policy, Haas Business School, Berkeley
G. Pascal Zachary. Pascal is a journalist, author and teacher. He spent 13 years as a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal on African issues and teaches journalism at Stanford University. He recently wrote an article titled “Inside Narobi, the Next Palo Alto?
Andrew McLaughlin. He is Director of Global Public Policy at Google
Professor Wanjiru N. Kamau-Rutenberg. Wanjiru is an Assistant Professor of Political Science USF and Director of Akili Dada, a women’s education group in Kenya
Peter Carpenter. Peter currently serves as a Director of the Village Enterprise Fund. Highlights include past service as adjunct professor in Epidemiology and Biostatisics at McGill University, Chair of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR), Executive Director of the Stanford University Medical Center; he has served on the faculty in the National University in Kenya
You can follow the Tweets here.
Professor Sebastian Teunissen. Executive Director, Clausen Center for International Business and Policy, Haas Business School, Berkeley
G. Pascal Zachary. Pascal is a journalist, author and teacher. He spent 13 years as a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal on African issues and teaches journalism at Stanford University. He recently wrote an article titled “Inside Narobi, the Next Palo Alto?
Andrew McLaughlin. He is Director of Global Public Policy at Google
Professor Wanjiru N. Kamau-Rutenberg. Wanjiru is an Assistant Professor of Political Science USF and Director of Akili Dada, a women’s education group in Kenya
Peter Carpenter. Peter currently serves as a Director of the Village Enterprise Fund. Highlights include past service as adjunct professor in Epidemiology and Biostatisics at McGill University, Chair of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR), Executive Director of the Stanford University Medical Center; he has served on the faculty in the National University in Kenya
You can follow the Tweets here.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
ONE | Voices
ONE is nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty. The organization was a result of Bono's TED Prize wish. Anyway, their new ad campaign is starting soon:
"For more than a year, ONE members have been trailing the presidential candidates asking them to go on the record with their plans to combat global poverty. Now we're taking our message to the airways with this major new TV ad. The ad features Matt Damon with different Americans' voices - among them Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and Mayor Bloomberg.
Watch for it on TV and across the Internet starting Sunday, August 24th, but add your voice and share the online video with your friends now."
"For more than a year, ONE members have been trailing the presidential candidates asking them to go on the record with their plans to combat global poverty. Now we're taking our message to the airways with this major new TV ad. The ad features Matt Damon with different Americans' voices - among them Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and Mayor Bloomberg.
Watch for it on TV and across the Internet starting Sunday, August 24th, but add your voice and share the online video with your friends now."
Africa Now & Future
Randomly there has been a lot of Africa related activities crossing my path this year. Africa is a big continent with many nations and people, so my reference to it seems vague. Apologizes but my thoughts are hazy and will be since I don't know my specific involvement yet.
My CEO, Allan Lunsford, wrote a post over at InsideWork, "Africa Now," which provides his reflections on Africa since he did some real estate projects over there in the '80s for World Vision. Currently, our firm, the Lunsford Group, has an interesting development project in the works, which I hope to write about in the future (maybe my colleagues, Dan or Geoff, will post about it:).
Before I started at the Lunsford Group in March of this year, Christine and I attended TED during which I committed to joining Neil Turok's TED Prize wish for an African Einstein. One of my prior blog posts is here. For numerous reasons, his vision excites me and I looking forward to my involvement with this effort.
My good friend, Hamon, has been leading business-oriented mission trips (i.e. micro-financing) to East Africa over the years, and most recently to Malawi, which is one of the least developed nations in the world. Christine and I look forward to supporting him on this.
Even among the numerous events in Silicon Valley, I came across BarCamp Africa. Typically, BarCamps are casual conferences (also user-generated conferences) focused on technology. BarCamp Africa is different since it's covering multiple topics related to Africa (i.e. technology, mobility, art, social justice, sustainability, micro-finance). The location hasn't been announced, but it will be held on October 11, 2008. If you're in the Bay Area and plan to attend, I'll see you there.
Anyway, over the next few years it seems I will be involved in two or more Africa related projects or ventures, so it will be fun to see how everything unfolds.
My CEO, Allan Lunsford, wrote a post over at InsideWork, "Africa Now," which provides his reflections on Africa since he did some real estate projects over there in the '80s for World Vision. Currently, our firm, the Lunsford Group, has an interesting development project in the works, which I hope to write about in the future (maybe my colleagues, Dan or Geoff, will post about it:).
Before I started at the Lunsford Group in March of this year, Christine and I attended TED during which I committed to joining Neil Turok's TED Prize wish for an African Einstein. One of my prior blog posts is here. For numerous reasons, his vision excites me and I looking forward to my involvement with this effort.
My good friend, Hamon, has been leading business-oriented mission trips (i.e. micro-financing) to East Africa over the years, and most recently to Malawi, which is one of the least developed nations in the world. Christine and I look forward to supporting him on this.
Even among the numerous events in Silicon Valley, I came across BarCamp Africa. Typically, BarCamps are casual conferences (also user-generated conferences) focused on technology. BarCamp Africa is different since it's covering multiple topics related to Africa (i.e. technology, mobility, art, social justice, sustainability, micro-finance). The location hasn't been announced, but it will be held on October 11, 2008. If you're in the Bay Area and plan to attend, I'll see you there.
Anyway, over the next few years it seems I will be involved in two or more Africa related projects or ventures, so it will be fun to see how everything unfolds.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
NextEinstein Project... Considering Joining!
When Christine and I attended this year's TED conference, we were inspired by various talks and events. One of them for me was Neil Turok's wish:
“My wish is that you help us unlock and nurture scientific talent across Africa, so that within our lifetimes we are celebrating an African Einstein.”
After TED, I committed to volunteering some of my time and resources to Neil's wish. They recently launched the NextEinstein site. Very cool and exciting. Check it out and considering helping out!
“My wish is that you help us unlock and nurture scientific talent across Africa, so that within our lifetimes we are celebrating an African Einstein.”
After TED, I committed to volunteering some of my time and resources to Neil's wish. They recently launched the NextEinstein site. Very cool and exciting. Check it out and considering helping out!
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