The ZeroDivide Fellows for 2004-2007

Personal Biographies as Submitted by Class II
[Page 1] - [Page 2]

Ahmad, Baldwin, Camille, Felix, Irma, Marc, Martina, Michelle, Paul, Scott, Sele, Shella, Steve, Theeba, Theresa, Xavier

SeniorNet, Santa Clara

Personal Biography - Scott Rains

“What do you want to be when you grow up?,” was a question that struck terror in my heart as a kid. I’d rather spend the day at the dentist than be cornered by the well-intentioned career counselors of my youth.

That’s probably because I didn’t know the job title for the position Gandhi held. Or, for that matter, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton or Dorothy Day.

But I did know that I wanted to be about what Gandhi called the “constructive project” even as I headed off, unchaperoned, in my first protest march while I was in eighth grade.

Later I spent ten years post-undergraduate in direct service on projects ranging from living with men on Skid Row in Seattle and adults with developmental disabilities in Syracuse, New York, to promoting a consistent ethic of respect for life in the cramped and ever-shrinking dialogue space between peace and prolife activists. For most of the next decade, I developed social justice programs and directed university ministry on various campuses. During that stretch technology access was a secondary concern at best.

That changed with the rise of the Internet and especially the Web. At that time I had been examining the models of community generated by Western Christian monasticism. It became natural, in that environment, to focus my doctoral work around a major text digitization and analysis project. This became the research tool on CD-ROM “The Rule of St. Benedict: Primary and Secondary Sources.” From there a foray into the for-profit world of software development created the opportunity to pursue a new dream – closing the Digital Divide.

Having done some technology education with faculty, students, monks and customers I found a whole new world open up as Manager for Computer-Assisted Education with a northern California developer of affordable housing. The sad adage that, "War is the way that Americans learn geography," took on a personal face as I worked with refugee adults and children who had fled turmoil and found shelter in the US. Bridging the digital divide worldwide, as a consequence of working with displaced populations here in the United States, is the theme of these past six years of my work in technology advocacy.

This month marks the 32nd year since I was paralyzed with a spinal tumor. Increasingly, the concerns of my own community occupy my thoughts.

Gains made in the past three decades are eroded through head-on assaults as well as that tectonic slippage of class where my community still remains at the forefront of the un- and under-employed. And this in spite of heroic efforts at closing the Digital Divide through innovation and Adaptive Technology. My work includes interventions designed to turn this trend around.

I am committed to pursuing the only "career path" that has ever made sense to me - the pursuit of justice on a social scale and the construction of the infrastructure required to guarantee it. I am reinforcing my work, together with an invigorating mix of entrepreneurs, activists, service professionals, philanthropists, designers, engineers, and architects, with the principles of Universal Design to bring new solutions to light.

Goals for the Fellowship

• I intend to use the network of relationships we are forging as a ZFellows class, as well as those available through the Community Technology Foundation of California, to strengthen and reshape my work.
  
• I am interested in examining, on a statewide basis, the best practices affecting the constituencies I work with.
  
• My interests lie in strategies that facilitate a new level of technology ubiquity for the populations I serve. The goal here is greater social participation. That may be through innovation in hardware and software distribution; localization of existing solutions; user education; industry/user/policymaker dialogue; or alliances with academia.
  
• California is a privileged worldwide fulcrum point which focuses thought leadership, industry innovation, and financial resource. My goal is to locate its handles of leverage for the constituencies I serve.
  
• Over the next three years I intend to bring the resources of Universal Design and Disability Studies into a new alliance with the goals of closing the Digital Divide and opening new avenues of social participation for the groups I work with.
  
• As a personal goal, I hope to establish a charitable foundation and investment fund that promotes the further theoretical development and practical application of the principles of Universal Design.

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Camille Ramani
Upwardly Global, San Francisco

Personal Biography - Camille Ramani

Camille Ramani is currently the Program Manager for Jobseeker Services at Upwardly Global. Prior to joining Upwardly Global, Camille worked as a Project Manager for Providian Financial and as a Curriculum Developer for PeopleSoft Inc. She also served as a Project Associate for the Office of Career Services at Columbia University and was the Project Evaluator and Senior Program Associate for Trickle Up, an international microenterprise program. She has worked in grassroots development projects in India and Indonesia.

Camille considers herself a “lifer” with her non-profit work. She is also the Co-founder and Co-Director of 3rd I: South Asian Independent Films, a media-arts non-profit which has grown into a national organization. A Bay Area native since the age of seven, Camille has served on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco chapter of Network of Indian Professionals. She holds an MA with a specialization in International Finance and Business from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a BA in Third World Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She is conversant in Spanish, Hindi and Gujarati. Camille is an immigrant from India and came to San Francisco with her family 25 years ago. She has also lived in India, Indonesia, New York City, and Sydney, Australia.

In her free time, Camille enjoys surfing her home break at Pacifica Linda Mar Beach, spending time with family and friends, traveling, and foreign and mainstream films.

Goals for the Fellowship

I have several goals for the fellowship. As an immigrant and currently serving the immigrant communities in the Bay Area, I believe access is a key part of social change. Access comes in many forms and in our part of the world much of that is related to technology and resources. One of my goals if to understand and learn effective ways to combine policy, community development and technology to bring about the maximum access possible to underserved communities of color. Another goal is to interact with other professionals in the program to learn from them and build a solid network of individuals who can help and guide one another. Lastly, I hope to take my experiences and knowledge from the fellowship to implement effective strategies in my current non-profit endeavors to bring about social change.

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Irma Resendez
Familia Unida Living With Multiple Sclerosis, Los Angeles

Personal Biography - Irma Resendez

Irma Resendez founded Familia Unida Living with Multiple Sclerosis (FULWMS) in January of 1998, after having endured her own personal experience with MS. FULWMS proudly stands as the first bilingual, English/Spanish, Multiple Sclerosis non-profit (501-c3) organization in U.S. History. In 1990, Ms. Resendez was suddenly diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, which left her completely paralyzed from the waist down and substantially limited her upper extremities for almost one year. During her difficult rehabilitation period, she was stunned to discover that culturally appropriate and expert information, as well as services and resources, were not available from local or national MS organizations in the Spanish language. From then on, Ms. Resendez diligently and selflessly committed her life to serve the needs of individuals with Multiple Sclerosis and other debilitating illnesses, by launching FULWMS. Familia Unida Living with Multiple Sclerosis makes it possible for MS sufferers to obtain access to healthcare, educational services and resources that ultimately encourage maximum quality of life. Ms. Resendez continues to carry out her mission of helping others, by being a strong and effective leader who advocates for the improvement of human rights and the well-being of the diverse populations which she serves. She actively conducts culturally sensitive workshops and presentations to bring awareness of the importance to respect and preserve cultural identity. Through her work, Ms. Resendez has received national recognition.

Academically, Ms. Resendez received both her Master's and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work from California State University at Long Beach, CA. She was awarded several Honors in Community Service and was also recognized by the National Association of Social Work (Region 1) two times for her exceptional contributions in community advocacy. Her educational experience also includes counseling thousands of individuals and working with diverse populations, with a concentration in families and older adults. In addition, Ms. Resendez, who is fluent in both English and Spanish, has acquired over 16 years of administrative, program development and community organizing experience. Moreover, Ms. Resendez is a recent graduate of the HOPE Hispanic Leaders Institute. She was appointed as Disabilities' Commissioner for the Los Angeles County. Lastly, Ms. Resendez serves as an active fellow member for the ZeroDivide Fellowship supported by The Community Technology Foundation of California. This Fellowship, which consists of 16 California leaders, focuses on community technology to advance social justice.

Because of her valuable work and contribution to the community, Ms. Resendez has been recognized by numerous dignitaries, corporate and community leaders. She was acknowledged for her volunteer community activism, and was named the Honoree of Hispanic Heritage Month by KCET/Union Bank of California. In addition, she has been featured in media and radio interviews, as well as in several Multiple Sclerosis publications. She was also featured in Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center's first-ever calendar (June 2000), which recognized some of the Center's outstanding patients. Overall, Ms. Resendez has established significant community resources and partnerships throughout the country, and has created considerable awareness about the growing number of multicultural groups diagnosed with MS. She recently produced the first-ever bilingual, English/Spanish, Multiple Sclerosis culturally diverse educational video titled, "You are not alone / No Est?s Solo" with the support of Gloria Estefan Enterprise and Sony Records.

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Michelle Shutzer
San Francisco

Personal Biography - Michelle Shutzer

Michelle has volunteered and worked with social benefit organizations that focus on artistic expression for over 13 years. She serves as the associate director for the Youth Media Initiative at the National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC). Michelle has lead numerous outcomes-based programs, developed successful earned-income initiatives, and managed outreach and marketing campaigns that have positively impacted the quality of service-delivery by media arts organizations and programs nationwide. She has been an entrepreneur and business consultant to the commercial sector, as well as social benefit corporations. Selected as a fellow of the Congress-Bundestag exchange, she addressed the German parliament on issues of cultural exploration and understanding. Michelle is the founder of the Edit Bay Users Group, the creator of the BAVC Business Advisory Council, a former steering committee member of the Information Technology Consortium in San Francisco, former steering committee member of Webgrrls.com/SF, an avid supporter of public broadcasting and lifelong UNICEF advocate. She has worked for the U.S. Congress and supported the local political process in San Francisco. She has a BA in Art History from the University of Georgia and is currently pursuing a Masters of Nonprofit Administration at the University of San Francisco.

Goals for the Fellowship

Today's digital technology has transformed the way we make and consume media. Now is a moment when critical decisions are being made by our government and in the marketplace, about how digital technology will be used to create, copy, distribute and present media in the years to come. My goal of the fellowship is to facilitate the integration of media technology into the mix of social change and bring leadership to the following three areas:

1. Encourage media arts and technology to be rooted in local communities – creating new models based on individual community, interdependence, expanded public and industry support.
   
2. Advocate for media literacy as an educational goal - integrating media arts and technology into all levels of education in all learning settings.
   
3. Facilitate the access for independent media artists from all cultural communities and geographic regions through encouragement and support from civic, private, public and social institutions.

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Theeba Soundararajan
Third World Majority, Oakland

Personal Biography – Theeba Soundararajan

Theeba Soundararajan is a Tamil Dalit Web Developer and Media/Tech Justice organizer. She has worked with young people and adults in San Francisco, California and Rio de Janiero, Brazil on the production of web design and development, focusing on anti-war, land reform, economic, media and environmental justice messaging. Before Third World Majority Theeba worked with WITNESS in New York City, an organization that uses video to document human rights violations through video advocacy. Through WITNESS Theeba has worked with partner organizations in the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico on a spectrum of issues: casteism, reproductive rights, land reform and popular education. As the Media and Technology Justice Coordinator at Third World Majority Theeba provides the technical support in the production of online journals(blogs) for member organizations, and has produced web journals for The All People’s Power Summit in Flagstaff, Arizona and the Grassroots Global Justice Delegation at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India. She currently serves as a board member of the Online Policy Group, an organization based in San Francisco, CA that supports free speech on the internet by providing domain registration and website hosting at no charge for non profit organizations. She speaks Tamil, Portuguese, Spanish and English.

Goals for the Fellowship

I hope to learn and grow in my understanding of current media
structures as well as deepen and expand my knowledge of media
policy. I also look forward to contributing my experience and work
as a media organizer to the network of ZeroDivide Fellows.

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Martina Virrey
Great Valley Center, Modesto

Personal Biography - Martina Virrey

Program Coordinator, Central Valley Digital Network, Great Valley Center

Martina Virrey is a native of California's Central Valley. She was raised in Stockton, California where she and many of her family members currently reside. She left the region for several years to study at California State University, Monterey Bay where she earned a B.A. in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Human Communication.

Ms. Virrey chose CSUMB because of the university's emphasis on providing access to quality higher education for traditionally underserved and low-income populations. The university integrated cultural competence, multicultural perspectives, and service learning into all courses and majors resulting in a learning environment supportive of self-reflection and the exchange of ideas. While attending the university, Ms.Virrey participated in various community service projects such as Monterey County America Reads Program, where she helped second-grade students in Salinas improve their reading skills; Second Saturday Network, where she served as Tech Advisor for their quarterly newsletter distributed as a resource to African-American and mixed heritage families in Santa Cruz; The Big Sur Land Trust, where she served as a Jane McKay Fellow with the Outdoor Education Program teaching youth about environmental and land issues; and the CSU, Monterey Bay Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, where she worked with fellow students and community leaders to coordinate a week-long event to bring the issues of homelessness and hunger to the attention of students, community members and policy makers. These experiences along with many others strengthened her commitment to affecting social change through grassroots efforts and community service.

In 2002, Ms. Virrey joined the staff of Great Valley Center, a private nonprofit whose mission is to "support activities and organizations that promote the economic, social, and environmental well-being of California's Great Central Valley." As Program Coordinator for the Central Valley Digital Network program, she works with AmeriCorps*VISTA members (National Volunteers) who give one year of their life to create sustainable community-centered programs that address the unique needs of Central Valley residents.

Ms. Virrey also works closely with local human service agency leaders throughout the 19-county Central Valley region to increase opportunities for underserved communities to access technology and training that can potentially improve their quality of life. As a member of two public policy-related committees, the California Teleconnect Fund Administrative Committee and the California Community Technology Policy Group Steering Committee, Ms. Virrey advocates for affordable access to information and telecommunications technology for rural and underserved communities. She believes the ZeroDivide Fellowship will provide further opportunities to affect positive social change.

Goals for the Fellowship

Through my participation in the ZeroDivide Fellowship, I hope to:

1. Broaden my understanding of public policy as it relates to the needs of underserved or marginalized communities;
   
2. Connect with other community leaders from throughout the state who are also committed to increasing opportunities through the use of technology; and
   
3. Bring back tools and information to share with my Central Valley colleagues working in the field of Community Technology and social justice.

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Steve Wright
Salesforce.com/Foundation, San Francisco

Personal Biography -Steve Wright

Balding white guy who believes that the world would be a better place if more people met more people. A little Pollyanna I know. I promise my approach is more practical than my vision. Introductions are critical. It is much more difficult to hate someone you actually know.

I see myself as an educator. I was a classroom teacher for 7 years and a high school administrator for 3 years. I moved into corporate philanthropy with the intention of creating a positive impact more exponentially than I could through direct services. I miss working with people. I like people. And, I have yet to realize the goal of creating positive impact on individuals in an indirect, exponential way.

I believe that technology is most powerful as a communications tool. I believe that teaching technology as workforce development is over-emphasized and that it is critical for people to conceptualize technology as a powerful way to tell your story. To advertise yourself, your community, your issues, your products. I believe the most power science wielded today is Public Relations / Marketing. Can we use these extraordinary powers of persuasion for the forces of good and light? We can convince people of the necessity of the latest Nike. We are capable of creating need from whole cloth. What if …

Goals for the Fellowship

• In general, I am interested in working with people to use my skills to achieve valuable goals. My goals are defined around general impact and efficacy more than they are specific issues. For example, I want to work with effective systems for publishing information. I am eager to work with folks who work closely with communities whose issues, opinions, resources, and value are underrepresented, underappreciated, and underutilized.

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