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African projects launched

Openworld has offered support to projects in Gabon, Senegal, and Somaliland for students and jobseekers to research market-based learning and sustainable development. A presentation on Gabon's "Green Free Zone" opportunity has been released. In Somaliland, teleworkers helping the new Somaliland-based Academy of Science, recipient of a 37 acre land grant, have also begun producing video clips on Internet-enabled job creation and affordable construction solutions. An entrepreneurial academy in Senegal is also preparing video clips, with microscholarship funding, on new learning-and-earning opportunities to promote school sustainability.

Seeds of Change Offer: Microvouchers for student projects

Openworld is offering 500 microvouchers in coming months to fund digital "work-study" projects by students at entrepreneurial schools for the poor to create video clips on opportunities for sustainability. The initiative is funded by recent grants from John C. Whitehead, Jack Pearce, and the Explorers Foundation. Explore the new Seeds of Change challenge offer and apply for the Seeds of Change resources.  Initial video projects are being prepared by students at the Horizon Lanka Academy in Sri Lanka, as well as high school age students in North America.

"Assisting Entrepreneurial Schools" portal launched

In response to shortcomings in government schools, more than 1.5 million private schools for the poor are now operating in developing countries, according to Templeton Foundation and International Finance Corporation-supported research by James Tooley. Openworld has launched a new portal to provide learning entrepreneurs with practical information on sustainability strategies.

Sponsor/Partner Opportunities

Openworld welcomes your help in spreading grassroots free market initiatives in impoverished communities.
For those interested in supporting new self-help opportunities, Openworld welcomes Global Resource Partnerships with individuals, policy institutes, and organizations that can contribute to global challenge offers. Donors interested in making tax-deductible contributions to support Openworld’s nonprofit activities can do so through the Explorers Foundation (tel: +1 303-744-1855). Sponsor options are also offered to supporters who seek early-stage access to new talent and development opportunities.

 

Openworld Team

Soleman Abdi Idd, founding Chairman of Openworld Inc., is a Somali-born investor and entrepreneur active in private sector environmental initiatives, ecotourism, agricultural ventures, and free economic zone development in Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Mark Frazier, Openworld's President, has experience in developing market-oriented initiatives for private and public sector clients in 56 countries. A graduate of Harvard University and former Visiting Fellow of the Lehrman Institute, he is a past publisher and managing editor of Reason magazine as well as cofounder of the Local Government Center, springboard for Reason Foundation's privatization practice. He specializes in economic reforms, free zones for knowledge industries, sustainability strategies for self-help groups, and skills diffusion initiatives in emerging economies.

Cesar Nerys is a cofounder (wth Mark Frazier) of the Openworld Institute to promote free and open source eGovernment solutions, and coauthor of a forthcoming book on "opening the world." A citizen of the Dominican Republic, he has experience with private development projects in Central America and in the Indian Ocean regions. Mr. Nerys has designed eCommerce solutions for leading international corporations, consulted on offshore information industry development for the World Bank and private sector clients, and set updistance learning networks for universities in the Caribbbean and the Pacific.

Shannon Ewing is director of Openworld's grassroots initiatives, overseeing in-country projects and microscholarships, online work-study, and grassroots learning initiatives in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. She has provided research and organizational development services for a range of private sector clients. She oversees eAcademy toolkit and Virtual Business Incubator development for Openworld, Inc. and has in-country experience assisting the students, program, curricula and faculty of Horizon Lanka Academy, an international pioneer in private sector-sponsored microscholarship initiatives in disadvantaged rural settings in Sri Lanka. Her education includes international and cultural studies at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, along with study in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Nick Sorrentino is an advisor on strategy and outreach for Openworld, Inc. and Openworld Institute. He has helped develop Openworld's Global Resource Partner alliances and partnerships for "Seeds of Change" challenge offers. The founder of Exelorix.com, a consultancy on social networking and online marketing, he also has experience in banking, financial advisory services, and insurance, as well as in media production and event management for the Free Congress Foundation. Mr. Sorrentino has raised funds for nonprofit organizations and political candidates in Capitol Hill and in Richmond, Virginia. He holds a degree in Political Science from Mary Washington College.

Lara Ewing Himber is a Board member and Secretary/Treasurer of Openworld, as well as a consultant to international companies on strategy, project management, and supply chains. She is coauthor of "The Art of Connecting," a book published in 2006 by the American Management Association. She is a Board member of the Colorado (USA)-based Explorers Foundation.

James C. Bennett is Vice Chairman of Openworld, and cofounder of the organization's World Cities initiative. He is a specialist in internet-enabled commerce and government, and a director of the nanotechnology-oriented Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. Mr. Bennett is also a founder of the Anglosphere Institute and author of The Anglosphere Challenge.

Valnora Leister is a Senior Research Fellow at Openworld, researching opportunities for transnational, depoliticized systems of governance and legal frameworks for space launch and other satellite technology-related initiatives. A Brazilian national, she was a Guggenheim Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution and project attorney for the InterAmerican Development Bank.  She holds DCL and LLM degrees from McGill University's Institute Air and Space Law in Canada, and other law degrees from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Alexander Bokovikov, a Russian citizen, is cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of Openworld Learning LLC, a US-Russian venture that offers freeware and shareware tools for global eLearning content preparation.He is also principal software developer for Abak-Press in Russia and former chair of Semiconductors in the Physics department of Ural State University. He holds patents in optical systems and ferroelectrics, and is author of leading shareware and freeware tools for knowledge navigation.

Charles Frohman assists Openworld, Inc. and the Openworld Institute on public policy reforms, partnership development, and media relations. He has experience as a Congressional staffer and as a liaison to Congress for the Cato Institute and a leading land titling association, as well as a public affairs consultant and event planner for corporations. A yoga teacher, he brings a commitment to classical liberalism, consciousness, and transcending cultural boundaries to create value for investors and partners. He is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, and currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Alberto Olympio, a Gabonese national, is a systems architect and software engineer with extensive experience for leading North American, European, and Africanmultinational corporations.  He has ranked consistently among the top five Microsoft certification holders world-wide and is a cofounder of Africa Technology Forum, a group of US-resident entrepreneurs andprofessionals assisting technology initiatives in Africa.

Kiette Tucker, an intern for Openworld, is currently working on the Assisting Entrepreneurial Schools Initiative and helping to forge a partnership between Openworld constituents and Northeastern University business students. Her past experience includes development work with the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) and a year exchange in Puebla, Mexico where she assisted The Human Rights Commission of Puebla (CDH) in community outreach and event planning. A recent graduate from the International Business Program at Northeastern, Kiette is now working with the University to build a Social Entrepreneurship Program that includes Field Studies in Mexico, Nicaragua, Senegal, South Africa, and Thailand. Kiette is also employed as a Project Coordinator with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has received a Peace Corps nomination to work on business advising in Sub-Saharan Africa beginning in June 2009.

Meena Koka leads a Chennai-based software development team for Openworld, with a focus on creating a clearinghouse for online work-study projects and for virtual internships to prepare students in grassroots schools for freelance opportunities in global online markets. She is an Indian national and a specialist in telework systems.