I worked in using technology for rural development in Southeast Asia for 9 years. I have expertise in development issues, grant-writing, and Southeast Asia.
2006-2007 Translator and Cross-cultural Coordinator Chiang Rai, Thailand
• Provided translation and interpretation for organizations working in Northern Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). Clients included BBC, The Christian Science Monitor, Lonely Planet, and major nonprofit and national-level government organizations in Thailand.
• Coordinated and led intensive student experiences through Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia.
• Provided pro bono consulting for local non-profits working with hilltribe peoples.
2001 – 2006 The Mirror Foundation Huay Khom Village, Thailand
Project Director and Board Member
• Resurrected a small, financially faltering rural Thai nonprofit by securing $500K in grants, stimulating the organization to quadruple in size and gain foundation status.
• Conceived and created The Virtual Hilltribe Museum, acquiring support from the Rockefeller Foundation and leveraging technology to establish Thailand’s most successful program to preserve minority cultures (media coverage at BBC online).
• Designed photovoltaic systems for villages previously without electricity.
• Established the Tsunami Volunteer Center to aid the post-tsunami recovery. To date over 5,000 volunteers have served through the TVC.
• Created programs addressing micro-business, income generation, human rights, drug abuse and human trafficking which yielded increases in income and decreases in trafficked persons.
• Negotiated cross-cultural boundaries to become the first and only non-Thai project director and board member of the Foundation.
• Designed and coded multiple websites for the Foundation.
1999 – 2001 United States Peace Corps Samngao, Thailand
Integrated Education and Community Outreach Volunteer
• Trained government teachers of Samngao Education District, enabling them to integrate information technology into teaching and adapt to national education reform policy.
• Advised village women’s group on sustainable small business practices resulting in ongoing profitable small businesses.