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Ory Okolloh - Executive Director
Ms. Ory Okolloh is a lawyer, a political activist and a blogger. She is the co-founder of Mzalendo, a website that tracks the performance of Kenyan Members of Parliament, and the co-founder of Ushahidi, She was previously a summer associate in Covington and Burling, Washington DC and a Chayes Fellow at the World Bank's Department of Institutional Integrity.
She is a frequent speaker at conferences including TED Global and PopTech on issues around citizen journalism, the role of technology in Africa, and the role of young people in reshaping the future of Africa. She was a contributor to Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century and is affiliated with the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights. Ory graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She also writes one of the most popular blogs in the Kenyan sphere at Kenyan Pundit.
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Erik Hersman - Director of Operations
Erik Hersman is an international technology influencer with a keen eye on the impact of web and mobile advancements and technology innovation across Africa. Raised in Sudan and Kenya, Erik brings unique energy and insight to the world of technology and innovation – bridging the gap between Africa and Silicon Valley. He has a B.S. in Business Management from Florida State University.
An avid blogger, Erik writes two different technology-related blogs - AfriGadget and WhiteAfrican. He is frequently a speaker at meetings and conferences dealing with technology in Africa, mapping, blogging and web application development, including; TED Global, DEMO, Picnic, PopTech, SXSW, Where 2.0 and Web 2.0.
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David Kobia - Director of Technology Development
David Kobia’s experience is varied and extensive. David has almost 10 years in the technology field. After pursuing a BS in Computer Science at the University of Alabama, he has been a professional Web developer and has worked with nearly every Web technology including VB, .NET, PHP, Perl, MySQL, JSP, Flash, XML, Javascript, CSS and HTML.
David is the former Head of Internet Services at Latitude 3 Media and Allied Media, in addition to software development experience at Vulcan Publications and Time Inc. David is the owner of numerous websites, including Mashada (an online African community), TravelAfrica.biz (tours to Africa), ScubaDivingPlanet.com (a site geared to scuba divers) and TextHQ.com (a text messaging site) to name a few. You can also keep up with David on his blog at DKfactor.
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Juliana Rotich - Program Director
Juliana Rotich is a blogger, digital activist and environment editor of Global Voices Online. She is also an IT professional with years of experience in Database administration, Application development and project management. Her most recent role was as a Data Analyst at Hewitt Associates in Chicago, She also has on-the-ground experience as a citizen journalist. Juliana's skills will help build partnerships and relationships with other non-profits/NGOs internationally and on the ground in Kenya. She is a StartingBloc Social Innovation fellow with a passion for non-profit work that involves technology. You can follow her on her personal blog at Afromusing.
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Patrick Meier - Director of Crisis Mapping and Strategic Partnerships
Patrick Philippe Meier is an international networker and connector. He co-founded the Program on Crisis Mapping and Early Warning at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and the International Network of Crisis Mappers (CM*Net).
He has extensive professional experience in the fields of conflict early warning and humanitarian technology, having consulted for major international organizations in Africa, Asia and Europe. Patrick is also a PhD candidate at The Fletcher School, where his dissertation focuses on digital activism in repressive regimes. Patrick graduated with an MA
in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA). He was born in Abidjan & raised in Kenya. Patrick blogs at iRevolution & EarlyWarning.
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Henry Addo - Developer
Henry is a software developer living in Accra, Ghana. He has worked as a software developer with several IT companies including Suuch Solutions, txtGhana, IDZ Ghana limited. He has also worked as a Java instructor at IPMC Ghana, an IT training institution.
He is passionate about open technologies and has been instrumental in the evangelism and advocacy of the use of Free and Open Source Software in Ghana. Henry enjoys riding on his motorcycle when he is not doing his professional work, practice Karate Shotokan and traveling.
You can read about his personal experiences with technology on his blog at Info zone.
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Brian Herbert - Developer
Brian Herbert is a Core Software Developer with Ushahidi. During the Haitian earthquake crisis, he created the 4636 volunteer translation and categorization system, "SMS Turks." This allowed the 4646 project to quickly process messages that would then be sent directly to Ushahidi, the Thompson Reuters Foundation Emergency Information Service, Sahana and others. In the past, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya, worked with Esoko in Ghana as a software developer and did web maintenance at CNET. He received his BS in Computer Information Systems in 2006 from Bellarmine University and is currently an MBA candidate at Kennesaw State University. Brian enjoys nothing more than sitting down with friends to enjoy ice cold Tuskers.
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Kennedy Kasina - Developer
Kennedy is a software developer based in Nairobi, Kenya. He as worked as a developer for several firms including Cellulant Kenya, United States International University, Credit Reference Bureau and A24 Media. He is also a contributor on several opensource projects, including KDE, Ubuntu, PC-BSD.
"Opensource" is his way of life and foremost hobby. Away from a computer screen you'll find him out on safaris or at jazz gigs or studios playing drums.
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Caleb Bell - Designer
Caleb is a UI Designer living in Tallahassee, Florida. Before joining Ushahidi, he practiced web and print design at Design Farm, a small creative studio in Tallahassee. Caleb enjoys using graphic design principles to simplify needless complexity and just make things look good. He grew up in Kenya and loves to drink chai with anyone and everyone.
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Jon Gosier - Director Swift River
Jonathan Gosier is an American software developer, writer, social entrepreneur and the founder of the Ugandan software incubator Appfrica.org and is a TED Fellow. Appfrica invests in east African software entrepreneurs to create jobs and prevent brain-drain. Jon has served in a number of Director level roles at software companies, most recently as Chief Technical Officer at QuestionBox.org.
At Ushahidi he's the Director of Swift River, an rss and taxonomy parser that helps to manage and verify reports during global emergencies.
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Jaroslav Valůch - Ushahidi Field Representative
Jaroslav Valůch joined Ushahidi team shortly after the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010. Within the first days of the disaster aftermath, he participated in setting up the Ushahidi Response Coordination Center in Boston. Jaroslav is a Hubert Humphrey/Fulbright Fellow at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Before joining the fellowship program, Jaroslav worked for Czech based international relief and development non-profit organization called People in Need, focusing on incorporating documentary films and media literacy skills into the Czech educational curriculum through close cooperation with teachers and students with special focus on strengthening the civic participation of young people. In 2009 he worked in Burma as a relief and capacity building projects coordinator.
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