A Bi-Coastal BBQ Lifestyle
See that Iridium flare?
Now that I live in Washington, DC and work for Inveneo, based in San Francisco, CA, I am living a bi-coastal lifestyle. I spend an average of a week every month or so in the Inveneo offices, living at the “Inveneo Hotel” – the home of Mark and Kristin, Inveneo’s co-founders.
Before you cringe at the thought of working all day in the same room as your boss and then spending the evenings with him or her too, I have to say that Inveneo isn’t your standard company.
First, we’re a social enterprise, which means we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, yet we’re run like a business. We’re out there selling product and hustling for business like any other company. At the same time, we have a strong social mission that permeates everything we do.
Directing Inveneo’s ICIP Program
Inveneo ICIP in action
Back when I was Director of Geekcorps, we focused on developing appropriate technology to increase economic development. In the hot, dusty, off-grid environment of Mali, that meant developing solutions like the Desert PC.
While we only built a few for radio stations, another group, Inveneo, took the appropriate computing idea to the next level. They developed an entire product line of information and communication tools for rural and remote communities in the developing world.
But tools themselves are not enough. Technology is only truly sustainable when they are affordable and can be serviced and supported locally and the lack of qualified in-country ICT professionals is a great hindrance to technology diffusion. At Geekcorps we tried to solve this human capacity by linking international technology volunteers with local professionals for one-on-one training.
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