Stepping Down as Ushahidi Executive Director
It is almost 3 years to the day that I sent out a plea to Kenyan bloggers and techies to help me build what would become Ushahidi.
Since then it has been a crazy ride…from producing an incredible open source platform and working towards scale, to building and working with an incredibly talented team, to seeing multiple uses of Ushahidi around the world, to numerous awards and press mentions.
For me, what has always been the most important aspect of the work we do has remained simple, building a tool that makes it easy for individuals and groups to tell their stories, and making it easy for these stories to be mapped/visualized.
Ushahidi has grown to be that and much more, thanks especially to the wider community – which saw potential uses beyond crisis reporting and who largely shaped our growth and direction to date be it through translation efforts (Ushahidi now available in 10 languages!), or custom themes, or pushing for a hosted version (Crowdmap), or challenging us to address the shortcomings of the platform (through tools like SwiftRiver and our community resources page).
Beyond the growth of Ushahidi as a platform and an organization, I always tell people that I am most proud of the fact that the Ushahidi story has provided an inspiration to other techies in Kenya and Africa – an example of the kind of talent the continent holds, but also a reminder that we have just scratched the surface. And so after 3 years of serving as Ushahidi’s Executive Director, I feel it is time for me to take on the next challenge. Those of you who know me well know I’ve got a 1001 ideas floating in my head that I need to get out☺
Ushahidi co-founder Juliana Rotich will be the acting Executive Director. As Program Director (and pretty much since the very beginning of Ushahidi) Juliana has been our key interface with the wider community of techies, implementers of the platform and volunteers. Her ability to be a bridge between the core of Ushahidi and the wider community (along with her uber-geek status!) gives me and the rest of the team every confidence that the transition process will be smooth and bigger things lie ahead for Ushahidi.
Where I am headed? I will be joining Google in the new year as the Policy Manager for Africa. The role will involve developing policy /strategies on a number of areas of relevance to Google and the Internet in Africa and will involve working with different parties including government leaders, policy makers, regulators, industry groups and so on. It is a huge opportunity to bring Google’s resources to bear as far as the growth and development of the internet in Africa (and hopefully a reminder of why I went to law school in the first place!). I’m very excited about the move and I hope I can continue to lean on your support and insight in my new role.
To my co-founders – the ride continues! To the most amazing team, I am watching this space! To our Board of Directors, thank you for your insight and guidance! To our partners, especially those who took a risk on us in the early days, most grateful! To the wonderful readers of Kenyan Pundit, whose stories and willingness to share in those dark days of 2007-8 – you were my inspiration, thank you! To the wonderful wider community of Ushahidi – volunteers, translators, crowdmappers, critics (yes I love you too!), journalists, people who supported us in the early days when people asked Usha-what?, THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Need to reach me….you all know I live on the internets right…find me @kenyanpundit or kenyanpundit-at-gmail
- O
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Jonathan Goff will miss the season in this years
Because inside the torn anterior cruciate ligament Jonathan Goff will pass up the eason on this years.
Lastweek,and all told, they’ve lost five key people inside the defense for the period of time granted that instruction camp opened. New York opens the period of time against the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
Goff,He experienced 80 tackles plus just one sack final season,since the Giants completed 10-6.yangchengbin/201111
For me, what has always been the most important aspect of the work we do has remained simple, building a tool that makes it easy for individuals and groups to tell their stories, and making it easy for these stories to be mapped/visualized.
A Kenyan man was charged with having sex with a dog after the animal’s owner caught the act on videotape. But this wasn’t the first time Noel Sanyanafwa has been charged with with lewd acts. He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with another dog after owner Barbara found him and was sentenced to probation.
Mary said she noticed several weeks ago her dog Tiger was acting strange and getting infections again. Noel has had mental problems for several years.
John W Kirima has been found deceiving his wife with another man. They beat them both, put them naked and forced them to kiss in public. It is against Kenyan law to fornicate man to man. But this wasn’t the first time that John has been caught having sex with another man. He pleaded guilty last year to having sex with another man in a the back of a car.
He remains in jail, awaiting a hearing Monday. John has had mental problems for several years, but seemed to get better after getting court-ordered treatment last year.
Is this s true story?
This has to be the most disgusting trend I’ve seen in 15 years walking the weird news beat: Once again, someone is accused of having sex with a dog.
A man has been charged in a Kibera court with 200 counts of having sex with an animal after he allegedly admitted to having sex with a dog more than 400 times over a five-year period.
Police first learnt of Mr. G. Kibukosya’s criminal activity when an anonymous caller contacted police with the bizarre story. The man has a history of mental illness. Investigators say they found pictures of him posted on the Internet of him sexually abusing his dog called Rocky.
They beat them both, put them naked and forced them to kiss in public.
[...] echoes some of these feelings in a post on her blog, writing: Beyond the growth of Ushahidi as a platform and an organization, I always tell people [...]
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[...] for local content and an environment which supports innovation.? On her own blog, Kenyan Pundit, Okolloh said: ?The role will involve developing policy/strategies on a number of areas of relevance to Google [...]
[...] has decided to step down and join Google as their Policy Manager for Africa. Ory writes on her blog, “The role will involve developing policy /strategies on a number of areas of relevance to [...]
[...] has decided to step down and join Google as their Policy Manager for Africa. Ory writes on her blog, “The role will involve developing policy /strategies on a number of areas of relevance to Google [...]
[...] her new position in Johannesburg, South Africa mid January.According to a recent post on her blog Kenyan Pundit she writes “the role will involve developing policy/strategies on a number of areas of relevance [...]
[...] Así define Okolloh en su blog las funciones que habrá de desempeñar como Policy Manager for Africa de Google: Mi función supondrá el desarrollo de políticas y estrategias en una serie de áreas de importancia para Google y la Internet en África e implicará trabajar con diferentes actores, incluyendo líderes del gobierno, legisladores, reguladores, grupos industriales y demás. Es una gran oportunidad para traer los recursos de Google al crecimiento y desarrollo de Internet en África. Estoy muy entusiasmada con el cambio y espero poder seguir contando con vuestro apoyo y comprensión en mi nuevo papel. [...]
[...] a recent post on her blog Kenyan Pundit, the 33-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer writes “the role will involve developing policy [...]
[...] to a recent post on her blog Kenyan Pundit, the 33-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer writes “the role will involve developing policy [...]
[...] Okolloh, co-founder of the very successful crowdsourcing platform, known as Ushahidi, recently announced that she will be stepping down as Executive Director, and stepping into the new position with Google. [...]
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