team
Behind Victor d'Allant, a team of media, technology and development experts educated at Berkeley, MIT and Columbia, who have worked for Google, LinkedIn, eBay, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Omidyar Network and the World Bank.
Mark Durham (@mrkdrm) has spent nearly two decades at the crossroads of media, technology, business and culture in San Francisco, Paris and Silicon Valley. Immersed in Internet publishing and technology since the early '90s, he has been designing and developing online products, platforms and publications ever since. In 1995, he joined Wired Digital, where he became editor at large and was part of the core team that developed HotWired, HotBot and Wired News. Subsequent experience includes positions at Identity Theft 911, LinkedIn and Google.
Jill Finlayson (@jfinlayson) is a passionate supporter of small business, social entrepreneurship, mentoring, and open data. She has led marketing for Silicon Valley nonprofits, software companies, and numerous startups. At eBay, she was responsible for the Toys category business unit, which she grew into a half-billion-dollar business, and is co-author of the McGraw Hill book Fundraising on eBay. She recently oversaw community engagement and social media programs for the Skoll Foundation's online community, Social Edge. Jill is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Josephine d'Allant (@josephine26) recently graduated with High Honors from UC Berkeley with a bachelors in International Development Studies and a Certificate from SciencesPo-Paris. A member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, she is fluent in French, speaks some Spanish and Mandarin, and has traveled to China, India, Vietnam, Bolivia, Mexico, Mali, Morocco and Senegal. Her previous experience includes Galima Group/UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education, Samasource, Frontline/WORLD, Tostan and Kiva. Her immediate goal is to rename our company "Dallant & Daughter."
Thomas Kriese (@itsthomas) has been designing and managing the way we interact online for close to 20 years, from the early years of modem-accessed bulletin board systems to today's platforms that link, tweet, and like. He recently served as Executive Producer of omidyar.net, the Omidyar Network's prestigious online community. He also designed content programming models for America Online and launched AOL Hometown, before joining the AOL Time Warner Foundation to help grantees incorporate technology and online communities into their work.
Katy Fentress (@whatktdoes) has spent the last five years working as a photographer and freelance journalist between Southern and Eastern Africa and the UK. She recently settled in Nairobi, where she has been producing stories that show an alternative face to Africa from the one usually portrayed in the media. Katy is driven by a desire to understand how people manage, in the face of overwhelming poverty, to realise their capabilities and become inspirations to their peers. She studied Anthropology at the University of Sussex and has a Masters in International Development from University College London.
Julisa Tambunan (@nocturneIIe) is a behavior change specialist who had spent almost a decade working in journalism and media before shifting to the development sector in 2008. She is academically trained at the University of Indonesia in developmental psychology and at Portland State University in business administration, both to Master's level. She has been working with Mercy Corps on urban poverty reduction and youth development programs in Indonesia, as well as working with the global agency on civic participation programs implemented in multiple countries, including in the Middle East. Julisa is also a trained emergency responder who has been deployed to disaster relief efforts in the Southeast Asia region. When asked what she does for living, she almost always responds: "I'm an urban crusader."
Carlin Carr (@carlincarr) is the former editor of Searchlight South Asia, a monthly newsletter that tracks trends in urban poverty in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. She is interested in urban planning, housing issues and how climate change impacts the poor. She has previously worked on clean water initiatives in India, Ghana and Kenya, and now teaches English literature and conducts a program for street children. Her interest in India began as a Rotary Ambassadorial Fellow in Mumbai from 2008-2009. Carlin holds a bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College, a master's from the National University of Ireland and a master's diploma from the University of Mumbai.
María Fernanda Carvallo (@fer_carvallo) is a specialist in social development who has focused on poverty eradication programs through a career working with indigenous people in rural and urban areas in Mexico, a health safety net policy for universal coverage, and project assessment to identify impact on stakeholders. She lectured on Social Policy and Development at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. María Fernanda is interested in fostering development in urban and rural areas through the enhancement of community driven development, livelihood analysis, and the synergetic effort of different actors. She studied Political Science at the Tecnológico de Monterrey and holds a MSc. in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics (LSE). She currently belongs to the expert council of L21 Innovation and Social Development agency.
Catalina Gomez (@CatalinaUrb) is a social and urban development specialist. She has worked as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank in the design and implementation of several development projects in various countries, including Colombia and Brazil. Her work has focused on poverty reduction programs as well as on urban upgrading interventions. She has a MSc. in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics (LSE), and she recently completed a fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she conducted research on informality and urban revitalization, as well as on effective social service provision at the local level.
Victoria Okoye (@vickivictoriaO) is a community/urban planner who uses media and communications tools to insert community participation into urban-level planning and development. She has worked in urban water management, local economic development and master planning in Lagos, Kaduna and Abuja, urban transport planning and community mapping in Accra, and mapping water and sanitation activities throughout Ghana. Victoria studied journalism at the University of Missouri and holds an MS in Urban Planning and a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University in New York.
Howaida Kamel graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major in Development Studies and Environmental Economics & Policy. She has worked for Plan Egypt and Global Trade Matters, both of which focus on issues of urban poverty and social/economic public policies. A proud Egyptian, Howaida's interest in development stems from her experiences growing up in Cairo; now that she has returned, she hopes to make a positive impact on her home country's standard of living.