2008 Panelist Bios | Advisory Committee Bios 

	Laura S. Quinn Panel: Everything You Wanted To Know About Tech But Were Afraid To Ask (a man) Laura has been working in the software sector for more than ten years. As Idealware's Director, she directs Idealware's research and writing to provide candid reports and articles about nonprofit software. Prior to Idealware, Laura founded Alder Consulting, where she helped helped nonprofits create internet strategies, select appropriate software, and then build sophisticated websites on a limited budget. She has also selected software, designed interfaces and conducted user research for multi-million dollar software and website implementations with such companies as Accenture and iXL. Laura is a frequent speaker and writer on nonprofit software topics.
	Connie Reece Panel: Web 2.0: Hot Or Not? Connie is the founder of Social Media Club Austin. A communications professional with more than three decades of writing and speaking experience, Connie is a conversational marketing specialist involved in the research and implementation of emerging media. Connie's expertise as a conversational writer and her facility for quickly mastering new tools and technologies keep her in demand as a social media consultant. Through her company, Every Dot Connects, Connie helps businesses learn to speak with an authentic voice and to participate in a dialogue with customers and constituents.
	Julia Rosen Panel: Get Your Local Campaigns On!  Julia Rosen is the Online Political Director for the Courage Campaign.  She got her start in politics working for Common Cause in DC. She moved out to California to work for the Alliance for a Better California, where she wrote over 2,000 posts on why Arnold Schwarznegger is not at Democrat.  Julia continued her work within the labor movement serving as the Online Communications Director for Working Californians.  Her background is in connecting the netroots and the labor movement to bring about progressive change.  She is currently an editor at Calitcs and a contributor to Crooks and Liars, when she isn't blogging at her personal site Ruck Pad.
	Holly Ross Panel: Everything You Wanted To Know About Tech But Were Afraid To Ask (a man) Panel: Breaking Through The Digital Ceiling Holly has spent more than five years at NTEN, combing through all the technology fads and listening to the NTEN community to line up the webinars, conferences, and research that will help members use technology to make the world a better place. From ubiquitous access to technology leadership to social media trends, Holly brings the wisdom of the NTEN crowd to the nonprofit sector. Holly came to nonprofit technology after working for social change at CALPIRG and during her college days at UC Berkeley.  In between meetings and emailing, Holly tries to raise her 3 year old daughter and occasionally pays attention to her fabulous husband.
	Shirley Sexton Panel: Firing Up Your Online List Sexton is assistant vice president of Interactive marketing for Easter Seals headquarters, the nation's 13th largest charity. Shirley heads Easter Seals' Interactive Marketing Group, which leads Easter Seals' online initiatives. Sexton provides strategic guidance and direction for all Easter Seals public Web sites and online marketing efforts, with the goal of maximizing the potential of the Internet and related technologies for the organization as a whole, with emphasis on customer relationship management (CRM), service marketing, fund raising, and brand integration. Sexton has over 20 years of direct response and Internet marketing experience. She is a frequent speaker at national conferences on Internet strategy and development for nonprofits.
	Dani Simons Panel: Get Your Local Campaigns On!  Dani is the Director of E-Media Initiatives for the NYC Department of Transportation. She previously served as Deputy Director of Development and Communications at Transportation Alternatives, a locally based non-profit advocating for better conditions for walking, bicycling and mass transit. For the past decade, she has worked on urban environmental issues on the city, state and national levels and used a blend of online communications tools and real-world special events to bring community and media attention to the relationships between social equity, transportation and public space. She holds a Master's degree from the Yale School of Forestry and a BS form Brown University and is a daily bike commuter.
	Ruby Sinreich Panel: Build An Online Campaign And Save The World Ruby is the founder and editor of OrangePolitics, a progressive multi-author blog with a vibrant community discussing local issues around her hometown of Chapel Hill, NC. She works as the Co-Director of Communication at the New York-based Fellowship of Reconciliation, a 90-year-old interfaith organization working for peace and justice through nonviolence. Professionally, Ruby specializes in strategies that connect people to each other, sometimes known as “network-centric advocacy,” “Web 2.0,” "social networking," or “grassroots organizing,” depending upon what type of geek one is.  She has helped hundreds of progressive nonprofits use technology more effectively in service of their educational, movement-building, and political missions. She has experience with organizations of all sizes and scopes including local women’s centers, statewide advocacy organizations, and national and international institutions such as Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Greenpeace International, and the American Civil Liberties Union
	Farra Trompeter Panel: Firing Up Your Online List Farra is Vice President of Client Relationships + Strategy at Big Duck. Big Duck combines expert strategy with award-winning creative to help nonprofit organizations transform they way they communicate. Farra's expertise focuses on helping nonprofits use the Internet (email, websites, social media, multimedia, etc.) to increase an organization's visibility and connect with donors and activists. Prior to joining Big Duck, Farra honed her skills at Donordigital and Douglas Gould and Company, developing direct response fundraising, advocacy and marketing strategies, campaigns, and producing user-driven websites. She has worked closely with such organizations as American Lung Association, US Fund for UNICEF, Women's Sports Foundation, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, National Breast Cancer Coalition, Planned Parenthood, United Way of New York City, and the Center for the Advancement of Women. Farra holds an M.S. degree in nonprofit management from The New School and currently serves on the board of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project.
	Katrin Verclas Panel: Mobile Activism Katrin is co-founder and editor of MobileActive.org, a global network of practitioners using mobile phones in social change work. She was, until recently, also the Executive Director of NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network, the national association of IT professionals working in the more than one million nonprofit organizations in the United States. Katrin is passionate about the use of technology in democratic participation, economic empowerment, community organizing, and government accountability. She believes in the importance of community, the power of networks, the good will of people, our ability to collaborate for a common good, the inherent political-ness of everyday life, and the power of people using technology to better this world. Katrin has a strong background in IT management, IT in social change organizations, and in philanthropy. Prior to NTEN and MobileActive.org, she has led several nonprofit organizations, and served as a program officer at the Proteus Fund for six years, focusing on the use of technology in civic and democratic participation, and in government transparency. She is currently engaged in researching and writing a publication on mobile use in civil society with the UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Group, among other projects.
	Usha Venkatachallam Panel: Everything You Wanted To Know About Tech But Were Afraid To Ask (a man) Usha is the Founder & CEO of Appropriate IT (AI), a technology company with a mission to help organizations harness the power and promise of the information age to advance the agendas of social justice and equitable access. She also serves as a technology advisor to Women's Learning Partnership, advising the organization and its partners in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on technology trends, and strategy. She is a technologist who believes that information & communication technologies (ICTs) have transformational power, making them effective tools for social change. Usha has more than a decade of experience in helping organizations creatively apply internet technologies to advance their mission. Prior to founding AI, Usha was a Solutions Architect at Beaconfire serving nonprofits in the evaluation, design and implementation of Internet technologies. Usha has also worked for All India Radio, India's leading radio network, producing radio dramas and programs. Previous

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  WOMEN ARE UNDERREPRESENTED

  
  Some of the most gifted folks in technology are women yet they are rarely quoted as experts by the mainstream media and blogs. Furthermore women are significantly underrepresented on panels at major technology conferences.
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  TO BREAK DOWN BARRIERS

  
  The teleSummit aims to break down the barriers and showcase the brilliant talents of women who tech out.
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  TO MOBILIZE A NETWORK OF WOMEN

  
  One of our long term goals is to create a database of women technology experts to be used as a resource for the media and tech conference organizers. This database will not only provide a strong network of women in the technology sector but support the creative talents and energies of women who thrive in this arena.