Mike Usmar bio / election statement
Mike Usmar is Chief Executive Officer of Computer Clubhouse Trust (NZ), and also serves as a foundational Director for the Network of Aotearoa Clubhouses (NOAC).
Mike has lived and worked in Manaukau City and its neighbourhoods for more than 15 years. He is married with four children ages 3 to 18 years of age.
His involvement in Information Technology and Community Development is extensive, and dates to 1998 when he helped establish the first Community IT Project in East Tamaki. He was a Therapeutic Director, and then Managing Director for Regional Youth Services; he served as Resource Development Consultant for Habitat for Humanity; and Logistics Officer for Mercy Ships International, to name a few.
Current Internet-Related Projects
- Planning and deployment of the Community Wireless Network in Manukau City
- Coordinating “The HAPS”, an open source coding project in partnership with the University of Auckland School of Computer Science to create a New Zealand-based youth social networking engine
- Managing the 1:1 Laptop Project in association with Intel World Ahead Project for students at two schools in Manukau City
- Project
management and planning for deployment of ten new Computer Clubhouses around
the country, and two in the Pacific Islands region.
Academic and Developmental Interests
- Asset Based Community Development
- Community Informatics (CI)
-
Social & Cultural Constructionist Pedagogy
What Mike Usmar will bring as a Councillor to Internet NZ
- Extensive praxis in not-for-profit leadership, management, governance and resource development, relevant now to Internet NZ’s new charitable status
- Experience in cross-cultural communications, and a diverse national and international network of IT colleagues and associates across the public, private and independent (not-for-profit) sectors
- Successful advocacy for technology and internet access in underserved and marginalise communities in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
- Proven outcomes in both public relations, sectoral marketing, and political lobbying
- Networked into numerous domestic and international philanthropic organisations and a prolific fund raiser
Vote USMAR INTERNET NZ COUNCILOR 09 WWW.MIKEUSMAR.COM
