Geoffrey Anson, Chairman
With a successful career of over 25 years in IT sales, marketing and senior management behind him, Geoff now uses this experience, executive network and street smarts to help startup or existing businesses grow far beyond their dreams. Educated via local schools, colleges and Princeton University, he has learned by practical experience and direct action that results speak… LOUDLY.
Early years at Compaq Computers in sales & marketing roles led to advancement to the formation and management of the consumer products division and representation at board of director’s level. Always the entrepreneur, further opportunity led to the creation of his own businesses in luxury cruising, real estate investment education and property development.
More recent business development roles as Managing Director of Palm Computing, Australia & New Zealand, and Asia Pacific development roles for the Palm organization have expanded to local consulting roles within the IT industry, and, excellent results.
Geoff is a uniquely qualified executive coach, mentor, motivator and in-demand personal speaker. Today, Geoff focuses his energies on his family, family businesses and social entrepreneurship, recently founding the One Laptop Per Child Australia Foundation to support, via fundraising activities, the OLPC global initiative.
Vadim Gerasimov, Director
Vadim Gerasimov is an engineer at Google Australia. After completing BS/MS in applied mathematics at Moscow State University he joined the MIT Media Laboratory in 1994, working on a variety of multidisciplinary projects, gaining an MS in Media Arts and Sciences in 1996 and a Ph.D. in 2003. In 2003-2006 Vadim worked at the CSIRO ICT Centre as a research scientist on a range of complex systems and machine learning projects. After CSIRO Vadim spent one year as a research scientist at Emotiv Pty Ltd focusing on brain-computer interface development. Vadim contributes his free time to software development of OLPC project.
Rangan Srikhanta, Executive Director
Rangan Srikhanta is a graduate from the University of Technology, Sydney with a double degree in Business (Accounting Major) and Computing. He has spent four years at the United Nations Association of Australia, NSW Division as a Director and three years as Treasurer. Rangan is a recipient of the Elizabeth Hastings Memorial Award for his work contribution to the wider community as a student of UTS. Rangan is currently a full-time Analyst at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Sydney.
For over two years Rangan has been working with key stakeholders; locally and internationally to bring the One Laptop per Child initiative to Oceania. He has presented on the Oceania initiative to PACINET 2007, Honiara, Solomon Islands. He was also present at the Secretariat of Pacific Community’s 60th Anniversary Meeting, Samoa, to demonstrate the OLPC XO-1 laptop technology to leaders from Pacific Island Nations.
Barry Vercoe, Director
Barry Vercoe is Professor of Media Arts & Sciences at MIT. Born and educated in New Zealand in music and mathematics, he gained a doctorate at University of Michigan, then taught at Oberlin and Yale University before moving to MIT. In 1985 he was a founding member of the MIT Media Laboratory, where he does research in Music Cognition and Machine Learning. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Computer World / Smithsonian Award in Media Arts and Entertainment.
In 2005 Vercoe joined other Media Lab faculty to establish One Laptop per Child, an initiative aimed at putting an inexpensive but powerful laptop in the hands of every child on the planet. Focusing on children of the Pacific, Vercoe has sent laptops to remote villages of the Solomon Islands, and is now systematically distributing machines to the 22 island nations of the Pacific Community.
Jeff Waugh, Director
By day, Jeff Waugh is a Principal Consultant with Waugh Partners, an Australian boutique consultancy specialising in Open Source strategy, industry development and research. By night, he is an active participant in the GNOME project, promotes Software Freedom in beautiful, tiny parcels with the GNOME Mobile initiative, and plots the Open Source blogging explosion with Planet.
Waugh is an active member of the Free Software community, holding positions such as Chairman of the Annodex Foundation (2006), Director of the GNOME Foundation Board (2003-2004, 2006-present), GNOME Release Manager (2001-2005), committee member (2000-2001) and president (2002-2003) of the Sydney Linux Users’ Group, and member of the linux.conf.au 2001 and 2007 organising teams. He was one of the founding employees of Canonical, engaged in Ubuntu business and community development during its extraordinary rise (2004-2006).
In 2005, Waugh won the Google/O’Reilly Open Source award for Best Evangelist, which recognised his work on GNOME and Ubuntu. In 2007, Jeff and his partner Pia were the first duo to receive a Pearcey Foundation award, recognising their pioneering achievement and contribution to the Australian ICT industry.
Pia Waugh, Director
Pia Waugh is a consultant at Waugh Partners in Sydney, Australia. She had worked as a Research Coordinator for the Australian Service for Knowledge on Open Source Software (ASK-OSS), the Open Source strategist for a large systems integrator and still works to develop the Australian FOSS industry and improve Government policies towards FOSS. She has been working with Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) such as Linux for about 8 years. She has seen FOSS deliver not only economic benefits to countries and business all around the world, but significant social and environmental benefits to communities everywhere.
Pia is a community leader both in Australia and internationally as Vice President of Linux Australia and President of Software Freedom International. She was also on the linux.conf.au 2007 organising team. She has spoken at Software Livre in Brazil, FOSS events in China, the Open Source World Conferences in Spain, the World Summit of Information Society (United Nations) in Switzerland, linux.conf.au in New Zealand and linux.conf.au, education au, Making Links, various TechGirls events and many more in Australia! She is passionate about improving the world by getting great technologies to people who need them, and creating a well-connected global society where anyone can play and succeed.