Openworld Team
Soleman Abdi Idd, founding Chairman of Openworld Inc., is a Somali-born investor and entrepreneur active in private sector environmental initiatives, ecotourism, agricultural ventures, and free economic zone development in Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.
Mark Frazier, Openworld's President, has experience in developing market-oriented initiatives for private and public sector clients in 56 countries. A graduate of Harvard University and former Visiting Fellow of the Lehrman Institute, he is a past publisher and managing editor of Reason magazine as well as cofounder of the Local Government Center, springboard for Reason Foundation's privatization practice. He specializes in economic reforms, free zones for knowledge industries, sustainability strategies for self-help groups, and skills diffusion initiatives in emerging economies.
Cesar Nerys is a cofounder (wth Mark Frazier) of the Openworld Institute to promote free and open source eGovernment solutions, and coauthor of a forthcoming book on "opening the world." A citizen of the Dominican Republic, he has experience with private development projects in Central America and in the Indian Ocean regions. Mr. Nerys has designed eCommerce solutions for leading international corporations, consulted on offshore information industry development for the World Bank and private sector clients, and set updistance learning networks for universities in the Caribbbean and the Pacific.
Shannon Ewing has led or assisted Openworld projects on microscholarships, online work-study, and grassroots learning initiatives in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. She managed Openworld's development of USAID-funded Virtual Business Incubator for telework freelancers, and has in-country experience assisting the students, program, curricula and faculty of Horizon Lanka Academy, an international pioneer in private sector-sponsored microscholarship initiatives in disadvantaged rural settings in Sri Lanka. Her education includes international and cultural studies at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, along with study in Aix-en-Provence, France.
Nick Sorrentino is an advisor on strategy and outreach for Openworld, Inc. and Openworld Institute. He has helped develop Openworld's Global Resource Partner alliances and partnerships for "Seeds of Change" challenge offers. The founder of Exelorix.com, a consultancy on social networking and online marketing, he also has experience in banking, financial advisory services, and insurance, as well as in media production and event management for the Free Congress Foundation. Mr. Sorrentino has raised funds for nonprofit organizations and political candidates in Capitol Hill and in Richmond, Virginia. He holds a degree in Political Science from Mary Washington College.
Lara Ewing Himber is an advisor to Openworld and a consultant to international companies on strategy, project management, and supply chains. She is coauthor of "The Art of Connecting," a book published in 2006 by the American Management Association. She is a Board member of the Colorado (USA)-based Explorers Foundation.
James C. Bennett is founding Vice Chairman of Openworld, and a principal architect of its World Cities initiative. He is a specialist in internet-enabled commerce and government, and a director of the nanotechnology-oriented Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. Mr. Bennett is also a founder of the Anglosphere Institute, author of The Anglosphere Challenge, and coauthor (with Michael J. Lotus) of America 3.0.
Valnora Leister is a Senior Research Fellow at Openworld, researching opportunities for transnational, depoliticized systems of governance and legal frameworks for space launch and other satellite technology-related initiatives. A Brazilian national, she was a Guggenheim Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution and project attorney for the InterAmerican Development Bank. She holds DCL and LLM degrees from McGill University's Institute Air and Space Law in Canada, and other law degrees from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Alexander Bokovikov, a Russian citizen, is cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of Openworld Learning LLC, a US-Russian venture that offers freeware and shareware tools for global eLearning content preparation.He is also principal software developer for Abak-Press in Russia and former chair of Semiconductors in the Physics department of Ural State University. He holds patents in optical systems and ferroelectrics, and is author of leading shareware and freeware tools for knowledge navigation.
Charles Frohman assists Openworld, Inc. and the Openworld Institute on public policy reforms, partnership development, and media relations. He has experience as a Congressional staffer and as a liaison to Congress for the Cato Institute and a leading land titling association, as well as a public affairs consultant and event planner for corporations. A yoga teacher, he brings a commitment to classical liberalism, consciousness, and transcending cultural boundaries to create value for investors and partners. He is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, and currently resides in Washington, D.C.
Alberto Olympio, a Gabonese national, is a systems architect and software engineer with extensive experience for leading North American, European, and Africanmultinational corporations. He has ranked consistently among the top five Microsoft certification holders world-wide and is a cofounder of Africa Technology Forum, a group of US-resident entrepreneurs andprofessionals assisting technology initiatives in Africa.