Presented at
The Circle Of HOPE (2018),
July 22, 2018, 11 a.m.
(60 minutes)
Across North America, passionate people help out at their community Free Geek (or a similar organization) to refurbish discarded computers and make them useful tools again for people who need them. In the process of this, people build community, gain skills, and help the planet. Challenges to successful operations include ethical e-waste recycling practices, troubleshooting and repair, parts management, drive imaging, ensuring free and open-source software (FOSS) use, managing volunteers, organizational structure and governance, financial sustainability, and ensuring a balance between community needs and interests. Participants from Free Geek and similar organizations will discuss these challenges, with success stories and wrong turns, and how they manage to keep the doors open and lights on to serve the public good.
Presenters:
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Zachary (Zac) Slade
**Zachary (Zac) Slade** is a founder of Free Geek Arkansas and serves as its vice chair and director of education. He’s also a professional and competitive software developer, with a passion for science and technology, social services, and environmental protection.
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Joel Izlar
**Joel Izlar** is a community organizer and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Georgia. His research focuses on the intersections between community organizing, mutual aid, and social welfare. He directed a nonprofit program dedicated to closing the digital divide in low-income communities of color in the Deep South.
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Ryan Fukunaga
**Ryan Fukunaga** is the executive director of Free Geek Toronto. With a decade of experience in the community and nonprofit sector, his focus has been primarily on teaching digital literacy and building community capacity using technology.
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Charlie Coile
**Charlie Coile** is the president of Free I.T. Athens, an all-volunteer tech nonprofit serving the community of Athens, Georgia. She’s passionate about free education and is a serious Doctor Who fan.
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Dan Bartholomew
**Dan Bartholomew** is CEO/executive director of Free Geek “The Mothership” based in Portland, Oregon. He spent his career helping companies thrive at the nexus of service, technology, and innovation. Prior to joining Free Geek, Dan held partnership tenure at several Big Four consulting organizations, where he built leading industry- and geographically-based practices at KPMG and PwC. He also served as COO at Dynamic Healthcare Systems. Dan found zeal for mission-based work founding ROHI, an orphanage and school for the street children of Kenya.
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