NDN/NPI Add 4 Excellent New Staff, Advisors

I'm excited to announce the addition of four new high-caliber members of our already very able NDN/NPI team.  Look forward to our community getting to know them as I do in the months ahead.   Here they are:

Clare Giesen - Director, Electricity 2.0 Initiative

Clare Giesen will direct and coordinate our Electricity 2.0 initiative. Clare brings a wealth of high-level energy experience to her new role at NDN. She served as White House Liaison for the Department of Energy during the Clinton Administration and worked on electricity re-structuring and the deployment of renewable energy technologies. As senior advisor at the USDA Rural Utilities Service, she initiated and developed their first renewable energy loan program for the rural electric cooperatives. A native Texan, she served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Mike Andrews. Most recently she was Executive Director of the National Women's Political Caucus.

Ana Maria Vidal - Program Associate,  Latin America Policy Initiative

A native Caribbean, Ana Maria joins us as Program Associate for NDN's Latin America Policy Initiative.  After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in International Relations, she served as a Deputy Advisor to the Governor of Puerto Rico, focusing her work on education and economic development. Her exposure to higher education partnerships in Mexico as well as her experience as a citizenship teacher for Salvadorian Refugees in Massachusetts have led her to a keen interest in US-Latin America relations. Before coming to NDN, Ana worked at an international development consulting firm in DC, providing support for projects all over the world, and is currently pursuing to a master's degree in Government at Johns Hopkins University.

Morley Winograd - Special Advisor, Global Mobile Technology Initiative

Morley Winograd, a fellow with NDN since 2009, will be expanding his role at NDN as a Special Advisor to the Global Mobile Technology Initiative. Morley spent eighteen years in the telecom industry in a variety of sales and marketing positions with AT&T and became the Executive Director of USC's Marshall School of Business's Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) in 2001. Morley is also the co-author of two technology related books: Taking Control: Politics in the Information Age (with Dudley Buffa in 1996) and Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube and the Future of American Politics (with NDN fellow Mike Hais in 2008). He and Mike are working on their next book scheduled for publication in the fall of 2011.

Samhir Vasdev - Policy Associate, Global Mobile Technology Initiative

Samhir Vasdev, a summer associate with the Global Mobile Technology Initiative, will stay on as a Policy Associate and contributor to the Global Mobile blog. Samhir  is completing his final year at Georgetown University, majoring in political science. He's interested in the way 21st-century technologies intersect with politics, governance, citizenship, and development, particularly in developing countries in Africa. He's thrilled to have the opportunity to continue exploring this powerful space with NDN and the New Policy Institute.