Please join us tomorrow for the Change seminar were we welcome Ted
McCarthy back to UW to talk about his experiences volunteering for the
startup accelerator Gaza Sky Geeks.
When: Nov 24 12pm
Where: CSE 203
What: Unlikely Acceleration: Gaza Sky Geeks, Gaza's Rising Entrepreneurs.
*Abstract
*
Gaza today struggles to overcome immense development hurdles enforced by
an extremely challenging political environment and frequent destruction
in times of war. The region currently experiences 43% unemployment, 80%
population dependent on foreign agencies for some kind of aid, extremely
limited freedom of movement, frequent and extended power outages, and
more. Despite these challenges, Gaza also has potential to benefit from
tremendous human capital: the population of 1.8 million possesses a 97%
literacy rate, a 20% bachelors-level degree completion rate (higher even
than the West Bank), and relatively high educational freedoms for women.
Aiming to harness some of this potential, Gaza Sky Geeks, Gaza's first
tech accelerator, was formed as an initiative by MercyCorps in 2011 and
continues to thrive and grow today under the leadership of Iliana
Montauk and Mai Walaa. Gaza Sky Geeks helps provide aspiring Gazan
entrepreneurs with mentorship, links to customers, funding, employees,
and more, and access to Gaza's only co-ed co-working space where they
can work with like-minded individuals in a productive, friendly
environment. Several of Gaza Sky Geek's startups have recently received
early-stage funding, and the accelerator has received, and continues to
receive, significant enthusiastic press.*
Bio
*
Ted McCarthy spent a week volunteering as a mentor in Gaza Sky Geeks in
June 2015, and thinks you probably should, too. He is also a user
researcher working with Google Access, helping to explore opportunities
and assess projects to expand fast internet access in developing
regions. Prior to Google, he consulted at ThoughtWorks (- which kindly
helped support his trip to Gaza, for which he is eternally grateful),
and before working in industry he spent several years conducting
graduate research at the University of Washington's Biomedical Health
Informatics program and the University of Michigan's School of
Information. He currently lives in (mostly) sunny San Francisco, and can
often be found gleefully running through the Marin Headlands, or even
just the hills of SF.*
*
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