Pic by Joi Ito - CC BY on Flickr
Bio
Heather Ford is a South African social entrepreneur who is passionate about networking, creativity and the Internet; and is happiest when creating events, speaking, writing or crafting.
From 2006 - 2008, she was the Executive Director of iCommons – an international non-profit organization incubated by Creative Commons that connects the open education, access to knowledge, free software, open access publishing and free culture communities around the world. Before iCommons, Heather was the Project Lead for Creative Commons South Africa during which time she initiated a project called ‘Commons-sense: Towards an African Digital Information Commons’ at the Wits University LINK Center. In 2003 she was a fellow at the Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program at Stanford University and before that she worked for GreenNet Educational Trust in London and the Association for Progressive Communications in Johannesburg on Internet policy projects.
Heather is on the Advisory Board of the Wikimedia Foundation and has spoken about Internet policy and practice in countries around the world. She has a Bachelor of Journalism Degree from Rhodes University and a postgraduate Certificate in Telecommunications Policy, Regulation and Management from University of the Witwatersrand.
Education
• Stanford University (Palo Alto, US) 2003-2004: Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program;
• Telecommunications Policy, Regulation and Management Certificate, (Johannesburg, South Africa) The Link Centre, Wits University: 2002;
• Advanced Flash, (Johannesburg, South Africa) ASP and online database design, Mediatek, 2001;
• IT Project Management, (Johannesburg, South Africa) Gartner Institute, 2001;
• Rhodes University (Grahamstown, South Africa) 1996-1999: Bachelor of Journalism degree (majoring in cyber publishing) – Distinction, Academic Colors, Rhodes University Scholarships.
Timeline
1. iCommons Ltd Executive Director: March, 2006 – October, 2008
2. Creative Commons South Africa Project Lead and Commons-sense Project Director at the University of the Witwatersrand LINK Centre: January 2005 – February 2006
3. Intellectual Property Rights and Internet Policy Consultant, Johannesburg, South Africa: July 2004 – December 2004
4. Reuters/Benetech Digital Vision Fellow and Creative Commons volunteer, Stanford University: September 2003 – July 2004
5. GreenNet Educational Trust: January 2003 – August 2003, Internet Policy Project Manager: research, editing, curriculum development
6. Africa Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy Monitor Project: May 2002 – December 2002, Editor and manager
7. The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA): April 2000 – December 2002, Digital Information Manager
Events: A list of events that I’ve directed and participated in
Interviews: The good, the bad, the ugly
Contact: hfordsa@gmail.com
No comments
Comments feed for this article