Who IS Where We Live?

There are many of us...

As Where We Live reaches further around the world it becomes the creation of all of us. But the idea has its beginnings in many people and places. For its first three years it received support from the University of Wisconsin-Madison through an IDEAL grant from the International Institute and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin. A web site on a village in India (http://virtualvillage.wesleyan.edu/) that we learned about at the South Asia conference in Madison showed us the way.

Teachers at the Wisconsin Teachers Enhancement Program "Facing Ecology and Ourselves" helped. The high school student Janantha Marasinghe designed a site for Moratuwa, Sri Lanka for a My Community/My World project through the National Geographic and Tilah Larsen documented Gilman Street, on the isthumus between Lakes Monona and Mendota in Madison.

Two teams of students in Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) put together the first templates and opened our eyes to Hollandale, Wisconsin.

Rick Brooks, founder of Where We Live (in bright green t-shirt) with community members in Batwala, Sri Lanka.

2004 Project Team (From the University of Wisconsin-Madison,USA)

Andrew Boegel:

Andrew is a third year undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in history, international studies, and political science (honors). Through his course work and his various internships, Andrew believes that he has developed the necessary writing skills that will help the client reach his objectives. Andrew has had multiple internships in the political arena and has experience in writing numerous types of documents. Andrew has: prepared entire press packets, including press releases and press advisories, prepared briefings, written constituent letters, and has written numerous papers for his honors requirement in political science. Not only does Andrew posses excellent writing abilities, but he also has experience in planning, organizing, and conducting large group events, most notably press conferences. Andrew feels that his writing and large group organizational skills will be extremely valuable to the team's success.

Michael Daily*:

Michael Daily is currently in the midst of gaining his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, majoring in film and political science. He has studied film at New York Film Academy and the National University of Ireland-Galway outside of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also enrolled in three different programs of study at the Second City Training Center. He has headed up One Life Production Company since 2000. He has worked with an Independent firm in setting up a website for the production company. Michael has acted as Producer and Promoter of MJ's Improve Troop. He has experience working on several Independent and student film productions.

Nivas Durairaj:

Born in the small town of Bida, Nivas was raised in Nigeria. From first grade to twelfth grade, he attended Hillcrest, an American missionary school. In August 1999, he arrived in the US to study computer engineering at UT-Austin. Presently, Nivas is an electrical & computer engineering graduate student at UW-Madison. He has traveled extensively around the world, including Kenya, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, Belgium, France, and many other different countries. In addition, he has had international work experience as an IT intern at the Bureau of Public Enterprises in Abuja. This is an organization that serves to introduce privatization to government industries. Due to his understanding of computers, Nivas can help with the design and planning of the Where We Live website. Since he works as a software instructor at STS, he also has a good knowledge of MS Access, MS Word, MS Excel, and HTML.

Megan Hanson:

Megan Hanson is currently working on her Bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Psychology with an emphasis in Business. Her work with a non-profit organization, Madison Environmental Group, has allowed her to hone her marketing skills by providing MEG with a comprehensive marketing plan to draw in major businesses to their climate neutral project. She has also lead several gorilla marketing teams to promote community activities through the Prairie Homes Association. She is currently an intern for the L&S Career Services Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

John Holcomb: John Holcomb is a former President of the CHI PSI Fraternity, 1993. He headed a 120-member organization and oversaw a 25,000 dollar annual budget. He served as the Vice President of Grand Maison, LTD- was responsible for all talent representation and literary acquisition. Acted as Producer and Promoter of The Joke Pimps Sketch Comedy Troop, 1997-2002. President of God I Love Chicken Productions from 1997 to 2002. Also worked publicity for Samuel Goldwyn and company, Inc., 1996. Member of Mensa.

Philip Lindemann:

Son of a cheese manufacturer in rural Wisconsin, Phil grew up in the country and attended a small high school in Valders, WI. Phil then moved to Madison in 2000 to attain a college degree. He plans to finish with a degree in Marketing and International Business in mid May of 2004. Phil then want to move to Chicago and work for a firm that utilizes his skills and attributes I have build at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Currently, Phil works at the UW-Business School as an event manager where he watches over events and keeps an eye on catering and audio/visual departments. Aside from these academic qualifications, Phil is a certified computer technician, proficient in numerous computer programs, and he has a brief background in computer engineering and web design. On top of that, Phil has also created a few websites and computing systems for local businesses in his hometown

Yu Liu:

Yu is a second year graduate student, majoring in Computer Engineering. His role on the team is web programming. He believes that he has the skills and commitment to fulfill his role. Through his course work and his extensive experience in website design, he has obtained the necessary skills to design and develop websites according to the client's need. Besides his skills, Yu believes that he is a very strong team player. The success of the team is highest on Yu's list of priorities, and he will contribute all his effort and knowledge to the team.

David Martinez:

David is a senior majoring in Economics and International Relations. He has exceptional investment, analysis, and managerial skills due to intense internships. He has interned at both an Insurance Agency named Jenks and Martinez, as well as a prolific financial advising company called Comprehensive Financial Planning Services. In both these internships, he was able to consistently demonstrate his fluency in Spanish by attending and translating for Spanish speaking clients. Under both companies he was able to work directly under the Presidents, enabling him to learn and experience how they were able to manage their employees and cooperate with their partners.

Sarah Stanley:

Sarah Stanley is qualified in the design area. She has taken courses involving graphic, and web design, as well as the complete art foundation programs, which involve everything from drawing and painting, to sculpture and 3-D design. Sarah has learned that creativity involves coming up with endless ideas for problems that do not have set answers. The art is being able to recognize the best, and most effective solutions. She has been trained to critique visual works in terms of both their aesthetic, and functional qualities. In designing the website, Sarah will be able to help make things look visually pleasing, and unique through appropriate color schemes, fonts, and photo editing.

Meghan Wanserski:

Megan has been involved in several leadership camps and was the captain of a swim team. She has volunteered with the "Hand's Project" through Wausau Hospital and she has also volunteered with various other programs that take place during the holiday season.

Timothy Wee:

Timothy Wee is a CS major in his junior year. Timothy has vast experience with programming and web design skills. He is familiar with Java, C/C++, HTML, and CSS for programming languages. For operating systems, Windows, Mac OS9, OSX, and Unix are his strong points. He is also proficient with Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Excel, Fireworks, and a little Flash. Timothy currently works at the Biology New Media Center, and that has enabled him to get experience with poster and slide printing, customer service, and video/audio editing. He has also undergone DoIT's STT Web Design training course this past August 2003. Timothy learned Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks, and web accessibility issues.

Who We Are Join Us Downloads	Who IS Where We Live? There are many of us... As Where We Live reaches further around the world it becomes the creation of all of us. But the idea has its beginnings in many people and places. For its first three years it received support from the University of Wisconsin-Madison through an IDEAL grant from the International Institute and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin. A web site on a village in India (http://virtualvillage.wesleyan.edu/) that we learned about at the South Asia conference in Madison showed us the way. Teachers at the Wisconsin Teachers Enhancement Program "Facing Ecology and Ourselves" helped. The high school student Janantha Marasinghe designed a site for Moratuwa, Sri Lanka for a My Community/My World project through the National Geographic and Tilah Larsen documented Gilman Street, on the isthumus between Lakes Monona and Mendota in Madison. Two teams of students in Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) put together the first templates and opened our eyes to Hollandale, Wisconsin. Rick Brooks, founder of Where We Live (in bright green t-shirt) with community members in Batwala, Sri Lanka. 2004 Project Team (From the University of Wisconsin-Madison,USA) Andrew Boegel: Andrew is a third year undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in history, international studies, and political science (honors). Through his course work and his various internships, Andrew believes that he has developed the necessary writing skills that will help the client reach his objectives. Andrew has had multiple internships in the political arena and has experience in writing numerous types of documents. Andrew has: prepared entire press packets, including press releases and press advisories, prepared briefings, written constituent letters, and has written numerous papers for his honors requirement in political science. Not only does Andrew posses excellent writing abilities, but he also has experience in planning, organizing, and conducting large group events, most notably press conferences. Andrew feels that his writing and large group organizational skills will be extremely valuable to the team's success. Michael Daily: Michael Daily is currently in the midst of gaining his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin, majoring in film and political science. He has studied film at New York Film Academy and the National University of Ireland-Galway outside of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also enrolled in three different programs of study at the Second City Training Center. He has headed up One Life Production Company since 2000. He has worked with an Independent firm in setting up a website for the production company. Michael has acted as Producer and Promoter of MJ's Improve Troop. He has experience working on several Independent and student film productions. Nivas Durairaj: Born in the small town of Bida, Nivas was raised in Nigeria. From first grade to twelfth grade, he attended Hillcrest, an American missionary school. In August 1999, he arrived in the US to study computer engineering at UT-Austin. Presently, Nivas is an electrical & computer engineering graduate student at UW-Madison. He has traveled extensively around the world, including Kenya, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, Belgium, France, and many other different countries. In addition, he has had international work experience as an IT intern at the Bureau of Public Enterprises in Abuja. This is an organization that serves to introduce privatization to government industries. Due to his understanding of computers, Nivas can help with the design and planning of the Where We Live website. Since he works as a software instructor at STS, he also has a good knowledge of MS Access, MS Word, MS Excel, and HTML. Megan Hanson: Megan Hanson is currently working on her Bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Psychology with an emphasis in Business. Her work with a non-profit organization, Madison Environmental Group, has allowed her to hone her marketing skills by providing MEG with a comprehensive marketing plan to draw in major businesses to their climate neutral project. She has also lead several gorilla marketing teams to promote community activities through the Prairie Homes Association. She is currently an intern for the L&S Career Services Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. John Holcomb:* John Holcomb is a former President of the CHI PSI Fraternity, 1993. He headed a 120-member organization and oversaw a 25,000 dollar annual budget. He served as the Vice President of Grand Maison, LTD- was responsible for all talent representation and literary acquisition. Acted as Producer and Promoter of The Joke Pimps Sketch Comedy Troop, 1997-2002. President of God I Love Chicken Productions from 1997 to 2002. Also worked publicity for Samuel Goldwyn and company, Inc., 1996. Member of Mensa. Philip Lindemann: Son of a cheese manufacturer in rural Wisconsin, Phil grew up in the country and attended a small high school in Valders, WI. Phil then moved to Madison in 2000 to attain a college degree. He plans to finish with a degree in Marketing and International Business in mid May of 2004. Phil then want to move to Chicago and work for a firm that utilizes his skills and attributes I have build at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Currently, Phil works at the UW-Business School as an event manager where he watches over events and keeps an eye on catering and audio/visual departments. Aside from these academic qualifications, Phil is a certified computer technician, proficient in numerous computer programs, and he has a brief background in computer engineering and web design. On top of that, Phil has also created a few websites and computing systems for local businesses in his hometown Yu Liu: Yu is a second year graduate student, majoring in Computer Engineering. His role on the team is web programming. He believes that he has the skills and commitment to fulfill his role. Through his course work and his extensive experience in website design, he has obtained the necessary skills to design and develop websites according to the client's need. Besides his skills, Yu believes that he is a very strong team player. The success of the team is highest on Yu's list of priorities, and he will contribute all his effort and knowledge to the team. David Martinez: David is a senior majoring in Economics and International Relations. He has exceptional investment, analysis, and managerial skills due to intense internships. He has interned at both an Insurance Agency named Jenks and Martinez, as well as a prolific financial advising company called Comprehensive Financial Planning Services. In both these internships, he was able to consistently demonstrate his fluency in Spanish by attending and translating for Spanish speaking clients. Under both companies he was able to work directly under the Presidents, enabling him to learn and experience how they were able to manage their employees and cooperate with their partners. Sarah Stanley: Sarah Stanley is qualified in the design area. She has taken courses involving graphic, and web design, as well as the complete art foundation programs, which involve everything from drawing and painting, to sculpture and 3-D design. Sarah has learned that creativity involves coming up with endless ideas for problems that do not have set answers. The art is being able to recognize the best, and most effective solutions. She has been trained to critique visual works in terms of both their aesthetic, and functional qualities. In designing the website, Sarah will be able to help make things look visually pleasing, and unique through appropriate color schemes, fonts, and photo editing. Meghan Wanserski: Megan has been involved in several leadership camps and was the captain of a swim team. She has volunteered with the "Hand's Project" through Wausau Hospital and she has also volunteered with various other programs that take place during the holiday season. Timothy Wee: Timothy Wee is a CS major in his junior year. Timothy has vast experience with programming and web design skills. He is familiar with Java, C/C++, HTML, and CSS for programming languages. For operating systems, Windows, Mac OS9, OSX, and Unix are his strong points. He is also proficient with Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Excel, Fireworks, and a little Flash. Timothy currently works at the Biology New Media Center, and that has enabled him to get experience with poster and slide printing, customer service, and video/audio editing. He has also undergone DoIT's STT Web Design training course this past August 2003. Timothy learned Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Fireworks, and web accessibility issues.