The Tech Awards Judges
Economic Development
Alexander J. Field, Chair
Michael and Mary Orradre Professor of Economics
Santa Clara University
Alexander J. Field is the Michel and Mary Orradre Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma, his research and teaching interests span macroeconomic theory and policy, technological and institutional change, American and European economic history, and the influence of evolutionary/biological forces on human nature. His most recent publications include Altruistically Inclined? The Behavioral Sciences, Evolutionary Theory, and the Origins of Reciprocity (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001) and "The Most Technologically Progressive Decade of the Century," American Economic Review (September 2003). Alexander's administrative positions at Santa Clara University have included chair of the Economics Department, Associate Dean and acting Dean of the Business School, acting Academic Vice President, and member of the school's Board of Trustees. He received his A.B. from Harvard University (1970), his M.Sc. from the London School of Economics (1971) and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (1974). He taught previously at Stanford University.
Anthony Bettencourt
Chairman
Blinkx, Inc.
Anthony Bettencourt is currently the chairman of Blinkx, Inc., the world's largest video search engine on the Internet. Previously, Anthony was the Chief Executive Officer of Verity, Inc, where he was responsible for growing the business from $15m in annual revenues to more than $140m from 1995 to 2006. A veteran of the enterprise search market, Anthony led the team that set the strategic direction and execution characteristics of Verity, resulting in Verity's agreeing to be acquired for more than $500m at the end of 2005. In 2005, he was awarded the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for software and technology in the Silicon Valley. Anthony serves as a judge for the Tech Awards and is a mentor for Santa Clara University's Global Social Benefit Incubator program. He serves on the board of directors of Avolent, Rockingcat.com and National Banana, Inc., and is an advisor to the board of Autonomy, Inc. Anthony earned a B.A. in English from Santa Clara University in 2006.
Dan Crisafulli
Director, Ecosystem Investments and Partnerships
Skoll Foundation
Daniel Crisafulli is a Senior Program Officer at the Skoll Foundation, where he leads field-building initiatives in social entrepreneurship through grantmaking and for-profit investments. Prior to joining the Skoll Foundation, Dan comanaged the Development Marketplace (DM), the World Bank's social entrepreneurship and innovation program, beginning in 2004. He led the expansion of the DM from a $3.5 million to a $10 million annual program by expanding its on-the-ground activities in developing countries and by mobilizing 80 percent of its funding from external partners in private industry and government. He brought a venture capital approach to the DM by taking a hands-on role in the success of investees. The DM's model of support for small-scale solutions to social and economic challenges was designated a "best practice" in corporate innovation by the Harvard Business Review.
Dan developed a venture approach toward investing as Investment Officer and cofounder of the technology venture capital group at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which he joined in 2000. At IFC, he built an investment program focusing on early-stage technology companies with social impact and served on the boards of several early-stage companies. He initiated the IFC's $20 million investment in NewPath, an India/US semiconductor design company, and its $10 million investment in Pakistan's TRG.
Dan's earlier work at the World Bank focused on technology, finance and small business investment. In 1998 he led a $750 million technology and science reform program in Mexico that resulted in the country's first major technology policy reform in more than 25 years. Dan began his career with the London-based consultancy L|E|K Partnership, a leading adviser in the field of mergers and acquisitions.
Dan earned a bachelor's degree in government 'summa cum laude' from Dartmouth College and a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard University, where he was a Kennedy Scholar.
Linda Kamas
Associate Professor of Economics
Santa Clara University
Linda Kamas is an Associate Professor of Economics at Santa Clara University. She teaches courses in Economic Development in Latin America, Macroeconomics, and International Economics. Her research has focused on international macroeconomic topics in Latin America including inflation, exchange rate regimes, and macroeconomic policy. Her work has been published in journals such as Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Development Economics, and Journal of International Money and Finance. Linda's current research program examines the effect of moral values on economic behavior and gender differences in altruistic actions. Working with students at Santa Clara University, she recently founded a scholarship fund to provide financing to Salvadoran students to attend the University of Central America.
Homa Zarghamee
Assistant Professor of Economics
Santa Clara University
Dr. Zarghamee teaches in the areas of microeconomics and econometrics.
She currently studies, both theoretically and in laboratory and field experiments, the effects of altruism and
fairness-concerns on contributions to public goods. Other areas of research include the economics of child labor,
youth in developing countries, and transition from education to the labor force in Iran.
Dr. Zarghamee has done consulting work for the World Bank, and her work has been published in the Journal of Public
Economics and in the World Bank's 2007 World Development Report.
Michael Chertok
Program Officer, Global Libraries
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Michael Chertok is Chairman of Digital Divide Data, a social enterprise employing 200 disadvantaged young people in Cambodia and Laos in an IT services business. Michael was previously Managing Director of Global Catalyst Foundation and also helped start Schools Online, a nonprofit that connected 5,000 schools worldwide to the Internet. He holds a BA from Yale and an MBA from Stanford.
