Founding Members

Ali is Director of Technical Operations at Genius.com where he is responsible for managing all aspects of data center, network operations, email deliverability and corporate IT.   Prior, he managed an engineering team at Procera Networks and was responsible for incorporating one of the first deep packet pattern matching engines on an Intel IXP network processor.   Ali was network architect at WebEx where he was responsible for building its Media Tone™ network across the US and Europe, WebEx was later acquired by Cisco.  Before moving to Silicon Valley in 1998, Ali spent much of his earlier career in Internet Development in his native Fiji where he built the first telemedicine network for a medical university and was instrumental in building the first non-profit ISP in the South Pacific.  Ali has worked as a consultant for UN development agencies on sustainable Internet development.  Born to parents of Indian and Afghani descent, Ali grew up listening to his grandfather’s Arabic music and was drawn to the complex rhythmic structures played on the Arabic table (doumbek).  Ali is a recognized local talent and embraced by numberous Bay Area Arabic musicians for his authentic drumming on the Dharbuka, Riqq and frame drum with his band Al Azifoon.  Ali holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Physics from University of the South Pacific.

Roger, was the chapter’s delegate at the North American Regional At-Large Organization (NARALO) recognized by the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) to the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and numbers (ICANN.  Roger provided a channel for San Francisco Bay ISOC members to stay informed and voice their opinions at a global Internet governance level.  Roger is the Founder/Director of the non-profit DotGreen Foundation.  She co-founded DotGreen Community, Inc. the company behind .green domain names and the community of businesses and individuals who support people, planet and promotion of the green economy worldwide.  In the midst of the environmental, climate change and economic challenges, Roger believes the Internet is key to building and networking partnerships for a positive and healthy future for children around the world. Roger is the daughter of the late Peter J. deBlanc, member of IEEE and entrepreneur of sound systems for rock concerts in the 60’s and 70’s, early computer consultant to the developing world through UN contracts, and known for bringing the Internet to the Caribbean & U.S. Virgin Islands.  deBlanc was chairman of the ccNSO and participant at ICANN since its first meeting.  After deBlanc’s passing, Roger followed the progress of Internet governance at ICANN by attending the international conferences since 2006. Roger has volunteered on ICANN working groups and committees and co-chaired the first ALAC Board Candidate Evaluation Committee (BCEC) with the former ALAC Chairman, Cheryl Langdon Orr. The BCEC prepared a slate of candidates for election by ALAC to the ICANN Board of Directors. Roger lived in Paris and worked in Tokyo during an early career as a fashion model. Married to an engineer, she worked part-time in real estate renovation and property management and enjoyed many years of homeschooling their four children. Their two grown sons and two grown daughters are in engineering and computer science.

Krechmer is a founder and the technical editor of Communications Standards Review and Communications Standards Summary 1990 -2002, is also a winner of first prize at the World Standards Day paper competition in 1995 and 2000.  Ken participated in the development of the International Telecommunications Union Recommendations for Group 3 facsimile (T.30), data modems (V.8, V.8bis, V.32, V.32bis, V.34, V.90), and Digital Subscriber Line transceivers (G.994.1). In 2006 he received a joint second prize in the IEC Centenary Challenge paper competition.  He was Program Chair of the Standards and Innovation in Information Technology (SIIT) conference in USA, Netherlands, Canada and Japan. Krechmer teaches at Stanford Continuing Studies, and is a lecturer at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA. Krechmer is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of the Society of Engineering Standards. He learns from his seven delightful grandchildren and applies his technical interests to research, writing and teaching about standards.

Bekele, Founder and CEO of CBS International of Walnut Creek, CA established in 1998 with an objective to support the transfer of technology and knowledge to large and enterprise-wide organizations in emerging markets.  Bekele actively advises Corporate governance, ICT & Internet policy and regulatory frameworks, including issues of competition, incumbent intellectual property rights, security and privacy.   Bekele has a career track record spanning over a decade of business ownership /operation, working for multinational consulting firms and large financial/banking companies in corporate America such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi/Union Bank of California and others.  Her experiences included technology risk assessment of financial markets and instruments, financial engineering risk management, computer quality assurance, information systems security/auditing, systems controls, technology evaluation, project management, business strategy and process re-engineering.   Bekele holds an MBA in Management Information Systems (MIS) from Golden Gate University, San Francisco and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Systems from SFSU.  She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)Certified Control specialist (CCS) a professional designation for competent knowledge and proficiency in the field of information systems audit, control and security, and Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), a competency in the Goveranance of IT Enterprise.  Bekele is an elected Board member of Golden Gate University, San Francisco, a founder and Executive Board member of DotAfrica Initiative.  She was an appointed member of ICANN (Internet Corporation Assigned Names & Numbers) policy advisory council, elected advisory member to various United Nation ICT Initiatives, former Board Member of ISACA(Information Systems and Control Association), advisory member to the World Affairs Council, ContraCosta.

Under Construction

Ted Hardie is currently Managing Director Director for Panasonic’s Wireless Research Laboratory. His personal research interests cover a broad range of Internet technologies, but are currently focused on novel data distribution methods, mesh and peer networks, locality of service, and identifiers for non-hierarchical systems. Dr. Hardie first worked in the Internet field in 1988 when he joined the operations staff of the SRI NIC. He later became the technical lead for the NASA NIC, part of the NASA Science Internet project. After leaving NASA, he joined Equinix as its initial Director of Engineering before taking on the role of Director of Research and Development. He was an early-stage executive at Nominum, and he remains on Nominum’s technical advisory board. While he was Qualcomm’s Director of Internet and Wireless, he served the Internet community as a member of the Internet Architecture Board and as an Applications Area Director for the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). He is the author of multiple RFCs. He has also been an invited speaker and document reviewer for many operational meetings and technical conferences. Dr. Hardie received his bachelor’s degree from Yale and his doctorate from Stanford. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and a Yale-China Fellow, both in Hong Kong.  Dr. Hardie has been an ISOC Trustee since June 2007, and has served as its Treasurer and a member of its Executive Committee since 2008.