About Us: Our Team
Sandeep Chandiramani
Sandeep spent a decade supporting Red Hat's 100-fold growth worldwide. The experience has allowed him to pursue management positions in finance, sales and operations in the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific. More important, the exposure has allowed him to build a foundation for embracing the values of open source and its advocacy in education and enterprise.
"Everyone deserves an opportunity. Let's provide it to as many as possible.
Jerome Gotangco
A technologist by heart, Jerome Gotangco managed IT departments from the semiconductor, telecoms and non-profit sectors, all of which involved Open Source as a key adoption strategy that resulted in several successful deployments. Jerome also served as External Vice President of the Philippine Linux Users Group, Edubuntu Community Council (www.edubuntu.org) and recently, the Ubuntu Community Council, the community governance board that is responsible for supervising the social structures and community processes of Ubuntu Linux Project (www.ubuntu.com. He has also organized community-driven developer events in the Philippines such as BarCamp Manila (www.barcamp.org/BarCampManila) and DevCon (www.devcon.ph). Along with some friends, he is currently the producer of the grassroots oriented online tech show, Pinoy Tech Podcast (www.pinoytechpodcast.com).
He is frequently tapped as a resource speaker, both local and abroad, on the topics of Linux, Ubuntu, GNU, Cryptography, and Free and Open Source Software Licenses.
Ryan Onell Letada
Inspired by social innovators and entrepreneurs, Ryan hopes to empower the youth to dream bigger through innovation, enterprise and technology. A graduate of Wheaton College with a BS degree in Economics, he is currently a Fulbright Fellow, researching the mass eviction of urban poor communities due to infrastructure development projects in the Philippines. Working with the Asian Development Bank, government agencies, private enterprises, and non-profit sector, he is exploring best practices of resettlement and community/urban development. After a stint at Bloomberg LP, ABN AMRO, and Ten3 Venture Capital as an investment analyst, he worked at World Wide Workshop foundation doing development work and social media marketing. He also co-founded Pinoy Computer Clinics, a social venture aimed at closing the digital divide
Marife Mago
Marife spent most of her life in the Philippines. A graduate of Aquinas University, she earned her Bachelor's degree in Education and taught at the Sacred Heart Academy of Novaliches. She later crossed over into the IT field where she worked at leading firms such as FAS Technologies, Software Ventures, Information Technology Solution, E-World Resources and Exist Global. During this time she quickly raised through the corporate ranks becoming Programmer Trainee, Software Developer, Account Manager, Training Manager and finally Project Manager.
She spearheaded Open Source initiatives in several Universities focusing on technical curriculum development. Part of her motivation for joining OLPC support-gang volunteer and eKindling is rooted in her strong interest for improving education through community collaboration:
"I believe in Service, Learning and Technology. I'm fascinated by people who share their unique talents and experiences."
Cherry Withers
A graduate of California Polytechnic University with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering, Cherry worked as a design and verification engineer developing solutions for a computer server company (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) for over four years. She also worked for three major high tech companies as a test and applications engineer before graduating from CalPoly (Intel, 3COM, Apple). Her recent work experience includes: MySQL database administration, Web Designer, and Marketing Manager for the company she co-founded (MomWorx, LLC). She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Software Engineering.
"I think that geniuses are born, not out of the womb, but out of opportunities and tools available for them. My hope is to have every child in the Philippines realize their potential by gaining access to a state of the art education."
Tessa Vergara-Yuvienco
An award-winning educator and a licensed professional teacher, Tessa held teaching positions at the Ateneo De Manila University, Colegio San Agustin and Headway School for Giftedness, where she focused on gifted students and special education. Currently, she is a Business Partner at Communiq8 IT & Co, where she conducts speech communications, presentation skills, customer service programs for some of Philippines' leading firms. At Communiq8 IT, she also provides instructional design and creative teaching programs for the Department of Education and non-profit organizations. Earlier in her career, Tessa also served as the Marketing Communications Officer for Philippine American Life and General Insurance, where she launched major products, and directed advertising initiatives. A graduate of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts from the University of the Philippines Diliman, and currently pursuing her Masters in Special Education, Tessa aims to help empower her co-educators by sharing the right blend of best traditional teaching practices and digital teaching tools in formal and non-formal learning environments.
Why did she join eKindling? She breathes education and the passion to enkindle fellow educators is in her heart and soul.