Currently: Josh Penman volunteers for HISG's East Africa office in Nairobi, building HISG's Starfish Community network and developing their Kenya Office. For a complete list of responsibilities click here. Contact info: Mobile Phone Numbers: Primary: +254-733-577-812 Backup: +254-733-754-832 Office located on the corner of George Padmore Lane and Kindaruma Road (across from the Uchumi Hypermarket on Ngong Road). Click here to find us on Google maps. Three Things The World Needs Right Now: (Or in the next 30 years.) Food Change From Agriculture to Eating Habits Maybe its IBS, a heightened sensitivity to blood sugar levels, or the growing number of things my nutritionist tells me I'm intolerant of, but the suspicion is growing on me that, in 24 years on the planet, I've never really learned how to eat.That is unacceptable, since eating is about as basic a thing as you can think of. Here are my findings: A. My eating habits go against well documented best practices. I know this, and I still don't change them. B. The world is increasingly hooked on festival items as staples. (Starting with the U.S. and spreading around the globe) C. The worlds poorest people don't use the simple farming techniques that could feed them and their country. I don't want to see China end up with the amount of used stuff that I find sitting in dumpsters, friend's garages, and Craigslist Ads in Los Angeles. The inefficiency of that kind of consumer turnover galls me. If we can not change from a consumer-based society to a knowledge-based society, I hope that we can at least transfer some of that conspicuous consumption to the digital realm fed by more and more power efficient data centers. A. Transfer consumption to digital goods where the marginal cost in physical terms is more or less free. B. Start valuing knowledge more than physical things. C. Apply our knowledge to longer-term physical solutions like permaculture residences and micro-gardens. Organizations run the world, but they do so remarkably inefficiently. Here are my findings: A. Psychology is the key. You can't make efficient workforces until you can understand simple human interactions. B. Organizations are inefficient because people work inefficiently. Changing people's behavior requires psychology. C. You can't design jobs without knowing a human's cognitive capabilities. Right now, I think that jobs designed for a human's capabilities, rather than an organizations perceived needs, would go a long way towards greater efficiency. Josh Penman, 2010-08-05 0223 Edited 2010-08-10 1604 About Josh Penman: Josh Penman has lived and worked in 6 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He produced Sudans first national HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in 2005, and studied Philosophy of Western Civilization, Media Management, Communications, and Organizational Psychology at Biola University 2006-2009, and Politics and Aesthetics at the University of Oxford in 2008. Josh Penman's goal is to use creativity and innovation to bridge cultures and augment human capability through development. He offers a global perspective that spans fifteen cultures, five academic disciplines, seven industries, and four continents. Language & Culture Nairobi, Kenya, 02/2010 – Present Josh's Footprint:
La Mirada, California, 08/2006 – 08/2008, 01/2009 – 01/2010 Oxford, England 08/2008 – 12/2008. Khartoum, Sudan 08/2004 – 05/2006 Pretoria, South Africa 01/2004 – 06/2006 Dubai, U.A.E. 05/1992 – 10/2003 Amman, Jordan 06/1987 – 05/1992
Timeline of Primary Activity 1998-2010: |