What do AT&T’s Bell Labs, Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs, the “Language Bank” of the American Red Cross and Seattle’s Literary Source have in common?
For Northwest native Jennifer Hodgdon, who combines a PhD in physics and a passion for mathematical modeling and Web programming with a life of social responsibility, they are all part of making a living as a technologist while making a difference as a human being.
A life in balance is a question of values for this active Seattlite, who leaves time for giving back to the community when she isn’t programming clients’ Web sites, adding robust database functionality or integrating blogging software, one of her specialties. And Jennifer can be found hiking, bicycling or playing strategy games when away from her PC workstation.
Jennifer’s journey has been an illustrative one. From the University of Washington’s Physics Department to the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid-State Physics at Cornell University to post-doctorate work in the optical fiber labs of Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, to supporting a leading commodities trading desk on Wall Street with software for risk management and securities. The life experience in each community impressed upon her a markedly different level of social responsibility (with Wall Street exhibiting the lowest).
“Technology can contribute to fixing the problems and righting the wrongs of society, or be part of the problem,” Jennifer says. However, she is quick to add that quality of life is more important than computing. “Before [computers], people need clean water and nutritious food, and well-educated teachers for their schools. They need to have electricity and phone service before they can make much use of computers.”
One tech-related initiative that is interesting to Hodgdon is a group bringing Internet access to rural areas in India. “They set up a solar-powered computer in a central location in a village, where people can come to read and send email, and submit queries to government agencies. The computer is connected to the Internet once a day, when a van comes by (or in some cases a motorcycle or an ox-cart, and exchanges information (drops email off, gets new email, etc.). This is much less expensive than trying to run phone lines to these areas, or even than a dedicated wireless link, and it gives the people in these places some contact with their children who have moved to the cities, and with the greater world.
Applying her talent for statistics to a global inquiry, Jennifer recently analyzed the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) to assess how U.S. foreign aid compared to the U.N. measure for the well-being of people (especially children). The index measures poverty, literacy, education, and life expectancy. Her statistical overlay of 2005 HDI numbers with U.S. foreign aid clearly illustrate how U.S. foreign aid decisions are being based largely on something other than humanitarian need.
Another interesting corollary to her blog page is that it is readable in either English or Spanish. Jennifer currently works as a volunteer for the “Language Bank” at Seattle’s Red Cross chapter, where she does written translations, phone interpreting, and in-person interpreting. Recent cases have involved interpreting for an Early Head Start program home visit, translating a Mexican birth certificate into English, and translating a local youth soccer program’s parent information letter into Spanish. She also contributes time at Seattle’s Literary Source teaching remedial reading to those who are learning the language.
The Puget Sound has attracted attention as a spawning ground for those whose economic windfalls have been reinvested for the social good. Indeed, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation represents a crowning achievement in that mission for the world’s richest benefactor.
But by investing her own valuable time and effort, Jennifer Hodgdon represents a commitment that is even more personal and that every one of us can take it upon ourselves to make as socially responsible individuals. [24×7]
Poplar ProductivityWare
http://poplarware.com/
Jennifer Hodgdon’s HodgBlog
http://poplarware.com/HodgBlog/
Jennifer Hodgdon combined backgrounds in math and physics when founding Poplar Productivityware, a Web and database consulting firm. The PhD believes strongly in giving back to the community.
