Michael North: Bio

Michael North is the President and co-founder of Greenstar Corporation, a technology company that focuses on solar power, wireless communications and media development.

Through Greenstar's "digital culture" programs in the developing world, solar-powered community centers are installed in remote, rural off-the-grid villages. A Greenstar system includes health, education, employment, telecommunications, agriculture and ecommerce services.

This model was pioneered in Al-Kaabneh, on the West Bank near the Dead Sea, with subsequent projects in Swift River Jamaica, Parvatapur India, Patriensah Ghana, Suruaca Brazil and Pang Do Tibet. Special projects have been completed in Afghanistan and Philippines. The company is establishing a network of 300 such centers in remote rural off-the-grid villages around the world.

For each village, a special media program is developed, recording original traditional music, artwork, photography, poetry, animations and recipes that communicate the true voice of the community, in digital form, to the world, in all-digital form. Through direct consumer purchases, and through commercial licensing, Greenstar returns income to the village.

Greenstar co-operates with the US Department of Energy, US Agency for International Development, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Labs, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Telecommunications Union, the World Bank, the World Resources Institute, Capital Missions, Rotary Clubs International, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, the Technology Empowerment Network and other international organizations. Interviews with Michael North about Greenstar can be read here at the Center for Digital Government and at Interactivist.

Let there be peace for all.
Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.
Let each know that for each body, the mind
and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves...
Let freedom reign.

Nelson Mandela

Michael North is also the original founder of North Communications, a leading public access network company. Beginning in 1986, the firm built hundreds of electronic commerce solutions that deliver complex transactions to the general public through public access touchscreens.

The company's clients included the states of California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Utah, Washington, Michigan, Kansas and Florida, the U.S. Congress, Los Angeles, Tulare and San Diego Counties, Northrop, Cadillac, City of Chicago, New York City, University Credit Union, Citizens Bank, Microsoft, IBM, BellSouth, GTE, MCI, Sears, Hewlett-Packard, the PGA, Social Security Administration, Veterans Administration, Medicare, U.S. Postal Service, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Singapore, Brisbane Australia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Canada, and others.

As President and CEO, Michael initiated and developed a strategic relationship with billionaire broadcasting and telecommunications investor John W. Kluge of Metromedia Company, New York. Metromedia became the majority shareholder of North Communications, and Mr. Kluge assumed the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors.

North Communications has received many international awards for its work, including the Gold and Silver Cindy (Cinema in Industry), the Kennedy School of Government/Ford Foundation (twice), and the Byte Invision Award (twice). Michael speaks extensively to industry and professional groups, including Comdex, Service to Citizens, Government Technology, the Library of Congress, the National Science Foundation, the Congressional Forum on Social Security, the General Services Administration, the International Engineering Consortium, PlanetWorks, Capital Missions, the Technology Empowerment Network and the International Telecommunications Union. He served as a judge on the annual Global Information Infrastructure Awards, was a founding member of The Standard for Internet Commerce, authors papers for network and media industry publications, and has consulted independently on internet security and biometrics to GTE Corporation (now Verizon).

Michael's early professional background was in publishing (editor of New Directions magazine), in computer networking (creator of conferencing projects in the 70's on the proto-Internet at the New Jersey Institute of Technology) and in television production (associate producer of prime-time shows for CBS Network). In 1983 and '84, as vice president of CompuSave, he directed media and software development for a pioneering multimedia public access retail operation, the first fully online transactional department store.

In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of Greenstar, Michael is a member of advisory boards for Upstream, an international organization focused on conflict prevention; for Sustainable Business, an ecommerce portal serving the "green" renewables industry; for IDC's Technology Trends Advisory Council; for Gaia-Mind, an online group dynamics environment; for Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre, Honolulu's leading experimental dance group. He also assists with local Hawai'i non-profit groups, including the Forgiveness Project and the Stewards of Waimea. He is a principal in two O'ahu-based retail businesses, As Seen on TV Windward http://www.asseenontvwindward.com and Jade & Arts (http://www.jadeandart.com)

He is founder, with Xiao Fang Zhou, of a new enterprise committed to building peace and understanding between China and America, called The Bridge. He is also a founding investor and technology advisor to We Hear Songs, a musical talent venture established with long-time associate and music-industry giant, David Braun. Mr. North also serves as an advisor in systems and marketing to Argus Ensure a biometric security company headed by Dr. Clyde Musgrave; and to chi.mp, an online identity management company headed by Gib Bintliff.