Linux Fund Team

David Mandel – Executive Director since 1999

David Mandel is a long time open source Evangelist/Developer with experience in both the public and the private sector. He is Chief Activist of the Portland Linux/Unix Group and has helped organize local open source groups in several states and other nations. Mr. Mandel is known for his work in Geographic Information Systems with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management where he was Chief Engineer on a large long term GIS services contract. Mr. Mandel was involved in a number of start up companies including one he lead which created a family of specialized Linux distributions called Netules. During his career, Mr. Mandel has also done consulting, taught college, and worked as a scientific programmer and system administrator. As a former Peace Corps Volunteer, he is interested in international development and has been volunteering time, money, and his open source talents to assist people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Candace Ramcharan – President, Director since 2000

Candace Ramcharan has been with the Linux Fund since 2000, where she began tradeshow marketing from her hometown of Montreal, Canada. She grew with the organization, taking on the role of Marketing Manager and now sits as President on the Board of Directors. Ms. Ramcharan has six years experience in junior exploration mining, having focused on the Roche Bay magnetite project in Arctic Canada. Her main duties were business development, logistics, community and government relations. She graduated with a B.A. Honours from McGill University and is planning on commencing her Masters in Business Administration.

Michael Dexter – Program Director since 2007

Michael Dexter has used open systems and software since 1991 and worked professionally as a system administrator, web developer and graphic designer for various small businesses in the film, music and automotive fields. Michael has a background in Hollywood film production and was a member of the MandrakeSoft SA, now Mandriva internal IS Team. His academic specialty is open source multiplicity/virtualization strategies and he has presented his research in France and Latvia. He has been involved in active board service since high school and can be spotted at open source events in the USA and around Europe. Michael lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughter.

Ilan Rabinovitch – Director since 2009

Ilan Rabinovitch lives in Santa Monica, California and has been a user and evangelist of open source for over 10 years. He is a co-founder and current Conference Chair of the Southern California Linux Expo (SCaLE), a nonprofit and community run event which provides educational opportunities around open source. In addition to his involvement with the open-source community, he is a co-founder and a developer at Geek-PAC.org an organization which lobbies for information rights reform. Ilan is currently employed by Edmunds.com as Linux and J2EE systems administrator.

Randal L. Schwartz – Director since 2009

Randal L. Schwartz is a world-renowned expert on the Perl programming language, having contributed to a dozen top-selling books on the subject, and over 250 magazine articles. Randal runs Stonehenge Consulting Services, a Perl and Smalltalk training and consulting company and is a familiar face at open source events around the world. Randal is a founding board member of the Perl Mongers, the worldwide Perl grassroots advocacy organization and is currently the co-host of the FLOSS Weekly netcast.

Dan Carrere – Director since 2008

Dan Carrere has been an open source evangelist and solutions developer for nearly two decades. He is the designer of a number of Information Security devices. He founded early Linux and BSD user groups and has been a professor in universities and colleges for over a decade, working to both create information security curriculum and open source focused courses. Dan provides professional services consulting on information technology governance, security management, and also offers information security certification guidance.

Scott Rainey – Past President and Director 1999 – 2008

Scott Rainey is a freelance IT consultant, currently focused on small businesses. Client base has included: GE, Hyundai, Alcoa, HP, Blue Cross, and Intel. Non-IT, experience includes: An economic development report on software for The Asian Development Bank, Advertising/Public Relations, Publishing, Marketing, and Sales. Public service projects include: Portland Advertising Federation, OMSI and Portland Microcomputer Society. Other directorships include: Capstone College, American Mensa, Educational Research Associates, and the Windward Foundation.