Idealist Consulting Meets With Hillary Clinton

Friday, December 17th 2010, Washington DC- Idealist Consulting, a technology consulting firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon, joins Salesforce.com and USAID in Washington DC this week to discuss Project Palestine, an initiative to build technical infrastructure in Ramallah and the West Bank, hosted by the US State Department and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as part of Secretary Clinton’s Palestinian Information Technology Initiative (PITI).

The goal of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Palestinian Information Technology Initiative is to introduce technology to Palestine in an effort to increase stability in the region. The architects of Project Palestine, Rob Jordan of Idealist Consulting, Carl Larkins, Vice President of Carana Corporation, Ihab Jahari, ICT Sector Development Leader for Carana Corporation and Isabel Kelly, international director of Salesforce.com Foundation International will join Secretary Clinton for a discussion of the relationship between PITI and Project Palestine.

Project Palestine, an international effort to bring sustainable revenue and infrastructure to the West Bank through cloud computing technology, is engineered by Idealist Consulting, funded by USAID and Carana Corporation, and supported with technology and training by the Salesforce.com Foundation. The project will help facilitate the creation of five Palestinian consulting firms, trained by Idealist Consulting and Salesforce.com in delivery of cloud computing solutions. The projected outcome is to create stable, sustainable revenue streams to the West Bank. These Palestinian consulting firms, trained in the implementation of cloud computing technology by Idealist Consulting, will become self-reliant and self-sustaining, enhancing the economic growth and stability of the area.

The meeting will take place this Friday afternoon at the US Department of State. The invitees will attend the ceremony for the Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence, and a roundtable discussion of PITI and Project Palestine, led by Secretary Clinton and Undersecretary Bob Hormats, will follow.

The Salesforce Foundation’s interest in the project stems from their unique 1/1/1 model of business philanthropy, wherein the company donates 1% each of its time, equity and product to worthy organizations. Carana has long disseminated funds to the West Bank and Gaza since 1997, primarily in enterprise development and agribusiness, which is perfectly suited to the goals of Project Palestine. Idealist Consulting, a socially responsible B Corporation, has a long history of business philanthropy as well, donating thousands of hours of consulting time to nonprofits and NGOs every year.

Secretary Clinton’s support for Project Palestine has been integral to the launch of the project. Funding from USAID and Carana has made it possible for Idealist Consulting to plan deployment of the Salesforce Foundation’s generous gift of licenses, certifications and training. Project kickoff is scheduled for early 2011.