CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Even as a boy, Alec Ross had lofty aspirations. Take it from his mother.
"In the sixth grade at Sacred Heart, they were doing the yearbook and they asked the kids what they wanted to be," Becky Ross said. "Alec said he wanted to be president. He got real offended because they said, 'President of what?' He said, 'THE president.'"
"He's a Type A personality, a goal driver," said his father, Alex. "He was always rather intense, constantly striving. He's going to go higher and higher. No telling where he will end up."
The White House?
Well, maybe not that high. But he's not far away.
Earlier this month, the Charleston-reared technology sage started a new job as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's senior adviser on innovation. A key player in tech policy planning during the Obama campaign and transition, he's in charge of finding ways to use technology as a tool for improving poverty, health care, human rights and other social ills around the globe.
Described in one Internet bio as "a nationally respected social entrepreneur," Ross earned a reputation for promoting universal access to technology, the conviction that computers are a necessity of everyday living and should be available to people from all walks of life, not just those who can afford them.
Co-author of a book called "A Laptop in Every Backpack," he once described his work to his mother as "connecting the lower-income segment of the population with the e-economy."
"He sees the big picture on how to best put these things to use for the most good.
Courtesy photo
Before Charleston native Alec Ross joined the U.S. State Department as senior adviser on innovation to Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, he appeared often as a speaker promoting technology as a tool to improve the lives of people in low-income communities. A 1990 graduate of George Washington High School, he co-founded a nonprofit corporation called One Economy to develop technology programs in digitally deprived areas.
snip
But the well-traveled tech visionary remains true to his West Virginia roots. Even the name of his first child reflects his West Virginia background. He named his son Colton, a derivative of "coal town," an obvious salute to his home state.
Lets keep adding some common sense West Virginia progressives to Washington. .......... We'll have that place straightened out before you know it!
