Beth Kanter

Beth Kanter is an independent consultant specializing in curriculum development, training, assessment and evaluation to assist nonprofit organizations in effective technology use. She writes on these topics on her blog.

She writes about Khmer culture and technology at Cambodia4kids blog and maintains a web site with the same name that provides information for U.S. teachers and parents. Her “Typing To Learn Khmer” blog is where she practices her very basic Khmer language skills using Khmer Unicode. Her motivation to learn about Cambodia is to ensure that her two adopted Khmer children know about their homeland and celebrate their culture.

She is a board member of the Sharing Foundation, an NGO that does projects to benefit Cambodian children and FAMCAM , a parent support group of families with adopted Cambodian children. She done volunteer work in Cambodia for the Roteang Village School.

She has worked with nonprofit arts and community-based organizations for over twenty-five years. She has a B.A. from Bennington College and studied flute performance at the New School of Music in Philadelphia. She worked as an arts administrator for New England Conservatory, Boston Symphony, and Pro Art Chamber Orchestra before she became an independent consultant. She served as an outside evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts for its Advancement and Challenge Grant programs for over ten years.

In 1992, she was hired by the New York Foundation for the Arts to coordinate the Arts Wire program, an online network for the arts where she provided technical support and Internet training. While at NYFA, she designed and implemented training and technical assistance programs for the arts community to integrate technology into their work. She was an instructor for the Empire State Arts Partnership Summer Seminar at Sarah Lawrence College for five years.

She currently serves as a consultant to the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations on a variety of projects. She manages their “E-Institute for Arts
Leadership” program, a hybrid e-learning program, a partnership with Cornell University.

She has designed curriculum and led workshops for scores of artists, arts educators, and arts educators who want to incorporate the use of technology into their work. She is the author of “Building Arts Audiences and Communities on the Web” which was based on her work at NYFA. She was commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts to write several case studies on technology planning for arts organizations. She worked with Npower to research and co-author a white paper on the use of technology in the arts sector.

Since 2000, Beth has worked with the Summit Collaborative, a network of people and organizations working to build the capacity of nonprofit organizations, where she works on technology evaluation projects. She is working on an evaluation of the use of mobile technology to help uninsured residents obtain health insurance and other health care services. She has also served as a technology grant evaluator for several funders, including Legal Services Corporation's “Technology Innovation Grants.”

She is a currently project consultant for Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network's (N-TEN) Day of Service project where technology assistance providers from all over the world gather to volunteer their time to help local nonprofits in a community. She was commissioned to research and write a policy paper for the Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNET) on delivering technology assistance to community-based organizations and use of technology by homeless providers. She has presented at numerous conferences on nonprofit technology topics.

Email Beth Kanter

Latest posts by Beth Kanter

Asia Blogger Profile: Cambodia’s Seserak

  31 January 2006

Seserak (Vicheth's nickname) writes the “Cambodia to Japan” blog, a journal of his experience as a Cambodian living and going to school in Japan. He grew up in Kampong Speu Province, located an hour's drive outside of Phnom Penh. After graduating from a local high school, he came to study...

Demand Freedom of Expression in Cambodia Campaign

  11 January 2006

The Cambodian Government's actions to silence critics of the ruling party rang in the New Year with the arrests Human Rights activists Kem Sokha, Yeng Virak and Pa Nguon Teang. The arrests were prompted by banners displayed on Human Rights Day held on December 10, 2005. These newly detained activists...

Reactions to Arrest of Cambodian Human Rights Activist Kem Sokha

  2 January 2006

Photo of Kem Sokha via VOA Via Jinja who points to this AP wire story about the arrest of the Kem Sokha, Cambodian Center for Human Rights.   It confirms that Yeng Virak, head of the Community Legal Education Center, was also arrested. The article provides more details about the banners...

Blogging To Improve Cambodia’s Environment

  27 December 2005

Meet Zarah Jane Almeida who works as a producer for Mlup Baitong's Environmental Advocacy Radio Program. She has been blogging about her work and life at Sreisaat Adventures in Cambodia since January, 2004. Born in Roxas City, known as the seafood capital of the Philippines, she graduated from the University...

Cambodia Water Festival Highlights

  19 November 2005

The Water Festival (“Bon Om Tuk”), the most exuberant festival in Cambodia, took place on November 15-17th. According to Jinja, the Festival marks the start of the dry season and of Bon Kathan (a Buddhist practice done yearly where new robes are offered to monks). Up to a million people...

Cambodian Kids with Swords, Guns, and Poems

  9 November 2005

Last month Jinja captured this photo of these two Cambodian boys playing with toy guns in the streets of Phnom Penh. Even though Jinja played with guns as child, he thought these scenes were a little disturbing because the guns looked so real! A few days ago, Chlim01 is Bored...

The Poetic Side of the Cambodian Blogosphere

  4 November 2005

Poem in Cambodian language by Seserak Several Cambodian bloggers have been sharing their poetry online. The poem above, entitled Autumn in English, is by Seserak, a Cambodian college student studying in Japan and probably experiencing quite a different fall than in his homeland. The poem is translated into English in...

Cambodian Blogger Little Sopha Learns How To Rock

  28 October 2005

Blogger Little Sopha with member of Michael Learns To Rock Band, in Russian Market, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. According Tharum the news that the touring schedule of a Danish rock band named Michael Learns To Rock, included a date in Phnom Penh, inspired "a wave of euphoria of younger generation...

Blogging in the Cambodian Language

  28 September 2005

NIDA, National Information Communications Technology Development Authority, is the government agency that oversees the country's telecommunication policy.  The Cambodian Government's ICT Policy encourages the development and deployment of Open Source software. The implementation partner is Khmer Open Source Project, an Open Source Software Localization project to customize Khmer-Language versions of...

Video Blogs & Cambodia

  18 August 2005

Eath Chhnon (otherwise known as “Village Girl“) is a Cambodian “video blogger” or vlogger. She grew up in a small village in Cambodia near Angkor Wat, one of country’s cultural treasures. Two years ago, at age 20, she came to New York City. Eath is video blogging her life story....

Meet Da: Cambodian Software Engineer

  9 August 2005

Hok KaKada, age 21, is one of six software engineers working on the Khmer OpenSource Software Project and the only woman. “Da” was born in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. She has worked on the project since August, 2004. The Khmer OS Project is customizing OpenSource software programs...

Meet ThaRum: Cambodia's Second Most Famous Blogger

  27 July 2005

Tharum started his blog in June 2004 while a student at the National University of Management and working for the Open Forum for Cambodia, a Cambodian NGO devoted to digital divide issues.   He worked as a content editor for the Khmer language portal.  Tharum became a celebrity when his blog...

Cambodian Blogosphere: Training + Khmer Language Software = More Dialogue?

  20 July 2005

"Internet cafés are springing up like mushrooms in rainy season in the heart of Cambodia, Phnom Penh in recent years."  – Tharum Also, a perfect metaphor for the Cambodian blogopshere! The Cambodian blogosphere is growing, but also getting more organized and connected.  Last month, bloggers in Phnom Penh met in...