seasoned professional for today’s challenges

ANDREW WONG has years of experience working within virtual teams around the globe. His experience has given him a deeper understanding and appreciation of how different people and cultures approach communication and work; how they build a community in a virtual environment; and what the unique challenges are to working within culturally diverse teams with members that are located in different cities, time zones and even countries! He feels that it is a gift that lets him harness the experience for creativity and innovation.

Wong was mainly involved in the areas of desktop publishing from 1989 to 1994. In 1992, he was key in the successful startup of “The National”, Papua New Guinea’s first full color newspaper. He developed, designed and implemented a new system workflow and templates for the company’s digital prepress and editorial operations improving productivity by 300%.

His foray into multimedia development began in 1991 while still at Votra Malaysia. In 1994 he developed his interest further by establishing Anastasis, one of Malaysia’s first interactive new media production and consulting companies based in Kuala Lumpur. Anastasis implemented media projects for regional and international corporations that included Hiti Engineering, Caltex and the Carlyle Group.

Between 1996 and 2005, Wong served as joint owner and creative director of Infinitum Designworks Singapore for the company’s expanding Malaysian portfolio, while at Anastasis, he became one of the pioneers in Malaysia to leverage the Internet to secure outsourcing work contracts from the US.

Anastasis developed the web sites for major multimillion-dollar national and international media outreach projects with Blackside, Inc. and Invent Media Corp in the production of various documentaries for the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Some notable projects include Hopes on the Horizon: Africa in the 1990s, This Far by Faith, and I’ll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts.

community service

Committed to community service, Wong served on the board of Seattle-based Kang Wen Clinic, a non-profit community facility that provides complementary and alternative medical care to individuals with limited incomes who are living with lifelong challenging illnesses. He contributed his time and expertise as IT manager, webmaster, and designer. Between October 2004 and March 2005, he also volunteered additional hours to stand in as the provisional office manager of the clinic, while the board worked on finding a permanent officer to fill the vacancy.

Wong’s volunteer service began in 2003 as the designer, developer, and webmaster for the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches’ (UFMCC) Region One web site. In January 2004, he was appointed as the chair of an international virtual team of volunteers from three countries spanning three time-zones that functioned as the technical team for UFMCC’s Region One community where he served until June 2005.

about andrew

Wong, an avid traveler who enjoys learning new cultures and experiencing them firsthand, hails from Malaysia. He has had the privilege of experiencing life in South East Asia and in Papua New Guinea. As a student in the United States and later as a working professional, he has had the opportunity to visit more than nineteen major cities located throughout the United States including Hawaii.

A self-proclaimed “Mac head”, Wong’s personal and professional passions revolve around evangelizing the cutting-edge application of Apple’s Mac OS X professionally and for the home. He enjoys the exploration and research into the techniques and benefits of designing with web standards and promoting excellence in user experience. In leisure, he also enjoys working out, fine dining, reading, and writing.

relevant education

Wong is a graduate of Antioch University Seattle. He earned his B.A. in Liberal Studies majoring in Interactive New Media and his M.S. in Management and Leadership focusing on the Leadership and Motivation of Virtual Teams in Volunteer Organizations. The completion of his graduate thesis was a practical exercise and demonstration of what can be achieved through virtual coaction. Wong collaborated with various personalities located all over the world to complete the research that enabled him to finish his thesis quickly and efficiently. Wong is now looking towards pursuing an M.S. in Computer Systems at City University to further enhance his professional and career development.