Omar Wasow

Omar Wasow, is a co-founder of www.BlackPlanet.com and an on-air technology analyst. Under Omar's leadership www.BlackPlanet.com became the leading site for African Americans, reaching over three million people a month. As a strategic advisor to Community Connect Inc., the parent company of www.BlackPlanet.com, he continues to be an active member of the executive management team, guiding the long-term direction and profitability of the company.

Omar also works to demystify technology issues through regular TV and radio segments on NBC's Today Show, CNN's American Morning and public radio's Tavis Smiley Show. Similarly, Omar tutored Oprah Winfrey in her first exploration of the Net in the 12-part series 'Oprah Goes Online'.

Omar's success as a credible and friendly guide to the Internet led Newsweek to name him one of the "fifty most influential people to watch in cyberspace," and People magazine to call him the "Sexiest Internet Executive." Successful Meetings Magazine named him one of the "21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century."

As a result of his active participation in a number of social issues, particularly the charter school movement, Omar was selected to be a fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation's Next Generation Leadership program. In Fall 2003, a K-7 charter school that Omar helped found opened in his hometown of Brooklyn. He received his BA in Race and Ethnic Relations from Stanford University. Omar is currently pursuing a doctorate in African American studies and political science at Harvard.