Geekcorps

After a visit to a Ghana library by Zuckerman in 1993, the lack of up-to-date resources available prompted him to create Geekcorps years later. Humanitarian and banker Elisa Korentayer became co-founder of Geekcorps due to the organization's need of financial wisdom. In effort to increase access to current information and bridge the digital divide in developing nations Zuckerman, and associates from his now bought out internet company tripod, funded most of the $350,000 budget for Geekcorps' first year.

Intel partnership and OLPC astroturf controversy

In 2007 Geekcorps Director Wayan Vota was accused of disparaging the OLPC project through a "OLPC News" website without disclosing Geekcorps' promotion of Intel's rival laptop, the Classmate PC and Microsoft's Windows XP.. By the mid 2000s, Geekcorps had grown to over 1,600 registered volunteers drawn from companies including Netscape Communications and the UK Department of Trade. The organization adopted an open source software philosophy for its projects to ensure that implementations were replicable by communities without access to US funding or licensed software. Around 2006, co-founder Ethan Zuckerman stepped down as CEO and subsequently left the organization entirely, taking up a fellowship at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Following internal changes at IESC, Geekcorps ceased to operate as an independent entity and was absorbed into IESC's broader ICT programming, with the North Adams head office closing and its staff departing. IESC continued to operate ICT programs under the Geekcorps name as a subsidiary division through at least 2013.