Spotlight on Henry Tseng, Director of IT

Henry Tseng and his lovely wife

Nomi Network’s new Director of Technology Henry Tseng is a second generation Taiwanese-American Christian raised in New Jersey.  Both Henry and his wife have a deep heart to want to help alleviate poverty. Although he has had great opportunities during his career, he ultimately hopes to use his talents to live out the teachings and pillars of his Christian faith. Henry’s friend recently approached him during this past year to build a start-up company with him. As he is preparing for the company’s launch, Henry is lending his expertise and leadership to Nomi Network to help revamp our new e-commerce site, which will be unveiled next week! Nomi Network thanks Henry’s for his dedication and for keeping our site simple to use , clean and focused.

NN: How did you hear about Nomi Network and what motivated you to join the team?

HT: I heard about Nomi Network first briefly through a conference called Believers in Business Conference held by the Yale School of Management.  Diana (one of the Co-Founders) briefly shared about the vision of Nomi Network and what Nomi was doing in the field.  I was encouraged and wanted to find out more about how I could get involved and help.  It struck a chord in my heart because I am enthusiastic about utilizing business in missions.  1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God," and I was inspired to live that out by joining Nomi.

NN: What is your background and experience, and how are you using that to help with Nomi's mission?

HT: I've worked mainly in the advertising industry.  I wasn't always a proponent of marketing since my background is originally in computer engineering, but God has definitely changed the way I view the industry through many key mentors. These days I'm a very strong proponent of good creative design.  And I believe God calls us to work and to dig up our talents and that businesses should create value. I've worked for some popular digital agencies such as Big Spaceship, R/GA, LBi and DraftFCB.  I believe my work in building systems and being a part of launching campaigns will definitely be useful as part of the Nomi team.  I think 90% of us are called to the workplace and I think that Nomi Network is a key component to enabling people towards freedom.  

NN: What advice would you give to future abolitionists in how to get involved in fighting trafficking?

HT: I would like to encourage those who are considering specifically getting involved in doing fieldwork to continually vet your calling and your motives.  Getting involved in development work can be a large paradigm shift for those of us who have comfortable lives. When you are in the field especially for a long amount of time there may be times when you will need to continually remember not only why you are there and what you are doing there but also who you are there for.  

NN: How are technology and on-line platforms effective tools in fighting trafficking?

HT: I think that on-line platforms are especially useful in fighting trafficking where it occurs overseas.  These technologies enable us to overcome many of the challenges long distances used to present.  Don't get me wrong nothing replaces face-to-face interaction.  But we can reach farther and faster than we ever could through technology.  I'm sure someone will laugh when they read this 10 years from now because of how fast technology moves, but just a year ago when we had that earthquake I remember people receiving twitter messages before they actually felt the tremors themselves.  

NN: Thank you so much for helping with the launch of the new e-commerce site. What is your favorite part about the new website?

HT: My favorite part of the website?  I would say I like what we're doing with the products; the images are clear and the products are highlighted accordingly.  I can't count the number of times I've ordered something online and felt like I received something else when I opened the package because the image on the website wasn't clear enough.  

- Lisa Kim