Volunteer Computer Technician

The Innocence Project is seeking a part-time volunteer computer technician to help with a new program providing donated computers to our exonerated clients. This position requires 5-10 hours per month in our New York City offices.

The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. Founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, the organization is affiliated with Cardozo Law School.

About this position:

The Innocence Project receives donated computers for exonerees through a partnership with the Cristina Foundation. Most exonerees have never had a computer and these donated items provide them with the opportunity to learn a new technology, stay in touch with family and friends, look for jobs and become part of the modern world they have been wrongfully deprived of for years.

We are seeking to work with a volunteer to facilitate the process of picking up the computers at local Manhattan donor offices or homes, examine and diagnose the hardware and software, and mailing the computers to exonerated clients. There are no regular hours for this job because the computers come in irregularly, but we only receive about one computer per month and the volunteer would come during the week at his or her convenience to spend a few hours checking and cleaning the computer and then another hour or so mailing it out.

The volunteer should have the ability to do the following:

* Identify computer specifications that are appropriate for immediate donation or those with merely require minimal upgrades before donation

* Evaluate the utility of miscellaneous computer hardware

* Diagnose simple hardware/software problems such as missing hardware drivers and be able to resolve them

* Bring all software up to date (namely the operating system)

* Select and use the best tools to verify that a system is free of malware/viruses

Please call or write Innocence Project Social Worker Karen Wolff if interested in this volunteer opportunity. kwolff@innocenceproject.org or 212 364-5967.