ROBERT BALMANNO has worked as a library specialist in a Silicon Valley library for 23 years. He is a trade union activist and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, working with cattle in small villages in Dahomey (Benin).

Balmanno earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and did post-graduate work at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of London, King's College.