Why IT Matters

We start the new calendar year with Makeda Keegan from Northeastern University, Chair of the Board, and Executive Director of Amplify.  Amplify’s work is pivotal in creating both culture and opportunity for underrepresented voices in technology.  We talk a lot about the difference between focused action that makes change for underrepresented people and performative actions that are well intended but don’t change business culture, operations, or systems to accommodate the new perspectives and experiences that these people represent.  What emerges in the conversation is a better understanding of how to rest intensive recruitment efforts targeted at underrepresented communities in the context of more significant organizational transformation goals - including appropriately accounting for the length of time necessary to accomplish them truly.  We also unpick how networks that serve underrepresented groups facilitate conversation, connection, and additional assessments of how every business is doing along the way, which leads us to how networks can better create accountability mechanisms by first articulating specific, desired outcomes that aren’t simply “more.”  Lastly, we cover volunteering as a self-care mechanism, along with contributing back to our communities.  Tracy’s dog also crashes the discussion, and we all realize that there’s a separate politics and pop-culture recording that we need to make together.  Our first episode of season 2 is absolutely a conversation that sets the tone for a brilliant start to 2022!

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Episode Shownotes

Our final episode of Why IT Matters of 2021 is a conversation with an old friend, collaborator, and co-creator, Ryan Ozimek, Co-founder of PICnet and Soapbox Engage.  As the year comes to a close, we’re reminded of our values of curiosity, community, democracy, and access, looking at the world through Ryan’s eyes, and hopefully reminded of why many of us began our Technology For Good careers in the first place.  We dive deep into Ryan’s passion and purpose, Open Source, as to how technology can be better accountable, more transparent, and more accessible to a broader gamut of people, nonprofits, and global movements.  One of the most important “ah-ha!” moments comes when we dive into how we can create empowerment with technology and what actual contributions via Open Source can look like.  Spoiler: the economy of Open Source is an economy that values cooperation, not altruism, and therefore every transaction is a gift that returns its investment by creating a more vital outcome, not one that is less efficient or driven by a single entity.  We also talk about the role of the community in driving long-term results, both for Open Source and privately-owned software solutions and platforms, especially when there are market or other inefficiencies to solve.  This episode is a heartwarming conclusion to a wild 2021, and we hope you enjoy it!

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What happens when we turn the common assumptions about how nonprofits should acquire software on their head? Mitch Stein, Co-Founder of Pond talks about his journey from Goldman Sachs executive to impact economy advocate and platform developer. We cover all the assumptions made about small businesses that serve nonprofits software – both by venture funding and the nonprofit ecosystem.  Pond creates an economic incentive for nonprofits to participate in software selection while sharing community and promoting transparency in software sales by making trust, authenticity, and openness marketable by software vendors.  The quest that Mitch is leading is to recognize the highly reputational and relational nature of serving nonprofits and how vendors can parlay it into a strength that drives deeper accountability and better acting.  We also take a hard pivot to what it means to be vulnerable leaders in the tech industry, and how we can create the conditions for this to be pervasive is also a profound part of our conversation.  This episode is for the dreamers, the founders, the risk-takers, and the folks who feel like nobody gets their ideas.

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Leading a state association of nonprofits, particularly in a state like Montana, is a balancing act.  Our guest Liz Moore, Executive Director of Montana Nonprofit Association, talks through these challenges and opportunities creating a vibrant and localized nonprofit community.  The common assumptions of access, education, and infrastructure change when considering rural communities and how nonprofits fill critical service gaps.  When a state like Montana moves through a crisis like Covid-19, Liz tells us how nonprofits have survived and where urgent needs remain.  This is a case study in thinking about meeting community, funding, and professional development needs across a myriad of organizations that span a broad social and political gamut.  Understanding the roles that healthy government, business vitality, and nonprofits can play together and shifting our mindset related to nonprofit infrastructure needs from “Why are nonprofits asking for more?” to “Why would we make a decision that hurts nonprofits?” is how these three entities can best work together.  For listeners unaware of how nonprofit state associations partner with governments, keep nonprofits alive, preserve and help change cultures, and form national policy networks, this is a highly educational conversation.

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The farther we travel, the more we return to our roots.  This conversation with longtime friend Cheryl Porro reminds us that sometimes we're given the opportunity for a hard and soft reset in our lives.  Coming out of what "Why IT Matters" calls "Salesforcelandia" and into bigger worlds before and through the Pandemic and how we take care of ourselves and the world around us are the values that drive how we adapt to highly-disruptive moments in our lives, and this is especially relevant to Cheryl's current work at Curve Health.  We investigate how technology can offer dignity in palliative care and how our fears hold us back.  This episode is a great listen for anyone seeking a new narrative and new tools to inform their well-being and the more significant conversation around how our health informs our decision-making, leadership, and capacity to create a culture change for a more inclusive technology industry.  The more we focus on what is reflexive and expected to drive preordained ideas of success, the less inclusive and less connected we become - join us for a far-ranging exploration of how we as humans can show up better and stronger.

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What happens when we wake up every day knowing that we are intentionally here and love solving problems more than anything? Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak are joined by guest Rakia Finley, Founding Partner at Copper & Vine Studio, Co for Why IT Matters: Find the Light. You’re probably like Rakia, a successful entrepreneur and advocate for taking on tough challenges, discussions, and circumstances head-on.  The other title for this episode could be “Comfortable in Our Own Soul,” because Rakia digs deep on both her personal and professional journey and how these have enabled her to find win-win opportunities in her work.  Rakia has also created a restoration and executive leadership retreat called By Grace to help entrepreneurs rest, recenter, reconnect, and (re)find their intentionality.  We also talk about the lack of accountability structures that permit racism and other biases to continue to perpetuate in the corporate world and paths forward that begin with transforming anger, playing on teams, and creating actionable space for new leaders.

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In this episode, Why IT Matters is joined by guest Sam Caplan, Vice President of Social Impact at Submittable. So much of nonprofit technology is how we as an industry, philanthropy, and applications respond to it.  The past 18 months and global pandemic have called forth the need to unpick power dynamics, privilege, and ownership of destiny for the impact economy.  This conversation begins with trust-based philanthropy and continues to take a step back to how we can create better transparency and more robust nonprofit technology infrastructures. The way forward is through philanthropy, better cooperation between technology platforms and applications serving nonprofits, and stronger ties between nonprofits creating a unified voice that makes requests of both philanthropy and technology.  Ultimately, we can facilitate community, cooperation, collaboration and center on values rooted in cooperate responsibility that can help break through perceived logjams and territorial actors.

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The other title for this episode was going to be “Love is What Gives Us Hope,” but you’ll need to listen all the way through to know why.  Tune in with Cheryl Contee, both a visionary futurist and pragmatic, highly-successful business owner and entrepreneur.  We dig back into the systemic forces that drive investment in technology and how they shape outcomes that have real consequences for equity of all kinds.  Rather than run away from what we call “The System” and allow the people and forces who have perennially benefited from retaining their power and privilege, we walk through how to completely eradicate “meritocracy” in favor of inclusion and the corporate and cultural structures that need revision.  We also talk about Chery’s book, “The Mechanical Bull,” and her successes, journey, and lessons from building businesses - this is a must-learn for underrepresented application developers and business owners.

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What does it mean when a business has something that can unlock time for good and chooses to act charitably towards nonprofits above and beyond a technology donation? Adam Rosenzweig from Okta for Good walks us through Okta’s nonprofit product and ecosystem support structure, including acting as a risk capital investor in nonprofit technology infrastructure and talks about the transparency necessary for businesses that serve nonprofits.  We also talk about funding for technology infrastructure for nonprofits and the new requirements for donors, philanthropy, and companies giving to them. Adam introduces the concepts of philanthropy as a service and subscription philanthropy as new solutions.  Nonprofits using technology with maximum efficiency require vulnerability, understanding the myths of what technology purports to solve, and willingness to bridge generational divides within organizations. Adam also is the only respondent to go on record in response to our Six Questions challenge for businesses serving nonprofits.

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Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak are joined by guest Jan Kaderly, Founder of A Line Strategy. Cowardice is Our Strength is a conversation about embracing everything we’re afraid of - from elephants in the room to Sacred Cows. Nonprofit leadership is equal parts planning for what is known and welcoming what we don’t. When we fail through weakness and fear, Jan talks about how there is an incredible opportunity to develop active evaluations of our mission and goals. Fear isn’t just the mind-killer; it holds us back from actual accomplishments when nonprofits adopt change. Jan’s methodology goes through the diagnosis, analysis, and treatment of when nonprofits get stuck in fear. She shares her wisdom of working with organizations to unlock future potential when they take on their cowardice through self-awareness and make it a strength. This episode is an excellent unpicking of organizational politics, culture, and sincere leading for change that humanizes our potential. For human resource leaders, nonprofit executives, and service businesses that work with nonprofits.

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