Why IT Matters

Our guest, Leon Wilson, Chief of Digital Innovation and Chief Information Officer at The Cleveland Foundation, brings a wealth of experience, IT history, and business acumen (to a job that almost wasn’t!) to our discussion of how to serve nonprofits better using technology.  Our current Why IT Matters episode is a longer follow-up to the Nonprofit CDM community panel – Advancing Impact and Equity with the Nonprofit CDM. Our conversation covers in-depth, 40+ years of nonprofit investments in technology and unpacking the patterns that lock them into technology solutions that don’t serve their missions. 

We deeply outline the responsibility of providing nonprofits with technology, free or not, and discuss strategies that help nonprofits adopt technology tools and platforms durably.  We can’t just assume that giving nonprofits technology is enough; there need to be pragmatic cohorts and shared learnings coupled with the ability for nonprofits to have data that is portable, interoperable, and “plug and play,” regardless of where it rests.  Ultimately, it’s breaking this fracturing of nonprofits into the correct configurations AND treating nonprofits as partners, not just customers, in technology consumption. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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“Life shrinks or expands proportionate to your courage,” is the wisdom of our guest, Christina Herancourt, President and Co-Founder of Mission CRM on this episode of Why IT Matters: There’s Something Happening Here.  There are moments in our lives when we’re handed what could be perceived as setbacks, obstacles, competition, and fear, and we have the opportunity to turn them to our advantage, and the greater good.

Listen to a story of “dollars, cents, and common sense,” in Christina’s own words as we talk about her experience as a woman leader in technology, that of her business as it built (and re-built to be in alignment with the nonprofit common data model #NCDM) a widely-regarded and Microsoft-acquired application, and talk about what it means to be of true service to nonprofit organizations as businesses and platforms.  Here’s a hint: We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done.  And, in female entrepreneurship, it’s the tailwinds that lift you up that matter most.

This is a journey of grit, fortitude, and service, and a reminder that as businesses and people in order to meet the challenges of this decade, we must lead with a servant’s mind.  Also, for the first time in a Why IT Matters episode, both Tim and Tracy were choked up. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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An economist, a retooled policy analyst, and an academic walk into a conversation about creating standards; what follows is an exposition replayed for graduate students in technology, sociology, political economics, and finance. Now IT Matters is incredibly grateful to Kate Ruff for joining the latest edition of Why IT Matters: Creating the New Norms. Kate holds many roles, including Co-Director of the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation, Lead of the Canadian Common Approach to Impact Measurement, and Assistant Professor at the Sprott School of Business at Carlton University.

This in-depth conversation is about the assumptions we place behind structures such as accounting measures, impact measures, and the necessity of community participation that creates and supports them.  Uncover the crucial threads of what becomes perceived as immutable standards in economy and business that are much more able to be changed by racial/social justice activism, which presents a holistic view of why change advocacy is critical. Learn why it’s not just about who is in the room for these discussions; but how they prioritize what ultimately becomes standardized. 

Here is what you should take away from this conversation:

Alongside these key takeaways, you will learn about Kate’s prodigious experience, observations, and wisdom. One last note, if you love Dungeons & Dragons, then this conversation is for you! Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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What are the changes necessary to put nonprofit constituents at the center of the technology serving them, rather than simply sales models to nonprofits as an industry? Our conversation with Dan Lammot, Co-Founder and CEO of Threshold.World covers not only where we’ve been as an industry, but where we can aspire to be serving nonprofits.

Topics include:

* The ESGs (Environmental, Social, Governmental) metrics that are driving measuring corporate profit and goals towards alignment with the impact economy, globally.

* The origin story of the Nonprofit Common Data Model #NCDM #NonprofitCDM

* The transitions of culture, measurement, and understanding new definitions of “profit,” that all businesses can make to focus on serving nonprofits better

* The launch of b.world, a new product that helps nonprofit staff working directly with constituents to better capture their stories towards organizational mission and project outcomes.

Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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This is a conversation that challenges the listener’s norms, assumptions, and ideals about what “technology for good” should look like, right from the start. We’re incredibly grateful for an hour with Amy Sample Ward, CEO of NTEN, and raising the bar on expectations that nonprofits as an ecosystem should have from technology, and from themselves. Looking at how the systems of power, privilege, and capitalism engage with nonprofits, globally, how do we solve for making technology equitable, just, and accessible?

Topics include:

* The technology industry responses to Covid-19 and the 2020 racial justice movement

* The persistent trope of nonprofits as hapless victims to technology and passive recipients of charitable donation

* Capitalism and white supremacy

* Equity and nonprofit technology, including the NTEN Equity Guide for Nonprofits

* The Nonprofit Common Data Model #NCDM #NonprofitCDM

* Creating a world of nonprofit innovation and self-determination in data and technology

Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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When we think about what serves nonprofits, those of us with roots in technology think “technology-first.” Our guest, Kevin Bromer from Ballmer Group, walks us through the strategy that connects technology to root-cause interventions with nonprofits. Kevin is the head of technology and data strategy working to bring Ballmer Group’s mission of economic mobility for children and families to reality. He also shares a long history of leadership within the nonprofit technology and Salesforce.org ecosystems.

This conversation touches on a lot of heady topics, including:

There’s also a discussion about birdfeeders, and whether or not birds and squirrels are metaphors, for anything, really. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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Our guest, Darrell Booker, Program Manager for the Nonprofit Tech Acceleration for Black and African-American Communities (NTA) at Microsoft Philanthropies, joins us for a discussion with far-reaching consequences.  How do technology companies provide genuine support for racial equity and justice causes? What are the challenges we face as an industry — and country– related to these endeavors?  This Why IT Matters is part visionary, part personal, part reality check, and all heart.  Darrell walks us through his experience in technology leadership and the formation of the NTA in mid-2020 responding to the national George Floyd protests and call for equity in America.  A challenge to technology companies and corporate leadership is where we wrap up. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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Our first “Why IT Matters” recording of 2021 covers the small and large ways decisions made about access, priority, and need in technology have direct effect on the perception, engagement, and participation of others.  Our guest, Laura Tovar, Development Director at the Deaf Action Center relates her experience as an American Sign Language interpreter and her career growth to the issues our country is facing: justice, racism, and where and how the truth of matters is conveyed. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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What Solves the Hard Technology Things for Nonprofits?

We are delighted to end the inaugural year of “Why it Matters” with a profound discussion with Lori Freeman from Salesforce.org about the cycle of trying to solve complex technology problems for nonprofit organizations.  This is our “one more thing” for Dreamforce 2020, and also a set up for asking what are the frameworks and issues that could be applied towards solving the hard things in 2021.

This is where we choose to make investments, the priority we set around the allocation of time and resources, and the motivation for change with technology and the impact economy.  What are the philanthropic, leadership, technology platform, and organizational responsibilities that need to shift in order for the journey to 2030 to be successful?

Enjoy a reflection on where there is an opportunistic and bountiful future where nonprofits can go in the new year. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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During this segment of Why IT Matters, we interviewed Kate Daniels from Oracle Netsuite and talked about international aid, both the good and the bad, and technology as an infrastructure for nonprofits. Kate shares the considerations Oracle gave to the Common Data Model and why they decided it’s better to participate and align than to be concerned about competition. We also had fun talking about the differences working at large vs. small organizations and how our energy changes every room that we enter. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters!

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