Giving Back Through Tech: The Mission of Tech4Change

Scott Kinka:

Well, hello, everyone and welcome to another episode of The Bridgecast. And I’d like to also welcome anyone who’s coming in from podcastathon.org. This is kind of a unique episode. We haven’t done this before. It’s our first time getting involved with podcastathon, but we’re taking an opportunity with The Bridgecast, which is on its 80th episode, its third season now, to engage in some charitable work here. And to that order, I guess we have two friends of mine with us today. Jasmina Muller and Brad Dupee are here with me. I’m gonna ask them to introduce themselves and why we’re all on together. But again, welcoming everybody to this unique episode. We’re gonna talk a little bit about maybe doing some good here. So, Jasmina, I’m gonna start with you. Tell us who you are. 

Jasmina Muller:

Hello Scott. Yeah, so Jasmina Muller. I am the chief ecosystem officer at Titan Cloud Storage, but today, I’m representing on behalf of our nonprofit organization, Tech4Change. And I’ve been with Tech4Change for probably a little over six years in different roles, and I guess we’ll go into that in a minute, but I’m excited to be on here and share some of our stories. 

Scott Kinka:

And we’ll get to that. Tell us a little bit about the day job. Tell us about Titan. 

Jasmina Muller:

So Titan Cloud Storage is not just a cloud storage company; it’s more about storage solutions and cloud solutions. So we work just like any hyperscaler. The AWS is in the world. We also compete with others that have a smaller storage-type solution offering. But we’ve got so many other types of solutions, not just, like I said, around storage, but we’ve got VMs, database as a service, infrastructure as a service. So we’ve got a little bit of everything to really differentiate ourselves within our industry, but more so for the end users out there looking to do an alternative to storage. 

Scott Kinka:

Fantastic, thank you, Jazz. Brad Dupee, how are you? Tell us a little bit about you, Brad. 

Brad Dupee;

Scott, thanks for having me. By day, Batman at night, of course, but by day, I work for an organization in technology and telecom out of Boston, Massachusetts, called Granite Telecommunications. We’re in the business of making internet access easy for large multi-location businesses, right? When you’re a company like Walmart or other similar companies where you have lots of locations. It’s pretty complex in North America. So we simplify that for them by becoming the person who sources all of those services and supports them, and turns out to be long-term relationships because once they get help from us, it’s a big challenge for them to go back so to speak to just dealing with AT &T over in one corner and Verizon in another set. 

Scott Kinka:

And we’ve had multiple members of the Granite Leadership team on the pod at different times. And we’ll make sure to get a link to those episodes down in the notes as well. But speaking of things that we want to get into the notes on the episode for people to click on, we happen to be here for a podcast, Thon. So tell us why this unique collection of technology leaders is together on the phone today. What brings us all together? 

The Mission Behind Tech4Change 

Brad Dupee:

That’s right. Well, I gotta say that it’s actually, the driver behind the organization is the fact that there’s a collective opportunity for us to come together and help those organizations and those folks who are more challenged than we are. And a few dollars can go a long way. So we tend to get together on an annual basis, and quite honestly, Jasmina’s  Even Scott, we see you guys 10 or 20 times a year because we’re all kind of in the same circles. As a result, we come together to help charities when we come to town, so to speak, as a collective. 

Jasmina Muller:

And I was going to add that during this time, we’re always coming together as one. Our industry works with a lot of technology advisors, consultants, agents, and distribution companies. So during this time, when we go out and as Brad was referring to it, once a year, we meet up in Vegas as an entire group of what I call the extended family and kind of put together our one day of what we’re kind of putting together as an event and we put all our differences aside, I guess, within competition, you could call it, and say, hey, let’s do something together as one and kind of give back to the community utilizing our technology advisors in assisting us in doing that giving back. 

Scott Kinka:

Yeah. I, first off, think for listeners who are only casual and don’t understand a ton about our industry, they’ll get the family thing because if they, if, if you’re watching this episode and you’ve seen other episodes, usually the first 10 minutes are the guests that I chuckling about the three or four times we’ve worked together in the past. So that always happens. But yeah, I mean, so Tech4Change is the name of the organization. It’s Tech4Change.org. That’s the number four, dot org. And this was an organization put together across, frankly, multiple technology suppliers to say, Hey, when we’re together, let’s do something good and raise some money. What kind of organizations over the history of Tech4Change have you guys or the collective way? I guess everybody’s going to figure out by now that I’m also involved. What kind of organizations have we raised funds for? 

Brad Dupee:

Yeah. Yeah, I was going to pop. Well, I can name a few. I’m sure Jasmina will fill in some blanks, but we’re in our 11th year of collectively coming together and helping these grassroots charities. But it’s bridged everything from veteran organizations to suicide prevention to domestic violence to what else? First responders. Jasmina, do you want to add a few? But every year, it tends to be different. 

Jasmina Muller:

Yeah. Every year, we have actually a vetting process that we utilize within our organization that, in fact, in our industry, a lot of these technology advisors and consultants actually come to us and say, hey, we’ve had family members go through, and I’m just making up what we’ve gone through, like cancer survivors, anything around homeless people as well. We’ll have a vetting process. Well, they’ll bring us some of those charity organizations and say, how about this one? How about this one? So it’s not us choosing those organizations. It’s within our extended family that comes to us and says, I’ve got a few people and companies that we’d like for you to take a look at. So this is where that entire community comes together as one to give back. But there are also companies that we’ve had in the past that are data technology-driven. That actually gives back to the next generation of individuals coming into technology. One that comes to mind is where a company, a nonprofit I’m trying to remember the name, Manny’s Company, out of Arizona. Yes, U.S. Cyber. He basically brings in high school students to his organization. Shows them what the technology industry is about, the next technology industry. We’re talking AI, we’re talking software, everything that these kids are driving. I mean, they’re constantly on their phones, and they’re constantly doing things that we as adults take for granted, in a sense. Then, he brings them in and provides a place for them to feel comfortable learning. That organization is a nonprofit where we provide fundraising efforts and donations to help them engage more of these young kids to learn about the industry. So it’s amazing to see that it’s not just one specific type of organization, but they’re grassroots charities. There are so many different types of work that we work with, and technology is just one of them. 

Brad Dupee:

That’s right. 

Scott Kinka:

And, and so how did, where did the funds come from? Like, how was that put together? Give me the opportunity. I mean, you mentioned that everyone in our Vegas industry is coming together for a show that’s usually in the spring. We do an event then. There’s one coming up when this episode drops, and I think it will still be ahead of us, I guess. Right. So yeah. So tell me a little bit more about this year’s event. 

Jasmina Muller:

Yeah, a few days, a few days. So, go ahead, Brad. Okay, so basically, from how we know, I’ll do the first part, which is how we raise those funds and those donations. So we’ve got a sponsorship committee that works very hard in going within our community of technology advisors, different partnerships that we have within, and we reach out during these events saying, hey be a sponsor, and your proceeds will go to this charity organization. The committee is actually formed of these technology advisors. So it’s not just anybody. We literally want people who understand how we work within our technology industry to go out to those advisors and say, hey, let’s reach out to some of the suppliers, some of the partnerships that we have, some of the consultants. And then there’s, like you said, this annual event that we have in Las Vegas where we pick a specific venue. That venue will allow us to go ahead and house all of the houses, I should say and have all these individuals where, for example, this year, we’re at Atomic Golf. So everybody knows golf is a great networking type of event. We bring everybody there. They sponsor the event, and all the proceeds go to that organization. However, we also do, in between throughout the year, different types of events where these technology advisors will go ahead and say, Hey, we’re doing an event. We’d love to change our charity for that event to go ahead and raise additional funds throughout the year. I don’t know, Brad, if you want to add anything.  

Fundraising Strategies and Events

Scott Kinka:

You not only put on the big event in Vegas but also support other technology organizations throughout the year and their fundraising efforts. It’s hard to raise money. It’s hard to give money away. There are legalities and structures, and there is technology to support them. So you’re doing that as well. 

Jasmina Muller:

Absolutely. 

Brad Dupee:

That’s right. It is, and Scott, that’s actually perfectly stated. They’re usually focused on the event itself and organizing the event and what has happened, so we’ll bolt on our ability to raise money around that event with traditional methods of event-based fundraising, right? Whether it be a silent auction that we’ve had a bunch of sponsors, contribute items to, and sometimes they’re quite awesome, right or if it’s a raffle or if it’s just fundraising around using what everybody has in their pocket, which is their phone, right? The ability to give via their phone at the event. And then, we celebrate at the end of the event by presenting a check to the charity of choice. And it’s often chosen, if not always chosen, by the folks hosting the event. So it’s really close to home for the audience. 

Jasmina Muller:

Airbnbs. 

Scott Kinka:

Yeah, I mean, I think people probably underestimate not just the difficulty of the tech to do the kind of things that you were talking about, like run a silent auction, but just the legalities of actually accepting money and being able to write a check. It’s just that you just can’t do that easily, right? Or organizationally, without the infrastructure to put that together, right? 

Jasmina Muller:

Exactly. 

Brad Dupee:

That’s right. And, of course, I think we haven’t stated it yet, but we’re a 501c3 organization, right? So what can be a charitable donation in terms of the dollars spent can be tax deductible minus expenses. 

Scott Kinka:

Makes perfect sense. The events coming up, the Atomic Golf event, who are you guys taking care of this year? Tell me about the charity.  

Jasmina Muller: 

It’s called Second Alarm Foundation. Basically, what it is is to think about, and I always give an example: think about individuals who are on a waitlist for an organ transplant, for example. Those individuals are now having to wait for the person or persons or companies that have to transport that organ. Well, those companies need our help to be able to go ahead and have those funds to help. Those organs get to their location safely and in a timely manner. That’s just one way. The other portions that they do are first responders. Those first responders need assistance. And so Second Alarm Foundation has that ability to do first responders organ donation, what do you call it? Location movement and all that. So it’s a great foundation. It was actually brought to our attention by one of our technology advisors. Just based off of personal experience as well. 

Scott Kinka:

That’s an amazing story. So tell us, mean, you said 11 years earlier, Brad, that’s pretty amazing. What was the genesis? Like how did this Tech4Change thing start? 

Brad Dupee:

 We’ve been talking a lot about events, but the founders of the organization are folks who participate in the same industry. Ultimately, they got together on a regular basis. And yeah, sure, it’s great to get together socially, do business deals, and walk away from that event from a business perspective feeling like it was a successful venture. Just didn’t have it all, right? Ultimately, they decided that this was a pretty successful group of people and that it could be in the thousands for some of these events to come together. Independently, they run their businesses, and the thought was, why aren’t we doing something when we roll into Las Vegas or Scottsdale for whatever event it is during that year as technology companies? Why don’t we collect money from that audience and cool it? And give it to an organization either that’s local to the event or that we consider grassroots by our definition. And that’s usually where most, if not all, of the money flows down through to the cause itself. And so it took off, right? The first year was pretty successful, and it wound up now then becoming a golf event because when in Vegas, it’s nice to see that only a few thousand dollars, if not tens of thousands or a hundred thousand dollars, can go right to the organization and truly make an impact. Like a grant, right, for education, like Jasmina said, or in one case, we actually helped the trauma center, the sole level one trauma center in Las Vegas, help. They helped over 500 people in that mass shooting in Las Vegas that everybody remembers. We were able to help them out pretty substantially because they were the sole place where everybody was brought when they were injured. So, the impact part of it is why we do it, right? And we’re grateful for it. It’s 100 % volunteer as well, Scott. If we can give 100 % of the money to the charity, we will do that. 

Scott Kinka:

Wow. 

Brad Dupee: 

There’s nobody paid on our board or the dozens of volunteers that help us out with each event. 

Scott Kinka:

That’s amazing. Jazz, you wanted to add something? 

Jasmina Muller:

Another thing I was going to say, specifically for this Vegas event, is that we pretty much kick off the event because we’re the ones who kind of start it. Like you said, Brad, golf in Vegas is a big deal. The event usually starts the day before or the day of, and we’re there to kick it off. Everyone wants to start with us because they know that the week of that industry event or the technology event itself is going to take up all of their time and effort to be there with the business. And so they want to have that first start with us, get things going, and understand that, you know what, they are giving back to the community as a whole. And then they know they can start their week off with the technology event itself. It’s great; I mean, it’s a great feeling knowing that you can be part of something while you’re there for your business itself. And that’s how it’s always been. 

Empowering the Future: How Tech4Change is Funding Change & Creating Opportunities

Scott Kinka:

Yeah, do you care to share anything like this? Are there any benchmarks? What kind of funds have you raised over the course of history? Can you share with the audience? 

Brad Dupee:

We’ve raised over a million and a half dollars of funds over 11 years, right? It’s increasing every year, and it feels pretty good, right? We’re getting more and more participants, individuals and companies alike. 

Scott Kinka:

Wow. That’s amazing. So, if I’m somebody who’s listening and I’m not in the technology industry, but I’m inspired by the stories that you’re telling, what would you recommend that they do? 

Jasmina Muller:

Well, reach out to any of us. This means that the three of us have been in it for quite some time. I mean, not just from a technology perspective, but a lot of people don’t understand our technology industry from what we call, as we were kind of saying it, know, Tech4Change. It’s a change. It’s a completely different type of industry where we work with technology advisors, trusted advisors, and partners. And when we say partners, we talk about partnerships. 

Scott Kinka (17:18.025) 

You’re right. 

Jasmina Muller:

It’s about how we can work together amongst each other in a manner of giving back and understanding how our industry works from technology. There’s so much out there. It’s not just what we’re thinking. It’s not just technology. Right now, as we all know, AI is just taking over, and everyone is doing great. I’m going to be taken away from me as an individual, as a human, by an AI bot or whatever. And I’m noticing more and more people are saying, you know what, there’s a way that we can work it together to still be human. But I think there’s so much more around the technology industry. It’s just crazy how it’s grown and how we kind of incorporate it, in this case, with our Tech4Change. It’s just, it’s a different, it’s a different animal. 

Scott Kinka:

Yeah. Could you share the kinds of companies that are participating in Tech4Change? This means that most of the donors are through corporate sponsorship and involvement in these events. Think if I’m somebody that’s sitting at home and I don’t involve in our channel, the way that we work, I wouldn’t really know what you mean, but can you give the names kind of of some of the companies that are involved? 

Jasmina Muller:

Yeah, I mean, there’s quite a few different ones. If I’m talking from a supplier-vendor perspective, we have companies that are similar to those in the unified communications industry. Like Nextiva, we’ve got telecom companies like in this fact, GTT, Granite, Lumen, and large companies out there. And then you’ve got more of the mid-sized, everything from technology advisors like a scan or a scan source is more of a larger distribution company. But you’ve got so many different types, everything from unified communications to IT telecommunications to trusted advisors to cybersecurity. 

Brad Dupee:

And that’s funny, Scott; just briefly, we used to be called Telecom for Change because the industry that we were in was really surrounded by telecommunications. And it was fitting just a few years ago when we changed it to Tech4Change, and we’ve seen our audience expand wildly, right? The ability to move into other segments is important because it’s really all about technology; even telecom is about technology these days. So, we’re starting to get closer to their events, independent of the ones that we publish and produce. We’re starting to help them with their events the way that we said before, and we’re actually starting to align with some of their foundations as well. So they have a giving part of their organization already, and we help them with some of the things that they see value in working with Tech4Change. 

Scott Kinka:

So it’s a remarkable story. I’m going to surprise you guys with this question before we go. And I’m going to, if you choose to, and you don’t have to, but I’m going to ask you to share a story from your involvement here. Maybe it was something that somebody said to you or a moment we handed off a check or a second where you felt like what you were doing was worthwhile and divinely inspired, like whatever that is. And you can keep it simple into a sentence or two, but like give me a story that makes this feel real. 

Jasmina Muller:

For me, it was last year, our 10-year anniversary, when Manny from US Cyber, an actual graduated high school student who now is in our technology industry, was able to take what he learned at US Cyber. I think he was like an 18, 19-year-old kid and said, I had hands-on experience, not just within that nonprofit that he was working with. But he was able to get an internship with a, I think it was a fairly large industry or a technology company and said, if I didn’t do this with US cyber, I would not have known how to take this new role in the internship. And so to me, I was looking at it, and I have young kids, not young kids, but 19 and 22 years old. And it made me think, my goodness, why didn’t I have something like this for our kids to get into this industry? It’s a lucrative industry, but to hear it from a 19-year-old, fresh there at our event and really kind of shares experiences, it really hit me saying, you know what, we’re actually doing a really good thing, especially for the new group of kids coming in. 

From Supporting Families in Crisis to Funding Future Olympians

Scott Kinka:

Well, think about the contacts available to that individual in that room. Gotcha. It’s amazing. Brad, do you have a story at all? 

Jasmina Mulle:

Absolutely. 

Brad Dupee:

I mean, I have a lot, actually, Jasmina. He reminded me of so many things as I was thinking through them. One, I was brought to tears because the folks that were receiving the funds were victims of a natural disaster. The fires in Colorado just a few years back where 1,084 people lost their homes, right? I mean, right to the ground. Everything they had, their entire life savings and owning and heirlooms and everything, just gone. And when we were handing them checks just days after the event to give them food for their table, to feed their kids, to make sure their kids get to school or whatever it may be while all this was going on, it was pretty tremendous. And I would say another one that had to do with suicide prevention where the family started a right? Started a, yeah, started a fun to help prevention and because they had lost a child to, to, to suicide. 

Scott Kinka:

I was gonna go there again. 

Brad Dupee:

And Quite honestly, that story continues. His brother, the victim’s brother, wound up going to the Olympics and winning gold medals. Yeah, after that, in his name, right? So it was very cool. And it was in the paraplegic. Yeah. 

Scott Kinka:

That’s amazing.  That is why it’s amazing. Yeah. And I mean, they got up and told a story about mortgaging everything that they had to create a safe place for kids to go. And we presented them with a six-figure check. It was just a moment. Like what a, what a great thing. Yeah. 

Brad Dupee:

I mean, it was. And that yeah, and then so to Jasmina, his point that kicks off the event right like when we the one that we found it right the one that we hooked we hitched our wagon to In Las Vegas that that’s how we start our event for the next three or four days of doing business after that It’s a really good thing. Yeah 

Scott Kinka:

That’s amazing. Well, if you’re listening to this and you’re inspired and want to know how you can help tech Tech4Change.org, we’ll have the link here. But even if it’s not us, I think the whole point behind the podcast on, in general, is to just say, get involved. This is attached; this charity and our events are attached to tech technology events in Las Vegas, right? It’s, on the one hand, kind of the height of opulence on the other. You can activate any audience in any arena to do good where you are and where you said you are if you just put some time into it. So, I want to thank you both for being willing to get on and share a little bit today. I want to thank you for everything you’ve done with Tech4Change and for working with me on that. That’s awesome. And, of course, thank you both for being here with me on The Bridgecast. I hope to catch you on an episode where we can talk tech at some point in the future. And as always, it’s so good seeing both of you. 

Jasmina Muller:

You too, Scott. Thank you. 

Brad Dupee:

Likewise, Scott, thank you for volunteering for so long to help us out. 

Scott Kinka:

You got it.