Serious Good - it is a Good Thing!

My journey in taking on the role of director of the Serious Good program here at Redemtech started in Chicago, when the Citizenship & Public Affairs Director at Microsoft, Shelley Stern Grach, introduced me to Jill Vaské, the executive vice president at Redemtech. What was supposed to be a one-hour meeting lasted more than two hours.

I have been actively involved in the Illinois information technology community for more than a dozen years. The last six years, I have been the chairman of the Illinois Technology Foundation, a not-for-profit, totally volunteer organization focused on assuring our community has a steady pipeline of information technology talent.

During my role as chairman, I have had the pleasure of working with the third largest school district in the country, the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. It has been an amazing experience and has given me a firsthand knowledge working with inner city schools and inner city students. There are many challenges at CPS, but one of the greatest is access for the underserved to information technology at home, what we commonly call the digital divide. It is hard to believe in our “connected” world that so many students do not have access to these critical tools. Tools that are essential for success in the 21st century.

When Jill started to describe the work at Redemtech and the Serious Good program, I was all in! I knew this was a program that I wanted to support in Illinois. I immediately started to work with Redemtech to promote the Serious Good program. The Illinois Technology Foundation signed up as an affiliate and we look forward to promoting the Connect2Compete program when it is rolled out in Chicago.

Along the way Lindsay Shanahan, my predecessor at Serious Good, decided to focus on completing her education, and I threw my hat in the ring to be considered for the position. As they say, the rest is history.

Needless to say, I am very excited about the new role and helping the organization expand this most worthwhile program into the national community. There is much to do and I am looking forward to the journey.

I encourage all of you to get engaged as well. There is much at stake and together we can make a difference.

Tell me, what do you think is the biggest hurdle to overcome in addressing the digital divide?