Why IT Matters

This conversation digs into some of the fundamentals regarding our own assumptions about what things should look like for marketing and business, how those tropes got created, and offer a vision for what can be when we reassess what’s important. There’s a lot of hype around bringing marketing to the masses, and our guest Lindsay unpicks the inefficiencies and false narratives that make common approaches counterproductive and costly. This is a conversation about humans and how meeting human needs where they’re at is a scalable approach to bringing more successful outcomes and mitigating externalities that get in the way of genuine connection. Episode Show Notes

This episode is as much a Coda to some of the discussions we’ve been having throughout 2022. It is perhaps an opportunity to change the narrative and set a new course for how we engage with the impact economy as businesses and technology leaders. We also announce some exciting news: Tim has officially launched thehumanstack.com as the outcome of work that has taken place over the past four years. Travels, connections, trust building, mentorship, and the value of constantly iterating our thinking are the themes of this discussion. Along the way, we make a bookmark for a future episode called “Tim and Tracy Tell All The Stories.” Tell us what resonates with you on this one because we’re trying to tackle some big themes in the context of what feels like a constant crisis happening around us. Enjoy!

Tim and Tracy take a deep dive into an uncomfortable place regarding the technology industry's externalities and how they are addressed. This is a conversation about what drives us apart as much as what brings us together and what it means to have a shared value system, guidelines, and parameters of use. This episode is for the dreamers and thinkers - industry leaders, nonprofit executives, leaders of reconciliation on the Left and Right, and those who want to create a third pillar of understanding how the impact economy works with technology. Suppose we're willing to accept that we are lost without creating mechanisms that identify and remediate these externalities. In that case, the challenge becomes what the shared definitions and means that can be equitably and inclusively established are. Episode Show Notes

Listen to this episode to learn how data can be shaped toward human dignity. It’s easy to get bogged down in abstraction when it comes to understanding the importance of data in our world. What we collect informs what we accelerate and act upon, and unless what we collect inclusively represents our humanity, what we accelerate will continue to exclude. Our guest Meena Das walks us through a tactical series of connections that will better inform our data collection mechanisms and lead to greater impact and empowerment for humanity. The most important takeaway from today’s discussion is that what moves us towards better outcomes isn’t rooted in performative or feel-good intentions but requires us to return to our roots of connection with each other, first and foremost. Otherwise, everything else built on top of our data collection, including artificial intelligence and public policy, will remain part of the enforcement of power and privilege rather than democratizing the same. Episode Show Notes

You’ll learn so much from our guest today, including that civic association was built on volunteerism, that there are nearly forty thousand nonprofit technology organizations, and how important the makers of this space are. This episode connects a history of movement organizing with the world of information technology. We talk with Billy about his groundbreaking work navigating the local, ad-hoc, democratized, and unseen work of technology makers with the global need for infrastructure and support. Billy’s history uniquely positions him as a leader in bringing to light what it means to be in service to the impact economy with technology instead of being in service to technology as consumers. Along the way, we also talk about how polarization has crept into technology and the need for breaking down barriers to dialogue - which are frequently erected when technology is created to stimulate addition, gamification, and reward ever-divergent narratives.

Digital security has always been something that nonprofits and the greater impact economy need to consider – as the world of technology has grown and evolved, so has the need for organizations to consider the why, how, and where of their data. More importantly, what it means for the constituents they serve. This discussion is both eye-opening and for everyone in nonprofit leadership who needs to understand these evolving needs. However, the most important thing for us all to understand is that we can no longer live in a reactive space, and there are attainable, understandable means by which this can become proactive and beneficial. We’re joined today by Joshua Peskay and Kim Snyder from RoundTable Technology for a discussion on making these shifts across the impact economy. Episode Show Notes

Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak are in Puerto Rico with Aimee Cubbage, Founder, and Principal of Cubbage Consulting. Episode Show Notes

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Our first ever LIVE episode of Why IT Matters with keynote speaker Woodrow Rosenbaum, Chief Data Officer at GivingTuesday.org. Episode Show Notes

This episode will remind you that incredible people are out there putting their intelligence towards making it as simple to give to a nonprofit as it is to checkout with Apple Pay. Our time with Tina covers a lot of philosophical and practical ground, and what ties it all together is the understanding that as leaders and business professionals, especially those serving the impact economy, we will elevate each other more when our values and actions focus on meeting each other where we’re at. It’s really easy to look at things like DEI, business ownership, software development, and cryptocurrency – all topics we cover – as siloed from each other. But, the real lesson we take away from our time with Tina is that it’s the connections between these that will strengthen both our purpose and our goals. Episode Show Notes

Change is constant and in our recent history, the changes have been grand and rapid. Like all things, Why IT Matters has also been going through a transformation, and this special edition episode goes into the recent changes with Why IT Matters, the podcast, and your awesome host Tracy. Episode Show Notes

Humans are not technology, and our behavior governs success as much as the actual palette of tools available to us. After over a decade of trying to understand the importance of helping humans navigate change, we discuss the need for a diagnostic, our diagnostic framework, and the fit of humans to technology. Our conversation begins with the context in which digital transformation takes place, and why we can’t ignore systemic inequities, but then dives deep into helping this land for individual organizations. Tim and Tracy also talk about their weeks and what they’re on about as a way of leading into why connecting, being generative leaders, and learning how to lean on others is critical to any success. Episode Show Notes

For nonprofits and the impact economy, technology is everything. But how we’ve come to expect it to show up as business leaders, nonprofit consumers, and philanthropic givers needs to be completely inverted. This is a conversation that picks apart from top to bottom why and how we can center our actions on humans and lead with values. Moreover, we cover why leading with values is becoming increasingly important for the next generation of nonprofit leaders, and the effects it produces when connected to marketing, transformation, and implementation. If you’re a giver, a business leader, or an application developer, this is a conversation not to miss, because, if you’re not leading with value and humanity first, you’re missing out. Episode Shownotes

Bitcoin, crypto, blockchain, and many other terms have flooded our conversation space over the years and most recently began to get traction in the impact economy world. For nonprofits, it is no surprise that when individuals want to donate, they will do anything in their power to be able to accept those funds. But what happens when those funds are no longer good ol’ cash? Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak are joined by Justin Edelstein, Co-Founder at Arkus, and begin to chip away at what this new world means. This episode is meant to inspire you to get curious, understand the potential of blockchain, and most of all, take a small first step in exploring this digital world that is quickly on its way to changing how we view the nature of technology and our personal “digital” imprint in this space. Episode Shownotes

Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak take on the mythology of technology as it should work for impact organizations and the realities of why it doesn’t. In their first one-on-one conversation, they explore how the mythos of technology failure is supported by wide-scale marketing to under-resourced organizations, what changed both of their perspectives on their work, and why Now IT Matters as a business is now working the way it does. This is for leaders looking for new ways of engaging with the clients they serve, and an informed take on the journey making these changes as a business engenders (spoiler: it’s a complete rebuild). Tune in for a professional “Why IT Matters,” as part of a series we hope to offer that lets you take advantage of our understanding of the ways in which the technology world is changing. Episode Shownotes

There are moments when we wring our hands together and ask, “What can be done?” When it comes to the events of the past six weeks, much of America has been asked to understand a new reality regarding our assumptions about Eastern Europe, and Ukraine in particular. This episode is for those who want to know what to do: we cover not just Ukraine, but the culture of “giving a damn,” and where it will take us as leaders, business owners, mentors, and volunteers. We’re tapping into Alesia’s lived experience to not only discuss how to be better business people serving impact organizations, but how to be stronger mentors to each other, and translate that communal experience into times of crisis like Ukraine is experiencing. This is very much an education in Eastern Europe wrapped in a bow of how we enable others to succeed. Episode Shownotes

We talked with Mallory Erickson, the tour-de-force behind What The Fundraising podcast and creator of the Power Partners Formula™, about the similarities between the isolated fundraiser and the isolated technologist at nonprofits. Spoiler alert: it’s all about the stigma associated with having highly-refined pieces of knowledge that create dependencies that aren’t entirely accounted for in how nonprofits operate and develop their culture and strategy. We uncover her “ah-ha” moment of breaking the silence of how nonprofit fundraisers feel about the work they’re doing, their fears and goals, and the journey it set her on that led to her business. This episode is a conversation about how we react to the work we’re doing and what it leads us to bring to the work itself: Mallory helps leaders unpick these reactions and assumptions and develop positive outcomes for their organizations. We also talked about the net effect of philanthropic and evaluative organizations that categorize nonprofit operations on how fundraisers (and technologists) approach their work and what are considered successful outcomes. Notably, how the “business as usual” we’ve been conditioned to expect is no longer serving us. Ending The Stigma is a must-listen conversation for fundraising and technology executives, organization leaders, and business partners that help the impact economy. Episode Shownotes

Industry executives and leaders got together for a groundbreaking discussion on how the definition of CRM is changing for nonprofits, and how the current landscape of tools and strategies available to nonprofits is rising to meet new opportunities and expectations. Why IT Matters brought together a panel to reframe the common understanding of CRM as a single tool investment and challenged assumptions regarding what is possible with today’s purpose-built and highly-integrated cloud technologies, especially alongside cloud infrastructure platforms. The panel also talked about how data platforms and technologies serving nonprofits can work together better and drive shared impact and efficiency for the benefit of all organizations. The panelists: Gabe Cooper - Virtuous Julia Ford - HubSpot Tim Sarrantonio - NeonOne Tim Lockie - Why IT Matters Tracy Kronzak - Why IT Matters Here’s what was covered: What is the new definition CRM and why does it matter to nonprofits and the impact economy? In a future of non-platform solutions what does this look like for everyday nonprofit staff? What does this mean for CRM Business structures, and what does it mean for business partnerships? How is your company building toward this future, what are the strategy and technology components? What are you doing differently? What does customer success look like? What does customer failure look like? How do we identify and prevent unneeded technology implementations? What’s the impact of emerging global technology innovation? How connected is global (and corporate) innovation trends spur nonprofit innovation trends? What roles and actions should nonprofits take to own the innovation of the technology designed for them? How do we ensure ownership of nonprofit data and its portability in our work? How do we elevate POC and women-owned businesses that are emerging and looking for business partners and opportunities?

Episode 2 is one of the most honest conversations we’ve had about creating authentic, supportive, and safe workplaces we’ve ever had. It’s one thing to say that a company is “family” and supports staff from diverse backgrounds, and it’s quite another to look through the eyes of Christine Priester at how these intentions land and the outcomes they produce on a person. Christine discusses how she “turned her pain into power,” and the tactical components of what she’s felt were most supportive by the organizations that employ her in her career. In Christine’s case, this was walking through the journey of leaving behind her experience with human trafficking, what she needed for true support in the workplace, and where businesses can learn better to support others like her – and more importantly, reframing broad brushstrokes of intention towards diversity, equity and inclusion efforts towards specific actions. Here’s the bottom line: unless individuals can see themselves in your organization and their experience, they’re not being supported. The rest of the conversation is what, from her own experience, Christine needed to be seen and supported in her career and community and the humility and approachability of others necessary to facilitate it. Christine’s Go-Fund-MeNational Survivor NetworkPolaris Project Episode Shownotes

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! Follow Amplify!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-are-amplifyTwitter: @AmplifyNGO 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! Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

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. Click here to watch this episode!

We talked with Tim Sarrantonio, a veteran business partnership, and nonprofit leader, about how cloud software best serves nonprofits. Tim is Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Neon One. We dig into the concept of what CRM for nonprofits means and what its future looks like - SPOILERS: There is no CRM, but there are many identities, sources of truth, and responsibilities where vendors serving nonprofits have to facilitate data transit and analytics. If vendors serving nonprofits have a greater responsibility for collaboration, regardless of whether or not they are competitors, then nonprofits themselves also have greater responsibility for their technological agility. We also discuss recent philanthropic trends towards technology and the organizations and processes that support better nonprofit adoption of technology for the long haul, rather than for the sake of accomplishing a single technology-related goal. This conversation is especially relevant to nonprofit leadership teams, application vendors and platforms serving nonprofits, and nonprofit technology staff - enjoy the benefit of Tim’s years of experience (and literally, one of the most pop-culture-Nerd-filled recordings we’ve done in a long time)! Click here to watch this episode!

This month is the 1 Year Anniversary of Why IT Matters, which has, frankly, stunned Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak. After twenty guests and amazing conversations with industry experts, thought leaders, anti-racists, and do-gooders, we (meaning, Tim) decided to take it home to our own “Why IT Matters.” We asked each other the same questions: What were three defining moments in your life? If you weren’t where you are today, where would you be? Are there any do-overs that you would take, and what are they? (Spoiler: No), and our Lightning Round of rapid-fire Q&A. This is who we are, covering the moments and topics that drive our conversations, insights, desire to create in the world, and why we do what we do - we offer these conversations with humility and a bit of trepidation. Click here to watch this episode!

This month is the 1 Year Anniversary of Why IT Matters, which has, frankly, stunned Tim Lockie and Tracy Kronzak. After twenty guests and amazing conversations with industry experts, thought leaders, anti-racists, and do-gooders, we (meaning, Tim) decided to take it home to our own “Why IT Matters.” We asked each other the same questions: What were three defining moments in your life? If you weren’t where you are today, where would you be? Are there any do-overs that you would take, and what are they? (Spoiler: No), and our Lightning Round of rapid-fire Q&A. This is who we are, covering the moments and topics that drive our conversations, insights, desire to create in the world, and why we do what we do - we offer these conversations with humility and a bit of trepidation. Click here to watch this episode!

We’re back from a brief summer break with an intense, provocative, and inspiring conversation with Marnie Webb, Chief Community Impact Officer at TechSoup. There’s an incredible amount of opportunity to re-imagine what technology, as applied to civil society, can look like, and we cover some of the critical gaps in how our understanding of what constitutes “nonprofits” limits our ability to create durable change in the world. In explicit, by changing the frameworks in which technology is capable of being granted to change-making organizations, we can create a much more inclusive and extensible impact. Re-defining our understanding of the long-term outcomes of technology in civil society, and most importantly, what criteria we use to enable organizations with technology in the first place - especially organizations that detract from liberties, rights, and democracy - is the hard conversation that, according to Marnie, “we have to run towards.” Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! Click here to watch this episode!

We started this discussion with Sam Fankuchen talking about what it means to serve nonprofits with software. It rapidly became an engaging analysis of nonprofits' models to accomplish work, solicit volunteers, and solve problems. Sam is the founder of Golden volunteer platform. In this episode of Why IT Matters: It Starts With a List, we cover nonprofit work's historical and modern volunteering needs, including how companies that run corporate responsibility programs can improve their approach. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! Click here to watch this episode!

Doyin Richards is the founder of the Anti-Racism Fight Club, and a leader in bringing discussions about racial equity to the forefront. We cover a lot of ground in this discussion, which is candid, revealing, and substantially educational. Talking about race is never easy, harder still when we lack the words and concepts, and harder still when we first must consider our own sense of inadequacy. It’s also a privilege for those of us who do not live with the daily reality of the outcomes of racism. So, we roll up our sleeves, bring some highly challenging topics to light, and hopefully walk away better allies through action. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! Click here to watch this episode!

This is a conversation about leapfrogging the past to make a better future. Our guest, Tiffany Spencer, founder of HBCUforce and COO of Esor Consulting, talks about the necessity of both providing skills and a path towards applying them in order to achieve greater equity in technology. HBCUforce, in specific, works with Salesforce implementation partners, students from historically black colleges and universities, and volunteer trainers to create career paths. Along the way, we cover the intersection of assumptions and outcomes made about creating racial equity in technology, and the roles that tech leaders can play in helping level the playing field. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! Click here to watch this episode!

“I’m a serial volunteer,” says our guest, Rubin Singh Founder and CEO of OneTenth Consulting. This describes how many of us get involved in nonprofits, either as staff or businesses serving them and through this lens we talk about many things that cover how to both be an entrepreneur and supporter of equity in our work. This includes how we consult with nonprofits, engage in digital transformation, and the participants in the room that inform technology adoption, creation, and change management. Our conversation re-enforces themes from prior guests, Black in Tech with Derrell Booker, and Standing With Our Feet in Two Worlds with Amy Sample Ward that the path towards a culture change in IT begins with integrity and authenticity, and taking tangible, albeit slow steps that we only look backward on later and say have become a revolution. We also touch on the importance of nonprofits to own their own data, and how data portability, and the efficiency at which the nonprofit ecosystem operates in aggregate, is the next destination for equity in tech. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! Click here to watch this episode!

Continuing our discussions on Why IT Matters: Creating the New Norms with Kate Ruff about how nonprofits are best supported with data structures, standards, and models, we push into new territory with Chantal Forster, Executive Director of the Technology Association of Grantmakers on how nonprofits can be better served by the philanthropic world, including with how philanthropy collects and digests data. We talk about creating new philanthropic culture, how businesses, data platforms, and academics serving nonprofits need greater participation in the discussion of data standards, and the need for critical technology infrastructure funding and support for the nonprofit ecosystem, at large. And, dive into the work of the newly-formed “Honeycomb Alliance,” which is seeking new funding for digital infrastructure work for nonprofits. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! Click here to watch this episode!

A year ago today, the protests against the killing of George Floyd began in Minneapolis. In recognition of the global dialogue of racial justice in the past year, we are offering a lengthy, candid, and at times explicit, discussion of what it means to be Black in the world of corporate IT in 2021. Our guest, Darrell Booker, Program Manager for the Nonprofit Tech Acceleration for Black and African-American Communities (NTA) at Microsoft Philanthropies, whom we previously hosted on Why IT Matters: Where We Can Lean In More returns, representing his journey, frustrations, and hopes for changing how the world of corporate IT receives, supports and grows Black employees. This conversation is profoundly complex and challenging and touches on the structural and personal aspects of racism and its direct impact on living one’s life. As much as we strive to retain our authenticity in the workplace, this is an unpacking of how the very institutional structures that we seek to undo become how our authenticity and identity become eroded in the attempt. Before we arrive with the desire to understand and solve problems, especially as white people, the first step is divesting our intent from the outcomes we want to see. Why IT Matters is hosted by Tracy Kronzak and Tim Lockie of Now IT Matters! WARNING: Video contains explicit authentic language. Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

“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! Click here to watch this episode!

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: Changework has a much more significant economic impact than is sometimes discussed in technology or revealed in the ordinary course of business The technology used by nonprofits and impact organizations as a tool is a product of economic assumptions that need revision through changework The urgency of this outcome must happen in the next year 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! Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

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: The fundamentals of access to technology Calling out when we are the beneficiary of privilege in our own world that has advanced our perspectives on what technology can solve for A deep dive into the Digital Divide Creating trust in communities investing in technology The prioritization process for grantmaking and supporting nonprofits using technology. 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! Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

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! Click here to watch this episode!

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