As we present our first summer workshop series, and plan for a busy fall, we're expanding our search for more volunteers! Our growth is creating opportunities to stretch our volunteer base to include college and university students, working professionals, and retirees. If you have basic computer and technical skills and an interest in making an impact in your community, we want to hear from you! For information, simply send an email to
Kelly@tech4tomorrow.org
Learn more about volunteering from our Founder, Neel Desai Below:
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| T4T Founder Discussing Benefits of Volunteering! |
For our summer workshop series, we're very excited to be partnering with UVM Upward Bound whose students will be volunteering at the Winooski Workshop Series all summer. We're especially interested in collaborating with youth leadership organizations such as these (and our friends at DREAM!) and encourage our friends and readers to help us connect with established volunteer groups.
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| T4T Summer Workshop Series |
The 90-minute workshops will be held in two locations:
Winooski Senior Center
123 Barlow Street
Tuesdays from 2:30-4pm starting 6/23
South Burlington Public Library
540 Dorset Street
Saturdays from 10:00am-11:30am starting 6/27
--RSVP by contacting Barbara Ziemann at the South Burlington Public Library at 802-652-7080; space limited to 15
Please note that sessions are not sequential (e.g. you don't need to attend session one in order to attend session two) and remember to bring any laptops, tablets, cell phones, or other devices about which you have questions for our volunteer instructors.
Session I: Getting the Most Out of Your Smartphone and/or Tablet
Session II: Educational Technology For All Ages
Session III: Social Media For All Families
Session IV: Social Media for Small Business and Organization
Session V: Digital Photography Using Smartphones/Tablets
Session VI: Digital Entertainment 101
Workshop Schedule
:00 - :30 Introduction & group instruction
:30 - :45 Group Q&A & discussion
:45 - :90 Small Group / One-on-one tech support-about any topic or device, not necessarily related to the specific workshop topic being presented.
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By The Numbers:
Impact To Date
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Since 2012, T4T student volunteers have worked to create real impacts in local communities, see our progress below:
148
Individual High School Students Who Have Volunteered with T4T.
7
Unique VT High Schools whose students have participated in T4T activities or started a full chapter.
912.5
Total Hours donated by T4T student leaders
153
The number of unique community members who have participated in at least one T4T workshops
$20,576
Total Value of T4T volunteer hours donated since 2012
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T4T is Growing & Expanding!
Meet Our New Executive Director
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Technology for Tomorrow is happy to announce the addition of Mrs. Kelly
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Eli Harrington (left) will remain active as Director of Communications; Kelly Frederick (right) takes over as full-time Executive Director
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Frederick to the T4T Team as our full-time Executive Director. She will replace Eli Harrington, who had served as interim Executive Director since October 2014. Eli will remain active with T4T on a part-time, but ongoing basis as Spokesperson and Director of Communications.
"I am grateful to have an opportunity to lead the continued growth of an organization which seeks to fill a great need in the community" says Kelly. Said Eli about his experiences with T4T, "It's been a pleasure to be involved with the growth and evolution of this organization. I'm excited to see how we can continue to grow and evolve with the addition of Kelly and I look forward to being a part of these next steps".
In addition to the new staff, we are proud to welcome two new members of the local community to our Board of Directors!
Ms. Jacquie Dragon
Jacquie Dragon currently serves as Senior Vice President and Director of Human Resources at Merchants Bank, and has over 20 years of HR management experience in a variety of corporate industries and well as 4 years as an independent consultant, focused in the not for profit sector. She holds an MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, a BS in Social Work, and SPHR from the Society of Human Resources. Ms. Dragon resides in Burlington, Vermont with her family.
 Mr. Karl Swanke
Karl Swanke has over 25 years of volunteer service from public speaking and advocacy to fund raising and board leadership for a wide variety of charitable organizations. His early work included Special Olympics (President's Award), Midwest Athletes against Childhood Cancer, and Cystic Fibrosis to name a few. Committed to helping youth, Karl has served in many capacities for area youth groups and organizations as well as a Volunteer coach for both Football and Track and Field; most recently with the Rice High School Track and Field Team. He is also a Heads-Up Football Ambassador for USA Football and the National Football League. His volunteer experience with charitable organizations provides valuable insight to the T4T team.
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"Bridging Generational Gaps with Technology & Education" Event a Great Success!
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On Wednesday, June 17, over sixty (60!) community members whose ages ranged from 14-94 gathered at the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) building in Winooski on a beautiful summer afternoon for, "Bridging Generational Gaps with Technology & Education". See all pictures online here!
The event was designed to give members of the community insight into the work and impact of T4T through the humorous real-life illustrations of the film, "Cyber-Seniors". The event also served to introduce the board, staff, and program volunteers to new potential partners.
The film was discovered through our ongoing collaboration with AARP-Vermont and was a HUGE hit with all members of this diverse audience.
Our thanks to Mr. Dmitry Lakoba of South Burlington High School for donating his photography services!
The founder and board president, Neel Desai, shared remarks about the origins of the organization and its evolution into a fully-recognized 501c3 nonprofit with full-time staff. Director of Communication, Eli Harrington  discussed the organization's present status, highlighting the 400+ hours of community service hours completed since the start of 2015 and the upcoming summer workshop series. Finally, Board of Directors member Mike Maslack outlined the plans for the future and how the organization plans to serve more communities around Vermont and beyond!
A huge thank you again to our friends at "Cyber-Seniors" for producing such an outstanding film and to our sponsors, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), who provided the wonderful venue, and AARP-Vermont, who assisted as promotional partners and with whom we'll be working much more in the future!
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How You Can Get Involved & Support T4T:
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If you're interested in volunteering at our upcoming event, we'd love to hear from you and would greatly appreciate your support!
For those interested in volunteering in T4T summer workshops and/or learning about how to support our mission year-round, we invite you to complete our general volunteer application, available online here.
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| Volunteer student instructors and senior citizen participants pose together at the Winooski Senior Center following a workshop on 5/16 |
Do you know how your favorite nonprofit organizations spend your donation dollars?
As a self-sustaining, zero overhead nonprofit, 100% of donations go towards programs with direct impact! This means that every penny we raise goes towards buying hardware to donate to senior centers, scholarships for local high school students, and other direct costs--such as gas and lunch.
A donation of only $25
will fund: Gas costs for Technology for Tomorrow volunteers to drive a van load of students from a school to a senior center and back again; Light refreshments for students and senior citizens participating in a 90 minute workshop.
A donation of only $100 will fund: Purchase of a large print keyboard for senior citizens with visual impairments; Purchase of speech recognition software which will allow senior citizens who are unable to type to write and send electronic correspondence.
A donation of only $200 will fund: Rental of a 12-passenger van and gas costs to transport up to 12 student instructors from a local high school to a local senior citizen center; Purchase of an AARP 'RealPad' simplified tablet device, designed specifically for senior citizens and with one-touch 24/7 customer support (all devices we purchase for senior centers come with free T4T instructional workshops!); Purchase of a 'Chromebook' laptop, an easily portable (one pound) and WiFi-ready device that includes two USB ports.
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