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Tsunamis, Moss and Car Batteries; Insights from the Nonprofit World

Explore the challenges faced by nonprofits in disaster situations, including the need for backup systems, dealing with physical security threats, and finding innovative solutions like using car batteries. Learn valuable lessons on collaboration, triage, and finding meaning in the work.

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Tsunamis, Moss and Car Batteries; Insights from the Nonprofit World

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  1. Tsunamis, Moss and Car Batteries;Insights from the Nonprofit World Ed Granger-Happ Save the Children March, 2006

  2. Tsunamis • Think 9/11 with downtown Manhattan flattened and a quarter-million people lost • How do you back-up your business in Banda Aceh? • Where do you back-up? • With what team do you back-up? • Coming into work or finding your family, what comes first?

  3. Banda Aceh – Ground Zero

  4. Tsunami Questions • Is having all your people in the same location a good idea? • Is having all your servers at one location a good idea? • Who cares how good the generator is? • Are your sleeping bags packed and ready?

  5. What is this large object? a very large ship 5 miles inland in the middle of the road

  6. Mosquitoes not Moss • In 2000 in Haiti an email server dropped offline. • What happened? • Mosquitoes clogged the cooling fan • Several hundred mosquitoes had been sucked into the power supply over the years and froze the fan motor • The server over-heated, crashed and would not power up • Bring on the mosquito nets

  7. Dhaka, Bangladesh

  8. Other Stories • In Afghanistan email kept failing each day • Generator power gets turned off nightly • When the power gets turned off, email servers don't work • In Malawi, when they flushed the toilets the servers crashed • Had wired the servers to the same circuits as the pumps that the toilets use to move the waste. Flush the toilet, take too much power, bring down servers.

  9. Network Director’s Quarters

  10. Car Batteries • Iraq in 2002: electricity sources destroyed in Baghdad and Basra. • How do we power a temporary office for voice and data? • Car batteries • The ubiquitous, global power supply • Our office-in-a-box (NRK) runs on it

  11. Katmandu Field Office

  12. Security is Physical • When Red Cross workers were assassinated in Chechnya in 1996, the world changed for nonprofits • No longer immune from combat like the Red Cross of old • Now we are a target • The insurgent bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2003 was turning point for STC • Security budget went from $0 in 2002 to $569K in 2006 • Physical security is primary; systems security is secondary • Now matching travel with security bulletins: CRG and Amex ticketing • Virtual roll calls: sat-phones and HF radios to stay in touch

  13. Nepal Server Room

  14. The New Philanthropy • 1950: Good corporate citizen • Giving back to the community • 1990’s: Employee-driven philanthropy • Kosovo refugees (1999) • Hurricane Mitch (1998) • Working for companies parents would be proud of • It’s not about marketing • 2005: Strategic philanthropy • The Cisco Fellowship Program experiment • Cisco leadership training

  15. Collaborate or Repeat • Collaboration on a level where any information or project is shared • Consortia like NetHope are taking relief work to a new level • 2001: Two compelling hypotheses • 2006: 17 members and $5.2B in aid • Cisco store • Microsoft grants • 50+ satellite dishes installed

  16. Network Relief Kit

  17. Corporate Partnering • Cisco – Fellowship Program • Microsoft – Software grants • Baker & McKenzie – Pro Bono contract work • Pepperidge Farm – AD tutoring (Mike A.)* • Horizon BC/BS – BPR tutoring (Rose B.)* * SIM member/contacts

  18. Transitioning to a Nonprofit • Patience – universal participation will drive you nuts • Tolerance for messy, drawn-out decisions • Bleeding edge technology is rare • High-level Tech company contact is common • Everyday you have impact • Learning that a good IT decision means that more kids get fed • You are valued beyond your expectations • Pursuit of success to pursuit of significance.

  19. What’s the most important skill? Triage

  20. Lessons from Nonprofits • Look for the "giving-back" factor • Enlist staff in projects that give back to the community • Motivate and retain IT staff • Asset for corporate marketing • While doing good for those in need

  21. Lessons from Nonprofits(cont.) • Think constituents, not competition • Nonprofits focus on how their constituents benefit, not on issues of competition. • Partnering and collaborating with other organizations—even competitors—can create new technologies and partnerships that otherwise would not exist.

  22. Lessons from Nonprofits (cont.) • Triage like an Emergency Room • Prioritize projects and stakeholders • Even with limited IT budgets, CTOs can accomplish new initiatives. • The key is to upsize your primary stakeholder project lists and downsize your secondary stakeholder list.

  23. Lessons from Nonprofits (cont.) • Find and communicate meaning in the work • NGOs must motivate their IT employees without the benefits of stock options, stock savings plans, and bonuses. • All work has meaning • The work environment counts big time (e.g., self-directed schedules matter to IT professionals)

  24. How can you help? • In an emergency, volunteer for HQ work (not in the Field, Dave Clarke, ARC) • Advising, coaching and mentoring • Slots in your training programs • Share international bandwidth (satellite transponder space) • Donate PC & laptops at end-of-lease • Unrestricted cash

  25. All that’s left of home

  26. Questions?

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