Venture Philanthropy

 

TPF4Y recently sat down with Pete Gall, Director of Brand & Content Strategy at KA+A, a strategic design consulting agency in Indianapolis, and one of our prized Partners in Progress. We wanted to learn their take on the importance of corporate philanthropy and involvement in the local community, so Pete gave us some introspective thoughts on why KA+A gets involved and stays involved.

As a company who has proven your commitment to corporate philanthropy, can you share with us why you feel it is important for companies to partner with nonprofit organizations?

We understand that whatever a person does with their days is what they do with their life. People want their days, and their lives, to matter. We choose to live in pursuit of identity and meaning. The more we can contribute to the community from our individual strengths, and the more room we make for our associates to pursue the sorts of things that add meaning to their lives, the happier they are, the more they love working at KA+A, and the more value they experience in their days. And a lot of the time, their efforts make an impact on other people. At the very least, we believe in living an example that's worth noticing.

There are many organizations worthy of your support. What made you decide to support TPF4Y?

We work almost exclusively with high growth, tech-enabled companies, from fresh-faced startups to dominant market leaders. That's who we choose to serve, and who we see changing the world in the most meaningful ways. Partnering with TPF4Y provides us an important opportunity to invest in tomorrow's talent - before they've even hatched their first startup idea or disrupted the industry. 

We appreciate TPF4Y's venture-led approach. They invest both human and financial resources in each of their Greenhouse Initiatives and stay in only as long as required to get things going before moving on to the next initiative. They're good stewards of their investors’ talents and funds and work hard to ensure that each is optimized. 

We also see particular value in bringing STEM opportunities into the lives of kids whose other opportunities are more limited. STEM is a fantastic social equalizer - the industries it feeds reward freshness, creativity, and the willingness to take chances. We're all about that sort of thing, and we see TPF4Y kids being tomorrow's leaders.

TPF4Y is committed to growing the next generation of science and technology leaders in Indiana. What do you feel is our state's most important workforce challenge?

Every challenge is freighted with opportunity, and that's where we focus. The state's greatest workforce opportunities belong to creative innovators who can develop skills, seize opportunities, and build businesses that scale and evolve rapidly. That's STEM. Indiana has a very long history of technical innovation that becomes leading business. From automotive to healthcare, and now to digital leaders like ExactTarget and Angie's List, today's workforce opportunities are exactly the opportunities that have always carried Indiana. All that's changed with TPF4Y is the specific technology, the target audience, and the community of support that's making success more accessible than it's ever been.

To learn more about KA+A, visit their website at www.KAplusA.com, follow them on Twitter @KAplusA, and like them on Facebook at Kristian Andersen + Associates. You can also follow Pete on Twitter @PeteGall. 

An Interview with Mark Boxberger

Meet Mark Boxberger, a TPF4Y board member for the past five years. Mark serves as the VP of Client Servcies for PolicyStat, and is very involved with First Presbyterian Church where he serves as the Endowment Treasuerer.

How did you learn about TPF4Y?

Eleven or twelve years ago, several friends and colleagues started the INITA Foundation and I have always been interested in the work they were doing to help kids.  This effort has grown into today's TechPoint Foundation for Youth.

What made you decide to support TPF4Y initiatives?

I joined the board a little over five years ago after a conversation with the executive director and a board member.  I saw that they were doing several things very well - filing a gap in the needs of underserved kids, offering a conduit for technology companies in the area to support non-profits with financial support, and exposing opportunities for volunteerism from these companies.  I also like the approach to what we call "venture philanthropy."  Just like venture capitalists, we look for organizations that have a great start and a great idea, and simply need some capital to help them achieve their goals - that capital we provide is usually both human and financial.

What would you say to others interested in supporting TPF4Y initiatives?

Look at not only our mission, but what we have done over the past 10 years.  If this fits your personal goals or the goals of your organization, we have tremendous opportunities for you to help some very deserving kids.  The great thing about TPF4Y is that you can support us and our greenhouse initiatives and you know that we have taken the time to vet those organizations that we support.  In addition, we add value to the mission of the organizations we support by bringing in people & process where they need it - we are not just writing checks. 

Why do you think it is important for youth of Indianapolis to be involved in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)?

When you look at the forecasts for job growth, over the next 10 years, STEM jobs are growing almost twice as fast as non-STEM jobs.  Companies build growth plans around their ability fill these kinds of jobs.  Not everyone wants to become an engineer or a scientist and the great thing about these skills - they open the door for literally thousands of potential career paths.

What does the future hold for technology in Indianapolis and Indiana?

You see industry groups like TechPoint, Conexus, BioCrossroads, ESN working to grow this economy and make it easier for companies to move to or expand in Indiana.  We must have the workforce to support that growth.  TPF4Y is working to grow that workforce in our own backyards - "Growing Indiana's Future" as we say!

An Interview with Eric Goodman

Eric Goodman grew up in Indianapolis, and has been involved with TechPoint Foundation For Youth for quite some time.  He is a seasoned volunteer, and also serves on the Board of Directors for TPF4Y.  Outside of helping STEM initiatives gain traction in Indianapolis, Eric is an Attorney at Ice Miller LLP.

How did you learn about TPF4Y?

I was at a Verge meeting at the end of 2010 where Doug Rammel gave a pitch about TPF4Y and mentioned they were looking for volunteers.  I was looking for a new philanthropy to get involved with so that planted the seed. A few months later I bumped into Rammel at a Venture Club meeting and we started talking about getting me involved.

What made you decide to support TPF4Y initiatives? 

I moved through a variety of different school systems in Indianapolis growing up here (private, Indianapolis public, Carmel public) and saw first hand what a difference just giving a kid an opportunity can make.  I also have a vested interest in seeing the tech community in Indiana succeed and building STEM skills in today's youth is critical to that success.

What would you say to others interested in supporting TPF4Y initiatives? 

Get off the sidelines and get involved. Don't just talk about it, we have enough talkers in this world.  We need more doers.

Why do you think it is important for youth of Indianapolis to be involved in Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM)?

There would be no tech sector in Indianapolis without people interested in tinkering and developing technology/software. If you plant that seed early, it will be lifelong passion.

What does the future hold for technology in Indianapolis and Indiana?

If I knew the answer to that we'd all make a lot of money.  But I think we are well set up for the future based on the younger generation of entrepreneurs I see coming up in the immediate future and the great foundation we're working to lay at TPF4Y for the medium and long term.

 

If you're familiar with the Techpoint Foundation you're probably also aware of Techpoint. As the prominent trade organization that aims to accelerate the technology sector, Techpoint has become a major player in the Indianapolis technology community. Since the Techpoint Foundation shares a name with Techpoint it's logical to think that the two are related. However, Techpoint and the Techpoint Foundation are two completely separate organizations with two very different missions. Hopefully this post can help clear up any misconception.

Here at the Techpoint Foundation we've heard several different interpretations of our relationship with Techpoint from our supporters. Some believe that the Techpoint Foundation is the "philanthropic arm" of Techpoint, or that Techpoint is the parent organization of the Techpoint Foundation. Others believe that we're two different divisions of the same organization. The reality is that the two organizations work together on certain initiatives, but it's two separate organizations with separate fundraising efforts and separate missions.

What is Techpoint?
Techpoint is Indiana's initiative for the technology sector as it promotes entrepreneurship and accelerates growth of technology-based companies. The main focus is to improve the current economy, and to make it advantageous for technology companies to do business in Indiana. Techpoint puts on events like the annual Mira Awards that display the best new Indiana companies each year. Techpoint also is behind the Measured Marketing initiative that is positioning Indianapolis as the top place in the nation for firms that provide technology based maketing tools to other businesses. Techpoint is part of the CICP (Central Indiana Corporate Partnership)

What is the Techpoint Foundation?
While Techpoint is focused on the current economy, Techpoint Foundation is looking to the future to develop Indiana's youth. We're focused on identifying organizations that have the potential to make a big impact on Indiana's youth and then investing money, guidance, and manpower into those organizations to amplify their impact. One way to think of it is that we're a "venture philanthropy" organization. We invest resources in programs that assist Indiana’s underserved youth develop critical 21st Century skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. Techpoint Foundation is part of CICF (Central Indiana Community Foundation).

Hopefully that gives you a little better understanding of two outstanding organizations that are working to make Indiana a great place for technology innovation now and for years to come.