Copy
Connect. Collaborate. Contribute.™
Here's what happened at:
'
2nd Annual 'Tech for Giving & Sharing''. 

Register below for the January event so you don't miss the next
Austin Forum!
Thank you to Joseph Kopser of moovel for sharing the history of tech in Austin and how tech companies and orgs are giving back to the Austin community. Thanks also to Celeste Flores of I Live Here, I Give Here, Leo Ramirez of Encast, and to John Lockman for speaking on behalf of Open Austin for inspiring everyone to give their 'time, treasure, and talent'.

View presentation slides.
Joseph Kopser, Global President at moovel, set the stage with a brief history of four decades of building the Austin tech sector including Pike Powers, recently named Texan of the Year, who was instrumental in the early tech scene in Austin. Joseph shared that Austin is one of the most creative, beautiful cities in which to live with a vibrant arts, music, entertainment, and tech community. Austin boasts the largest high-wage job sector in the US and Forbes named Austin the number one city for tech growth. But not all people share in this success and often civic issues like traffic and affordability are exacerbated by all this growth and success. Higher wages drive higher property taxes and rents, more people contribute to more traffic, and higher rents push artists and low wage workers out of the city.   
However, Austin is a generous community- the 5th most giving according to GoFundMe. The tech sector cares and the tech sector gives back. 
Joseph highlighted many tech companies that are giving and sharing through:
  • tech that provides a social good  
  • tech for sharing profits and services to charities
  • tech for building community opportunities
  • tech employer comprehensive programs 
Tech that provides a social good 

DonorTiles
provides a new and unique way for organizations and donors to work in concert to achieve great goals. Storytelling is innate. So is the desire to do good. Story Tiles tap into bedrock human behavior while leveraging the power of the Internet and social media. DonorTiles, through Story Tiles, provides a platform whereby organizations can meaningfully engage donors and thereby exponentially increase their donor base.
GivePulse:
is a civic network matching people in our community with causes they care about while enabling easy organization, management and mobilization of volunteers and supporters. From day one our mission has been to solve tough social problems through the use of technology. Keeping true to that original mission, today our civic engagement platform supports thousands of nonprofits, associations, institutions, businesses and organizations.
Gridmates:
is a cloud platform that connects donors of energy with people in need. The product is a web and mobile app for Smart Energy Donations. Gridmates platform converts the dollar donation to energy for people and nonprofits in need.
data.world:
strives to build the most meaningful, collaborative and abundant data resource in the world in order to maximize data's societal problem-solving utility, advocates publicly for improving the adoption, usability, and proliferation of open data and linked data, and serves as an accessible historical repository of the world's data.
Tech for sharing profits and services to charities
Ride|Austin
has enabled 33,000+ riders to raise over $60,000 for 40+ local nonprofits through the app's Round Up feature where users can seamlessly round up their fare to the nearest dollar and choose a charity in which to donate that amount. 
Build-a-sign
hosts the BuildASign.com Giving Program, a self-sustaining program that supports nonprofit organizations nationwide, has made more than $1 million of in-kind donations to more than 1,700 nonprofits of all sizes. The program provides donations and discounts on signage and products to nonprofit organizations to help keep their overhead costs down. BuildASign.com has also donated more than 345,000 welcome home banners and signs (valued at more than $10 million) to the friends and families of military service members returning home from a deployment.
 
Tech for building community opportunities
Div.Inc:
addresses the lack of diversity in the tech startup ecosystem, fosters the growth and development of ethnically diverse and women-led tech companies, and offers a 12-week pre-accelerator program to help founders ensure their companies are built for success.
GirlStart:
hosts a lot of corporate volunteer groups throughout the year, but they also support their employees giving back. Girlstart encourages their employees to give back through supporting employees to use work time to volunteer, encouraging employees to join community nonprofit boards and/or committees, and volunteering and/or running in the 3M half marathon and Austin marathon. Girlstart even pays for race registrations if staff members run.
Entrepreneurs Foundation:
promotes philanthropy, community-minded corporate cultures, and community engagement by raising money for other non-profits. EF has donated more than 190,000 hours of volunteer time and over $875,000 to local and national charities.
Tech employer comprehensive programs 

Dell:
As the largest tech employer in town, Dell sets the bar for comprehensive giving programs. Dell employees have donated over 190,000 hours of volunteer service. Dell also gives $150 charity vouchers to employees who log over 10 hours of volunteering per quarter and has matched over $11.7M in charitable employee donations. Roughly $10M in youth learning grants have been awarded with more than half going to central Texas orgs. 
So... 

What can you do? 
I Live Here, I Give Here
Celeste Flores shared their mission to cultivate the power of giving back. They strive to meet our community’s needs by ensuring that the culture of giving back is embraced and celebrated throughout our region through a unique set of products and services designed to meet every Central Texan exactly where they are with a special focus on new and emerging donors. They have integrated and effective tools with proven impact, like AmplifyATX.Org and Amplify Austin Day.
 
Give Now
Encast
Leo Ramirez explained their goal as a company is to broaden the distribution and increase the amount of charitable dollars given in America. Of the $364 billion donated in 2015, about 94% of the total went to less than 6% of all causes. Encast created Giving as a ServiceTM, a cloud-based system that inspires high impact charitable giving by companies and individuals.
 
Start a Giving Program
Open Austin
John Lockman spoke about giving talents through hack-a-thons and meet ups that help to develop open-source projects as a local Code for America Brigade like Instabus and Recycle Please.

 
Volunteer
The Austin Forum Celebrates 10 Years! 
What's your Austin Forum story? 

Whether you've been a long time friend or a new fan, let us know your story! 
What is your favorite moment, speaker, or topic over the past 10 years? How has the Forum influenced your interests, business, or community relationships?

We're interested. Tell us your story!
Congratulations to our lucky winners of 2017 SXSW Interactive badge! 

Join us next month for a chance to win a badge given away by Hugh Forrest of SXSW Interactive.

Tell us your Austin Forum Story to be entered to win. 

 
Join us in January at Galvanize for
 
What will be the impact of key technologies like the Internet of Things, machine learning, supercomputing, and blockchain on healthcare, education, research, smart cities and your world? What do you think are the key technologies and challenges for 2017?

The pace of technology and the complexity of business markets are moving at an incredible pace. As we kick off 2017, the Austin Forum sets the stage for upcoming topics by giving an overview of the some of the major technology trends and how they are likely to transform our lives– from how we work and live to how we play and learn. This special event will be our first comprehensive look at multiple technologies and applications, how they are influencing multiple aspects of society, and how the Austin tech ecosystem can, and will, help drive them forward.


WEDNESDAY, January 4, 2017
Galvanize
118 Nueces St.
Downtown Austin
Register
Special thanks to Newks for the fantastic catering.

Get all the tantalizing smells, tastes and textures of your Newk’s favorites, delivered wherever you need them – birthday parties, tailgates, office meetings or family reunions. Their catering specialists will assist you with all your needs and help you build the perfect spread. They’ll deliver, set up and everything in between. All you have to do is relax and enjoy the food! So for your next catering event, just remember – we cater…you party!


Opening in downtown Austin soon!
Special thanks to Mighty Swell for the fantastic drinks.

Sparkling Cocktails are made with real fruit juice and never with any artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, sodium benzoate or food dyes. Available in three refreshing flavors, Peach, Grapefruit and Lemon, Mighty Swell Sparkling Cocktails are perfect at the beach, golf course or anywhere that you have a thirst for something extraordinary.
We love our sponsors!

Learn more about the benefits and opportunities of sponsoring the Austin Forum. 

 
Become a Sponsor
Facebook
Facebook
Twitter
Twitter
Website
Website
Copyright © 2016 The Austin Forum, All rights reserved.


unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences