ConnectWise partners saving the world: Jack Smith, initial.IT
At ConnectWise, we champion the success of all of our partners. When our partners are doing extraordinary things, businesses everywhere are doing better. However, some partners go above and beyond to help their communities, and the world, in ways we couldn’t even imagine. In the latest installment of our new series, Partners Saving the World, we want to highlight Jack Smith, President and CEO of initial.IT, for his contributions to the Denver community.
About initial.IT
initial.IT is a technology solutions provider that works with firms from all industries in the Rocky Mountain region. They maximize the IT infrastructure for the Metro-Denver area by offering premier technical and customized IT support solutions. With a successful company history built on the human side of IT and a focus on the end user/provider relationship, they help many top Denver firms surpass their technology goals. Key industry partnerships make initial.IT Colorado’s only comprehensive technology solution for all software, training, consulting, and implementation needs.
How Jack and initial.IT are helping make denver a better place
There’s a common misconception that only large companies are capable of making a meaningful impact in a community. Jack and initial.IT decided it was time to shatter those beliefs with their new Social Awareness initiative in 2019.
At the beginning of the year, Jack and his team reached out to charities and organizations to figure out how to properly execute this ambitious initiative. By the end of Q1, they had committed to four (four!) organizations to partner with throughout 2019:
- Housed Working & Healthy
- Meghan’s Wish
- Sustain-Ability Recycling
- The Delores Project
Jack and his staff are going beyond writing a check by devoting time and their technical expertise to help these organizations and the people they help.
Housed Working & Healthy
The first organization initial.IT is working with is Housed Working & Healthy, a community/business collaborative established to help people become self-sufficient. They believe self-sufficiency is achieved when you address three, fundamental elements: Housing, Mental Health, and Employment. Housed Working & Healthy provides support in these areas onsite for individuals in need.
Technology plays a substantial role in our lives, and we often take that for granted. In their partnership, initial.IT delivers technology and continual IT support to the administrative staff and residents. initial.IT leverages their vendor relationships to help residents gain access to job boards, resume services, and other technology-based services.
Meghan’s Wish
The next charity is Meghan’s Wish, a non-profit devoted to providing children ages 0-18 with necessities—clothing, toiletries, support—as they enter a new foster home. Meghan’s Wish was founded in 2016 by Guinevere Munib and her family after they opened their home to foster care and experienced, too often, children being dropped off with little to no possessions. They hope that no child will ever be left without necessities when they enter the foster care system.
Jack and the initial.IT team contribute financially to help Meghan’s Wish purchase these supplies for the children. They also hold packing parties for the staff and their families to help pack bags to give to children as they go to their new foster homes.
SustainAbility Recycling
SustainAbility Recycling is an electronics recycling company that combines a passion for the environment and recycling with the understanding that every person can improve our communities and planet. They value their role in the community by hiring a diverse workforce that includes individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities—a significantly under-employed segment of society.
There is a responsibility we all have to dispose of IT equipment properly. Because of this responsibility, initial.IT partners with SustainAbility Recycling exclusively for all their electronics recycling needs. This not only helps the environment, but it continues to provide jobs to overlooked members of the Denver community.
The Delores Project
The final organization initial.IT is partnering with during 2019 is The Delores Project. The Delores Project provides safe, comfortable shelter and services for unaccompanied women and transgender individuals experiencing homelessness. They advocate for better housing solutions to end homelessness.
initial.IT supports The Delores Project financially but also by volunteering their time. Members of the initial.IT staff took time to plan, shop, prepare, and serve hot dinners to residents.
The ‘why’ behind what they do
Jack has drawn inspiration from his friends, clients, partners, and, most importantly, his daughters. In the past, Jack has done a lot of charity work on his own, from shaving his head twice to help fight childhood cancer to participating in Ride the Rockies in 2016 to raise money for St. Baldrick’s and the Special Olympics of Colorado. Jack is deeply passionate about doing everything he can to help improve his community and has pushed his team to join him. This year is a big step to show how much even a team of eight individuals can do for a community.