The Best Seat in the Room Was the One I Tagged Along For
Every so often my work hands me a day I didn't plan for and don't forget.
Last month was one of those days. I got to tag along with a group of 30 students from AZ Cyber Initiative on a boot camp field trip to Tucson Electric Power. I wasn't there to consult, I was there to observe and watching these kids turned out to be a great experience.
What AZ Cyber Initiative does
AZ Cyber Initiative is one of my clients, and their work is exactly the kind I love being part of because like many non-profits you see the impact happen right in front of your eyes. They create workforce development opportunities for young people in cyber security. Students attend boot camps, learn directly from college students who teach them, and both sets of students (high school and college) walk away with real skills and real exposure to what a career in this field can look like.
What I appreciate about this, is that these students take what they learn home. They teach their families and friends how to spot a scam and protect themselves online. I believe it’s a ripple effect, because it ends up helping dozens of households.
That's a non-profit doing far more than its budget suggests it should be able to do and it makes me so happy.
Behind the scenes at TEP
The field trip took the students behind the scenes at Tucson Electric Power. It wasn’t a slideshow or a career fair table, it was literally the actual work, explained by the people who do it. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in certain areas, so I took them in the more public spaces.
TEP's team shared their experiences openly and answered everything the students threw at them. To use a baseball analogy, the students threw a lot of questions at them and a few of them were curve ball questions for me. Some of their questions were so specific and so technical that I didn't understand them, and I'll admit that.
When I was that age we were dealing with DOS computers and never in my wildest dreams would I think about how technology would expand to what it is today. Not to mention, a field trip to TEP was never in my sights.
I left that day inspired. There's something about seeing young people ask sharp questions of professionals twice their age that makes you feel good about where things are headed.
Why partnerships like this matter so much
Local non-profits can build a great curriculum and they can hire a great team, but they can't manufacture access. Access comes from partners.
It comes from a company like TEP deciding that opening its doors for an afternoon is worth the time. That decision cost TEP a few hours. For those students, it may have changed what they believe is possible for them.
If you run a business and a local non-profit asks you to host, speak, or open a door, please say yes. You have expertise that's ordinary to you and extraordinary to somebody else. It literally costs you very little and it means everything to the organization and the young people who get to experience it.
Partnerships like this are what turn a good program into a lasting one.
Thank you
Thank you to AZ Cyber Initiative for the work you're doing and for letting me come along. And a big thanks to Tucson Electric Power for sharing your expertise and your time so generously.
And thank you to the students. Keep asking the questions that only a few people in the room can answer.
~ Keep Doing Good Work ~
