Our Journey
A Timeline of Telecom4Good
The Beginning of Something Special
Our CEO, Robert Anderson, expands outside of the corporate world to begin working with NGOs in Virginia and Washington D.C., helping them improve their internet and reduce the related costs for their regional offices in Africa.
A Conference Full of Collaborative Competitors
While attending the Building Resilience Through Innovation Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Robert saw firsthand the power of using Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) to build the resilience of communities across Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Unlike the corporate world, these NGOs—traditionally competitors—displayed an incredible abundance mindset in collaborating to ensure everyone harnesses the power of technology to collectively do more good.
Telecom4Good Established
The first two participating NGOs in our Internet Co-op, Innovations for Poverty and Christian Aid, prove the viability of a partnership focused exclusively on helping them reduce costs, improve network performance, and leverage existing relationships with local internet service providers to advance their mission.
Our Partnership with Cisco Meraki
The COO of Telecom4Good, Kevin MacRitchie, former Vice President of Global Data Systems at Cisco, creates a partnership between Telecom4Good and Cisco Meraki to support the nonprofit/NGO sector with Meraki equipment. Telecom4Good becomes the first Meraki reseller to sell exclusively to nonprofits/NGOs at a significant discount.
Introducing the IT Support and Management Program
Telecom4Good expands our portfolio of offerings to international nonprofit organizations in need of help managing their global networks. In partnership with Lutheran World Relief, our team launches the IT Support and Management Program in their West Africa offices.
Introducing the Refugee Workforce Development Program
Telecom4Good, Humentum, and the Cornerstone Foundation develop a Refugee Workforce Development Program providing curriculum-based education that maps back to open jobs in Uganda—bridging the gap between learning and career-based employment.
Expanding the African Internet Co-op Program
Telecom4Good expands its relationships to more than 43 ISPs, allowing NGO participants to purchase at wholesale prices and improve the quality of internet in the rural regions they serve.
Transitioning Through the Shift to Virtual Work
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Telecom4Good steps in to ensure nonprofits are equipped to move from local offices to remote home offices while maintaining network security and staff productivity. Our team provides strategy and assistance to help nonprofits mitigate risk and compliance issues while struggling to comply with the National Defense Authorization Act, which prohibits them from using government funds to procure certain brands of telecommunications equipment.
Live Data Enhances ISP Monitoring & Evaluation
Telecom4Good works alongside NGOs through the Meraki Dashboard API to allow the collection of live, factual data about the quality of internet by location, packet loss, latency, and uptime at hundreds of locations worldwide. Soon after, additional live data includes the ISP name, last mile (fiber, wireless, microwave, and VSAT) along with the price per megabyte. Ultimately, this data allows nonprofits to reduce the time it takes to create a request for an internet pricing proposal from 75 days to less than 5 minutes.
The Year of Going Green and the Cisco Takeback and Reuse Program
Telecom4Good becomes the first nonprofit to achieve the Cisco Environmental Sustability Specialization. In addition to participating in Cisco’s Takeback and Reuse program where used technology is recycling, reused and remanufactured.