The Ripple Effect — Changing Communities, one life at a time
Over a year ago, we unveiled the Digital Future Initiative (DFI) — an action-based program with the goal of enacting positive social change. With community support as our top priority, we identified four key pillars that would make the most impact; Engage, Renew, Inside Voices, and Elevate (the Compass Digital Internship program). The fundamental principle in formulating DFI was to create real, lasting change in the communities where we live and work. It’s easy to donate to a good cause, but we wanted to take our efforts further and leverage our resources and expertise in a more meaningful way.
“We were determined to make local change, one individual at a time. We’re strong believers in the ripple effects that spread through communities after improving even one person’s life because each affected individual has a family, neighbors, and friends. DFI is really about enacting change by empowering people.”
Alvin D. Townes, SVP, Digital Operations
Looking back, Compass Digital has come a long way since the launch of DFI, developing programs, supporting people, and shining a light on critical social issues. Nevertheless, this is only the beginning of our journey, and much work remains to be done. One thing is clear, though: the ripple effect we aspired to create is real, and we can already see the impact across communities.
Partnering with local organizations
One of the first opportunities we identified after mobilizing the DFI team was that technology actually became a barrier to education for some kids during the pandemic because they didn’t have access to it.
Operating in the technology space, we were uniquely positioned to help bridge this gap by donating some of our hardware to families in need. One of our very first DFI initiatives was partnering with the Toronto Police Department and Engage 416 to identify communities that could use the most help.
“Being able to provide technology to parents, families, and students who need it to continue education or work from home was the most tangible benefit in the early days of DFI. Some of the feedback we received directly from parents outlined that their kids were now able to participate in school because of donated tech.”
Alvin D. Townes, SVP, Digital Operations
Compass Digital Internship Program
One of our most impactful partnerships is also the driving force behind our internship program, called Elevate. Together with Year Up, we’re creating educational opportunities for young adults in Charlotte, NC.
Year Up is a nationwide program with 30 campuses across the U.S. that is dedicated to closing the “opportunity divide”, preventing many students from achieving their potential. Students are typically high school grads between 18 and 25. As part of the program, they receive six months of intensive technical training in high-demand fields like cyber security or web development, as well as training in general business, communication, and presentation skills. Then, they enter a six-month paid internship. That’s significantly longer than the typical 10-week summer student stint, so Year Up interns learn far more and are better prepared to integrate into future work scenarios.
“We structured the internship program with Year Up in a very intentional way. Managers provide a vast support network, and every intern has an assigned mentor in addition to a team lead. We’ve also set up a speaker series where leaders from Compass Digital and Compass Group talk to students and answer their questions. We’re now on our third cohort of Year Up interns, and so far, eight of them have gone on to work for Compass Digital full time.
What makes our approach to internships unique is the broad range of support from across the whole organization — students are treated with all the respect due any employee. We focus on the whole person with each intern, not just their professional development, because we want them to grow as individuals.”
Lauren Chemplavil (she/her), VP, Digital Strategy, Healthcare Digital Labs in Compass Digital
Here are just a few stories from our interns…
Leslie Porfeli-Kenney, Marketing Specialist & Former Project Management Intern:
I’ve learned a lot during the months of my internship and gained invaluable exposure to the world of technology and hospitality. Graduating from the program, I had a real sense of pride, knowing that I gave it my all, throughout the journey. I’m glad my efforts paid off and did not go unnoticed, since at the end of the internship I was offered a permanent role on the team.
Going into this experience, I was hoping to grow professionally and be able to provide for my family. What I walked away with was a new career path, and a window into a whole world of opportunity.
Jason Martinez, Technology Support Intern:
What I enjoy most about the internship is having the opportunity to work on various projects and do hands-on work, like helping people in our tech bar along with the desk side team. I can feel that I’m really growing as an IT professional, and my colleagues teach me something new every day.
I think joining the Year Up program and being placed with Compass Digital has been an amazing feat for me. It is something I have never done before, and I impress myself by showing up every day ready to work.
My life has changed, and I have a newfound sense of purpose.
Looking Ahead
In the coming year, we’ll continue to expand our partner network and, along with it, the reach and impact of DFI. We’re planning to work with HBCUs to focus on recruiting and internship programs in ways that will further improve our diversity. We’ll also continue working with Digital Page, a Charlotte-based non-profit, bringing more young women into digital design and technology. Finally, we’re partnering with Enactus Canada — a student entrepreneurship program which is committed to using conscious capitalism to create positive change.
What all of these initiatives have in common is, they’re all focused on individuals. As our CEO, Jugveer Randhawa likes to say, none of us are truly self-made.
Empowering people is all about the community; this is why we have such a strong focus on being good neighbors and strive to leverage our experience, hard work, and resources to uplift others. Whether our actions benefit someone today or years from now, we want to have a positive impact on someone’s trajectory.
