Laurie Phillips is the co-founder of Tech For Troops Project. Laurie is a successful entrepreneur and founder of seven companies. For 25 years she has been a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies, leading professional services firms, and start-ups. A former Big 4 consulting partner and Information Technology expert, Laurie brings operational, technical, and entrepreneurial leadership to Tech For Troops Project.
Laurie is also the founder of Sundance Research, an IT consulting and project management company based in Richmond, Virginia.
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For more information:
http://techfortroopsproject.org
http://www.facebook.com/TechForTroopsProject/
https://twitter.com/TechForTroopsVA
info@techfortroopsproject.org
SUMMARY:
Laurie Phillips is the co-founder of Tech For Troops Project. Laurie is a successful entrepreneur and founder of seven companies. For 25 years she has been a management consultant to Fortune 500 companies, leading professional services firms, and start-ups. A former Big 4 consulting partner and Information Technology expert, Laurie brings operational, technical, and entrepreneurial leadership to Tech For Troops Project.
Laurie is also the founder of Sundance Research, an IT consulting and project management company based in Richmond, Virginia.
Tech For Troops collects used computers, refurbishes them and then donates them to veterans and organizations that assist veterans. It all started when a friend of Laurie’s son came back from military service struggling to find a job since he does not have the means to provide for his needs. That’s a common struggle as well to other veterans as to how they can convert their skills into the civilian community. Initially Tech for Troops started collecting computers from churches, local neighborhoods, and homeowner associations. Laurie also called a couple of her contacts in the computer business.
And in the course of doing that, they also hire veterans with no computer experience at all and train them in how to refurbish computers. Eventually, part of the program is to train veterans on how to take computer parts and put it together. And once veterans have an aptitude for it, the organization has a number of other training programs introduced to them. Its goal is to be able to help them if they’re interested to get a high paying job in in the IT field.
Aside from computer refurbishing, Tech for troops also offers trainings for web development, networking and computer security. They always have job openings and they give preference to veterans who are in the career changer mode. There’s a program that the Department of Labor and the Veterans Employment Commission has that identify veterans who are either unemployed or employed at a poverty level or below and who are trying to change careers and develop new skills that are going to result in higher rate of success.
All the computers being set up are given to centers that provide veteran services whether it’s training services, job placement services or even in rehab hospitals. Its mission is to donate to organizations that help veterans. Here’s how it works, they will get requests from veterans all over the place and what they asked them to do is contact the organization that they know that provides them services.