Amanda Whitaker has supported Apparo and our Nonprofit Partner, Veterans Bridge Home (VBH) since 2018. As a Senior Consultant at CapTech, Amanda had heard great things about volunteering from her colleagues who had all enjoyed their experiences working with nonprofits through Apparo. She was matched to a VBH in 2018 and has supported them through four TechShop team trainings helping to ensure their smooth transition to Microsoft 365. See PDF of Volunteer Spotlight.
When it came to embarking on Microsoft training, Pete Vacho (Director of Community Engagement, VBH) shares that he “worried that change was going to be an issue for our staff who was already putting in a high volume of time to address Veterans needs in the community. Asking them to put in additional time and to believe that it was going to significantly improve our organization was hard. But with these trainings, everyone was really excited and wanted to learn. It was very enjoyable, too.”
Pete credits Amanda for that, “She seems like part of the family. She’s so familiar with us, I feel spoiled. She’s so patient and that is vital. We have a broad range of educational backgrounds on our staff and she brings everyone’s walls down and makes us all feel comfortable. The training is making our work more efficient and in turn, helping us make Veteran’s lives better, faster.” Specifically, Pete shares that thanks to Apparo and Amanda’s support, they have been able to nearly double the number of Veterans served and cut their wait time for service nearly in half.
Amanda says that skilled volunteering with Apparo has been a perfect match for her, “I have experience leading trainings at CapTech and I’m very energized by facilitating learning. I have a passion for empowering people, building their skills and knowledge. I love helping others and am always looking for ways to give back to my community. This volunteer opportunity allows me to pass along knowledge that I’ve built over time to others and know that I am making a tangible, positive impact.”
Specifically, her work with VBH has been meant a lot to her. “The VBH team and I feel very comfortable together and have a really trusting relationship. They even gave me advice on tailoring my training to the virtual environment. It’s amazing to learn the tangible impact of my volunteer work, and how my teaching them is helping them to further their mission.”
