In the winter of 2020, Kavya Pasumarthy provided Charlotte nonprofits with nearly $4,000 in value of support through two initiatives.
Kavya served as an IT Coach for Crisis Assistance Ministry (read more below) and also supported Apparo by helping to update technology ecosystem data for Charlotte-area nonprofits. See See PDF of Volunteer Spotlight for more details.
Crisis Assistance Ministry provides assistance and advocacy for people in financial crisis, helping them move toward self-sufficiency. Debra Clancy, Audit Specialist, Crisis Assistance Ministry reached out to Apparo for support improving an Excel spreadsheet she used to help ensure home payments were being properly received by landlords, helping to ensure housing stability.
Debra shares, “I thought IT Coaching might be more like a class, that would dive deeply into things that I did not need to know, but it was actually to support me on something I was specifically working on. It was a great opportunity to learn how I could make it better. I’m not a daily user of Excel. I don’t know all the little ways to make a spreadsheet look more presentable and, as versions change, sometimes I don’t know how to do things I used to know in previous versions.”
She was matched to volunteer, Kavya Pasumarthy, who was excited to embark on volunteering as an IT Coach. “Volunteering with Apparo was recommended to me as a match for my data entry and analytics skills. I have also always loved teaching and wanted to continue down that path, but not make a career out of it. Volunteering with Apparo allowed me to merge my passions together. That’s a very unique opportunity.” She shares that she truly enjoyed the experience, “I would highly recommend volunteering with Apparo. As a volunteer, I’ve never before felt a level of connection and support like I received from Jennifer. I am a busy person, and everyone involved has been so accommodating with my schedule. Another benefit is that you get the amount of work that you want, not too much or too little.” While her work was all virtual due to the pandemic, she still feels that she made strong personal connection, “It’s really rewarding because, even while virtual, there is a lot of face to face interaction with the people you are working with. Having people just turn on their cameras to work together during this pandemic can make you feel close.”
Debra appreciated Kavya’s support and would highly recommend IT Coaching to others. “It’s so much more helpful to have someone guide you through it instead of reading a manual. I really enjoyed working with Kavya. She was very personable, got right to my questions and followed up with me. It was a very positive experience and now I have a spreadsheet that is more user friendly for myself and others in the organization who need to use it. I also have new Excel skills that I can now use intuitively.”
