PDA's Increasing Staff Size Meant Increasing Tech Needs
Public Defenders Association saw increasing budget and staff size in a short period and found it challenging to keep up its tech infrastructure. See how Tech Impact supported their growth so that they could focus on their work.
After many years operating with a small staff and budget, in 2018 the Public Defender Association (PDA), a 501c3 organization that creates effective alternatives to the criminal legal system, began to experience unexpectedly rapid growth in organizational size and operational complexity, increasing both budget and staffing several-fold in just three years. The lightning pace of this expansion entirely outstripped our ability to develop sufficient IT capacity and infrastructure, let alone to undertake a thoughtful and strategic approach to IT needs-analysis, planning, and implementation.
Without a clear sense of how to proceed, and with very limited internal IT expertise, in late 2021 PDA was incredibly fortunate to be introduced to Tech Impact; in the span of just months, Tech Impact conducted a tech-systems status analysis and launched a comprehensive Strategic Technology Plan development process for the organization. "From our very first conversations with Tech Impact, we have found them to be knowledgeable, responsive, thorough, professional, and good-humored. Access to this kind of resource and opportunity is uncommon in the nonprofit social justice sector, and our entire organization - from the Board to the front-line staff who work in challenging conditions day in and day out - is relieved, grateful, and excited that Tech Impact is working with us to ensure that our IT infrastructure can support and sustain our work."
Rebecca Brown, MA, CFA, CFRE, Consulting Expert for the LEAD Proof of Concept Project, Public Defender Association