If you attended this year’s virtual SauceCon event, you may have heard from our keynote speaker Niloofar Razi Howe, a dynamic and experienced leader with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working over the years. In preparing for her keynote, Niloo mentioned something that I thought was particularly important at the time, and has become even more so over the past few months. She reiterated the importance of being purposeful in contributing to your community.
Niloo does this extensively herself, not only in her day job as senior operating partner of Energy Impact Partners, but also through various charities and other organizations to which she gives her time. One of those key roles she holds is chair of the board of IREX, a global development and education organization with an incredible mission focused on people in more than 120 countries on issues such as education, leadership, information, and youth.
I had the opportunity to sit down recently with Niloo as well as the CEO of IREX, Kristin Lord, as part of my “Unscripted” series of interviews with global business and community leaders. This interview had a profound effect on Sauce Labs.
A huge part of what IREX does is to help underserved communities gain access to the information and technology they need to grow and thrive as well as the technology education and the skills they need to consume information critically. As a technology company—and, more importantly, as stewards of social responsibility—Sauce Labs shares that focus. Our vision is to create a world of digital confidence. We believe that digital experiences should work for everyone, and have contributed to many causes over the years aimed at furthering that purpose, including Code.org, Rails Girls Kumasi, and others.
But it’s more than just what they do that drew us to IREX. After all, the work IREX does in the community is about a lot more than just technology. (And I do mean a lot!) No, it’s the WAY they work in and with their communities that makes IREX so special.
IREX works closely with local communities to understand their challenges and design practical solutions. (If that sounds a lot like what we do for customers each and every day here at Sauce Labs, well, that’s because it is.) With their focus on social justice and human rights, Kristin talks about how it isn’t their goal to go out and solve individual problems—it’s about investing in the community and helping it thrive. It’s about empowering others to help themselves - a concept that’s part of the very fabric of who we are and what we do at Sauce Labs.
That’s why it is with great pleasure today to announce that Sauce Labs is teaming up with Kristin, Niloo, and the entire IREX organization to help them further their mission of creating a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world. In the coming weeks, we will be working with IREX to explore programs to support areas of shared interests. We always say that every organization is now a digital organization, and IREX is no different. We’ll be providing them with free access to our Continuous Testing Cloud platform and to the testing and development expertise their organization (and every organization) needs. IREX will also be able to utilize our team of experts. We’ll be there for them just like they’re there for so many others.
If you want to learn more about how IREX is making an impact in their communities, I encourage you to watch my interview with Kristin and Niloo and to visit the IREX website. Or if you just want to chat about how you are contributing purposefully to your community, find me on Twitter (@AledMiles) and let’s talk!
