A week in the life of the Help Desk Team

Ever wonder what it takes to be a help desk analyst, or what our Help Desk Team does in a typical week?

We’re inordinately proud of our Help Desk Team, the first and usually only point of contact for most staff for most clients.

Listen to this presentation on a typical week and learn about the teamwork, expertise, and continual learning that goes into providing excellent IT support service.

“You all do such an amazing job, with such great positive energy, and we always get such great feedback from our clients about the service they receive from the help desk. It’s really, it’s so critical to all of the work that we do.

So I just want to thank each one of you for all your hard work and your diligence.”

Johan Hammerstrom, CEO

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Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

Shauna Dillavou is the co-founder of Brightlin.es, a security firm working with the nonprofit sector to prevent vulnerabilities. She is a seasoned intelligence analyst with decades of experience working for the US government. She formerly was part of a team locating cartel associates by their online traces, and founded Brightlines to reverse-engineer that experience to protect vulnerable staff from online doxxing and threats to their personal safety. Unfortunately in recent years the threats against nonprofit staff have grown, making this service necessary and timely.

We know nonprofits are facing challenges in a challenging time. At Community IT, when we think about and enact cybersecurity for our clients in the nonprofit sector, we generally are focused on protecting the organization, its data, its systems, and its finances, from bad actors. Those hackers are overwhelmingly interested in financial benefits: getting you to wire the money to their bank account instead of your real bank account. While some cyber criminals are interested in gaining insights into your advocacy area or your networks, a majority of cyber crimes against nonprofits are purely financial.

But what happens when your nonprofit is involved in an advocacy area, a country, or an issue that has suddenly become controversial? Media attention turns to your spokespeople, your staff, your board, and your volunteers – anyone who has been associated with your organization’s issue. Particularly online. It isn’t long before that online attention can become threats against your personnel.

“Doxxing” is a term for when an opponent releases personally identifiable information about you – your home address, phone number, your parents, your kids’ personal information. Doxxing is meant to inspire terror and to shut you up. And sometimes the online rancor, coupled with personal information, can lead unhinged individuals to act on these online threats.

In this interview, Carolyn talks with Shauna Dillavou, co-founder of Brightlin.es, a security company that works in the nonprofit sector to prevent personal vulnerabilities for staff who may be in the online media spotlight.

With decades of experience in the intelligence community, Shauna co-founded Brightlines to provide resources to nonprofits, foundations, and others who face threats and escalation against their staff or spokespeople.

In this podcast on anti-doxxing and nonprofit staff safety with Shauna Dillavou, learn the types of personal threats that are becoming more common, and the steps you should take to protect your vulnerable staff.

Community IT is proudly vendor-agnostic and our podcasts and webinars cover a range of topics and discussions. Podcasts are never a sales pitch, always a way to share our knowledge with our community. Brightlines is one of many services that exist to improve the security of your staff, executives, and board members. This interview with Shauna Dillavou explores the parameters of the problem and gives general advice on steps to take if you or your staff are threatened online.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.

In this interview from December 2024, Director of Marketing Carolyn Woodard talks with Ramunda Lark Young about her journey from growing up in Tulsa Oklahoma to working in Washington DC to founding an online Black bookstore during the 2007-2008 recession.

In addition to a website where you can find curated lists of books to fit any interest, Mahogany Books now has 2.25 in-person stores in DC and hosts author events and a podcast.

What did it take for Ramunda to believe in her vision of owning a bookstore where Black Books Matter, and how did she follow that vision to success?

What does Ramunda do to stay grounded and mentally healthy, and what lessons has she learned on this journey about the importance of seeing ourselves celebrated in the communities around us?

We know nonprofits are facing challenges in a challenging time, and we could all use a little inspiration. Join Carolyn and Ramunda for a few minutes to talk about books, entrepreneurship, and community.

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Ramunda Lark Young is Co-Founder and Co-owner of Mahogany Books online and with 2.25 locations in Washington DC, including National Harbor, National Airport, and a new location in Anacostia. Unapologetically Black-owned, family-run and operated, Mahogany Books is a local independent bookstore that believes in social entrepreneurship. They take a leadership role in the African American community by promoting reading, writing, and cultural awareness as tools to improve self-esteem, self-love and ultimately our communities to enrich the lives of motivated individuals.

With over 20 years of combined retail book industry experience, Ramunda has witnessed a variety of market highs and lows which helped develop a bookstore model capitalizing on technology while staying true to the independent community bookstore roots that define the core values of the owners.

_______________________________
Start a conversation :)

• Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/
• email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.com
• on LinkedIn

Thanks for listening.