Annual Report

2022

Letter from the CEO

Dear Employees, Partners, Donors, and Community Members,

I am excited to share with you some amazing accomplishments we achieved in the past year at Human-I-T as we celebrate our 10th year of driving digital equity for communities left on the wrong side of the digital divide.

First, I’m happy to announce that we relaunched the Human-I-T online store to allow customers across the country to purchase low-cost internet and high-quality computing devices directly from us at affordable prices. This opens our digital inclusion services to individuals and families anywhere in the United States at just the click of a mouse! The new website is optimized for smartphones and lets our customers browse before they buy to find the products that best meet their needs. We also offer steep discounts and benefit programs for customers who demonstrate financial need, which helps to remove barriers to access and affordability. You can check out our all-new online store at store.human-i-t.org.

We also reached new heights in our community impact. Specifically, we refurbished and redistributed over 71,900 electronics products, including 18,000 computers that were donated directly to students, seniors, and low-income families who would otherwise not have access to a computer and the internet in their homes at no cost. We also helped more than 19,000 households get connected to low-cost monthly internet, enrolled 3,000 new learners in our self-paced digital literacy program, and resolved 3,000 tech support tickets for customers who needed assistance, ensuring they stayed on the right side of the digital divide. By providing these digital inclusion services, we helped students improve their grades, seniors stay connected with loved ones, and families enroll in online services like banking, social media, and e-commerce.

We also made it easy for businesses and organizations to get involved, too, by collecting 3.4 million pounds of donated technology, which diverts harmful e-waste from landfills and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by extending the life cycle of reused products. By achieving ISO certifications for each of our warehouse locations, which we accomplished this year, we recommitted ourselves to ensuring high-quality, secure data sanitization and destruction and creating a safe and productive workplace for all of our employees.

Lastly, with the support of our donors and corporate sponsors, we raised $20 million this year to support digital equity and scale up our solutions! We couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support of our employees, partners, donors, and the communities we serve. Thank you all for your ongoing dedication!

And Human-I-T is not done yet! In 2023, we’ll launch a new, industry-leading digital navigation program, cut our tech processing time in half, and expand our network of supporters and recipients, which helps us expand our impact to communities across the U.S. and Canada. Join us to create a world where everyone can access opportunities to unlock their full potential!

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to achieving even more together.

Sincerely

Gabe Middleton
CEO, Human-I-T

Mission & Impact

Innovations in our E-Waste Removal Business

Philanthropic Progress

Community Impact

Diverse Perspectives

Donors & Financials

Our Mission

Human-I-T is a social enterprise that creates equitable access to opportunity by providing devices, internet access, digital skills training, and tech support for communities left on the wrong side of the digital divide, while at the same time, empowering businesses and organizations to do good by diverting technology from landfills to protect our planet.

In 2022, our employees, donors, and partners helped us create the following impacts in our communities:

82.4

devices distributed

to individuals and nonprofits

19.9

households assisted

with internet access

2.9

tech support tickets

resolved

3.1

digital literacy users

trained with the knowledge to unlock their full potential

3.4

pounds of e-waste

diverted and kept out of landfills

Innovations in our e-waste removal business

We helped even more organizations empower people and protect the planet from e-waste by donating their technology.

Fact: consumers and employees alike are choosing to only spend money and time with organizations who are taking active steps to empower people and protect the planet. That’s why our Business Development team focused much of last year on making it even easier for our partners to transform decommissioned technology into positive social and environmental impacts. By the end of the year, we’d helped a total of 357 organizations divert over 3.4 million pounds of e-waste – a 21% increase over the amount we diverted in 2021. Not only that but, in 2022, we incentivized 189 new organizations to join our fight against the e-waste crisis – a testament to our team’s ability to attract and retain customers.

Anchoring this phenomenal success was our belief that crafting an industry-leading donor experience was going to be critical to compel even more organizations to support our mission. This necessitated cross-departmental collaboration to continually improve our processes throughout the year, as we know that little changes in everyday behaviors lead to huge impacts. Nowhere was this dedication to creative collaboration more evident than in our successful pursuit of NAID AAA and ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 certifications.

Acquiring these certifications required our facilities to pass multiple days-long audits from representatives from the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) and the International Standards Organization (ISO). During these audits, every element of our data destruction practices—from our operational security to our hiring practices—was evaluated to make sure we operated in accordance with the toughest standards in the data destruction industry.

This immense accomplishment was bolstered by a number of other efforts, including engaging our donors’ employees by hosting nationwide technology donation drives and streamlining our donation process by distributing shipping labels and establishing remote data wiping capabilities. These improvements have helped us facilitate the world-class e-waste removal and refurbishment services our customers deserve and, in the process, make it easier than ever for our partners to do well by doing good.

To learn more about how Human-I-T is helping organizations across the globe improve the health and wellbeing of their communities click the button below.

Learn more about Human-I-T's e-waste services

Philanthropic Progress

We partnered with our philanthropic donors to turn their contributions into innovative solutions that drive digital equity.

By late 2020, it became apparent that shrinking an issue as vast as the digital divide could not be viewed as simply “solving” a crisis.

As technology continues to rapidly shape our lives, there will always be populations in need of assistance in keeping up. Successfully addressing this issue would require a collaborative exercise in crisis management, with nonprofits assuming the role of experts who co-create solutions with philanthropic partners to pressing issues.

Recognizing this paradigm shift, our philanthropic donors spent the past two years taking immense care to build out internal systems, resources, and networks to support non-profits like Human-I-T as we fought to change our recipients’ lives.

Likewise, our Philanthropy team spent much of 2022 improving their own processes and procedures to make it easy for our partners to see how their donations were impacting people in their communities. This was accomplished by collaborating with our Marketing department to facilitate new methods of donations, like cryptocurrency and monthly giving programs, as well as with our Programs department to identify community-based organizations who could enable the impacts our donors most sought out to create.

Thanks to these efforts, our philanthropic donors not only helped us surpass our fundraising goal by over a million dollars, but their genuine partnership in the fight for digital equity also enabled some of our most exciting and important projects to date.

For some partners, donating to us in 2022 was a matter of expanding their pre-existing support. One of our partners, AT&T, provided us an additional $5 million in funding, on top of a grant they’d provided to us in 2021, to help equip over 16,000 households with devices and technical support. This gift will help us greatly expand the reach of our programmatic services not only across the country – but across the globe.

On the flip side, some first-time donors contributed to help us stand up entirely new initiatives. One of the most impactful examples of this came in the form of a $1 million gift from a private individual, which we used to pilot our cutting-edge digital navigation model with 100 individuals last year. We intend to standardize and roll out this model throughout 2023 to ensure that every one of our recipients gets access to the digital technology and internet connectivity that will best allow them to unlock their full potential.

2023 will only build on this success, as our team is already making great strides in crafting highly-personalized giving experiences to incentivize more organizations to join our mission of creating sustainable and equitable impacts in their communities.

To learn more about how Human-I-T is helping organizations activate their staff around the causes of digital equity and workplace sustainability, click the link below.

Learn more about Human-I-T's corporate sponsorship opportunities

We strengthened our relationships with government officials and got closer to the communities we served.

The digital divide and e-waste crisis cannot be effectively addressed solely by the efforts of private entities or non-profit organizations. To achieve tangible progress, it is crucial for government institutions to act as a third prong of support if these issues are to be remedied. Our success in elevating Detroit’s digital equity efforts demonstrates this point, as it was the combined support from private, public, and non-profit partners that enabled us to make significant strides in overcoming the city’s digital divide.

Therefore, in 2022, we worked diligently to refine our strategy for collaborating with government officials at the municipal, state, and federal levels. We recognized that sharing our expertise and perspective with them would be crucial in establishing ourselves as a key partner who could improve the lives of their constituents through our work as a leading digital inclusion practitioner. By continually enhancing our processes, we were able to leverage the resources and support of our government partners to make a significant impact on various populations across the country.

Opening our first-ever physical retail store in Detroit: a testament to our ongoing commitment to Motor City

As 2021 came to an end, we took pride in the remarkable progress we had made in establishing Detroit as a national frontrunner in digital inclusion. Since our arrival in late 2020, we had already equipped tens of thousands of Detroit residents with personal technology, internet connectivity, and the training necessary to thrive in the digital economy.

Though we had made significant strides, we knew there was still much to achieve. Our goal of providing digital access to every Detroiter demanded a steadfast presence in the communities we served. This realization inspired us to embark on an ambitious journey – the launch of Detroit’s first-ever digital equity-focused retail space on 7 Mile Road.

We envisioned a place where all Detroit residents, regardless of income, could receive support in accessing and utilizing technology and the internet. In a city where one in three residents still face challenges in finding online opportunities, this space would be more than just a concept; it would be a transformative force.

Eager to make this vision a reality, we sought to strengthen existing partnerships with local officials and forge new ones – all while continuing to collaborate with our partners in the private sector. Our efforts were rewarded by partners like Rocket and GM, who provided critical gap funding that allowed this project to take shape. Their financial backing allowed us to dedicate most of 2022 to designing, constructing, and readying this visionary space for its grand opening in mid-2023.

This store’s opening is set to revolutionize the way we assist our recipients, and it’s not an exaggeration. Beyond providing a tangible sense of community, it will complement our digital navigation model to offer face-to-face conversations that empower our recipients. This means we can support them both in-person and remotely, helping them access the technology they need to unlock their full potential and achieve their goals. This store represents the first of many more exciting ways that we intend to build on our mission of helping Detroit set the example for what it looks like when you invest in your community.

Our close ties with LA county officials gave us a huge opportunity to empower thousands of Angelenos with digital access

From day one, we have sought out partnerships with local officials to help spread our mission throughout the area. Our efforts have paid off over time, as our relationships in and around LA County have presented us with numerous opportunities to expand our programmatic services and offer vital connectivity to tens of thousands of Angelenos.

In 2022, we took our partnership with LA County to the next level. We were selected to assist the county in providing 3,500 refurbished devices to low-income Angelenos over the course of 2023. This groundbreaking contract has the potential to be renewed for up to four years, meaning that we could connect up to 14,000 Angelenos to vital online resources by 2026.

Over the coming year, we will be working hand in hand with LA County to promote this program throughout its 88 cities. Our goal is to raise awareness and encourage individuals throughout the county to secure the digital access they need to thrive. As the first program of its kind in the country, we hope to showcase its success and inspire other cities and states across the US to take similar, bold actions to promote equitable access to digital technology.

Our support helped push a groundbreaking piece of Federal legislation over the finish line

We’ve long held that the e-waste crisis is not a problem of scarcity, but one of allocation. Now, thanks to our close collaboration with our allies in digital inclusion, the Federal government is poised to act like that’s the case with the passage of the Computers for Veterans and Students Act—otherwise known as the COVS Act.

The bill, which was introduced in Congress in mid-2020, underwent nearly two and a half years of intense legislative revisions, as well as guidance from our staff and other digital inclusion organizations, before finally being passed on a bipartisan basis and signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023.

Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia’s 7th District proposed this vital bill, which now mandates that the federal government permit certified, nonprofit refurbishing companies to directly obtain, refurbish, and distribute surplus government computers to veterans and others in need of a device. In addition, each nonprofit computer refurbisher receiving computers must provide training programs in the use of this technology.

We are thrilled to see how this bill will improve the lives of those in need by facilitating greater access to technology. We also look forward to deepening our relationships with our colleagues in government to effect real, lasting change that addresses the systemic issues we are most passionate about.

Learn more about how Human-I-T's government partnerships

Community Impact

It’s important—no, imperative—to us that we create opportunity by cultivating equity and empowerment, especially in access to information and technology for under-resourced communities. In order to do this, we prioritize being physically present in the communities we serve while also advocating for digital equity and environmental sustainability wherever we go.

HITConnect got rebranded into the Human-I-T Online Store

When we first launched Human-I-T, our main focus was on increasing access to digital technology for households in need by donating devices and internet connectivity. However, we quickly realized that this donations-only model wasn’t going to be enough to make a significant impact on the digital divide. We needed to do more. That’s why we created HITConnect, our first-ever eCommerce platform.

As the popularity of HITConnect grew, we saw opportunities to enhance the platform and improve the customer experience. This led us to set a goal at the start of 2022 to relaunch the store under a new, more distinct identity that would clearly reflect our mission of providing equitable access to online opportunities. And thus, the Human-I-T Online Store was born.

After a year of meticulous planning, preparation, and design, we finally unveiled the new and improved store to the public on October 4, 2022. The rebrand was met with overwhelming praise, not only from our recipients but from partner organizations who hailed the reopening of the store as a major step forward in making it easier and more enjoyable for our users—who largely rely on mobile devices—to find the digital technology and internet connectivity solutions that best suit their needs and budget.

We are thrilled with the positive response to the Human-I-T Online Store and are committed to continuing our mission of bridging the digital divide and expanding access to online opportunities for all.

Check it out for yourself by clicking the link below. Who knows – you might even find something you like.

Shop at Human-I-T Online

We launched a new form of support that’s going to shake up the digital inclusion ecosystem

At Human-I-T, we’ve consistently advocated for digital inclusion work to be viewed as a system that upholds access to four distinct pillars of digital connectedness – digital devices, internet connectivity, digital skills training, and technical support – to give individuals the best shot at being able to take full advantage of technology.

However, in recent years, we’ve begun experimenting with different ways to optimize how this system actually works for our recipients. That’s why, in 2022, we launched our cutting-edge digital navigation model of support which we piloted with 100 individuals throughout the year.

This innovative model prioritizes lending holistic, ongoing support to individuals that focuses on helping them access the right mix of personal technology, internet connectivity, digital training, and technical support they need to achieve their personal goals online.

Given the success of this pilot, we intend to standardize and roll out this model throughout 2023 to empower even more people with individualized support in their journey to become fully-connected digital citizens.

To learn more about this innovative model of providing digital support, click the button below.

Learn more about Human-I-T's digital navigation model

We helped communities across the globe for the very first time

A lack of access to affordable technology and internet service puts low-income and rural people —especially those from minority communities – at a unique disadvantage, both here in the USA and across the globe.

That’s why, in October 2022, Human-I-T joined Visa Canada in Toronto to launch Visa’s groundbreaking Visa Digital Empowerment pilot program, as well as distribute 50 Chromebooks to Canadian newcomers, followed by a workshop to teach them the basics of using a computer and navigating the internet.

By the end of the Digital Empowerment program, over 400 devices will be given to non-profit organizations in Toronto supporting Canadian newcomers and providing them with the digital tools and resources they need to thrive in their new communities.

This activation stands as a shining example of how partnerships between the private and non-profit sector play a pivotal role in not only by leaning on the expertise of non-profits like Human-I-T, organizations like Visa can work with nonprofits to cultivate digital equity and, as a result, create a more wholly equitable society.

We engaged directly with Los Angeles’ future community leaders—its students!

For nearly a decade, local governments in Los Angeles have been finding creative ways to ensure their constituents have the digital tools, resources, and connectivity they need.

It came as no surprise that LA County took immediate action to leverage ARPA funding to ensure that all Angelenos have digital access. As the second-largest county in the US, it was apparent that every county nationwide would be watching closely to see how LA County tackled its digital inclusion goals in 2022, setting a precedent for others to follow.

We were thrilled when the County invited us to participate in their inaugural Tech Empowerment Day. On October 8th, more than 3,200 middle- and high-school students from across Los Angeles County gathered at SoFi Stadium to learn about technology from 20 different organizations. As one of these organizations, we knew that simply talking at the students about our work was not enough. These students were out of school on a Thursday and deserved to have fun, so we stepped up to the challenge.

At our booth, we challenged students to upgrade three key computer components as quickly as possible. The top five fastest times of the day would be awarded a free laptop. It was an opportunity for students to engage with technology hands-on and develop their skills while having fun.

By the end of the event, although exhausted, we were filled with pride knowing that we’d allowed hundreds of students to have fun while learning about our work by seeing firsthand how easy it is to repair technology and keep it usable.

Some of our partners joined us in getting out into their communities to empower their neighbors with digital access

We always get excited as we head into the first week of October, as it marks the arrival of Digital Inclusion Week: a national celebration of the work that digital inclusion practitioners like Human-I-T undertake in service of building a more equitable society. Over the past few years, we’ve used that week as an opportunity to creatively engage different partners and supporting organizations around the cause of digital equity.

This past year, however, our colleagues over at General Motors decided to get ahead of the curve and show us themselves how committed their staff is to the mission of driving digital equity in Detroit by collaborating with our team for an initiative in late September known as the General Motors Day of Service.

Held on September 20, the GM Day of Service with Human-I-T began with our staff leading GM employees on a tour of our facilities in Detroit, where they got a firsthand look at how we take donated business technology, wipe its data, and refurbish it, and transform it into devices that people all over the world can use to uncover new opportunities online.

The fun didn’t stop there, though. We then took these GM employees on a ride along through Detroit and let them partake in what is perhaps the most rewarding aspect of our work: actually distributing the devices to people in need. By the end of the day, GM employees had helped Human-I-T distribute 160 devices to 16 organizations across all 7 districts of Detroit.

We couldn’t have been more thrilled with how this event went. Not just because we know these devices went to good use, but because this event’s success demonstrates the power that partnerships between private entities and non-profits can make when both organizations want to make a real, tangible difference in their communities, not by signing a check or standing for a photo op, but by rolling up their sleeves and actually helping do the work necessary to improve the lives of people in their communities.

Diverse Perspectives

Our work at Human-I-T is only possible because of our penchant for listening to other humans

For the past decade, Human-I-T has leveraged the input and feedback of everyone—from our employees, to our recipients, to the people who live in the different communities we serve—to shape how we approach digital inclusion.

After all, it is our belief that practicing radical transparency is key to helping us efficiently discover the truth, and that creating an environment where diverse perspectives are valued allows the best ideas to rise to the top.

Adherence to these values has been the backbone of so many of our most pivotal and impactful projects over the years, and 2022 proved to us that, by listening first and doing second, we are more equipped than ever to bridge the digital divide and drive digital equity in communities across the globe.

Stories of Opportun-I-T

Hear from our recipients about how equitable access to technology and information impacts their lives

Partner Highlights

Why our partners in the fight against e-waste, like FloQast, feel it’s imperative to donate their technology to Human-I-T

Streets of Curios-I-T

We have questions, and the people have answers

Our Donors
The key to promoting digital access
Financials
2021–2022

AT&T Foundation

Anonymous

Visa Inc.

The General Motors Foundation

The Rocket Community Fund

The Ahmanson Foundation

The City of Long Beach

The Cisco Foundation

TD SYNNEX

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell

Wine Warehouse

Essex Property Trust

Microsoft Corporation

Michael and Kim Wilkins

Microsoft Corporation

Venable Foundation

Cox Charities

The Accenture Foundation

Dell Giving

Evalyn M. Bauer Foundation

Palo Alto Networks

Southern California Edison

The Union Pacific Foundation

California Water Service Group

Athena Thomas

Alisan Amrhein
Katerli Bounds
Chad Brown
Rebecca Brown Smith
Carter Covington
Gerald Cuesta
Will DeCamp
Timothy Dennig
Richard Elinson
Brigitte Erickson
Brooke Forsythe
Marjorie Foster
Edith Garcia
Gig Harbor High School Key Club
Vanessa Gorski
Jonathan Green
Daniel Harris
Kyra Jones
Lisa Kirkpatrick
Kara Lang
Benjamin Liu
Felix Mallard
Kerry McLeish
Rebecca McLeod
Theresa Mulligan
Kari Ortloff-Evernden
Samantha Pavich
Richelle Pittella
Nora Poulton
Revamped Recycling, LLC
Kathryn Rowland
Tod Scherwin

The California Emerging Technology Fund

Comcast

Digitunity

L.A. Care Health Plan

The Herbert R. & Jeanne C. Mayer Foundation

The City of Detroit

Spectrum Digital Education

MUFG Union Bank Foundation

The California Public Utilities Commission

The Rudolph J. and Daphne A. Munzer Foundation

Sheila Ortloff

Craig Newmark Philanthropies

The William C. Bannerman Foundation

The Michelson 20MM Foundation

PayPal

The Clif Family Foundation

eBay

Chegg

WarnerMedia

Intersport

Laserfiche

Sandler Partners

McMaster-Carr Supply Company

American First National Bank

Renaissance Charitable

CNY Global Foundation

The Bess J. Hodges Foundation

Perry Wright

Jason Becker

The Smart and Final Charitable Foundation

Overwatch Group LLC

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Gregg Bussjaeger Memorial

Enersys

Tae Lim

Erik Rogers

Sol Sepsenwol
Slava Serpik
Kiaran Snyder
Matt Stofka
Dayna Svoboda
Leilani Terrell
Theo Travers
Michael Werbow
Nicholas Whise
Jermane White
Iris Yamashita
Guy Yeshayahu
Emanuel Zaya
גיא ישעיהו

AT&T Foundation

Anonymous

Visa Inc.

The General Motors Foundation

The Rocket Community Fund

The Ahmanson Foundation

The City of Long Beach

The Cisco Foundation

The California Emerging Technology Fund

Comcast

Digitunity

L.A. Care Health Plan

The Herbert R. & Jeanne C. Mayer Foundation

The City of Detroit

Spectrum Digital Education

MUFG Union Bank Foundation

The California Public Utilities Commission

The Rudolph J. and Daphne A. Munzer Foundation

Sheila Ortloff

Craig Newmark Philanthropies

The William C. Bannerman Foundation

The Michelson 20MM Foundation

TD SYNNEX

Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell

Wine Warehouse

Essex Property Trust

Microsoft Corporation

Michael and Kim Wilkins

Microsoft Corporation

Venable Foundation

Cox Charities

The Accenture Foundation

Dell Giving

Evalyn M. Bauer Foundation

Palo Alto Networks

Southern California Edison

The Union Pacific Foundation

California Water Service Group

Athena Thomas

PayPal

The Clif Family Foundation

eBay

Chegg

WarnerMedia

Intersport

Laserfiche

WarnerMedia

Sandler Partners

McMaster-Carr Supply Company

American First National Bank

Renaissance Charitable

CNY Global Foundation

The Bess J. Hodges Foundation

Perry Wright

Jason Becker

The Smart and Final Charitable Foundation

Overwatch Group LLC

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Gregg Bussjaeger Memorial

Enersys

Tae Lim

Erik Rogers

Financials

In 2021, Human-I-T heavily invested our resources into people, technology, and process. Specifically, we expanded employee benefits for all staff, refreshed and updated our brand experience across all channels, and built the foundations for long-term growth by initiating a number of large-scale improvement projects. Broadly, we’re focused on providing delightful experiences through services for tech donors, community partners, and recipients alike. These improvements will enable Human-I-T to better support our existing customers and expand market share through new customer acquisition.

Disclosure Statement: Financial statements depicted are from internally generated reports, have not yet been audited, and may be adjusted before Human-I-T’s financial audit is produced. Audited statements are available upon request.

Your support will continue to make all the difference.

Over the past ten years, individuals like you have ensured that we had the support necessary to expand the reach of our programmatic services and empower an ever-increasing number of people with access to digital technology.

Now, with one of our most successful years behind us, we ask that you continue to contribute to our mission of creating a world where everyone has equal access to the digital resources, connectivity, and support they need to unlock their full potential.