EOD is incredibly fortunate to have the support of so many community members. These supporters have strengthened EOD’s capacity to fulfill our mission, and provided inspiration and knowledge that has directly benefited thousands of students in the Dallas area. We are thankful, and hope to honor, our pro bono volunteers, whose contributions to EOD have been truly invaluable.
Today we have three specific companies to honor who support us in unique and necessary ways. Urgensee has provided over 3 years of support for our customer relationship management systems, including help that we received before we even really knew what help we needed. Urgensee’s donated time for EOD over the past year is estimated to value $12,000. Through Urgensee’s support, EOD has developed a comprehensive platform that uniquely meets our ever-evolving needs, and allows us to track programs, manage book inventory for all 7 editions of our student manual, manage all grants comprehensively, and organize our database of supporters. Urgensee’s staff have spent countless hours meeting with me and my colleagues to build this platform, and Dan Woodward, Urgensee’s owner and founder, is always available to lend his knowledge, skills, and guidance. Dan is so gracious in accommodating our last minute emails for ticket sales or event registration, and has never turned us away for having too short of a deadline. Dan also makes the trek all the way from Houston to Dallas to show support for EOD at our events and fundraisers. We are truly so grateful and appreciative of his tireless dedication to our work and mission!
Little did I know when starting a nonprofit that I would need constant legal work to support programs and operations. Not only was this an unexpectedly costly need, but it could have significantly slowed our progression of expanding to serve students with the vital information of how to make their dreams a reality. Andrews Kurth LLP has solved this problem for our us by generously accepting EOD as their first comprehensive pro-bono client. They now provide legal guidance for any question, as well as review of contracts, creation of legal documents, and solutions to other organization needs at no cost to EOD! The estimated value of Andrews Kurth’s donated time to EOD is $20,000. Andrews Kurth has also supported us with trademark needs, bylaws and other governance documents, employment agreements, and Program License Agreements and Publicity Waivers for our schools and students in academic year 2016-2017. We truly could not do the work that we do without their generous and exemplary work.
We have also received generous support in the world of technology. While our team is multi-talented and able to support our organization in many capacities, we have not yet been so fortunate to find a team member who is also skilled at computer coding. Filling just this niche, Nguyen Tran has been incredibly generous and supportive in solving EOD’s many technology needs. Nguyen was one of the original developers for EOD’s teacher portal for a discounted rate in the summer of 2013, which provides teachers with access to EOD’s powerpoints, curriculum, and additional program supports. Additionally, Nguyen has continued to provide other technology supports for EOD pro bono, including developing new functions for each iteration of the teacher portal and providing me with advice and ongoing technology and emotional support when our website inevitably malfunctions or another late-night technology emergency crops up. His support has been the ongoing counter-balance to my technology curse, which always seems to rear its ugly head at just the wrong moment Nguyen started his own company, NT Tech4Less, and has this to say about his personal journey and his partnership with EOD: “I finally achieved the American Dream after 12 years of hard work. It all started when I decided to come here (to the U.S) as an exchange student to receive a better education. EOD’s vision simply struck the right notes for me.” We are so grateful to receive Nguyen’s amazing support and be witness to his journey!
Empowering over 15,000 students to make their college aspirations a reality over the past 4 years has been inspiring, rewarding, and truly connecting. As we look forward and prepare for the upcoming school year, we acknowledge that we have been blessed beyond imagination with the support of a generous and talented community that is so giving of their time and skills. Together, we aim to impact over 8,000 students in the 2016-2017 academic year. Thank you to each of you for your commitment to and belief in our students’ potential. Together, we are supporting the dreams of the next generation, and we at EOD believe there is no greater task.
Thank you again,
Jayda Batchelder
Founder and Executive Director
