Volunteer Sprint: A Transformative Two Weeks for F5ers
What does it mean to find purpose in what you do? It’s a question we often think about at F5. We believe that giving back to the broader community is a big part of finding purpose, and it should be a big part of technology companies, too.
So many of us feel the same way, yet how many times have you heard some version of this? “I’d love to give back, but my job gets in the way.” As our CEO François Locoh-Donou has said, “Rather than F5 being an obstacle, F5 should be an enabler.”
That’s the story behind Volunteer Sprint, which F5 Global Good started in 2023. We give F5ers two fully paid weeks off, outside of normal vacation, to work on a project with a nonprofit organization. Over 70 employees have participated—doing everything from designing social media campaigns to building databases to working on IT projects. We partner with an organization called MovingWorlds to match employees with nonprofits based on the skills and interest of the volunteer and the needs of the nonprofit. The nonprofits represent all corners of the globe and offer a huge diversity of programs and services.
After participating in F5’s Volunteer Sprint program, 77% of F5 employees said they better understand their purpose and 74% said it’s increased their sense of belonging.
In talking with employees, I’ve noticed they initially wonder whether their skills will truly help—a version of imposter syndrome. Afterwards, they were energized. By getting outside their comfort zones, they find meaning, purpose, and more confidence in their value. In all my years working in social impact, this has been the most rewarding program I’ve seen. Employees have told me they've been amazed at how much this experience meant to them. The nonprofits are wildly enthusiastic, too
I’m inspired by everyone who’s participated in this innovative and unique program that F5 is so proud to host. And as we celebrate National Volunteer Week, I’m excited to introduce some of them. Please read on to learn their stories.
Andras Varsanyi
VP, Global Services Support, Singapore
I like to volunteer in my community, but I was looking for something different that really leveraged some of my specific skills. For my Volunteer Sprint, I accepted a role helping a South African organization called Molo Mhlaba that runs Montessori-style schools. My project was to work with the founder to develop a strategic plan using my MBA and 25 years of business and managerial experience.
Essentially, volunteering involves being thrown into something new that you may not have had any experience with before. Signing up for this kind of challenge takes a leap of faith. But so do a lot of things, and over time I’ve learned that if you accept a challenge, you’re going to experience a breakthrough.
Just by talking with Molo Mhlaba’s founder, Rethabile Mashale, I got to experience a different perspective. I helped the organization think more deeply about financials, about team buildout, and making sure the curriculum was scalable.
I loved the experience. I learned a little bit about South Africa, its educational system, and the realities there. I also took away something larger. I use my life experiences in certain ways at F5. Working with Rethabile, I got to combine my school and work and life experiences and mold all that into a different form—which has added to my tool chest and built me as a person.
Veronique Foufelle
Senior Service Delivery Manager, France
During the pandemic, when a lot of people working in hotels lost their jobs, a woman in Florida made it her mission to help as many of them as she could. Soon, a few families turned into dozens, and then scores. Today Bettina Grzeskowiak’s organization, Embrace of Celebration Inc., helps hundreds of low-wage workers and their families with food, clothing, and other needs.
Embrace does a fantastic job with the services, which leaves little time for back-office organization. All of their records were in emails and attachments, and it wasn’t always easy to find what they needed. When I did my Volunteer Sprint, there were 5,000+ emails in desperate need of organization. My job was organizing everything logically, and leaving them with tools to continue.
As I began searching and sorting and reading emails, trying to come up with a system, I came across photos and videos of the volunteers in action. I saw children eagerly waiting for a food delivery from an Embrace truck. I saw how Embrace had helped the families with housing, clothing, toys, household items, and more.
Seeing those photos and videos reinforced that every action, even something as seemingly small as managing documents, can significantly impact the lives of others. Just by organizing all those emails, I really felt like I contributed to helping people on the other side of the ocean.
Lizeth del Real
Customer Success Manager, Mexico
When I first met Eva Liliane Ujeneza, president of the Rwandan Association for Women in Science and Engineering (RAWISE), I had never met anyone from Rwanda before. I didn’t know what to expect. I even doubted, initially, that I could do what she needed for this project.
But I’m passionate about helping women and wanted to try something that would take me out of my comfort zone. The F5 Volunteer Sprint gave me that opportunity. First, I conducted an audit of the organization’s website to see how it could be improved. Then I turned to the second deliverable: creating a tool so they could generate reports about their work. I’m not a data analyst. I didn’t even know where to begin. So I put myself in study mode to figure it out.
In the end, I was able to gather the right data from RAWISE, clean it up, and use it to create a dashboard using Tableau that they could edit over time. I gave them an overview on the tool, how to understand the data being displayed, and how to update it over time. Afterwards, I thought about what I had learned. RAWISE is a very tiny organization and I work at a large global company. Ujeneza is a mathematics professor and I help customers using our data security products. Yet I truly felt a connection. Even though we’re in different parts of the world, we struggle with the same things. It makes you think you’re not alone. In every way, it was a fulfilling experience.
If one coworker reads this and is inspired to join the next Volunteer Sprint, that will feel fulfilling, too.
Steve McCarthy
Senior Principal Engineer, U.S.
When I signed up for Volunteer Sprint, I wanted a challenge. I chose to work with Africa Agility, a Nigeria-based organization that offers IT bootcamps for people from across the African continent. My job was to teach two front-end web development bootcamps, one on HTML and the other on Javascript. I had never done anything like this before, so I got right to work planning.
It involved a lot of preparation. There were six three-hour sessions, held live over Zoom. There were over 50 students, all women, in each session. They were all bright and motivated and engaged with the material. With each session, I learned how to be a better teacher.
The experience underscored how cushy we have it here. Elsewhere in the world, Internet connections and electricity are a lot less reliable, and students had to manage that.
Afterwards, I noticed that some of the students were mentioning it on LinkedIn. One talked about the “spark of excitement” from the class. Another called it an “amazing learning journey.” Africa Agility said the classes “will help shape future leaders.” All of that felt really good. It made me feel like I made a difference.