My name is Ashley Mathews and I am currently serving as the Communications Coordinator for Grassroots.org through the AmeriCorps Community Technology Center * Volunteers in Service to America (CTC*VISTA) program.
The program places individuals with nonprofit organizations that use information and technology to address the needs of low-income communities. Once a CTC*VISTA is placed within an organization his or her job is to build capacity for that organization.
As a VISTA with Grassroots.org, I have seen firsthand how nonprofits make a difference in communities all over the world—and how much larger an impact they can make with the power of technology at their fingertips. For instance, when Grassroots.org provides an organzation with free web hosting or domain name registration, it is the beginning of a Pay It Forward-style movement. Equipped with a website, a nonprofit organization can provide better services to their constituents. In turn, their constituents can spread the word about the service to others (promoting their services and perhaps even helping to build support for the organization).
Being a part of this process helps me to fulfill my personal definition of a successful AmeriCorps CTC*VISTA: someone who believes technology can be used as tool in the fight against poverty, and who helps others to harness the power of such tools to make change. In this way the experience of being a CTC*VISTA has been extremely valuable to me—and I believe my service has been valuable to others as well!
