After 15 years of successful golf tournaments, 2021 has been our best year yet. It is no secret that unprecedented challenges and obstacles from the past year have caused all of us to pivot in the event arena. Despite these difficulties, we have been able to reach incredible milestones for our organization through new opportunities to connect with our sponsors.

2021 has been a year of make-ups, do-overs, and finally getting to do things that we couldn’t in 2020. That includes the 14th Annual Tee IT Up for TechBridge Golf Tournament, which was postponed from October 2020 to April 2021. This tournament looked different than any other, as we took extra precautions to keep our golfers, sponsors, volunteers, and staff as safe as possible. We staggered our golfers with tee times instead of having the traditional shotgun start. For the first time ever, TechBridge held two of these awesome tournaments in a single year.

Although different, both of these golf tournaments were made special by the people who made it all possible. There was a rare, exciting happening at our April tournament — a hole-in-one! With so many memories, smiles, and monumental moments in April, we couldn’t wait to host another Tee IT Up for TechBridge — and apparently, you couldn’t wait to come to one! Our 15^th tournament, held October 25^th of this year, was our most-attended tournament yet. And it’s all thanks to the amazing people who attend these events, both longtime supporters and the new friends who have joined the TechBridge community.

Now, let’s take a look back at some things that have stayed the same throughout this tournament’s storied history.

Georgia CIO and SIM Atlanta have been presenting this tournament since day 1 — and have been kind enough to name TechBridge the beneficiary every year. Our fantastic community members at these two organizations value our work, and we value their support. It’s through the generosity of our community partners, not just with Tee IT Up, but with all our initiatives across our four pillars that we can continue our work of breaking the cycle of generational poverty through the innovative use of technology. A huge thanks for everything Georgia CIO and SIM Atlanta have done and continue to do for TechBridge!

Mark Farbman, Chief Revenue Officer at ASK Consulting, has been a behind-the-scenes coördinator for every single tournament we have held. He has played a major role in building this tournament into the success that it is today, and we couldn’t be more grateful. Mark generously gives his time and resources to encourage sponsors and executives from major tech companies to come out for a day of golfing and networking — as well as helping with the logistics of the tournament. His consistency throughout these last 15 years has been vital to the success of the tournament.

Another steadfast feature of this golf tournament is the fantastic networking opportunity it provides. TechBridge is a nonprofit, yes, but we are also a tech company. That means that a lot of our community are tech executives and C-Suite leaders of some of the most influential companies in the industry. The leaders of these big organizations know that technology has the capacity to change the way a company, industry, and society operate. They know how valuable technology can be in the nonprofit sector, too, which is part of the reason they have spent at least one Monday with us for the past 15 years, golfing, networking, and supporting our mission.

TechBridge is thrilled to offer events like this that give our community opportunities to enjoy themselves, engage with like-minded individuals, and support our work. As we continue to expand, we plan to bring more tournaments like this to golf courses near you, so keep an eye out for a Tee IT Up for TechBridge Golf Tournament in your neck of the woods!

Before we wrap up, we need to thank all of our incredible volunteers, both from TechBridge and from other organizations. You do the sometimes unseen hard work that is necessary to put events like these on, and we are forever grateful. We need to thank our sponsors, who came out in droves to fill up each hole on the course, and who provided us with bloody marys, margaritas, and, of course, free swag. Thank you to our IT Executives, who give their valuable time to attend and make it the exciting event that it is. Finally, thank you to all of our nonprofit partners and clients, who are doing the meaningful, impactful, and necessary work that empowers us to do ours.

Interested in getting involved? Our events team will be happy to connect with you. Your foursome win awaits. See you on the green!