The act of sharing is a foreign concept for many, especially in the professional industry. A company’s resources and an employee’s valuable assets are utilized strictly for the bottom line.
The Irving-based data solutions company, Teknion, is going against this ideology. The shift began when Steve Agee, Teknion’s president, began asking how he could help, particularly in this climate.
Ryan Leak, well-known author, speaker, executive coach and friend of Agee, told him to “lend his access.” Agee thought about leveraging Teknion to partner with neighboring schools.
“We’re in one of the hottest careers with great pay and lots of opportunity to be promoted,” says Agee of his field. “I also had access to people [at Teknion] that were passionate about giving back.”
Dan Wouters, senior consultant for Teknion, reached out to Singley Academy’s technology teacher, Deanna Barnes, to gauge interest in a potential partnership and even made an introductory video to introduce the company. Barnes was immediately onboard.
Wouters, along with several colleagues including Lauren Perez, Eaujenae Francisco, Brian Vinson and Kyle Cook, began working with the School of Innovative Technology at Singley in the spring of 2020.
Teknion created a curriculum for the students, utilizing the first semester to talk about their work in the tech field and the abundance of jobs in data, including visual analytics, data quality, data science and data governance. In the fall, Teknion created hands-on experiences for the students including building the interface of a website and working with Tableau, one of the company’s most utilized tools. Thanks to a request from Teknion, Tableau has issued free licenses to the Singley students, an offer that is normally reserved for college students. Students will also score a visit to Globe Life Field, one of Teknion’s premier clients.
The partnership has been extremely beneficial for both. Teknion sees this as an opportunity to grow and diversify their field, hoping they might be grooming the next set of leaders for the organization. Singley Academy is just as grateful. These students are gaining knowledge and skills that will put them light-years ahead of their peers.
“I am so grateful for the entire team at Teknion; they’re serving our campus and our community so passionately and so graciously,” says Barnes. “They have brought life to our classroom experience in a way that impacts each student individually, in a manner that helps them curiously realize how to grow into our world.”
Teknion is hoping other organizations follow suit.
“Just reach out,” says Agee. “Lend your access. You are blessed for a reason to be a blessing to others. How can you lend your access? How can you make a generational impact?”
A generational impact is exactly what Teknion is doing.
To learn more about Teknion and the impact they are making, visit their website. To begin a partnership with Irving ISD, visit the Partners in Education website at IrvingISD.net/PIE.
