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The nonprofit Aspire Community Capital has a bold mission: Put business owners in under-resourced communities on the path to entrepreneurial success. But tech capacity was holding them back.   

Thanks to some IT associates from Retail Business Services, Aspire now has a tech game plan.  

On April 29, about a dozen IT associates from Salisbury, N.C., helped Aspire and three other Charlotte, N.C., nonprofits tackle tech issues during a day-long RBS Cares Pro Bono Day of Service, facilitated by the tech-oriented nonprofit, Apparo. 

“This allowed us to take experts in the room and get their help on what we need to do,” said Manuel Campbell, Aspire’s CEO. “We are super excited about getting things started and look forward to staying in touch with everybody.”  

Other participating nonprofits included Stiletto Boss University, which helps young women build social capital; Profound Gentlemen, which is building a community of male educators of color to make a profound impact on boys of color; and Black Leadership Social Capital Initiative, which recruits Black talent for executive-level leadership roles at nonprofits.  

Working in small groups, Retail Business Services associates offered advice on software and researched free and discounted products. To help facilitate those purchases, RBS Cares donated $2,500 to each of the nonprofits.  

“Based on our culture, our purpose and our values, I saw this as an excellent opportunity to give back and to engage with the community,” said Deepesh Bhandari, Vice President of Cloud Platform & Infrastructure Services at RBS.

As the event wrapped up, many participants exchanged contact information to continue their volunteer work.  

“Awesome group, awesome concept and a tremendous amount of opportunity on the horizon,” said one Retail Business Services associate.