A Company with a Purpose. Tech for Good.
Creating Impact in the Bay Area for over 25 Years.
Social Impact Inspired by Social Justice
In the early 1990s while teaching at a public middle school in San Francisco, Varsity Founder Patrick Ciccarelli uncovered an opportunity to help children learn by bringing technology into the classroom.
Encouraged by seeing how access to technology changed the students’ relationship to learning, he was later inspired to establish a program called the Cisco Networking Academy. Located at San Francisco State University, the newly formed program helped students prepare for careers in the IT industry. Students who may not have considered IT were able to start long lasting careers throughout the Silicon Valley. The Cisco Networking Academy became one of the largest training institutes for technology at the time.
Based on his love of education and driven by his belief that “technology can be strategic”, Patrick launched Varsity Technologies which has been servicing the Bay Area and beyond for more than 25 years. Varsity works primarily with nonprofits and mission driven organizations with an eye on how to help them achieve greater social impact.
Social Impact in Our DNA
Partnering with us will enable your organization to:
- Meet your current needs
- Achieve your goals and objectives
- Deliver consistent, quality support services to those whom you serve.
Service is a Core Value
We designed our customer experience model around our core value “Relentless Service to Others”. We have built our business on going above and beyond to bring our customers the best value even when it’s not the most beneficial to us!
We will work tirelessly to research an appropriate solution for your needs even if it is outside our wheelhouse. We know you are dealing with complex issues in the community. We honor this by continuously finding ways to help technology enhance the impact your services provide.
Benefit Corporations – Aligning Purpose and Practice
Varsity was born out of a commitment to help students and educators. And the passion and purpose that spanned a decade of good work in the Bay Area expanded to the social impact sector. But doing good isn’t enough for any organization; one must put a stake in the ground – and lead the next generation of businesses.
In 2011, Varsity began the process of becoming a Benefit corporation. Like non-profits, we knew that Varsity should only exist for the long term if the mission of the organization was grounded in our existence, our practices, in addition to our values. Action speaks louder than words.
In 2012, we were accepted as a B Corp member. And just months later we became only the third company in California to change its corporate structure to a formal Benefit Corporation.
You can make this change as well. Learn how to become a Benefit Corporation.
As a benefit corporation in California, we made a commitment, a legal responsibility, to provide community good to the people of California. We took action that was more than accolades, certifications, symbols or words. We went all in – and we are even more committed today.
Varsity has committed to three aspects of being a for profit for good. And these binding commitments lead us and challenge us every day in running our organization.
Planet: Since our inception, Varsity’s founder, Patrick Ciccarelli [link], has been committed to Environmental causes (dating as far back as his firth Earth day in 1990). Varsity continues this commitment with our most recent accomplishment: Carbon neutral in 2020.
People: Creating a workforce that reflects our community isn’t always easy. It takes ingenuity and the belief that everyone should have an opportunity to build a career. Our approach to diversity, inclusion, and equity starts with engaging and supporting people.
Community: We serve the greater good of the communities around us, not just to our bottom line. And that started with our commitment to work with non-profits, schools, and social impact organizations. Our focus is our strength.
Our recent initiatives and successes in pursuit of these commitments speaks to our bold leadership and our relentless pursuit of impact. Some say we’ve accomplished more in the past 5 years than many companies achieve in their entire existence.
- 2021, 2020: Achieve Carbon Neutral Status
- 2021: Achieve Goal of Minority and Gender Diversity
- 2020: 100% EV Vehicle Fleet
- 2019: Central California Internship Program to Increase Diversity in Tech
- 2016: Reduce Carbon footprint by 75%
- 2014: California Green Certified Business
- 2012: B Corp Member and Benefit Corporation
- 2011: 25% Reduction in Carbon Footrprint through Hybrid Work Program
\We are stopping and we aren’t finished yet. Over the next 5 years we will continue to innovate on how to encourage growth of women in tech, women in leadership, and technology for measurable impact.
Read more about our sustainability efforts and our commitment to our planet.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion continue to be a top priority to this day. Read more about it here.
