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The Story
Sean Adams (@SeanAdams) had invited me to come to India, saying that they were starting up the user group, and it would be great if I could come for the inauguration. And at first I said, no, I can't make it. But then I decided I could. I had a business trip to Amsterdam, and then I added on the trip to India from there.
When I got there, the people in India were just so welcoming. And what we did was not only rebooted the user group, but we also helped with the launch of Alteryx for Good. I helped the leaders, Yug (@ydmuley) and Nez (@Nezrin), who are both now ACEs. They struggled to get their foot in the door with charities for Alteryx for Good, and so I gave them some advice on things that I had done here in the states.
The strategy that I shared with them was that it’s best to lead with manpower rather than Alteryx. One way to do this is by asking, how can we help? Can we dig holes? Clean rooms? Whatever it might be, we want to help. And that worked for them to start working with a charity.
We ended up going to a children's AIDS hospital/school that really functioned as an orphanage. The majority of the kids had lost at least one parent, many two parents.
There was a board at the school that basically showed mortality rates—the kids were on such high doses of dangerous medicines that it suppressed their appetite, their activity level decreased, their learning level decreased, then they got sick, and things got complicated from there. Every month or so, they would try to look at those numbers to figure out which kids were at risk.
And there we were, a group of people armed with laptops and Excel. We transcribed all that information into data that could then be ready to help the school identify more rapidly who was at risk.
Being with the kids was heart-wrenching and led us to ask, can we do more? And in fact, Alteryx for Good did go back. They painted rooms. They set up a computer lab. They did all sorts of stuff for the kids. And really, my part in it was so minimal—I was just there. But being there and being present and open to these other opportunities is amazing.
The Impact
Stories like this don’t normally happen when you are on the sidelines—but it happened for me because I stepped onto the field, and it happens for other people when they engage. The ACEs are such a sharing and giving group.
I may seem unique, but I'm really not because anyone can use Alteryx for the purpose of helping others. It’s not about the boots I wear or anything—it's this openness and sharing and giving that Alteryx kind of unlocked in me. I created a habit of helping people in the Alteryx Community and then that spread.
The stories that I heard while I was in India of people overcoming challenges they’ve faced and what they've done are so much more impactful to me than anything that I may have done. And so I get to live life richer because of Alteryx.
Since then, I have raised my hand to any opportunity to help with Alteryx—whether that’s doing a hackathon about the opioid epidemic for the Department of Health and Human Services or brainstorming ways to support Ukraine at Inspire. And I’m passionate about looking for other people that haven't participated to be able to go and participate as well.
I encourage others to share their time with others. If you need help finding someone or something to connect with, ask for guidance. For me, I often look at others as more giving and think that I am an imposter in the giving world. That’s when I walk onto the field again and get my next boost of giving adrenaline. It’s like hitting the run button on your first workflow all over again.
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I get to live life richer because of Alteryx.
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This is the second article in a new series on the Alter.Nation blog--Alteryx Impact Stories. If Alteryx has been a game-changer for you, pitch us your story! You can fill out the submission form here.
