APARO, TechSoup, CyberPeaceBuilders and PCS offer pro bono cybersecurity help, training and risk scans

Several nonprofit and private-sector partners at the CLTC convening outlined immediate services and programs to support small organizations with limited IT capacity.

Jennifer Ray of APARO described a pro bono model that pairs corporate skilled volunteers with nonprofits for expert advice, training and tailored solutions—services APARO says return roughly $8.50 in value for every dollar invested. APARO’s "tech therapy" help line and customizable training aim to provide low-cost, nonprofit‑aware technical guidance.

TechSoup representatives detailed a technology marketplace that negotiates discounts with software vendors and a new TechSoup Plus membership that bundles one-to-one consultation, on-demand training and peer community support. TechSoup said it has grant funding to offer 20 one-year free TechSoup Plus memberships to attendees.

Xavier Hubert of CyberPeaceBuilders described a volunteer platform that matches cybersecurity experts with nonprofits for proactive assessments (awareness, phishing exercises) and a reactive incident-reporting channel; the organization said it provides templates and EDR or Cloudflare partnerships to limit phishing and to support incident response at no cost.

Dan Hernandez, CEO of PCS Technologies, offered pro bono level‑1 risk assessments (normally priced at about $5,000) to nonprofits present, describing the assessments as a 30‑minute intake followed by an automated scan of five to ten devices and a 45‑minute follow-up that delivers a baseline report.

CLTC and panelists encouraged nonprofits to visit resource tables after the event, sign up for available pro bono memberships or assessments, and use donated tools (such as the city’s YubiKeys) to raise their baseline defenses immediately.