By Brian Baccus, Founder and Executive Director, Altadena Talks Foundation
When people see the work of Altadena Talks Foundation, they usually see the public-facing side: the podcast, emergency updates, community events, volunteer coordination, recovery resources, youth programs, and Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
What they may not see is the technology working behind all of it.
Every registration form, email account, donor record, website, shared document, livestream, volunteer list, and community report creates information that must be organized, protected, backed up, and made available to the right people. For a nonprofit, especially one that grew out of a disaster response, technology is not just an administrative tool. It is part of the organization’s infrastructure and its responsibility to the community.
My background in information technology has helped ATF build that infrastructure with security, reliability, responsible access, and long-term growth in mind.
Nearly Three Decades of Technical Experience
I have spent nearly 30 years working with computers, networking, systems, security, troubleshooting, and technology deployment. My earlier professional certifications included CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, Cisco CCNA, and VMware VCP.
Technology has changed considerably since I earned those certifications, but the core principles have not:
- Know what systems you have.
- Understand who has access to them.
- Protect accounts and sensitive information.
- Keep systems updated.
- Maintain reliable backups.
- Document configurations and processes.
- Plan for failure before it happens.
Those principles have guided the way I have built and managed ATF’s technology stack.
Building for a Real Organization, Not Just a Website
ATF did not need a collection of disconnected apps. It needed a working system that could support communications, programs, fundraising, compliance, volunteer operations, media production, and disaster recovery.
Our technology environment includes nonprofit websites and landing pages, Google Workspace for Nonprofits, cloud storage and collaboration tools, Bitrix24 for constituent and relationship management, donation platforms, analytics tools, social media channels, livestreaming systems, Google Cloud resources, domain and DNS management through Cloudflare, and backup and recovery tools.
Each platform serves a purpose, but every new platform also creates another account, permission set, data source, and potential point of failure. My IT experience helps me look at the entire environment as one connected system instead of treating each tool as a separate purchase. Before adding technology, I consider questions such as:
- What information will this system store?
- Who needs access?
- What happens if an account is compromised?
- Can the information be exported or backed up?
- Does the platform integrate with our existing tools?
- Are we paying for duplicate services?
- Can the system grow with ATF?
That approach helps us make better decisions and avoid unnecessary risk.
Protecting Accounts and Controlling Access
One of the biggest threats to a small nonprofit is not always an advanced hacker breaking through a server. It is often a compromised password, an old account that still has access, or a staff member receiving permissions they do not need.
My security background has made identity and access management a priority. ATF uses organization-controlled accounts where possible, strengthens important logins with multifactor authentication, and limits administrative access to the people who actually need it. Access should be based on a person’s role, not convenience.
This matters because our systems may contain donor information, volunteer details, internal documents, program records, financial information, and unpublished communications. Even when information is not legally classified as confidential, people have trusted us with it. That trust deserves protection.
We are also working toward stronger documentation of account ownership, recovery methods, access levels, and procedures for removing access when a role changes.
Securing Our Online Presence
ATF operates several public-facing web properties that support different parts of our mission, including Altadena Talks, our nonprofit programs, the Altadena Community Media Network, Disaster Voices Lab, and our public knowledge resources.
Managing several sites requires more than creating pages. Domains, DNS records, email authentication, analytics, forms, embedded services, and administrator accounts must all work together.
Using Cloudflare for domain and DNS management gives us a centralized way to manage important records and add another protective layer around our web presence. We have also worked on email-authentication records such as DKIM, connected Google Analytics and Search Console, and reviewed how forms and fundraising pages connect to the rest of our systems.
These details are largely invisible to visitors, but they help establish that ATF’s communications are legitimate, improve the reliability of our websites and email, and reduce avoidable security problems.
Creating Resilience Through Backups and Documentation
The Eaton Fire reinforced a lesson I already knew from IT: systems and equipment can disappear without warning.
That experience makes backup and disaster recovery more than a technical checklist for me. ATF cannot assume that one laptop, one hard drive, one website, or one person will always be available.
Our approach includes using cloud-based collaboration and storage, maintaining organized records, exporting important information when appropriate, and building backup procedures for systems that require additional protection. I also believe documentation is a form of security. If only one person knows how a system works, the organization is vulnerable even if the technology itself is functioning perfectly.
Clear records of platforms, subscriptions, domains, accounts, configurations, renewal dates, and recovery procedures help ATF remain operational when equipment fails, personnel change, or an emergency interrupts normal work.
If only one person knows how a system works, the organization is vulnerable even when the technology itself is functioning perfectly.
Using Technology to Support Transparency
Security and transparency are not opposites. A responsible nonprofit should protect sensitive information while making its work, leadership, impact, and public records easy for the community to understand.
ATF’s goal is to place as much appropriate compliance and organizational information as possible on our websites. Our technology supports that goal by helping us organize program data, publish reports, document activities, track outcomes, and maintain evidence of the work being performed.
This is especially important as ATF grows. Funders, partners, volunteers, and residents should not have to rely only on what we say. We should be able to show what we did, when we did it, who it served, and how resources were used.
Keeping Costs Under Control
My IT experience has also helped ATF stretch its resources.
Small nonprofits can easily spend thousands of dollars on overlapping software, outside consultants, emergency repairs, and systems that do not communicate with each other. Because I can evaluate, configure, troubleshoot, and integrate many of these tools myself, ATF can direct more of its funding toward programs and community services.
That does not mean doing everything alone. It means knowing when outside expertise is truly needed, asking the right questions, and being able to evaluate whether a proposed solution is secure, practical, and worth the cost.
We also take advantage of nonprofit programs and discounts when they make sense, including Google for Nonprofits and other nonprofit technology resources. The goal is not simply to collect free software. The goal is to select tools that fit a clear operational need and can be responsibly managed.
Security Is an Ongoing Process
No responsible technology professional should claim that any organization is completely secure. Threats change. Platforms change. Staff and volunteers change. New programs introduce new requirements.
The real advantage of my IT background is not that ATF can install a few security products and declare the job finished. It is that I understand security as an ongoing process of reviewing systems, reducing unnecessary access, applying updates, checking backups, documenting changes, and preparing for the unexpected.
As ATF expands, we will continue strengthening written technology policies, account and device inventories, access reviews, data-retention practices, incident-response procedures, and staff training. These improvements will help move the organization from founder-led technical management toward a documented system that can support a larger team.
Technology in Service of the Mission
ATF’s technology stack is not the mission. It is the infrastructure that helps make the mission possible.
It allows us to communicate quickly during emergencies, preserve community stories, coordinate volunteers, connect residents with resources, document impact, serve partners, support fundraising, and keep operating when circumstances are difficult.
My background in IT has allowed ATF to build that infrastructure with greater care from the beginning. The same skills I developed through decades of networking, systems administration, security, and troubleshooting are now helping protect an organization created to serve Altadena.
For me, that is what technology should do: protect the work, strengthen the organization, and help people serve their community more effectively.
Learn more about Altadena Talks Foundation at np.altadenatalks.org.
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