About

The Woodard Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on strengthening the community by supporting and empowering local volunteer groups, with a special focus on volunteer fire departments in Pennington County and western South Dakota.

In development since 2020, our organization is built on the diverse skills and experiences each member brings to our mission. Their commitment is the backbone of our efforts to make a positive change in the community.

Our people Link to heading

The foundation is powered by volunteer engineers from all walks of life, including software, security, and operations engineers from companies such as Akamai and Google. Each brings their own expertise to the table, and that mix lets us meet a department where it is and solve the problem in front of it, whether that is a compromised account, an aging station network, or a chief who simply needs a straight answer.

Our mission Link to heading

We collaborate with volunteer organizations to provide the resources, support, and services they need. We aim to be a source of hope for those struggling to meet specific needs, ultimately improving the lives of people in our community. We are guided by our values and a clear mission to make a difference.

What we do Link to heading

Volunteer fire departments face challenges such as understaffing, budget cuts, and a lack of technical skills. Over the past several years those departments have also come to depend on technology for nearly everything they do: dispatch alerts and responder apps, incident records, training files, email, shared drives, station Wi-Fi, and the networks that tie it all together. Very few have anyone whose job it is to keep those systems secure.

That is where our work has grown. Our key initiative is cybersecurity for volunteer fire departments and the nonprofits that support them. We help departments understand what systems they rely on, where those systems are exposed, and how to protect them in a way that fits a volunteer schedule and a volunteer budget. Read more about our cybersecurity work.

Alongside that work we continue to enhance the broader digital infrastructure of local volunteer organizations, from websites and email to the back-office tools that keep a department running.

Get involved Link to heading

We encourage you to explore The Woodard Foundation further and consider how you might contribute. Whether through donations, volunteering, or simply spreading the word, your support is invaluable. Together, we can effect meaningful change in our community and beyond.

Currently, due to our workload, we are not accepting new projects. Please check back soon for any updates on openings.

For general inquiries or questions, email the board at board [at] woodard [dot] foundation .