Matt Eshleman ’02 earned an MBA from Johns Hopkins while working for an IT group in D.C. serving non-profits, begun by Mennnonite volunteers. (Photo by Jon Styer)
Matt Eshleman ’02 began working for Community IT Innovators 13 years ago, during an internship for his Washington Study-Service Year (now Washington Community Scholar’s Center). From providing IT support at a nursing home and teaching computer classes, Eshleman rose through the ranks as a systems administrator, systems engineer, and team lead to his current role as chief technology officer.
His experience over the years made him a “confirmed urbanite” and affirmed his belief in sustainable and positive business practices. As an undergraduate at EMU, Eshleman says he wondered how to fulfill his desire to “do work that had a positive and meaningful impact in the world.” (His parents, Roger and Barbara Eshleman, worked for Mennonite Central Committee.)
Community IT Innovators was a good fit right away, he said. The company was only seven years from its founding in the basement of the Mennonite Voluntary Service house in Washington, D.C. Originally envisioned as the philanthropic arm of a small IT company responding to local non-profit needs, the division was so successful that it became an independent company in 2001.
“Community IT occupies a unique space of social enterprise with a service mindset,” said Eshleman, who also holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. “From the beginning, when it was still a new idea, this company paid attention to what they call the triple bottom line, which takes into account not just profit, but also people and the planet. Twenty-one years later, its success really shows that it is possible to do good work, care for your employees, and help to make the world a better place.”
The company, employee-owned with 40 staffers, provides IT services for approximately 120 social mission-oriented clients, ranging from advocacy groups such as Sojourners Magazine and the Land Trust Alliance, to international NGO’s Bread for the World and Lutheran World Relief.