Being headquartered in a hurricane zone, we’re always prepared to do what it takes to keep our operations running smoothly at all times without any impact to our customers. We have the infrastructure in place to do so, with people and data centers all over the world.
But many businesses don’t have the advantage of having global operations to draw on, and many families are not able to prepare for the impact of a major storm to their daily lives. This means being prepared can only go so far when it comes to a catastrophic disaster that levels buildings, businesses and homes.
So when catastrophic disasters strike, the only thing to do is to pull together as a community, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, we did just that. Our team in North America collected over $18,000 for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to provide hurricane victims with food, shelter, clean water and security. Syniverse led a campaign drive to collect donations from employees, and the company made matching contributions.
Our CEO and President, Dean Douglas (second from right) and me present our check to the Red Cross’s Kristin Burke, Regional Philanthropy Officer (left), and Sherri Monroe, Regional Chief Development Officer (right).
The donations were needed. Hurricane Michael impacted many communities in the Northern Florida region, including families of our employees. The storm reached the shores of Florida on Oct. 10, causing destruction on a vast scale as it crossed the state and moved into Georgia. In fact, it ended up being the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make landfall in the United States, and its devastating impact cost the lives of 60 people and approximately $11.2 billion in property damages.
To this end, it’s with great importance that, as a business, Syniverse helps those in our local communities around the world as part of our regular support and, especially, in times of crisis. The American Red Cross is one organization that we’ve been actively engaging with to provide support for rebuilding communities that have hit hard times.
Our donation.
One of the many ways Syniverse supports the American Red Cross is through inclusion in our annual charitable giving campaign, through which employees select causes to support and arrange to make donations through payroll deduction. In addition, we previously raised $20,000 for the victims of Hurricane Harvey last year in Texas and collected donations for those impacted by the Louisiana Floods the year before.
And here are a few other recent examples of how our teams around the world are giving back, and what makes Syniverse a place I’m proud to be part of.
As Group Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy, Michael O’Brien is responsible for driving Syniverse’s global strategic planning, developing new avenues for revenue growth, ensuring synergy across different business organizations, and identifying and managing partnerships. Previously, Mike served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Risk Management and led Syniverse’s global fraud prevention and revenue assurance services, helping service providers control risks related to fraud and security, accurately capture revenues, and prevent revenue leaks. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Business Development and oversaw Syniverse’s acquisitions, new customer relationships and industry relationships. Earlier, Mike was Vice President of Marketing and responsible for management of all products and services globally, and, before that, served in a number of other senior-level positions in the company, including Marketing Director for North American Wireless Services, Product Manager for Network Monitoring and Loyalty Products, Customer Service Manager, and Manager of Network Operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Virginia.
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