CSR takes center stage at ONUG's AI Networking Summit
ONUG's Fall 2025 summit partnered with nonprofit Serve the Future to raise funds for underserved youth. The collaboration highlights growing CSR trends in networking companies.
ONUG's Fall 2025 AI Networking Summit's unique blend of networking personnel led to diverse discussions about the intersection of AI and networking, as well as their broader implications. One topic on the agenda most attendees likely didn't expect, however, was corporate social responsibility.
This year, ONUG partnered with Serve the Future, a Phoenix-based nonprofit organization that supports underserved youth through tennis. ONUG aimed to raise funds for the charity organization through giveaways, demos and raffles. This partnership -- the first of its kind -- might seem like an unconventional pair for a tech conference, but it supports ONUG's philanthropic goals. When Serve the Future first pitched its idea, ONUG leadership immediately agreed to help, said Leslie Banks, founder and executive director of Serve the Future.
Interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) goes further. When presented with the pitch, networking company CEOs immediately jumped at the chance to help, Banks added. Most vendors at the event agreed to sponsor Serve the Future, which indicates a broader trend toward CSR.
ONUG's partnership with Serve the Future
Jeremy Rossbach, chief technical evangelist at Broadcom and marketing growth strategist at Serve the Future, said his personal experiences inspired him to join the charity in supporting underserved youth.
"I found my creativity early, from music to drawing. It was an amazing outlet for me, like tennis is for our kids," Rossbach said.
As a member of the ONUG community since 2019, Rossbach said it was a no-brainer to connect the two organizations together to bring community outreach to the tech world.
Beyond supporting marginalized children, the partnership's networking and technology implications were also apparent. For example, AI has played a massive role in enabling Serve the Future to fulfill its critical mission. By automating tasks, AI can help organizations with small teams, like Serve the Future, achieve results comparable to those of larger organizations with more employees, Banks said. She added that having resilient network connectivity and performance is essential, as it immediately delivers AI capabilities.
For example, Serve the Future used AI to create promotional materials for the organization, including flyers, websites and social media posts. Ultimately, by using AI to automate marketing, Serve the Future can save time and money that it can direct toward the children it serves. When Banks and Rossbach made the connection between AI use in the nonprofit sector to ONUG members, they immediately agreed to partner with Serve the Future to uplift its organization.
"The ONUG team saw the opportunity to bring the human side of technology to the community, and they saw this as a perfect opportunity to do that," Banks said.
Networking companies step into CSR
The number of organizations that plan to invest more in supporting their surrounding communities is growing. For example, according to a report from Double the Donation, 94% of top companies in the U.S. plan to maintain or increase their charitable giving over the next few years. When businesses support social causes, it often creates a net positive for the organization, leading to greater employee satisfaction and retention, an improved reputation and differentiation from competitors.
For an organization like Serve the Future, a sports-based youth program, charitable support fuels its ability to empower underserved youth. The charity offers mentorship, coaching and life skills programs, which help children build confidence, foster social skills and create educational opportunities that enable them to develop into well-rounded adults. This can contribute to a more inclusive, workforce-ready generation of young professionals entering the tech space.
These children potentially represent tomorrow's workforce, making ONUG's support for them an investment in the future of the tech industry.
Several ONUG attendees responded to Serve the Future with technology to support its mission. For example, a chatbot company executive offered to provide Serve the Future with a free AI chatbot, and a CEO of a software development company offered a discounted AI video creation service.
Serve the Future didn't reach its monetary goal at the event, but its partnership with ONUG opened the door to connections within the tech industry that wouldn't have been otherwise available to support its mission.
"Getting folks to support a fundraiser is one thing, but getting someone to donate their time, talent and proprietary technology -- well, that is something we never imagined," Banks said. "It's truly inspiring."
This mission -- supporting disadvantaged youth -- could create a long-term investment for the future of networking.
"The kids in these communities are going to be your AI developers, your data scientists, your marketers and product managers," Serve the Future said in a press statement about the event. "These kids are your company's future."
Deanna Darah is site editor for Informa TechTarget's SearchNetworking site.
