Going Beyond the Desk to Serve the Community

When I think about who inspires me, I think about the people I interact with every day. At Garver, I have the benefit of working alongside amazing engineers and support staff. Then after work, I get to come home to my wife. Each of these people inspires me greatly, but most often, I am inspired by my parents.

I grew up in Hanoi, Vietnam, and my parents used the few resources they had to send my sister and I to the U.S. to study abroad for high school. Even though I may never be able to repay my parents, I know that I can pay it forward by working hard to give back, especially for kids who grow up without access to education.

I often think of the sacrifices of my family, and draw inspiration from them to serve my community through my church and with GarverGives, Garver’s corporate giving program. When people ask me about my job, I often get to say this is one of my favorite aspects. GarverGives encourages employee engagement in three areas – STEM education, community stewardship, and employee gift matching.

Being involved with GarverGives has been an enriching experience during my time at Garver. As engineers, we spend most of our time talking to other engineers, thinking about numbers and figures, and residing behind desks and screens. First and foremost, GarverGives puts it into perspective of why we do what we do — for the communities all around us.

Though we may never meet everyone who will use the infrastructure we create, through GarverGives, our Austin and Georgetown offices get to help out the community that we live in with our time and money. And I believe that is essential for any business, especially Garver, to stay connected. We get to look at numbers and figures because the public has trusted us with their resources, and GarverGives is how the company shows trust in its employees to make a difference locally. Garver purposefully cultivates the value of community service by dedicating resources for employee-driven charitable projects.

I believe that our commitment to the local community is what will keep Garver prospering for years to come. That commitment, which starts with the high-quality engineering work that we consistently provide, continues with staying connected to the community through GarverGives.