When Charlie Kerwin’s son became interested in IT and coding, it was a natural fit for Charlie to step up to help with the local organization Coderdojo, which offered an engaging opportunity for his son to learn to code.

“CoderDojo has multiple tracks and one of them was an IT Infrastructure Track. So my son would be doing Scratch with one of the other mentors, and I would help out with the Infrastructure Track,” Charlie said. “That IT Infrastructure Track evolved into CyberPatriot and now my son is old enough to be involved in that as well.”

Charlie works as Senior Vice President of Information Technology for INB. Volunteering with the technology organizations CoderDojo and CyberPatriot bridges his career and his family, allowing him to equip not only his own five children, but other youth with the tools of technology.

Cybersecurity All in a Day’s Work . . . and ‘Play’

“Since a large portion of my career is focused on cybersecurity, this is a great opportunity to teach young kids good cybersecurity practices as well as lay the groundwork for them to possibly pursue careers in cybersecurity,” Charlie said. “There is a significant worker shortage in cybersecurity, so hopefully I’m doing a small part to help with that.”

Scouting has also been an influential part of life for Charlie - so much so that once his son was old enough to join, he got involved in an integral way. As a youth, Charlie attained the rank of Eagle Scout; he now provides leadership for young troops in the local area.

When his son started on his Bear rank in Cub Scouts, Charlie offered to be the den leader and held that role until he moved to Boy Scouts. Currently, Charlie is on the Troop Committee for troop 58 in Rochester and is the advancement coordinator for the troop.

“The advancement coordinator position is really enjoyable because I get to watch these boys work through their rank and merit badge requirements,” he said. “There are so many skills they get to learn, and ultimately, it makes them strong leaders with an emphasis on service to others and the community.”

INB Supports Efforts

INB has been hugely supportive of Charlie’s endeavors to teach Scouting and technology skills to the younger generations.

“INB has allowed me to take time out of the office for Scouting trips and assisted with monetary and equipment donations for CyberPatriot,” he said. In recent years, Charlie attended week -long summer camp thanks to INB providing him with the time off.

“The last two years, INB has donated funds to the Rochester CyberPatriot teams to help cover the registration costs for the competitions. INB has also donated retired IT equipment. This enables the kids to get hands on experience with managing and securing IT equipment.”

Charlie not only gets to share his personal and professional passions, but he also enjoys seeing the excitement of the kids he gets to work with as they build new skills.

“Ultimately, with both of these groups, I’m getting the opportunity to teach younger kids skills that not only will help them as they grow, but will hopefully place them in better positions in their adult life and teach them skills that they will use as adults,” he said. “To me, it’s important to do work like this with youth because it enables them to carry those principles on and impart them to youth once they become adults. And, hopefully, the world becomes a better place overall because of it!”

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