Technology is advancing rapidly. Access to it is not.
A diagram, not a dataset. Sojourner works inside the gap.
The organizations closest to the hardest problems are usually furthest from the tools that could help. What they lack is rarely the idea — it is the budget, the technical expertise and the time to turn an idea into a capability.
When disaster strikes, that gap gets even wider — communications fail, infrastructure becomes inaccessible, and responders face challenges they were never equipped or expected to handle.
The right technology, combined with the right people and applied to the right problem, can produce disproportionately positive outcomes.
Funding
Capability costs more than an annual equipment budget allows.
Expertise
No one on the roster can evaluate what is worth buying.
Equipment
What exists is aging, incompatible, or the wrong tool for the job.
Training
Hardware arrives; the knowledge to use it safely does not.
Connectivity
The work happens where infrastructure stops.
Implementation
Nobody has the spare hours to build the program.
What we do
Four program areas.
Every project belongs to one of these.
Program area
Public Safety Technology
Capability, training and technical support for fire, law enforcement, EMS, search-and-rescue and emergency management.
Your technology may already be the right solution. What it needs is a route
in — someone to assess the need, fund the gap, deploy it properly, and train the people who
will use it.
Veteran Owned & Operated. Built and led by veterans,
former Special Mission Unit operators, public safety professionals, and industry experts with
decades of operational and leadership experience.
About
A New Foundation. Built on Proven Principles.
The right technology, in the right hands, can change what’s possible. But equipment alone isn’t enough. We identify practical solutions, provide the training to use them effectively, and help organizations with limited resources build capabilities that deliver lasting impact.
Our mission
What we exist to do.
To assess, educate, equip and support public-safety organizations, humanitarian partners, emergency-response organizations and underserved communities with practical, affordable, scalable and sustainable technological solutions.
We work with organizations that have significant operational needs and
insufficient access to funding, technical expertise, training, equipment or implementation support.
Rather than simply donating equipment, we start with a clearly defined problem.
Technology is the tool, not the mission.
Our vision
Where this goes.
To become a recognized national and international organization capable of supporting both deliberate technology-assistance projects and rapidly emerging humanitarian or disaster-response requirements, and one of the world's most trusted technology-enabled public-benefit organizations, known for solving difficult problems efficiently and producing measurable, sustainable results.
Technology is the tool. Measurable human and community impact is the purpose.
Complexity is not the objective. The best solution is usually the
one that is affordable, reliable, maintainable, and practical for the people on site to
actually operate.
Our values
Eight, and we mean them as tests.
Values are only useful if they can rule something
out. Each of these has, at some point, been the reason to say no to a project.
Integrity
Do what is right, even when nobody is watching.
Efficiency
Resources entrusted to the Foundation should produce maximum impact.
Adaptability
Solutions must work in the real world, not only on paper.
Professionalism
Operate to the highest standards.
Dependability
Our partners should know they can rely on us.
Courage
Take on difficult problems and underserved missions.
Pursuit of excellence
Continuously improve our people, processes and solutions.
Transparency
Operate openly and responsibly with donors, partners and communities.
Founder's statement
Why we started this.
I spent my early childhood years in Rio de Janeiro, where I witnessed how poverty, limited resources, and lack of opportunity can shape entire communities. Even then, I believed that if I ever had the ability to help those facing circumstances beyond their control, I had a responsibility to do so.
I went on to serve nearly three decades in the Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations, including many years within a Special Mission Unit. Those experiences took me around the world, exposing me to complex challenges and communities with limited resources. They also reinforced a powerful lesson: meaningful impact doesn’t always require significant investment. The right people, the right technology, and the right approach can deliver disproportionate results.
For most of my adult life, I applied those principles in service to our nation. Today, I have the opportunity to apply them toward a different mission.
I founded Sojourner Technology Foundation to bring practical, affordable, and scalable solutions to public safety organizations, humanitarian efforts, and underserved communities. Our mission goes beyond providing equipment. We identify real problems, develop sustainable solutions, and empower people with capabilities that endure.
I believe service is not simply a choice, but a responsibility. The experience, skills, and opportunities I’ve been given should serve a purpose greater than myself. STF is my commitment to turning that responsibility into lasting, measurable impact.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid… for the Lord your God is with you.”
Joshua 1:9
🇺🇸
Veteran Owned & Operated. Built and led by veterans,
former Special Mission Unit operators, public safety professionals, and industry experts with
decades of operational and leadership experience.
Who we serve
Intended beneficiaries.
Need, not relationship, decides. We do not select
beneficiaries because of personal connections, political affiliation, commercial advantage or
insider benefit — every request is reviewed against the same
nine criteria.
Fire departments
Law-enforcement organizations
Emergency medical services
Search-and-rescue teams
Emergency-management agencies
Humanitarian organizations
Schools and community institutions
Rural and remote communities
Tribal and underserved populations
Organizations operating with significant resource or capability limitations
During emergencies or disasters we may also support local, state, national or international organizations that need additional technology, technical expertise, leadership or crisis-management capability.
Where we work
Local, national, international.
The Foundation is headquartered in North Carolina and is built to work locally, nationally and internationally. The model deliberately avoids restricting us to one community, state or country, because resource gaps and humanitarian needs do not respect those boundaries.
Early projects are deliberately narrow: carefully selected pilot efforts where the need is significant, resources are limited and the potential impact is measurable. As the donor base, partnerships and operational capacity develop, the number and geographic scope of missions will expand.
During a major crisis the deployable model matters more than an address. Teams are organized around the specific event rather than around a single permanent operating location.
Operating principles
Six tests every solution has to pass.
Compatible
It works with what the organization already runs, rather than forcing a replacement.
Scalable
What works for one department can work for the next.
Repeatable
The process can be run again without starting from scratch.
Reliable
It performs under the conditions it will actually face.
Sustainable
It can be maintained locally, at a cost the recipient can carry.
Harmonized
It fits the community and organization being served, not only the specification.
Governance
Who is accountable for what.
A Board of Directors holds the Foundation in trust for the public and is
responsible for mission oversight, financial stewardship, compliance and major program
decisions. Directors are not paid for serving. Staff execute. Advisors advise and do not vote.
A board that governs, and an executive who runs it. Five directors and one Executive Director, as of September 2026.
Board of Directors
Leandro Baptista
President & Chief Executive Officer
Cade Perry
Director
Kurt Casey
Director
Josh Comte
Director
Kristin Day
Director
Executive
Izzie Baptista
Executive Director
Notes
Four things worth knowing.
Directors are not paid
Board service is voluntary. Directors provide fiduciary oversight, strategic guidance and mission stewardship; they do not run the Foundation day to day.
Officers are elected by the Board
Holding an office is not the same as holding a board seat, and the Board can elect officers who are not directors.
Advisors, contractors, volunteers and subject-matter experts are brought in around individual missions rather than kept permanently in-house. For crisis work especially, the team is assembled around the event.
5711 Six Forks Road, Suite 106, Raleigh, NC 27609 per Letter 947, 23 Jul 2026
Mailing address
P.O. Box 91, Lakeview, NC 28350
International programs
How we work outside the United States.
The Foundation may work internationally when a project advances its
charitable purpose, creates legitimate public benefit, is legally permissible and has an
appropriate local partner.
Before any international project proceeds, we conduct due diligence on the
country, the partner organization and the individuals involved. We review applicable
sanctions, restricted-party, export and technology-transfer requirements. Where the answers
are not clear, we seek legal advice rather than proceeding and hoping.
Foreign-party and OFAC due diligence is part of that review. We document
the checks performed and the decisions that follow them.
Programs
Four areas, twenty-four capabilities.
The four areas are how the Foundation is organized. The capabilities beneath each are what the Foundation can actually do.
Program area
Public Safety Technology
Helping fire departments, law enforcement, EMS, search-and-rescue and emergency-management agencies improve capability through technology, equipment, training, education and technical support.
Unmanned aircraft systems
Aircraft, thermal imaging and the operating procedures that make them useful on an incident.
Drone program development
Certification, currency, maintenance and the written program behind them.
Communications & connectivity
Radio, satellite connectivity and the portable power that keeps both running.
Mapping & situational awareness
Geospatial tools, sensors, robotics and a shared picture of what is actually happening.
Training & technical support
Instruction and follow-through that leave local people able to operate without us.
STF gives capability to an organization, never to an operation. It does not direct, task, fly, or take part in law-enforcement activity. What an agency lawfully does with what it receives remains that agency’s decision, under its own authority and command.
Program area
Humanitarian Technology
Technology for humanitarian challenges where limited resources, geography, infrastructure or technical expertise prevent organizations and communities from solving critical problems themselves.
Communications & connectivity
Reaching organizations and populations where infrastructure cannot.
Energy & portable power
Keeping essential systems running where the grid is absent or unreliable.
Environmental monitoring
Sensors, imagery and mapping that show change across an area of responsibility.
Disaster preparedness
Capability established before the event, not improvised during it.
Access to information
Getting current, usable information to the people making decisions.
Logistics technology
Tracking, coordination and the unglamorous systems that move things where they are needed.
The objective is a solution appropriate to the local environment — not technology that cannot be supported or sustained after we leave.
Program area
Community Resilience
Helping communities become better prepared to withstand, respond to and recover from disruption.
Resilient communications
Systems that still work when the usual ones do not.
Backup power
Generation and storage matched to the loads a community genuinely cannot lose.
Information sharing
Getting the same picture to responders, leaders and residents.
Emergency preparedness
Plans, procedures and practice — not only equipment.
Technology infrastructure
The connectivity and systems everything else depends on.
Community response capability
Local people trained and equipped to act in the first hours.
The objective is not to prepare a community for one specific hazard, but to strengthen the underlying capabilities that help it remain functional across a wide range of emergencies.
Program area
Crisis Response, Disaster Assistance & Management
Supporting communities, public-safety organizations, humanitarian partners and government agencies during disasters and major emergencies by rapidly assembling the right technology, leadership and expertise.
Rapid aerial assessment
Seeing the extent of damage in hours rather than days.
Satellite & temporary networks
Restoring communications when existing systems have failed.
Mapping & geospatial support
Turning imagery into information a decision-maker can act on.
Portable power & sensors
Keeping critical equipment running where the grid is down.
Information management & logistics
Organizing what is known, and moving what is needed.
Experienced crisis leadership
People who can help leaders assess conditions, set priorities, organize resources and support decisions in rapidly changing environments.
Recovery support
Restoring essential capability, documenting lessons learned, and preparing for the next event.
STF does not replace incident command, government authorities or established emergency-response organizations. It reinforces them by closing specific capability gaps.
Our first field assessment is complete, and a larger effort is under consideration. Here is the work the Foundation is built for — and the parts that have already happened.
On the record
Field assessment 001.
In September 2026, the Foundation assessed a municipal
police battalion in Mesquita, Rio de Janeiro — what it could not do today, and whether
technology would genuinely address those gaps.
The assessment is published in full, including the parts it could not
establish. One aircraft was delivered to the unit, and a larger effort there is under
consideration, subject to Board approval and available funding.
Mesquita, Baixada Fluminense — the ground the assessment
was written on.
On the record
Capability discussion 001.
On 30 September 2026 the Foundation sat down with a municipal special enforcement unit in North Carolina for a first conversation about what technology could do for it.
The discussion covered emerging technology, uncrewed aircraft systems, situational awareness, training, equipment modernization, and the shape a future collaboration might take. It was exploratory: nothing was assessed, nothing was recommended, and nothing was given.
This is the work the Foundation exists to do — helping public-safety organizations evaluate technology that is practical, scalable and responsible, rather than simply available. Specific operational detail is not published, here or anywhere else.
On the record
Equipment Donation 001
Fuquay-Varina Police Department | North Carolina October 22, 2026
On October 22, 2026, Sojourner Technology Foundation (STF) donated a DJI Avata 2 unmanned aircraft system to the Fuquay-Varina Police Department in North Carolina. Alongside the donation, STF provided approximately three hours of hands-on instruction to participating officers, helping establish the knowledge and skills needed to safely and effectively operate the equipment.
The training included equipment familiarization, system capabilities and limitations, operational safety considerations, and three progressive flight exercises, culminating in a practical indoor flight scenario. This approach reflects STF’s commitment to delivering more than equipment alone — ensuring recipients receive practical training that supports the responsible and sustainable use of donated technology.
The aircraft is now under the department’s ownership and operational control. STF does not direct or participate in its deployment.
Examples of problems the Foundation takes on
Problem type
Aerial assessment for a rural fire department
The problem
An under-resourced department arrives at a structure or wildland fire with no way to see the incident from above.
Why it persists
A capable airframe, a thermal payload, pilot certification and a written program cost more than a small department's annual equipment budget — and no one on the roster has spare hours to build it.
What a solution looks like
One reliable aircraft with thermal imaging, a written operating procedure, two or three certified pilots already on staff, and a maintenance path the department can afford to sustain.
Problem type
Search capability in difficult terrain
The problem
A rural sheriff's office or volunteer search-and-rescue team covers large areas of forest, water or mountain on foot.
Why it persists
Aviation support is hours away and expensive. Ground search is slow, and it exposes searchers to the same terrain that endangered the subject.
What a solution looks like
Thermal-capable aerial search with mapping and grid discipline, operated by trained local people — so the capability exists in the first hour, not the sixth.
Problem type
Connectivity for an isolated community
The problem
A school, clinic or emergency responder operates where there is no dependable internet or cellular service.
Why it persists
Extending terrestrial infrastructure is uneconomic. Satellite service exists and is affordable, but someone has to plan the installation and answer for the recurring cost.
What a solution looks like
Connectivity sized to real demand, installed properly, and a written answer to who pays the monthly service in year two.
Problem type
Energy resilience for a remote community
The problem
Essential functions stop when power does — refrigeration for medicine, radio communications, water pumping.
Why it persists
Solar and storage are cheap now; sizing, installation and maintenance knowledge are not locally available, and systems installed without them fail within a few years.
What a solution looks like
Modest generation and storage matched to specific essential loads, local people trained to maintain it, and a realistic source for replacement parts.
Problem type
Environmental awareness for a partner organization
The problem
An organization responsible for protecting land or monitoring conditions cannot see change across the area it covers.
Why it persists
Aerial imagery and change detection need equipment and analytic skill the organization does not have, and commercial imagery is priced for extractive industry rather than for stewards.
What a solution looks like
Imagery, mapping and change detection at a cadence the partner can sustain, with local staff trained to fly, process and interpret it themselves.
Problem type
Coordination support for underserved urban partners
The problem
Community organizations and emergency responders in under-resourced urban areas work the same incidents with no shared communications and no common picture.
Why it persists
Interoperable communications are procured agency by agency, and community organizations are almost never inside the procurement.
What a solution looks like
Shared, lawful communications and coordination tools for emergency response and preparedness.
This work is shared communications and coordination for community responders. It is not monitoring of residents, and STF does not operate anything it provides.
Problem type
Capability gaps in the first days of a disaster
The problem
A hurricane, wildfire or flood overwhelms local capacity. Communications fail, infrastructure becomes inaccessible, and leaders are making consequential decisions without current information.
Why it persists
These are capabilities nobody budgeted for, because they are never required during normal operations. Mutual aid is stretched thin exactly when it is needed most, and the organizations under the greatest pressure are the least able to go and find help.
What a solution looks like
A mission-specific team carrying temporary communications, aerial assessment, mapping and portable power — alongside experienced people who can help leaders assess conditions and set priorities.
STF does not replace incident command, government authorities or established emergency-response organizations. It reinforces them by closing specific capability gaps.
Selection
How we choose projects.
Every request is reviewed against the same nine
questions. A project that fails one of them is declined, however compelling it is otherwise.
Mission alignment
Does the project directly advance the Foundation's charitable purpose?
Demonstrated need
Is there a legitimate operational or community need?
Resource constraints
Would the organization otherwise struggle to obtain the capability?
Feasibility
Can the solution realistically be implemented here?
Sustainability
Can local users operate and maintain it after we leave?
Safety
Can the project be delivered and used responsibly?
Legal compliance
Can the project be conducted lawfully, in every jurisdiction involved?
Public benefit
Will it create meaningful benefit beyond private interests?
Measurable impact
Can we reasonably determine whether it improved anything?
Six things, written down before work starts. A
project that cannot state its expected outcome in advance has not been thought through, and we
would have no way to tell afterwards whether it worked.
Defined requirement
What the organization cannot do today, in its own words.
Proposed solution
The specific technology selected, and why it rather than something more expensive.
Cost or value
What it costs, including delivery, training and the recurring burden.
Beneficiary
Who receives it, who will operate it, and who is responsible on their side.
Implementation plan
How it gets installed, integrated and handed over.
Measurable outcome
What we expect to change, stated before we start.
Follow-up may include operational data, photographs, beneficiary feedback, lessons learned, equipment accountability and cost-per-beneficiary information.
Field assessmentFA-001
Mesquita, Rio de Janeiro.
In September 2026, the Foundation spent time with a municipal police battalion outside Rio de Janeiro to answer one question: what can this unit not do today, and would technology actually fix it?
Location
Mesquita, Baixada Fluminense Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Organization assessed
20º Batalhão de Polícia Militar 20th Military Police Battalion
Element
A specialized tactical element
Conducted
September 2026
Program area
Public Safety & Emergency Response
StatusAssessment complete · equipment delivered · next stage under consideration
This page records a completed field assessment and one equipment donation. A larger effort in Mesquita is under consideration, subject to Board approval and grant or donor funding. Until both are in place, no outcome figures are published and no impact is claimed for the proposed next stage.
Stage one
We assess before we give anything.
Most technology donated to an organization that did not ask for it, in a place nobody visited, becomes a box in a storeroom. The Foundation’s first stage is therefore not procurement. It is sitting with the people who would operate the technology, in the environment where they would have to operate it, and documenting what they actually cannot do.
This is the first field assessment the Foundation has completed. It is published in full here — including what it failed to establish — because a record that only appears once it has become a success story is not a record.
Mesquita, September 2026. An assessment is mostly this: being in the place, for long enough that the people who work there will tell you what actually does not work.
What we found
What the assessment found.
01
Aircraft are central to the work, but nobody funds them
Aerial capability has moved from a useful extra to part of how a team understands a situation before committing people to it. It became essential without a dedicated budget line ever following it.
02
The radio environment is contested
Personnel reported encountering handheld anti-drone systems, including equipment identified as the JF-1000, reportedly configured with 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz jamming modules — frequencies that overlap the control and video links used by many commercial aircraft. A handheld radio-frequency drone detector was recovered by the unit during an operation on 23 September 2026 and photographed at the battalion the following morning. That is not a reported capability. It is a confirmed one: what the team is flying against is not only disruption, but detection.
JF-1000 handheld anti-drone system. Reportedly configured with 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz jamming modules — the same bands most commercial aircraft use for control and video.
06:52:05 — the device sweeping 300–6200 MHz, reading “Detecting UAVs”.
Recovered handheld RF drone detector. Taken by the unit during an operation on 23 September 2026 and photographed at the battalion the following morning. Equipment of this kind is why the Foundation treats the radio environment — not the airframe — as the problem to solve.
Why this is a resilience problem
An aircraft costs almost a year of an officer’s salary.
Set those two figures beside each other and the picture changes. Losing a single aircraft is not a maintenance event; it is a financial one, for a unit with no replacement budget and for the individuals in it. That is what makes an adversary with a jammer effective long before the jammer ever works — the cost of the risk is carried by the people flying.
R$43,000about US$8,500
reported cost of one capable multirotor aircraft
R$70,000about US$13,900
approximate annual earnings of a newly assigned officer
Dollar figures converted at R$1 = US$0.198, 23 October 2026, and rounded. The real figures are what the unit reported; the dollar figures are ours.
What was delivered
One aircraft.
This is the first equipment the Foundation has delivered to anyone. It is recorded here because it happened, and it is recorded precisely: one aircraft, one unit, one date, one figure. A donation described any more grandly than that stops being a record and starts being marketing.
One capable multirotor aircraft
Delivered
23 September 2026
Value
R$ 34,728.14 — about US$6,900
Received by
the GAT detachment leader, on behalf of the unit
Basis
in-kind donation to the organization
For scale against the two numbers above: about half of what a newly assigned officer earns in a year.
Dollar figures converted at R$1 = US$0.198, 23 October 2026, and rounded. The real figures are what the unit reported; the dollar figures are ours.
On what terms
The donation is to the organization, not to an operation. STF does not direct, task, fly, or take part in the unit’s activity, and takes no live feed, imagery or operational data from it.
Lawful use is a condition of the gift. STF screens the receiving organization before giving, and will not give again where that condition has not been kept.
Beyond those conditions, how the unit employs the aircraft is its own decision, under Brazilian law and its own chain of command. STF has no authority there and claims none.
The unit has undertaken to report back roughly how often the aircraft is flown and, in general terms, how it has helped the department. Not imagery, personal data, or case detail — STF neither asks for those nor will accept them. That report is how this record gets completed, and if it never arrives, this page will say so rather than quietly stop mentioning it.
This is recorded as a delivery, not as a project. The Foundation’s published standard asks a project to state its measurable outcome before work begins — that is the work of the next stage, and it is why this page reports what was given rather than what it achieved.
What we could not establish
The parts we could not confirm.
Whether more capable drone-detection systems are available to criminal organizations in the area. Personnel raised the concern; the presence of systems of that class was not independently confirmed and is not asserted here.
The technical configuration of the anti-drone equipment described. It is recorded as reported, not as verified by measurement.
Any figure describing the unit’s performance, before or after. None was collected, so none is published.
Provide officers with better information, earlier, while reducing unnecessary exposure of personnel and civilians to danger.
Sojourner Technology Foundation, preliminary assessment, September 2026
Where this goes
What the next stage would be.
AssessedComplete. The requirement is documented, which is the part that usually never happens.
DeliveredOne capable multirotor aircraft, 23 September 2026, R$ 34,728.14 (about US$6,900) — the Foundation’s first delivered equipment. The model is not published.
ReportingUndertaken. A rough employment count and a general account of benefit, in the unit’s own words, and published as exactly that.
Under considerationA larger effort in Mesquita, addressing the shortfalls set out above: resilient aircraft, communications that hold up, a shared operating picture, and the training and technical support behind them.
Board approvalRequired before the Foundation commits to any of it. This assessment goes to the Board as it stands, including the parts it could not establish.
FundingRequired alongside it. Work at this scale is carried by grants and by donors, and that funding is still to be raised.
EvaluationThe platforms named above are candidates to be evaluated, not selections already made. Cybersecurity, communications, legal and data-protection review clear first.
OutcomeAgreed with the unit before anything further is given — that is what turns an assessment into a project. Outcomes are published here with a named source, or not published at all.
You’ve built the technology. What it often lacks, in the places we work, is a route in.
Why partner
The gap is rarely the product.
Most of the organizations we work with could use what you already make. What
stops them is the assessment that was never run, the budget that does not exist, the
installation that was never scoped, and the training that was never delivered.
Sojourner sits between the technology and the organization that needs it,
closing those gaps. Your equipment reaches an organization that can actually use it, and the
result is documented public benefit — not a donation that ends up in a closet.
Seven ways to work with us
Manufacturers, software companies, telecommunications and unmanned-systems firms.
Technology Partner
Donate or discount equipment, software, connectivity or technical support.
Corporations, foundations and major donors.
Project Sponsor
Fund a specific approved project from start to finish, including training and follow-through.
Organizations with overlapping mission and reach.
Strategic Partner
Collaborate on programs and long-term capabilities rather than a single deployment.
Engineers, specialists and practitioners.
Technical Partner
Provide engineering, technical or subject-matter expertise to a cross-functional team.
Agencies and qualified governmental entities.
Public-Sector Partner
Work with STF on legitimate public-benefit programs.
Universities and research institutions.
Academic Partner
Support research, training, evaluation or innovation.
NGOs and humanitarian organizations.
Humanitarian Partner
Collaborate in resource-constrained environments where you bring local knowledge, relationships, or established presence.
What we cannot do
The limits, stated up front.
Partnerships must support the Foundation's charitable mission. They cannot be
structured primarily to provide commercial advantage, and we do not select beneficiaries to suit
a partner's market.
We will remain problem-driven rather than vendor-driven:
the requirement determines the technology, not the other way round. That is the line a
partnership cannot cross, however valuable the equipment.
We are glad to acknowledge partners publicly, report on how donated technology
performed, and say so honestly if it did not perform well.
Eight questions to start. Send them by email and we will reply to every one, including the requests we cannot take on.
How to reach us
One email, eight answers.
The button below opens a message with the eight prompts already in it — answer what you can and send it. A request we can read is worth more than a form we have to chase, and you keep a copy of what you sent.
Start the emailOpens your own mail application with the eight prompts filled in.
No email? Write to us at the postal address in the footer, or telephone. A request on paper is a request.
What to send
The eight questions.
Answer what you can. An incomplete request is
still a request — we would rather hear from you and ask the rest ourselves.
Fire, search and rescue, EMS, emergency management, another public safety agency, humanitarian, school or clinic, community institution, governmental entity.
Location
County and state, or region and country. Not a street address.
Your name and role
Who you are, and what you are responsible for.
Email and telephone
How to reach you, and which you prefer.
Who you serve
Population, coverage area, or the community you are responsible for.
The operational problem
What your organization cannot do today, and what happens as a result. This is the one that matters most — write it the way you would explain it to another chief.
Urgency
Planning ahead, within the year, within a few months, or an active situation.
Sending a request does not guarantee assistance, funding, equipment or selection as a project.
Before you send. Please do not send highly sensitive information by email — see Section 3 of our Website Privacy Notice. If you are requesting support during a disaster or emergency, information you provide may be shared with response partners as described in Section 7. This site is not an emergency reporting service; in an emergency, contact 911 or your local emergency authority.
Donate
Help put technology where it is needed most.
Monthly giving lets the Foundation commit to projects before money is in hand — and helps keep us a publicly supported charity.
Make a gift
Choose an amount.
Suggested amounts are $25, $50 or $100 a month, or $500, $1,000 or $3,000 and above as a single gift. The single-gift figures are higher because the equipment this work turns on is not cheap: a capable aircraft runs into five figures, and a radio or a power system that will still be working in three years is rarely the cheapest option.
None of those amounts is a minimum. The form accepts any amount, and a small monthly gift is worth more to this Foundation than a larger one-off. Recurring income lets us commit to a project before the money is in hand, while a broad base of regular donors is what a publicly supported charity is built on.
Payments are processed by Zeffy, a donation platform for nonprofit organizations. The form below is theirs; you stay on this page, and no payment details reach Foundation systems. Zeffy handles the information you enter under its own privacy terms — see Section 16 of our Website Privacy Notice.
Donation form
Payments are handled entirely by Zeffy. Card details are entered in Zeffy’s form and never touch Foundation systems.
Not seeing the form above? A network or browser extension may be blocking our payment provider. Contact us and we will send you a direct link.
Where gifts go
What your money actually pays for.
Delivering technology responsibly costs more than the technology. It includes
getting there, installing it properly, training the people who will run it, insuring the work and
keeping records a regulator would accept.
We will not tell you that every dollar becomes equipment.
It does not, in any organization that actually finishes what it starts.
Equipment
Aircraft, communications hardware, connectivity devices, solar components, sensors, mapping tools and training aids.
Assessment & program design
Understanding the environment, planning, testing and integration.
Training & education
Materials, safety documentation, standard operating procedures and instruction.
Field delivery
Travel, transport, shipping, logistics and on-site support.
Specialized expertise
Reasonable payment to qualified engineers, instructors and subject-matter experts when a project requires them.
Safety & compliance
Insurance, legal review, risk management and due diligence.
Responsible administration
Accounting, required filings, recordkeeping and the systems that keep the Foundation accountable.
We do not publish per-dollar impact claims. “$50 buys a…” is a marketing device, and we would have to invent the number.
Other ways to give
Not everything useful is money.
Technology
Equipment, software, connectivity or services your company makes. See partnership.
Expertise
Engineering, instruction or subject-matter knowledge for a specific project.
Donor-advised funds
We can accept DAF grants once online giving opens.
Corporate matching
Many employers match gifts to 501(c)(3) organizations. Our EIN is 42-3045670.
Bequests
Qualified under IRC sections 2055, 2106 and 2522.
Contact
Reach the right person the first time.
One address. One number. One PO box. The right subject line gets your message to the right desk.
Everything arrives in one inbox and is read by a person. The subject line
is what routes it.
Subject lines
Start with one of these.
Not bureaucracy — it is how a small
organization answers a fire chief before it answers a vendor.
Assistance
Please use the request form instead. It answers the questions we need, and a form we can read beats an email we have to chase.
Partnership
Partnership — technology, sponsorship, academic or public-sector enquiries. These also have their own page: Partners.
Media
Media — press and speaking requests. Tell us your deadline in the first line.
Governance
Governance — questions about the bylaws, the Board, the determination letter or anything related on the Transparency page.
Privacy request
Privacy request — access, correction, deletion, donor-preference and other requests under our Website Privacy Notice, by email or by post. Please do not include account numbers, passwords or other sensitive details in an ordinary message.
Privacy
Website Privacy Notice
Sojourner Technology Foundation, Inc.
Effective
September 13, 2026
Last updated
September 26, 2026
SectionsJump to a section
Important: STF’s website is not an emergency reporting service. If you are experiencing an emergency, contact 911 or the appropriate local emergency authority.
1Scope of This Privacy Notice
Sojourner Technology Foundation, Inc. (“STF,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a North Carolina nonprofit organization and federally recognized 501(c)(3) public charity. This Website Privacy Notice explains how STF collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects personal information when you visit or interact with an STF website, donation page, online form, newsletter, event registration, volunteer or partnership portal, program or assistance request, or other online service that links to this Notice (collectively, the “Services”).
This Notice applies to information that identifies, relates to, describes, or can reasonably be linked to an individual or household. It does not apply to information that is lawfully de-identified or aggregated so that it cannot reasonably identify an individual.
Some STF activities may be governed by a separate or supplemental privacy notice, consent form, media release, grant or program agreement, employment notice, or emergency-response protocol. When a more specific notice applies to a particular activity, that notice will control for that activity.
2Information We Collect
The information STF collects depends on how you interact with us. We seek to collect only information that is reasonably necessary for legitimate charitable, operational, safety, fundraising, compliance, or administrative purposes.
Contact and identity information. Name, mailing address, email address, telephone number, organization, title, and other identifiers you choose to provide.
Donation and transaction information. Donation amount, date, designation, recurring-gift preferences, billing contact details, transaction status, and information needed to issue receipts and maintain charitable and accounting records. Online payment card or bank information may be collected directly by a third-party payment processor; STF may receive transaction details but generally does not need to receive or retain full payment-card numbers.
Communications and preferences. Messages sent through contact forms, email correspondence, newsletter subscriptions, communication preferences, event registrations, survey responses, and requests to receive or stop receiving communications.
Volunteer, advisor, applicant, and partner information. Professional background, skills, qualifications, availability, organizational affiliation, references, or other information relevant to volunteer service, advisory roles, employment, contracting, collaboration, or partnership opportunities.
Program and assistance-request information. Information provided by individuals, agencies, communities, or organizations seeking STF support, including the nature of a need, operational challenges, general location, existing capabilities, requested technology or expertise, points of contact, photographs, documents, and other information needed to assess whether and how STF can assist.
Crisis and disaster-response information. When support is requested during a disaster or emergency, STF may receive information about affected locations, infrastructure, communications, resource gaps, logistical needs, response organizations, personnel, or other conditions relevant to coordinating assistance. We ask users not to submit unnecessary sensitive information through general public web forms.
Device and online activity information. Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring page, pages viewed, approximate location inferred from IP address, date and time of access, cookie identifiers, and similar technical information generated when you use the Services.
Content you submit. Photographs, videos, testimonials, stories, documents, comments, or other content you choose to provide. If STF intends to publish or prominently feature identifiable content, we may request additional permission or provide a separate release where appropriate.
3Information We Generally Do Not Seek Through Public Web Forms
Unless an STF program specifically requests it and provides an appropriate explanation, please do not send highly sensitive information through a general website contact form. Examples include full Social Security numbers, passport numbers, full financial-account credentials, medical records, biometric identifiers, security clearances, classified information, sensitive law-enforcement information, or other information that could create unnecessary risk if transmitted through a public-facing website.
If a program, international due-diligence process, background check, or emergency mission legitimately requires sensitive information, STF may use a more appropriate collection method and may provide additional notice or consent terms.
4How We Collect Information
Directly from you, such as when you donate, subscribe, register, volunteer, apply, contact us, request assistance, submit a proposal, or otherwise interact with STF.
Automatically through the Services, including through cookies, log files, analytics tools, and similar technologies.
From service providers, fundraising or payment platforms, event platforms, technology vendors, professional advisors, or other organizations that support STF’s operations.
From partner organizations, referrals, public sources, or other lawful sources when relevant to partnerships, program evaluation, donor stewardship, safety, compliance, or due diligence.
5How We Use Personal Information
Operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Services.
Respond to inquiries, requests, proposals, and requests for assistance.
Evaluate and administer public-safety, humanitarian, community-resilience, crisis-response, disaster-assistance, education, training, technology, and other charitable programs.
Process donations; provide receipts and acknowledgments; administer recurring gifts; maintain donor records; conduct donor stewardship; and support fundraising activities consistent with your communication preferences.
Manage events, newsletters, educational materials, volunteer opportunities, partnerships, advisory relationships, applications, grants, contracts, and other organizational activities.
Coordinate crisis or disaster-response activities, including assessing needs, assembling appropriate technical and leadership teams, connecting with public-safety or humanitarian partners, and supporting lawful operational coordination.
Protect the safety, integrity, and security of people, systems, facilities, data, equipment, and operations; detect or prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents, or unlawful activity.
Meet legal, tax, accounting, audit, sanctions-screening, nonprofit-governance, recordkeeping, insurance, risk-management, and other compliance obligations.
Understand how the Services are used, measure outreach effectiveness, and improve STF communications and programs.
Establish, exercise, or defend legal rights and resolve disputes.
6Donations and Donor Privacy
STF values the trust of donors and supporters. Donor information is used primarily to process gifts, issue tax acknowledgments, maintain accurate records, communicate about STF’s mission and impact, conduct appropriate stewardship, satisfy legal or accounting requirements, and support future fundraising.
STF does not sell, rent, or trade donor lists or donor personal information to third parties for the third party’s own marketing purposes.
STF may share donor information with service providers that perform functions on our behalf, such as payment processing, donor database administration, mailing, email delivery, accounting, audit, cybersecurity, or website hosting, subject to appropriate contractual or confidentiality protections.
STF may recognize donors publicly when the donor has consented, when recognition is reasonably expected in the context of the gift, or as otherwise permitted by law. We will make reasonable efforts to honor requests for anonymous recognition.
You may ask STF to stop or reduce fundraising communications at any time using the unsubscribe mechanism in an email or by contacting us through the methods listed below.
7Crisis Response, Disaster Assistance, and Information Sharing
STF’s mission may require rapid coordination during hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires, severe storms, communications outages, infrastructure failures, and other emergencies. When you or an organization requests STF assistance, information may need to move quickly among trusted participants to determine needs, allocate resources, restore communications, support situational awareness, coordinate technology, or assist lawful response and recovery activities.
In those circumstances, STF may disclose information that is reasonably necessary for the mission to public-safety agencies, emergency-management organizations, humanitarian partners, government entities, technology providers, logistics providers, communications providers, contractors, volunteers, or other response participants. We seek to limit such sharing to what is reasonably relevant to the response and to use secure or controlled channels when appropriate and practicable.
Where permitted by law, STF may also use or disclose information when reasonably necessary to protect the vital interests, health, or safety of an individual or the public. This section does not authorize STF to replace or override government incident command, emergency authorities, or legal restrictions on protected information.
8When We Disclose Personal Information
Service providers. Vendors and contractors that provide hosting, payment processing, cloud services, donor or constituent management, analytics, email distribution, forms, cybersecurity, IT support, accounting, audit, professional services, logistics, or similar functions.
Mission and program partners. Public-safety organizations, humanitarian organizations, government agencies, technology partners, community organizations, and other entities involved in a project, grant, training event, emergency response, or other STF-supported activity, when sharing is reasonably necessary and appropriate.
Professional advisors. Attorneys, accountants, auditors, insurers, consultants, and other professional advisors when needed for legitimate Foundation purposes.
Legal and safety disclosures. Government authorities, law enforcement, regulators, courts, or other parties when disclosure is required by law, legal process, applicable nonprofit obligations, or when reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, property, security, or prevent fraud or unlawful activity.
Organizational transactions. Parties involved in a merger, restructuring, transfer of assets, reorganization, or similar transaction involving STF, subject to applicable law and appropriate protections.
At your direction or with your consent. Other persons or organizations when you ask us to share information or otherwise authorize the disclosure.
De-identified or aggregated information. Information that has been reasonably de-identified or aggregated so that it does not identify an individual.
9Cookies, Analytics, and Similar Technologies
STF’s Services may use cookies, pixels, local storage, server logs, analytics tools, and similar technologies to make the website function, remember preferences, understand site usage, protect against abuse, and improve performance.
Strictly necessary technologies. Support security, network management, form functionality, session management, donation processing, and other essential website functions.
Analytics and performance technologies. Help STF understand how visitors use the Services, identify technical issues, and improve content and performance.
Functionality technologies. Remember choices or preferences and support enhanced website features.
Advertising, outreach, or social-media technologies. If STF enables these tools, they may help measure campaigns, support outreach, or enable embedded content. Where required by law, STF will provide appropriate notice and consent or opt-out controls before using non-essential technologies.
You can often control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, through the cookie or privacy controls presented on the Services. Disabling some technologies may affect website functionality.
Because there is not a single industry standard for traditional browser “Do Not Track” signals, the Services may not respond to them. If applicable law requires recognition of a qualifying opt-out preference signal, such as Global Privacy Control, STF will honor that signal for covered processing to the extent required.
10Communications and Marketing Choices
If you subscribe to STF updates, donor communications, event notices, or similar messages, you may unsubscribe from non-transactional email communications by using the unsubscribe link included in the message or by contacting STF. Even after you opt out of promotional or fundraising communications, STF may continue to send administrative or transactional messages, such as donation receipts, security notices, responses to requests, event confirmations, or other service-related communications.
If STF offers text-message communications, we will provide any additional disclosures or consent language required for that program. Consent to receive marketing text messages will not be a condition of making a donation.
11Data Retention
STF retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Notice, support legitimate charitable and operational needs, comply with legal, tax, accounting, audit, insurance, sanctions-screening, grant, contract, and recordkeeping requirements, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements.
Retention periods vary by type of information. Donation and financial records may be retained for the periods required or advisable for nonprofit, tax, accounting, and audit purposes. Program, partnership, crisis-response, and due-diligence records may be retained as needed for accountability, safety, lessons learned, contractual obligations, government requirements, or STF policy. When information is no longer reasonably needed, STF may delete, destroy, anonymize, or archive it in accordance with applicable requirements and operational needs.
12Security
STF uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. Safeguards may include access controls, vendor management, secure hosting, encryption in transit where supported, authentication controls, backups, logging, training, and other measures appropriate to the nature of the information and risk.
No website, network, transmission method, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. You should use caution when sending sensitive information online and should not use general STF web forms to transmit information that requires a specially protected channel.
13Your Privacy Rights and Choices
Depending on where you live, the nature of your relationship with STF, and whether a particular privacy law applies to a nonprofit organization such as STF, you may have some or all of the following rights:
Request access to or a copy of certain personal information STF maintains about you.
Request correction of inaccurate personal information.
Request deletion of certain personal information, subject to lawful exceptions and retention obligations.
Request portability of certain information in a usable format.
Object to or request restriction of certain processing where applicable.
Opt out of certain targeted advertising, sale, sharing, or profiling activities if STF engages in covered processing and applicable law provides that right.
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.
Appeal a decision on a privacy request where applicable law provides an appeal right.
To exercise a privacy right, contact STF using the methods in Section 20. We may need to verify your identity and the scope of your request before acting. We may deny or limit a request where permitted by law, including when information must be retained for legal, tax, security, fraud-prevention, accounting, contractual, emergency-response, or other legitimate purposes. Where permitted, an authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf, subject to verification of authority.
STF will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising an applicable privacy right.
14Children’s Privacy
The general STF website is not directed to children under 13, and STF does not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13 through the general Services without appropriate authorization. If you believe a child has provided personal information to STF through the general website without appropriate parental or guardian involvement, please contact us so we can review the situation.
STF may conduct charitable, educational, humanitarian, or community programs that involve minors. In those circumstances, STF may use program-specific forms, parental or guardian permissions, releases, or other safeguards appropriate to the activity and applicable law.
15International Visitors and Cross-Border Activities
STF is based in the United States and may operate or support projects internationally. If you access the Services from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in the United States or other countries where STF, its service providers, or mission partners operate. Privacy laws in those countries may differ from the laws where you live.
Where applicable law requires a lawful basis for processing, STF may rely on consent, performance of or steps related to an agreement, compliance with legal obligations, legitimate interests in operating and protecting the Foundation and its charitable programs, or, in appropriate emergency circumstances, protection of vital interests. Where required, STF will use appropriate safeguards for international data transfers.
Individuals in jurisdictions that provide additional privacy rights may contact STF using the information below. The availability and scope of those rights depend on the law that applies to the particular processing activity.
16Third-Party Websites, Platforms, and Embedded Content
The Services may link to or incorporate content from third-party websites, payment processors, fundraising platforms, social networks, mapping tools, video platforms, or other services. Those third parties may collect information directly from you under their own privacy policies. STF does not control the privacy practices of independent third parties and encourages you to review their notices before providing personal information.
17Public Content, Testimonials, Photographs, and Mission Stories
STF may share mission updates, photographs, testimonials, donor acknowledgments, partner stories, or other content to explain its charitable work and impact. If you voluntarily submit content for publication or provide permission for STF to use it, the content may become publicly accessible and may be copied or reshared by others. STF will use reasonable efforts to respect the scope of the permission provided and any applicable safety, dignity, or operational-security considerations.
STF may also publish de-identified or aggregated information about projects, outcomes, geographic coverage, equipment deployed, populations served, or lessons learned when doing so does not reasonably identify an individual or disclose information that should remain restricted.
18Legal, Compliance, and Nonprofit Governance Information
As a charitable organization, STF may be required to maintain records and disclose certain organizational information to government authorities, regulators, auditors, grantmakers, or the public. STF seeks to limit any personal information included in public-facing disclosures to what is required or appropriate. Donor and stakeholder information may also be used for lawful due diligence, sanctions screening, conflict-of-interest review, fraud prevention, audit, and other governance or compliance activities.
19Changes to This Notice
STF may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in the Services, technology, programs, vendors, legal requirements, or organizational practices. The “Last Updated” date at the top of the Notice will indicate when the current version became effective. If changes are material, STF may provide additional notice through the website, email, or another appropriate method.
20Contact Us and Privacy Requests
Questions, privacy requests, donor-preference requests, or concerns about this Notice may be submitted through the contact method published on STF’s website or by mail to:
Privacy Inquiries Sojourner Technology Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 91 Lakeview, NC 28350 United States
Online: Use the contact or privacy-request method published on STF’s website.
For your protection, please do not include full payment-card numbers, account passwords, Social Security numbers, classified information, or other highly sensitive information in an ordinary privacy-request message.
Terms
Terms of use
The short version.
Using this site
You may read, quote and link to anything here. Please do not present Foundation material in a way that implies endorsement of a product, organization or candidate.
Accuracy
We aim to be accurate and to mark clearly anything that is planned rather than done. Where a fact has not yet been supplied, the site says so rather than filling the gap.
No guarantee of assistance
Submitting a request does not create an obligation on the Foundation to provide assistance, funding, equipment or selection as a project.
Fuller terms
A complete terms-of-use document is being prepared with counsel. Until it is published, the statements on this page and the Website Privacy Notice are what govern your use of this site.
Diagnostic
What this device actually supports.
Open this page on the phone in question and read the rows. Anything marked NO is a capability that browser does not have; anything marked OFF is a setting on the device rather than a fault in the site.
