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It's great to feel good about what you do for a living. But, imagine feeling in awe every day of what the organization you work for accomplishes. That's the benefit the soft-spoken Clarence White gets from working as CIO for The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters for the Western United States in Long Beach, California. He takes pride in The Army's ability to act locally and to provide services ranging from help for alcoholics in the skid row section of Los Angeles, to access and training for those on the wrong side of the American digital divide in the 100 free computer labs The Army has spread across 13 states.

Early in his career, White got bit by The Army's mission to serve others. He cut his IT teeth at The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters for Canada; later, he gained valuable enterprise experience in both software development and in network architecture at the consulting division of a Big Eight Accounting firm and at a worldwide chemical manufacturer. Armed with five year's of IT experience, White returned to The Salvation Army, where he worked himself up the IT ladder to CIO at The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters for the Western United States.

White has transformed the 13-state Western Territory into a well oiled IT machine that can keep pace with any large, corporate enterprise. As a capstone to his accomplishments, his shop was named to InformationWeek's list of 500 of the most innovative IT organizations in the nation. His entry cited carrying out a workflow and documentation management system and building a home-grown decision-making system. Now, senior leaders don't have to schedule meetings; they can review materials and vote on issues electronically.

But working at The Salvation Army has its cultural challenges. Employees who service the needs of others are perceived as humanitarians, while those who work in IT are often thought of as technologists. White continues to demonstrate that IT people can leverage what they do to help those in need. One of his tasks for 2006 is to put a new donor system in place that will help make everyone in White's territory more effective at raising money and reporting on how it's being distributed.

So, join us for a conversation with The Salvation Army's Clarence White, as he talks about how IT at The Army continues to keep pace, in the face of the many challenges of today's complex society as well as those unforeseen natural disasters that may always be just around the corner.

Resources

Network File Managers Appear on the Landscape -- and Not a Moment Too Soon

Salvation Army West Updates Fund-raising Software

Salvation Army Named Tech Leader by Industry Magazine

Bio

Since 1997, Clarence White has been chief information officer, or officially, information technology secretary for The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters for the Western United States in Long Beach, California. He has installed major systems in almost every area of The Salvation Army's work. As a result of its extensive IT infrastructure, The USA Western Territory has become an international leader in the cost-effective use of technology to meet its business-, and mission-related objectives. In 1983, Clarence White became a programmer at The Salvation Army, Territorial Headquarters for Canada. While technology was still new to The Salvation Army, White pioneered the development of software programs that set the standard for systems used in that territory. He then spent several years in IT at both Coopers & Lybrand Information Technology Consulting practice and Tenneco, a global chemical manufacturer. White returned to The Salvation Army, Canada and Bermuda Territory, in 1988, as head of the Computer Services Department, and in 1997, he transferred to The Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters for the Western United States.

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer