If you’ve ever had a problem with your computer and needed technical support, it’s likely that you’ve encountered Dennis.

Over his years as Technical Support Engineer, he’s made a conscious effort to turn frustrating moments that require troubleshooting into a positive experience and opportunities for friendship with his officemates.

Dennis’s journey in RAFI started in 2011 serving for 7 years as technical support through an external provider. He officially joined the organization in 2018 and has since made efforts to go the extra mile in helping RAFInians. While his years of experience have built his technical expertise on troubleshooting, he admits that he’s learned a lot more about the importance of people skills. Service with empathy is the approach he takes in interacting and working with his colleagues. “When you approach the person asking for help from a place of empathy, you also understand the impact that their technical problem has on their work, and ultimately on RAFI’s operations,” he shared. Dennis has also taught this holistic viewpoint to several on-the-job trainees to build a culture of service and professionalism within the IT team.

Outside of the usual troubleshooting incidents he assists with, Dennis often helps out with technical requirements needed for institutional events. His favorite type of support is playing during organizational events in RAFI’s in-house band, The Architects. As one the band’s founding members, he extends his “serving with empathy” philosophy by taking the lead in organizing the band’s performance.

From coordinating band practice to curating the perfect song list that appeals to different musical tastes, he sees his role in the band as an opportunity to not only enjoy the music, but to provide RAFInians a break from work and have fun. When The Architects play, he observes that positions no longer matter. “Everyone, from our service crew members to the executive management, sing along, dance, and enjoy the music,” he shared.

Another of his most memorable experiences was the support he provided for relief operations after Typhoon Yolanda struck the Visayas in 2013. As part of the IT team, he assisted in setting up the technical requirements of the Command Center and was on standby to ensure stable connectivity for communications, a critical component of response. Seeing the entire organization shift to respond to the impact of the typhoon helped Dennis better understand RAFI’s mission to implement solutions that enable people to achieve higher levels of wellbeing. “Even though I wasn’t deployed to be on the frontlines during relief operations, it felt good that I could still contribute in my own way. By supporting the back-end operations of RAFI during response, I knew I was also supporting the people affected by the typhoon,” shared Dennis.