ARLINGTON, VA – Second Front Systems™ (2F), a public benefit software company accelerating the delivery of mission-critical software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to government, announces its implementation of the philanthropy-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform, Groundswell.
Groundswell is a social impact benefit that makes charity a part of companies’ compensation and benefits packages, giving companies like 2F the chance to walk the walk by making a tangible charitable impact.
“We built Groundswell for modern companies that understand the power that can be unlocked when employees are empowered to drive a company’s social impact,” said Jake Wood, CEO of Groundswell. “By democratizing corporate philanthropy, progressive CEOs acknowledge that every employee has a unique perspective on what issues matter most, and what solutions best drive change.”
2F and Groundswell’s relationship goes a few layers deeper than platform provider and customer.
2F’s CEO Peter Dixon and Groundswell’s CEO Jake Wood served together as Marines in a scout sniper platoon with 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, completing deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The loss of fellow Marines to combat and PTSD, including Corporal Clay Hunt, would play a role in galvanizing them to build engines of change.
They set out to found their own mission-driven companies to alleviate the pain points they experienced in the Marine Corps and post service.
For Peter, the problem was one of how to overcome a compliance moat to revolutionize access to cutting-edge software solutions for the warfighter with Second Front Systems. For Jake, the problem was one of finding renewed purpose for veterans and giving back to society. A problem he first approached with the founding of Team Rubicon, a veteran-powered international disaster response organization, before founding Groundswell, to transform the charitable giving ecosystem.
With Groundswell, 2F employees can select from one and a half million vetted charities to automatically allocate a percentage of their paychecks into personal giving accounts, similar to an HSA or 401k. Groundswell uses donor-advised funds (DAF), meaning donors receive their tax deductions from donations immediately. Donations can be made directly to a charity, or to an issue-based portfolio on an automated recurring basis, or as a one-time gift.
“We’ve assembled an amazingly talented group of mission-driven individuals. So it made no sense to sit back and make top-down charitable decisions for the company,” said Peter Dixon, CEO of 2F. “Groundswell empowers our team to make their own choices about worthy causes and rightly turns our corporate giving into a valued employee benefit. Plus, I was excited about the partnership since I know from experience that Jake, and team, will always take the hill.”
Learn more about 2F careers here.
About Second Front Systems
Second Front Systems (2F) fast-tracks government access to disruptive, commercially-proven software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications for national security missions. Leading software providers — ranging from publicly traded defense contractors to startups — and government agencies trust 2F’s Game Warden® DevSecOps platform and secure cloud hosting environment to accelerate their delivery and harness the cloud revolution at scale. Founded by former U.S. Marines, this public benefit, venture-backed software company is driven by firsthand experience of the dangers outdated technology poses in combat. For more information, visit https://secondfront.com/
About Groundswell
Groundswell is a modern corporate giving platform for companies that want to make philanthropy an employee benefit. Groundswell allows companies to support charitable demand by providing tax-advantaged personal giving accounts to employees, like a 401(k) for charitable giving. Groundswell’s proprietary Philanthropy-as-a-Service platform gets a company’s giving program up and running within hours and eliminates the administrative burden of managing a donation matching program. Founded by serial social entrepreneurs, Groundswell aims to democratize corporate giving and unlock the modern philanthropist in everyone. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and backed by GV, Human Ventures, Felicis, and Moonshots Capital. To learn more, visit www.groundswell.io.
