Why I started Silver Wolf Technology
I spent years in IT before I realised how much of my own start came down to one person deciding to answer my questions. This is my attempt to be that person for somebody else.
Quick facts
- Senior Solutions Architect at Gluware
- Alpharetta, GA
- Former Microsoft Certified Professional and Cisco Certiffied Systems Instructor
- Mentoring since 2001
Hi, I'm Fabricio.
I got into technology the long way round. There was no computer science class at my school and nobody in my family worked in the field, so what I had was a second-hand tower, a slow connection, and a lot of stubbornness. I broke that machine more times than I can count, and every time I fixed it I learned something that later turned out to be my job.
What actually moved me forward, though, wasn't the tinkering. It was a systems administrator at my first workplace who let me shadow him on Fridays. He answered questions I was embarrassed to ask. He told me which certification was worth the money and which one wasn't. When I bombed an interview, he walked me through what I should have said instead. None of that was in a curriculum. It came from one person deciding I was worth some of his time.
Years later I was the one with the badge and the on-call phone, and I kept meeting bright young people in my own community who were exactly where I had been — interested, capable, and completely without a map. So I started meeting a few of them after hours. That turned into Silver Wolf Technology.
What the name means
Wolves teach by taking the young along on the hunt. The older ones don't lecture — they let the pups watch, then take part, then lead. That's the model here. Our mentees don't sit and listen; they sit alongside someone doing real work until they can do it themselves.
What I believe about this work
Access beats talent
The limiting factor is almost never ability. It's whether someone knows the door exists.
Consistency beats intensity
A mentor who shows up for two years does more than a bootcamp that lasts twelve weeks.
Breaking things is the lesson
We give young people environments they're allowed to destroy, because that's where the learning is.
Safety is not optional
Every mentor is background-checked and trained. Sessions with minors are never one-to-one in private.
The whole point is to make myself unnecessary. If a mentee stops needing me, the programme worked.
Where this is heading
Right now Silver Wolf Technology runs on volunteer time, donated hardware, and a lot of evenings. The goal for the next few years is straightforward: more mentors, a standing partnership with local schools and libraries, and a refurbished-laptop programme that can keep up with demand. If any of that sounds like something you can help with, I'd like to hear from you.