Author: sHq_LoGiNz

With more than 90,000 people in the U.S. on the national transplant waitlist, the demand for life-saving organs far outpaces the supply. Living donation offers a strong pathway to addressing this public health challenge, and supporting a larger potential donor pool requires providing clarity on perceived barriers in the process.

Angela Laino, a DaVita social worker who guides patients through their transplant journeys, recently became a non-directed living donor. In non-directed donation, sometimes called altruistic donation, someone chooses to donate their kidney without having an intended recipient. Laino’s selfless decision initiated a transplant chain that saved three lives. Her firsthand experience highlights the profound impact of living donation and the need to remove structural barriers for future donors.

Below, Angela addresses five common myths and the systemic shifts necessary to strengthen the living donor pipeline.

Myth 1: Donors must be a perfect biological match.

The Reality: A donor does not need to be related to the recipient or have an exact blood type match. Advanced algorithms and paired kidney exchange programs can connect multiple incompatible donor-recipient pairs. MedSleuth, a transplant transformation company, is partnered with the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD) to offer KidneyMatchgrid. This leading paired exchange offering leverages match optimization to facilitate matches within a single center, across cities — and even throughout the U.S.

Insight: Turning a biological “no” into a logistical “yes” maximizes every willing donor’s impact. Policies supporting cross-center paired exchanges can exponentially increase successful transplants.

Angela’s Perspective:
“People are sometimes surprised I didn’t donate to a loved one, but as a social worker, I’ve seen how transplant provides the best quality of life for our patients. When I found out my single donation could start a chain and help three people, it was incredible. It’s thrilling to know one act can have such a ripple effect.”

Myth 2: Living donation creates a massive financial burden.

The Reality: The donor recipient’s insurance covers medical costs.

Insight: No donor should face financial hardship. Programs like MedSleuth and APKD’s DonorProtect help remove financial barriers. Through DonorProtect, living donors can receive reimbursement for lost wages, travel, dependent care and even pet care.

Angela’s Perspective:
“The hospital covered all my medical testing. And I received financial support covering my travel, gas and hotel — I haven’t spent a single penny out of pocket.¹ They even cover childcare and meals, as well as expenses like pet boarding and meals or lodging for a caregiver. They think of everything and work to help remove financial barriers donors may face.”

Myth 3: Donors risk losing their jobs or income.

The Reality: While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects your job, it doesn’t guarantee paid leave. However, specialized grants and progressive employer benefits can bridge this gap.

Insight: Leading healthcare employers like DaVita offer specialized paid time off (PTO) for living donors — fostering confidence for someone considering living donation. For most people, even when someone is self-employed, there are resources for wage reimbursement during testing, surgery and recovery, such as the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) and APKD’s DonorProtect.

Angela’s Perspective:
“I’m so grateful DaVita offers a specific living donor benefit that provides up to four weeks of paid leave. [Because I received four weeks,] I didn’t have to use my regular PTO, which took the stress away and allowed me to focus entirely on healing.”

Myth 4: Donation diminishes long-term health and life expectancy.

The Reality: Kidney donation is a safe, routine surgery with a low complication rate and no long-term adverse health effects.

Insight: Misinformation restricts the donor pipeline, but education campaigns can help elevate clinical facts and normalize living donation.

Angela’s Perspective:
“The evaluation is the absolute best physical you will ever get. The transplant center won’t let you donate if it puts you at risk. Now, I want to show people what you can do with one kidney! I’m back to working out and joined a group for athletes who are kidney donors. I use my experience to show others that someone can donate and go back to living life to the fullest. I was cleared to go back to the gym six weeks after surgery — and I have felt great!”

Myth 5: Donors are left unprotected if their remaining kidney fails.

The Reality: If a living donor ever requires a kidney transplant later in life, they are granted priority status on the national waitlist.

Insight: MedSleuth and APKD’s Kidney Pledge extends priority status for donors to help protect their family members and loved ones if they need a kidney transplant in the future. This safety net can help prospective donors trust that the system will help protect them.

Angela’s Perspective:
“The chances of needing a kidney are very low, but if I ever did, I know I’d go straight to the top of the list. And because I donated with Medsleuth and APKD, I received their FamilyPledge, so if my immediate family members ever need a kidney, they are covered too. Knowing my donation could potentially protect my future grandchildren sold me on the idea.”

Transplant Transformation: MedSleuth & the APKD MedSleuth, a DaVita company, is helping transform the transplant experience by driving transparency, automation and improved experience. MedSleuth and the APKD offer living donor intake and a sophisticated, Nobel Prize-winning algorithm to facilitate paired donation with concierge-level support for the living donation process. Learn more: Medsleuth.com/KidneyMatchgrid

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^{1 Angela received financial support through the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC), which reimburses expenses associated with living donation up to $6,000. For living donors whose expenses exceed the max coverage through the NLDAC, programs like DonorProtect through the APKD and MedSleuth can offer additional support to reduce or remove financial barriers to donation.}

With more than 90,000 people in the U.S. on the national transplant waitlist, the demand for life-saving organs far outpaces the supply. Living donation offers a strong pathway to addressing this public health challenge, and supporting a larger potential donor pool requires providing clarity on perceived barriers in the process.

Angela Laino, a DaVita social worker who guides patients through their transplant journeys, recently became a non-directed living donor. In non-directed donation, sometimes called altruistic donation, someone chooses to donate their kidney without having an intended recipient. Laino’s selfless decision initiated a transplant chain that saved three lives. Her firsthand experience highlights the profound impact of living donation and the need to remove structural barriers for future donors.

Below, Angela addresses five common myths and the systemic shifts necessary to strengthen the living donor pipeline.

Myth 1: Donors must be a perfect biological match.

The Reality: A donor does not need to be related to the recipient or have an exact blood type match. Advanced algorithms and paired kidney exchange programs can connect multiple incompatible donor-recipient pairs. MedSleuth, a transplant transformation company, is partnered with the Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD) to offer KidneyMatchgrid. This leading paired exchange offering leverages match optimization to facilitate matches within a single center, across cities — and even throughout the U.S.

Insight: Turning a biological “no” into a logistical “yes” maximizes every willing donor’s impact. Policies supporting cross-center paired exchanges can exponentially increase successful transplants.

Angela’s Perspective:
“People are sometimes surprised I didn’t donate to a loved one, but as a social worker, I’ve seen how transplant provides the best quality of life for our patients. When I found out my single donation could start a chain and help three people, it was incredible. It’s thrilling to know one act can have such a ripple effect.”

Myth 2: Living donation creates a massive financial burden.

The Reality: The donor recipient’s insurance covers medical costs.

Insight: No donor should face financial hardship. Programs like MedSleuth and APKD’s DonorProtect help remove financial barriers. Through DonorProtect, living donors can receive reimbursement for lost wages, travel, dependent care and even pet care.

Angela’s Perspective:
“The hospital covered all my medical testing. And I received financial support covering my travel, gas and hotel — I haven’t spent a single penny out of pocket.¹ They even cover childcare and meals, as well as expenses like pet boarding and meals or lodging for a caregiver. They think of everything and work to help remove financial barriers donors may face.”

Myth 3: Donors risk losing their jobs or income.

The Reality: While the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) protects your job, it doesn’t guarantee paid leave. However, specialized grants and progressive employer benefits can bridge this gap.

Insight: Leading healthcare employers like DaVita offer specialized paid time off (PTO) for living donors — fostering confidence for someone considering living donation. For most people, even when someone is self-employed, there are resources for wage reimbursement during testing, surgery and recovery, such as the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) and APKD’s DonorProtect.

Angela’s Perspective:
“I’m so grateful DaVita offers a specific living donor benefit that provides up to four weeks of paid leave. [Because I received four weeks,] I didn’t have to use my regular PTO, which took the stress away and allowed me to focus entirely on healing.”

Myth 4: Donation diminishes long-term health and life expectancy.

The Reality: Kidney donation is a safe, routine surgery with a low complication rate and no long-term adverse health effects.

Insight: Misinformation restricts the donor pipeline, but education campaigns can help elevate clinical facts and normalize living donation.

Angela’s Perspective:
“The evaluation is the absolute best physical you will ever get. The transplant center won’t let you donate if it puts you at risk. Now, I want to show people what you can do with one kidney! I’m back to working out and joined a group for athletes who are kidney donors. I use my experience to show others that someone can donate and go back to living life to the fullest. I was cleared to go back to the gym six weeks after surgery — and I have felt great!”

Myth 5: Donors are left unprotected if their remaining kidney fails.

The Reality: If a living donor ever requires a kidney transplant later in life, they are granted priority status on the national waitlist.

Insight: MedSleuth and APKD’s Kidney Pledge extends priority status for donors to help protect their family members and loved ones if they need a kidney transplant in the future. This safety net can help prospective donors trust that the system will help protect them.

Angela’s Perspective:
“The chances of needing a kidney are very low, but if I ever did, I know I’d go straight to the top of the list. And because I donated with Medsleuth and APKD, I received their FamilyPledge, so if my immediate family members ever need a kidney, they are covered too. Knowing my donation could potentially protect my future grandchildren sold me on the idea.”

Transplant Transformation: MedSleuth & the APKD MedSleuth, a DaVita company, is helping transform the transplant experience by driving transparency, automation and improved experience. MedSleuth and the APKD offer living donor intake and a sophisticated, Nobel Prize-winning algorithm to facilitate paired donation with concierge-level support for the living donation process. Learn more: Medsleuth.com/KidneyMatchgrid

---

^{1 Angela received financial support through the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC), which reimburses expenses associated with living donation up to $6,000. For living donors whose expenses exceed the max coverage through the NLDAC, programs like DonorProtect through the APKD and MedSleuth can offer additional support to reduce or remove financial barriers to donation.}

In recent decades, electric utilities operated under a simple planning assumption: demand would remain flat, if not decline. Over the past several years, that paradigm has shifted.

Load growth—long absent from the power sector’s most immediate concerns—has reemerged as the defining dynamic shaping investment decisions, regulatory debates, and public discourse.

At the same time, utilities face mandates to deliver reliability, resilience, and decarbonization outcomes, all while keeping electricity affordable for their customers, who feel every rate increase on their monthly bill.

This three-legged stool—affordability, reliability, and load growth—now defines the central challenge facing electric utilities, requiring planning, investment, and regulatory strategy to be far more innovative and coordinated than in the past.

Short- and long-term strategies for load growth

Electrification, data centers, AI, and reshoring of advanced manufacturing are driving demand upward at a pace and scale not seen in generations. Load growth since about 2020 is real, significant, and accelerating into the future.

However, utilities and regulators must also grapple with a fundamental question as they make infrastructure decisions: How much of this expected load will ultimately materialize, and how much is simply speculative?

The large customers driving today’s surge in demand frequently signal plans years ahead of actual interconnection, complicating utility investment planning and raising cost‑allocation concerns.

Yet waiting too long to act risks capacity shortfalls, reliability events, and rate hikes. As a result, accurate load forecasting is no longer a purely technical exercise, but a strategic imperative tied directly to risk management, affordability outcomes, and major infrastructure buildout.

Short-term forecasting is equally critical. Increasingly severe weather can already strain system capacity for generation, transmission, and distribution assets simultaneously. Shifting load profiles and extreme events influence utility capacity purchases, operational strategies, and pricing structures in an effort to keep the lights on, reinforcing how closely reliability and affordability are now linked.

Resilience through the economic lens

Affordability and load growth intersect with resilience in ways that extend beyond megawatts and balance sheets. At a basic level, outages affect health, safety, and productivity—down to commutes and childcare.

While mission critical operations such as government, essential public services, healthcare, and communications often have backup power, they remain exposed to broader, cascading effects when the broader grid is disrupted.

These impacts shape public tolerance for risk and willingness to invest in solutions, reinforcing why resilience must be considered alongside affordability, not in opposition to it.

Improving existing assets and future deployment

One of the most immediate tools utilities have to manage both costs and reliability in the face of growing needs lies not in building new assets, but in improving existing ones.

New conventional generation is significantly more expensive than in past decades, compounded by snarled supply chains, complex tariffs, and protracted lead-times. Transmission and distribution costs have steadily risen since 2010, reflecting aging infrastructure, interconnection demands, and advanced technologies for grid modernization and hardening. These are not discretionary investments; they are foundational to maintaining service that’s safe, reliable, and secure.

Strategies such as demand‑side management, grid optimization, and distributed energy resources (DERs) provide pathways to accommodate growth without continuously expanding the system footprint.

Digitization underpins each of these approaches. Advanced sensing, forecasting tools, distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), and automated interconnection processes are no longer nice to have. They are prerequisites for managing an increasingly diverse network of grid-connected assets at scale.

Grid optimization allows utilities to defer capital spending, smooth demand peaks, and tailor customer-facing solutions more closely to needs—directly supporting affordability objectives. Importantly, these strategies also create opportunities for developers and outside investors to participate more directly in the energy economy.

Digitization offers benefits which extend beyond utility operations. Permitting and interconnection processes themselves are often bottlenecks to grid optimization and DER deployment. Long delays and uncertainty slow investment, increase costs, and undermine economic development opportunity presented through the energy transition.

Communicating value to consumers

No affordability discussion is complete without addressing communication. Customers experience utility decisions primarily through their bills, not through integrated resource plans or regulatory filings. Helping consumers understand why investments are being made—and how those investments benefit daily life—is essential to maintaining trust.

Load growth driven by data centers or large corporations can seem abstract until connected to jobs, economic resilience, and national security. Similarly, infrastructure investments often go unnoticed until the lights stay on during a storm.

Education, transparency, and consistent messaging cannot be afterthoughts. Rather, they are central to sustaining the social license utilities operate under.

Policy certainty as a force multiplier

State and local actors are playing a growing role in shaping energy outcomes, from siting decisions, incentive structures, and climate policy.

Decentralized initiatives are an essential driver of tangible progress, especially amidst rapidly shifting federal policies. Aligning these sub‑national efforts with complementary regulatory clarity will determine how successfully regions manage growth.

Utilities are already accustomed to operating within complex regulatory frameworks, but uncertainty—particularly around cost recovery, interconnection rules, and technology eligibility—increases risk and ultimately increases customer costs.

Clear signals from regulators and legislators allow utilities to plan prudently, deploy capital efficiently, and consider a broader, more innovative set of solutions.

This transparency also encourages third-party participation, accelerating impact while alleviating customer cost burden. Absent such certainty, delay becomes the default, with higher long‑term costs, unmet system needs, and untapped development opportunity.

The path forward

Meeting growing loads while keeping electricity affordable will require a combination of realism, innovation, and coordination.

Progress will depend on improved forecasting, smarter optimization, clearer policy signals, accelerated integration through digitization, and more effective communication with both consumers and policymakers.

The electric system is evolving because the economy and society it supports are evolving. The challenge for utilities isn’t merely to keep pace, but to help shape that evolution in ways that are affordable, resilient, and aligned with long‑term national priorities.

Interested in learning more? Connect with a Baker Tilly specialist.

In recent decades, electric utilities operated under a simple planning assumption: demand would remain flat, if not decline. Over the past several years, that paradigm has shifted.

Load growth—long absent from the power sector’s most immediate concerns—has reemerged as the defining dynamic shaping investment decisions, regulatory debates, and public discourse.

At the same time, utilities face mandates to deliver reliability, resilience, and decarbonization outcomes, all while keeping electricity affordable for their customers, who feel every rate increase on their monthly bill.

This three-legged stool—affordability, reliability, and load growth—now defines the central challenge facing electric utilities, requiring planning, investment, and regulatory strategy to be far more innovative and coordinated than in the past.

Short- and long-term strategies for load growth

Electrification, data centers, AI, and reshoring of advanced manufacturing are driving demand upward at a pace and scale not seen in generations. Load growth since about 2020 is real, significant, and accelerating into the future.

However, utilities and regulators must also grapple with a fundamental question as they make infrastructure decisions: How much of this expected load will ultimately materialize, and how much is simply speculative?

The large customers driving today’s surge in demand frequently signal plans years ahead of actual interconnection, complicating utility investment planning and raising cost‑allocation concerns.

Yet waiting too long to act risks capacity shortfalls, reliability events, and rate hikes. As a result, accurate load forecasting is no longer a purely technical exercise, but a strategic imperative tied directly to risk management, affordability outcomes, and major infrastructure buildout.

Short-term forecasting is equally critical. Increasingly severe weather can already strain system capacity for generation, transmission, and distribution assets simultaneously. Shifting load profiles and extreme events influence utility capacity purchases, operational strategies, and pricing structures in an effort to keep the lights on, reinforcing how closely reliability and affordability are now linked.

Resilience through the economic lens

Affordability and load growth intersect with resilience in ways that extend beyond megawatts and balance sheets. At a basic level, outages affect health, safety, and productivity—down to commutes and childcare.

While mission critical operations such as government, essential public services, healthcare, and communications often have backup power, they remain exposed to broader, cascading effects when the broader grid is disrupted.

These impacts shape public tolerance for risk and willingness to invest in solutions, reinforcing why resilience must be considered alongside affordability, not in opposition to it.

Improving existing assets and future deployment

One of the most immediate tools utilities have to manage both costs and reliability in the face of growing needs lies not in building new assets, but in improving existing ones.

New conventional generation is significantly more expensive than in past decades, compounded by snarled supply chains, complex tariffs, and protracted lead-times. Transmission and distribution costs have steadily risen since 2010, reflecting aging infrastructure, interconnection demands, and advanced technologies for grid modernization and hardening. These are not discretionary investments; they are foundational to maintaining service that’s safe, reliable, and secure.

Strategies such as demand‑side management, grid optimization, and distributed energy resources (DERs) provide pathways to accommodate growth without continuously expanding the system footprint.

Digitization underpins each of these approaches. Advanced sensing, forecasting tools, distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS), and automated interconnection processes are no longer nice to have. They are prerequisites for managing an increasingly diverse network of grid-connected assets at scale.

Grid optimization allows utilities to defer capital spending, smooth demand peaks, and tailor customer-facing solutions more closely to needs—directly supporting affordability objectives. Importantly, these strategies also create opportunities for developers and outside investors to participate more directly in the energy economy.

Digitization offers benefits which extend beyond utility operations. Permitting and interconnection processes themselves are often bottlenecks to grid optimization and DER deployment. Long delays and uncertainty slow investment, increase costs, and undermine economic development opportunity presented through the energy transition.

Communicating value to consumers

No affordability discussion is complete without addressing communication. Customers experience utility decisions primarily through their bills, not through integrated resource plans or regulatory filings. Helping consumers understand why investments are being made—and how those investments benefit daily life—is essential to maintaining trust.

Load growth driven by data centers or large corporations can seem abstract until connected to jobs, economic resilience, and national security. Similarly, infrastructure investments often go unnoticed until the lights stay on during a storm.

Education, transparency, and consistent messaging cannot be afterthoughts. Rather, they are central to sustaining the social license utilities operate under.

Policy certainty as a force multiplier

State and local actors are playing a growing role in shaping energy outcomes, from siting decisions, incentive structures, and climate policy.

Decentralized initiatives are an essential driver of tangible progress, especially amidst rapidly shifting federal policies. Aligning these sub‑national efforts with complementary regulatory clarity will determine how successfully regions manage growth.

Utilities are already accustomed to operating within complex regulatory frameworks, but uncertainty—particularly around cost recovery, interconnection rules, and technology eligibility—increases risk and ultimately increases customer costs.

Clear signals from regulators and legislators allow utilities to plan prudently, deploy capital efficiently, and consider a broader, more innovative set of solutions.

This transparency also encourages third-party participation, accelerating impact while alleviating customer cost burden. Absent such certainty, delay becomes the default, with higher long‑term costs, unmet system needs, and untapped development opportunity.

The path forward

Meeting growing loads while keeping electricity affordable will require a combination of realism, innovation, and coordination.

Progress will depend on improved forecasting, smarter optimization, clearer policy signals, accelerated integration through digitization, and more effective communication with both consumers and policymakers.

The electric system is evolving because the economy and society it supports are evolving. The challenge for utilities isn’t merely to keep pace, but to help shape that evolution in ways that are affordable, resilient, and aligned with long‑term national priorities.

Interested in learning more? Connect with a Baker Tilly specialist.

PITTSBURGH, August 14, 2026 /3BL/ — We’re proud to announce that Jennifer Sniderman, Vice President, Corporate Communications, has been named a finalist in the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards, which celebrates outstanding organizations and leaders who are advancing their missions, strengthening their communities, and achieving extraordinary results with technology from Blackbaud, the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact. Presented by Blackbaud, the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact, the awards recognize changemakers across the nonprofit, education, healthcare, foundation, and corporate social responsibility sectors who are creating meaningful impact in their communities and around the world.

Jennifer Sniderman was selected as a finalist in recognition of her exceptional leadership, commitment to innovation and transformative impact on Wesco’s community engagement strategy. By championing a more scalable, data-driven approach to corporate philanthropy, she has helped expand employee participation, strengthen the company’s ability to measure and communicate impact, and grow Wesco Cares into a globally connected program that creates meaningful value for employees, communities and the business. Beyond her work at Wesco, Jennifer is deeply committed to community service and serves on the board of Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity, bringing the same passion for impact to the communities she supports.

“Jennifer’s leadership has helped make community impact an important part of how we support our employees, customers and communities,” said John Engel, Wesco Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “She has brought vision, energy and a focus on results to our efforts, helping build a program that engages employees around the world and creates value far beyond our business. This recognition is well deserved.”

For more than four decades, Blackbaud has partnered with organizations across the social impact ecosystem—including nonprofits, healthcare organizations, educational institutions, foundations, and companies dedicated to doing good. The Blackbaud Impact Awards shine a spotlight on customers that are embracing innovation, breaking down barriers, and delivering measurable outcomes for the people and causes they serve.

“The stories behind this year’s finalists highlight the incredible ingenuity, resilience, and passion that define the social impact community,” said Todd Lant, chief customer officer, Blackbaud. “Across sectors and geographies, these organizations are finding innovative ways to solve challenges, strengthen connections, and create lasting change. We’re honored to celebrate their achievements and the impact they’re making every day.”

The Blackbaud Impact Awards continue to grow as a global celebration of customer excellence. The 2026 finalists represent a diverse group of organizations and leaders from around the globe who are transforming how social impact work is delivered. Finalists were selected from nominations spanning multiple sectors, regions, and award categories, reflecting the breadth and scale of the Blackbaud customer community worldwide.Winners of the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards will be announced on August 18, 2026. Blackbaud will continue the celebration throughout the year, including award presentations and recognition at bbcon 2026 in Columbus, Ohio; London, England; and Sydney, Australia. To learn more about the Blackbaud Impact Awards, view finalist profiles, and stay informed about the winner announcement, visit blackbaud.com/impact-awards.

About Wesco

Wesco International (NYSE: WCC) builds, connects, powers and protects the world. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wesco is a FORTUNE 500® company with approximately $24 billion in annual sales in 2025 and a leading provider of business-to-business distribution, logistics services and supply chain solutions. Wesco offers a best-in-class product and services portfolio of Electrical and Electronic Solutions, Communications and Security Solutions, and Utility and Broadband Solutions. The Company employs approximately 21,000 people, partners with the industry’s premier suppliers, and serves thousands of customers around the world. With millions of products, end-to-end supply chain services, and significant digital capabilities, Wesco provides innovative solutions to meet customer needs across commercial and industrial businesses, technology companies, telecommunications providers, and utilities. Wesco operates more than 700 sites, including distribution centers, fulfillment centers, and sales offices in approximately 50 countries, providing a local presence for customers and a global network to serve multi-location businesses and global corporations.

About Blackbaud

Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact. Serving nonprofits, educational institutions, companies committed to corporate social responsibility, and individual change makers, Blackbaud propels impact at scale with the sector’s most intelligent solutions for fundraising and engagement, education solutions, financial management and CSR and grantmaking. With the deepest expertise powered by the world’s largest philanthropic data set, the most connected workflows, and the most powerful impact network, Blackbaud’s solutions are building a future where resources are unleashed at the speed of need. Blackbaud has been recognized by Fast Company, Newsweek, Quartz, Forbes and more for AI innovation, responsible leadership and workplace excellence. Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

PITTSBURGH, August 14, 2026 /3BL/ — We’re proud to announce that Jennifer Sniderman, Vice President, Corporate Communications, has been named a finalist in the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards, which celebrates outstanding organizations and leaders who are advancing their missions, strengthening their communities, and achieving extraordinary results with technology from Blackbaud, the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact. Presented by Blackbaud, the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact, the awards recognize changemakers across the nonprofit, education, healthcare, foundation, and corporate social responsibility sectors who are creating meaningful impact in their communities and around the world.

Jennifer Sniderman was selected as a finalist in recognition of her exceptional leadership, commitment to innovation and transformative impact on Wesco’s community engagement strategy. By championing a more scalable, data-driven approach to corporate philanthropy, she has helped expand employee participation, strengthen the company’s ability to measure and communicate impact, and grow Wesco Cares into a globally connected program that creates meaningful value for employees, communities and the business. Beyond her work at Wesco, Jennifer is deeply committed to community service and serves on the board of Chicagoland Habitat for Humanity, bringing the same passion for impact to the communities she supports.

“Jennifer’s leadership has helped make community impact an important part of how we support our employees, customers and communities,” said John Engel, Wesco Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “She has brought vision, energy and a focus on results to our efforts, helping build a program that engages employees around the world and creates value far beyond our business. This recognition is well deserved.”

For more than four decades, Blackbaud has partnered with organizations across the social impact ecosystem—including nonprofits, healthcare organizations, educational institutions, foundations, and companies dedicated to doing good. The Blackbaud Impact Awards shine a spotlight on customers that are embracing innovation, breaking down barriers, and delivering measurable outcomes for the people and causes they serve.

“The stories behind this year’s finalists highlight the incredible ingenuity, resilience, and passion that define the social impact community,” said Todd Lant, chief customer officer, Blackbaud. “Across sectors and geographies, these organizations are finding innovative ways to solve challenges, strengthen connections, and create lasting change. We’re honored to celebrate their achievements and the impact they’re making every day.”

The Blackbaud Impact Awards continue to grow as a global celebration of customer excellence. The 2026 finalists represent a diverse group of organizations and leaders from around the globe who are transforming how social impact work is delivered. Finalists were selected from nominations spanning multiple sectors, regions, and award categories, reflecting the breadth and scale of the Blackbaud customer community worldwide.Winners of the 2026 Blackbaud Impact Awards will be announced on August 18, 2026. Blackbaud will continue the celebration throughout the year, including award presentations and recognition at bbcon 2026 in Columbus, Ohio; London, England; and Sydney, Australia. To learn more about the Blackbaud Impact Awards, view finalist profiles, and stay informed about the winner announcement, visit blackbaud.com/impact-awards.

About Wesco

Wesco International (NYSE: WCC) builds, connects, powers and protects the world. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wesco is a FORTUNE 500® company with approximately $24 billion in annual sales in 2025 and a leading provider of business-to-business distribution, logistics services and supply chain solutions. Wesco offers a best-in-class product and services portfolio of Electrical and Electronic Solutions, Communications and Security Solutions, and Utility and Broadband Solutions. The Company employs approximately 21,000 people, partners with the industry’s premier suppliers, and serves thousands of customers around the world. With millions of products, end-to-end supply chain services, and significant digital capabilities, Wesco provides innovative solutions to meet customer needs across commercial and industrial businesses, technology companies, telecommunications providers, and utilities. Wesco operates more than 700 sites, including distribution centers, fulfillment centers, and sales offices in approximately 50 countries, providing a local presence for customers and a global network to serve multi-location businesses and global corporations.

About Blackbaud

Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact. Serving nonprofits, educational institutions, companies committed to corporate social responsibility, and individual change makers, Blackbaud propels impact at scale with the sector’s most intelligent solutions for fundraising and engagement, education solutions, financial management and CSR and grantmaking. With the deepest expertise powered by the world’s largest philanthropic data set, the most connected workflows, and the most powerful impact network, Blackbaud’s solutions are building a future where resources are unleashed at the speed of need. Blackbaud has been recognized by Fast Company, Newsweek, Quartz, Forbes and more for AI innovation, responsible leadership and workplace excellence. Blackbaud has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India and the United Kingdom, supporting users in 100+ countries. Learn more at www.blackbaud.com or follow us on X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.