Grange CIO Volunteers at Columbus Non-Profit Amethyst

Aa a senior executive, Grange Insurance (Columbus, Ohio; approximately $1 billion in revenue) CIO Michael Fergang has been presented various opportunities to volunteer for nonprofits. But the opportunity that made the greatest impression on him was the one that presented the greatest challenges -- Fergang serves as president of the board of Columbus-based Amethyst, which helps approximately 140 women grappling with addiction and related troubles. "Most of the women who come to Amethyst have been through other agencies with minimal success, so Amethyst is taking the most difficult cases," Fergang says.

Fergang takes pride in his contribution to bringing for-profit-type disciplines to Amethyst. For example, Amethyst has benefited from a formal review of mission and strategy, as well as the application of success metrics, Fergang relates. Among those successes, he says, is the saving of public funds. According to Fergang, by supporting clients in abstaining from drugs and criminal activity, Amethyst saved the public $2 million in foster care, $1.2 million in incarceration costs and $150,000 in medical care for newborns.

However, the real bottom line for Fergang is that Amethyst acts as "the last resort, and it changes lives," he comments. "It takes troubled women and helps them become productive citizens again." --A.O.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio