The Financial Industry’s Sheltered Harbor Program

  Jerome Arthur Uffner, the former president and CEO of FirstView Financial in Atlanta, Georgia, led his company to revenue increases of nearly 100 percent during his three-year tenure. As a financial leader, Jerome Uffner recognizes the risks that are present in today’s world of online and internet financial transactions, and he supports the Sheltered Harbor program.

The Sheltered Harbor program was developed by the financial industry to protect its members from the effects of a catastrophic cyber attack. A nonprofit consortium of financial institutions, service providers, trade associations, and others involved in finance, the program is managed under the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), and was developed after governmental exercises revealed how vulnerable financial institutions are to cyber criminality.

The risk of cyber attacks continues to increase globally, and ransomware attacks are also on the rise. These attacks have shifted from being directed predominantly at individuals to businesses, which may be more likely to pay the ransom demanded for data recovery. The Sheltered Harbor program is designed to prevent the financial industry’s most critical records from being a casualty in the event of any cyber attack.

Backpack Blessings Supporters Help Atlanta Children Eat Well

 

Backpack Blessings
Image: backpackblessings.com

With in-depth experience as an executive in the payment technology industry, Jerome Uffner most recently served as president and CEO of FirstView Financial in Atlanta. His successes include top-level roles with companies such as Chattanooga’s TransCard, and Jacksonville, Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services. Jerome Uffner is additionally a strong supporter of Backpack Blessings, a nonprofit he serves as president.

At-risk schoolchildren who receive subsidized meals at school can go an entire weekend without access to nourishing food. This is where Backpack Blessings comes in. The group, operating out of the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, organizes sponsorships from community members who agree to fund healthy weekend meals for children in need.

And that need is significant. According to recent statistics cited by the group, close to 15 percent of the households in Georgia’s Cobb County experience regular food insecurity. Backpack Blessings’ staff and volunteers understand that hunger can translate into lower school performance, behavioral problems, and overall sub-par physical and mental health.

Backpack Blessings began its service to the community in 2011, helping more than 100 fourth graders at Fair Oaks Elementary School, almost all of whose students qualified for free or reduced price lunches. By 2015, the group welcomed the start of the school year by delivering food to 500 students every week. Since the start of this partnership with Fair Oaks the school’s test scores have risen, and the United States Department of Education has recognized it as a National Blue Ribbon School for its performance gains.

Supporting Backpack Blessings

 

Backpack Blessings
Image: backpackblessings.com

Jerome Uffner served as president and CEO of FirstView Financial in Atlanta, Georgia, for three years. He held multiple senior management roles at various companies before taking the position with the financial, mobile, and payment technology services provider from 2014 to 2017. Though dedicated to his career, Jerome Uffner is also involved in charity work and currently serves on the board of directors for Backpack Blessings.

Backpack Blessings is a non-profit organization that provides food for Fair Oaks Elementary students on the weekends. The students are from Cobb County, Georgia, and qualify for the free meal plan during the school week, but lack sufficient food at home on the weekends.

Backpack Blessings allows the community to support their efforts to help students in several ways. One way members of the community can help is by sponsoring a child by donating $300 a year. Another way is by sending a donation in the form of a check payable to Backpack Blessings. Since the charity is run by the Mount Bethel United Methodist Church, checks can also be made payable to Mount Bethel UMC with Backpack Blessings written on the “for” line. Additionally, donors can contribute via PayPal or credit card for a one-time donation or a monthly $25 donation.

For more information on how to donate, please visit www.backpackblessings.org/donate.

Encouraging Service among Students While Donating Food

 

Backpack Blessings
Image: backpackblessings.com

Atlanta-based entrepreneur Jerome Uffner has a wealth of experience in payment technology services. Committed to giving back to the community, Jerome Uffner sits on the board of directors of Backpack Blessings.

Backpack Blessings is an organization that provides food to children in elementary school who qualify for food support from the National School Lunch Program. These children do not get food assistance when school is not in session, such as on weekends. The organization uses volunteers to help provide food stuffs, pack them into backpacks, and then ship these backpacks to schools.

In 2017, Backpack Blessings partnered with Mt. Bethel Student Ministries to deliver backpacks to Fair Oaks Elementary in Cobb County, Georgia. Students from the ministry were asked to come with three items to put in the backpacks. By the end of the weekend, the students had contributed 1,182 Mac-n-Cheese cups, 2,306 Slim Jims, and 2,954 oatmeal packets. This overwhelming show of support deeply instilled the value of service in the hearts of the ministry’s students while providing children with much-needed food.