I didn’t expect the AV industry to feel this human.

From the outside, AV can look like a world of equipment, infrastructure, and technical expertise. Those things matter. But the longer I’ve worked at AVIXA and spent time with people in this space, the more incomplete that picture has felt. AV is also a profession of connection. It helps people reach each other, understand each other, and build something larger together.

That understanding shaped my conversation with Joseph Valerio, Program Director of the AVIXA Foundation, about the Brad Sousa Impact Fund, or BSIF. I went in looking for the basics: what the fund is, who it’s for, and why it exists. Joseph answered those questions, but almost immediately, the conversation revealed something bigger. 

He spoke about the BSIF not as a routine grant cycle or a neatly contained institutional effort, but as a fund with real purpose behind it, designed to support people, programs, and partner organizations using AV to positively transform their communities while carrying forward the legacy of Brad Sousa.

More Than a Name. More Than Money.

I asked Joseph what readers should understand about the BSIF beyond the formal definition. His answer took us straight to Brad Sousa, himself.

Joseph described him as someone who lived his values in action, not just in words. Then he shared something that seemed to unlock the rest of the conversation: Brad believed that “influence is sort of the counterfeit of impact.” It’s a striking phrase highlighting the meaningful difference between actions and words, and it explained so much about why this fund feels different. 

The BSIF is built on the idea that meaningful work is already happening in the world, often without much spotlight, and that the right support can help it go further. According to Joseph, Brad believed everyone has a superpower. In his view, the fund is partly about helping people and organizations unlock theirs, which keeps the Brad Sousa Impact Fund true to the person it honors: not just in name, but in the values it carries forward.

Where Impact Lives

“Impact” is one of those words that can lose its shape from overuse. Here, it didn’t.

“I believe that our superpower can be helping organizations, communities, and people out there who are supporting others in achieving their career goals,” Joseph said, before pointing to the kinds of impact the fund is meant to aid: schools connecting cities to rural communities, healthcare improved through digital transformation, or organizations using AV to change the world around them in a positive way.

That made terms like impact and digital transformation easier to picture. They became less like institutional language and more like what they actually are: people and organizations using AV to help others communicate, learn, work, and move forward. 

Joseph further emphasized that idea later by drawing a line between funding technology and funding what people do with it. AV professionals, he said, use technology to help people understand each other. “This is impact investing in programs and people to shape the future of our industry.” 

A Wider Door

The more we talked about the BSIF, the more possibilities it seemed to hold.

It can be easy to misread a fund like this at first glance. You might picture an established nonprofit, some pristine workforce initiative, or a formal organization whose application story has that professional PR polish. Joseph was sure to broaden that picture.

“No program is too small or too grassroots for it to be eligible,” he said. “No group or organization around the globe should feel they are left out because of where they live. This is a global impact fund.”

From there, the range continued to expand. He spoke about efforts that prepare people for the workforce, help them pursue vocational goals, and create more opportunity in AV, especially for underrepresented communities. But he also pointed toward digital media and creative pursuits, esports-related pathways, nonprofits, school systems, grassroots organizations, and community efforts using technology to unlock possibility. 

The phrase he kept returning to was simple, yet expansive enough to hold them all: people, programs, and partners.

Why It Opens Things Up

As our conversation began to wind down, I asked Joseph what he would say to someone reading about the fund and wondering whether they should apply.

His reply was simple and generous.

“We may not know that you exist and you’re doing great work in the world, and it’s our job to help organizations like you succeed,” he said. “So, don’t think twice… apply, because at the very least, we will know you exist and we can find some ways to support the work that you’re doing.”

Joseph’s answer widened the meaning of the fund in a way that felt true to everything he’d said up to that point. The BSIF offers financial support, yes, but it also creates a path for AVIXA to discover communities, initiatives, and people it ought to know better. As Joseph said elsewhere in our conversation, meeting new kinds of applicants is helping the fund find its footing, expand its sense of possibility, and uncover more avenues for impact beyond the grant dollars themselves.

By then, the fund felt connected to something larger: a growing sense of who AV is for, who gets supported, and what kind of future the industry wants to help build.

The Next Step

The Brad Sousa Impact Fund’s reach extends well beyond grantmaking.

My conversation with Joseph made this incredibly clear. He describes the fund as carrying Brad Sousa’s belief in impact over influence, a genuine respect for the work already being done in communities around the world, and an AVIXA that’s willing to move closer to that work and help it go further.

If your work, your organization, or your idea belongs anywhere near the world he described, spend time with the Brad Sousa Impact Fund page. Read what the fund is asking for. See whether you recognize your work in it.

And if you do, apply by the May 25th deadline.