The 2026 Golden Tape Dispenser champion, accepting the honor with the gravity it deserves.
I won the Golden Tape Dispenser this year.
If you don’t work at Funds For Learning, that sentence probably needs some explaining. The Golden Tape Dispenser is exactly what it sounds like, a tape dispenser spray-painted gold, and it goes to the winner of our annual March Madness bracket. It comes with bragging rights, a good sense of humor, and absolutely no monetary value.
It’s also one of my favorite things about working here.
Here’s something about Funds For Learning that I don’t think gets talked about enough. People stay. Our clients often work with the same Guide for years. When your Guide already knows your situation, you’re not re-explaining your district every time you call. That continuity shows up in the quality of the work. I’ll come back to why I think the tape dispenser has something to do with that.
How I won
My success came down to a mix of good instincts, a few bold calls, and yes, a bit of luck. I followed the games, made my picks with some thought behind them, and got far enough that I realized I might actually win the thing.
What made it fun wasn’t the winning. It was everything around it. Checking scores between meetings. Laughing about brackets that fell apart by the second round. A little friendly trash talk in the hallway with people I don’t normally work with directly.
Cutting down the nets. Obviously.
Why this stuff matters more than it looks like it does
E-rate work is detail-heavy. Deadlines, filings, compliance checks. Our GuideTeam is focused on getting things right for our clients, and that kind of work takes real concentration.
But a team that’s heads-down all the time isn’t actually a team. It’s just a group of people working near each other.
The bracket sparked conversations between people and teams that don’t always interact. Shared moments that had nothing to do with deadlines or tasks. Those small connections are what make it easy to pick up the phone and ask a teammate for help when a client needs an answer fast. And they’re part of why people stick around long enough to become the kind of Guide who knows a district inside and out.
You can feel the difference.
The bigger point
I think a lot about what makes a workplace actually work. In my experience, it’s not the big stuff. It’s not the company retreats or the mission statements on the wall. It’s the small, slightly silly traditions that give people a reason to connect.
Sometimes all it takes is a ridiculous trophy and a few unexpected wins to bring people together.
The Golden Tape Dispenser is mine until next March. I plan to enjoy every minute of it.
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