Written by Don Byrne (AI Free)
Greetings. I wanted to share some exciting news and long overdue updates regarding myself and Let Goodness Shine.
In September 2025, I shifted careers leaving cybersecurity after roughly 20 years. Losing Joel put my “career” on a different trajectory. Quite frankly, I just didn’t have the fire in my belly to continue down the same road.
I don’t look at this as retirement. Rather, a career shift. What my next career looks like has been rattling around in my mind and very much part of my prayers over the past three years. In the depths of my grief, while on my knees drowning in tears, I cried out to the Lord. I told Him I’d do anything, whatever He needs. I begged and pleaded for Him to make it known to me. It is this promise that puts me on the path to serve God as best I can.
Since then, it’s been a slow and painful journey with clarity building little by little. Along the way, this journey has given me a much different perspective. More specifically, it’s allowed me to view my past “problems” through a different lens. Today I see a stark divide between those problems and the ones that so many face today. The problems that challenge people’s ability to function or provide for their family. Further, this journey has brought to light how I might be able to help. Among other objectives, Let Goodness Shine will serve as a means to help alleviate some of the problems of survival faced by many in our own communities and across the country.
Soon, we will be rolling out some updates with the Let Goodness Foundation. Updates to our mission, vision, goals, and where we want to take the foundation in the near and long term. We believe that doing good and seeing good in others is paramount. There are too many people facing problems of survival for us to withhold our own goodness. For each good work, no matter how big or small, creates ripples of goodness that can impact generations to come.
Along with these updates, we will be unveiling a new website and logo for Let Goodness Shine that will better communicate our message. Stay tuned and make sure to follow us on social media.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letgoodnessshine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letgoodnessshine/
I look forward to dedicating much more time to the foundation and its principles in 2026 and beyond. Thank you so much for reading and subscribing.
We are very excited to announce that we have surpassed $150K in donated funds. Ultimately, I believe we will go much further. In part, it is because the principals Joel left us are priceless. There is too much need and too much goodness available to share. The core concepts and tenants of this foundation are needed needed now more than ever.
The idea of the Good Works Projects started shortly after Joel’s passing. Right out of the gates, my colleagues at Check Point organized a worldwide “What Would Joel Do” week of service to honor Joel’s life. It was an amazing effort that really spoke to the idea that goodness exists in all of us.
In addition, the Knights of Columbus Council 8600 honored Joel by naming him “Young Man of the Year” posthumously. They also established the annual “Joel Byrne Memorial Scholarship”.
Likewise, the Clifton Betterment Association honored Joel by renaming their annual scholarship ” The Joel Byrne CBA Academic Scholarship”.
The Joel Byrne CBA Scholarship has been established to recognize a child of a Clifton Betterment Association member who has made significant Clifton community contributions by exhibiting the values of charity, courage, and/or dedication.
— The Clifton Betterment Association
Aim High flag football, a youth sports program in Northern Virginia, also honored Joel with the creation of the “Joel Byrne Memorial Sportsmanship Award”.
We want to honor the way Joel approached not only sports but life as well. Joel was a good sport, an amazing person, and a great teammate. Please help us keep Joel’s light shining bright now and into the future. We will choose the final candidates in each division and ask they be present at the Super Bowl where we will award them.
We hold dear to our hearts this endeavor—to keep Joel Byrne’s light shining now and forever—and to constantly remind us all that respect for each other, fairness in competition, and good sportsmanship are always the most important values to share.
—Aim High Flag Football
These independent acts to honor Joel, and so many others, are the basis for the Let Goodness Shine Good Works projects. Beyond serving as a way to honor Joel and provide some heeling, they encourage goodness in others. They demonstrate that sharing goodness and performing good works is possible in all of us. In even the smallest of acts.