April, 2011

“Not only did Elevate America teach me new technology skills which gave me a competitive advantage in the workforce, it also gave me the confidence I needed when speaking with potential employers.” Kelly continued: “Showing employers that you’re willing and able to learn new skills is very important. It shows them that you can take on the challenge of learning a new job.”

In February 2009 Microsoft announced Elevate America, an initiative to provide people across the United States with free technology training and certification to help them find employment. Over the course of 18 months we worked with 32 states and the District of Columbia to distribute over 800,000 training and certification vouchers for people like Kelly and others who have benefited from the program.

Addressing the issues of unemployment and job creation is complex. They are often very different from state to state, and even community to community. From the outset of Elevate America we wanted to make sure that we learned from the program and used that knowledge to shape future programs and help inform our partners to better serve those individuals in need of these resources and skills.

The single most important objective of these programs is helping people to get the skills they need to find employment or start a business. We’ve been very happy to hear the success stories from Elevate America, some of which are included in the report.

“Elevate America was an excellent resource in giving me the skills I needed to improve my client communications and more efficiently manage my small business. Since I finished the program, I’ve increased revenue by at least 30 percent. “Elevate America has truly made a difference in both my personal and business activities, helping me increase productivity and learn new skills that continue to positively impact my daily life.” 

We are also committed to ensuring that our experience with the Elevate America state voucher program helps to inform how we think about future community programs. Since the launch of the state program we have put this knowledge to work in creating two new programs:

• Elevate America veterans initiative provides education, job training and placement programs to help give veterans and their spouses the skills and resources they need to be successful in today’s civilian work force.
• Elevate America community initiative supports nonprofit organizations offering employment services, including technology skills training and job placement, in local communities across the United States.

We approach our community programs with the belief that we are always learning, both from our own experience and from those of our partners in the community. Download the Elevate America state report today and let us know what you think.

To find out more about the resources available through the Elevate America program visit: http://www.microsoft.com/elevateamerica

By Luke Sossi, Enterprise Sales Manager, Mid-Atlantic States District, Microsoft Corporation

Although our office in Pittsburgh is relatively small, we strive to think of ways our team can have a bigger impact in the community with our technology. On April 12^th, a team of Pittsburgh Microsoft employees had the privilege to visit the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to donate and install Xbox units in each of the 24 rooms that make up the Adolescent Medicine Ward and a Kinect unit in the ward’s lounge.

This initiative came about in early 2010 when I came home from work to meet my wife of 24 years. She told me that she was reading about a local blogger’s effort in obtaining “gaming devices” for the Transplant Ward of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She looked at me and said “What are you going to do about this?”

The next day, I put the call out to the local Microsoft team members to see if they would be willing to join me in this effort. Over the next 60 days, we teamed up with the blogger, Virginia Montanez and the Mario Lemieux Foundation (MLF) and created an initiative officially called “Make Room for Kids.” I was so thrilled that the Microsoft Pittsburgh employees completely embraced this idea and through Microsoft’s employee Give Program, we were able to donate 24 Xbox consoles which were installed in every room of the transplant ward. You can get an idea of the impact that the team made last year by watching this video. As a result of these initial efforts, Make Room for Kids became an official program under the Mario Lemieux Foundation.

Since the local team was so moved by the effort, I began to work with the Mario Lemieux Foundation to determine how we could achieve something even bigger in 2011. Working with Virginia and MLF, we created a video that highlighted our new ambition which was to furnish Xbox units to the Adolescent Medicine Ward of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. The kids in this ward are what the hospital calls their “frequent flyers” -- many of them have conditions that require them to frequently come back to the hospital. The video from the Transplant Ward donation was shown at the Microsoft Mid-Atlantic States District meeting in September 2010 right before the kickoff of the company’s Giving Campaign. I was shocked and humbled with the response that we received from the district; we received more than $7,500 through employee donations and Microsoft matching. With this money, we were able to outfit every room on the Adolescent Medicine Ward with an Xbox which were installed on April 12.

After the install was finished, I had the opportunity to visit the Epileptic Ward at the hospital where the medical staff is considering using gaming devices to stimulate brain activity in patients. It was such an incredible moment to see those young patients and I’m happy to announce that because there was money left over from the install, we will be able to return to this unit in the next couple of months to outfit it with Xbox consoles as well.

Microsoft is really dedicated to helping local communities, and I am so thankful that I work for a company which can make donations like this possible. Furthermore, I am so appreciative of all the wonderful employees that really embraced this initiative and are passionate about making a difference in people’s lives.

If you were to bing social entrepreneurship what would you find?

The first result gives you a definition from Wikipedia "a social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change" while the second result is a PBS feature on social entrepreneurs called "The New Heroes".

So what do you think of when you hear the word "Hero"? A police officer?  A fireman?? Maybe Superman or Superwoman? How about former Seattle Sonic and current Boston Celtics star guard, Ray Allen, who sank a 3 pointer - and the hopes of Knick Fans- two nights ago to win game 1 in the NBA playoffs?

Last week I caught a glimpse of a new type of hero in the making, as students from all around the United States showcased their ideas at the US Finals for the Imagine Cup.  No one was wearing bright colored suits, no logos, nor 50,000 screaming fans, and no one looked as if they could leap tall buildings in a single bound, but potential heroes nonetheless.

 "Team Lifecode" consisted of students from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. A friendly young woman named Melissa greeted me and introduced the team's project "Procur", an intelligent humanitarian supply chain of the future.

Team LifeCode couldn't have picked a more relevant topic to innovate around given the number of catastrophic disasters over the past few years with the earthquake in Haiti, and most recently the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Procur uses a Windows Azure cloud based system to host a web-based and and mobile (Windows Phone 7) application.  Bing Maps is used to create an easy means for users to donate and track their donation to relief efforts for a natural disaster:

Team LifeCode was one of many who recognized a social problem and used entrepreneurial principles to seek social change, bringing the definition of Social Entrepreneurship to life. Where people like Ray Allen can represent heroism to sports fans and community advocates like myself, I can't help but be drawn to a new generation of heroism who puts imagination into action in hopes to make a change.

What do you think? Will we find our next heroes from the ranks of our budding social entrepreneurs? Let us know your thoughts on the comments below, or contact us on Facebook or Twitter.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with an incredible group of smart, creative students who are here in Redmond competing at the U.S. finals of the Imagine Cup. I shared with them my view that passion is simply not enough to succeed.

Every day at least one person tells me about their passion to make a difference.  I have always been confused about why people feel passion is such a critical component for them.  Why do they need to feel passionate about the work they do, or that they must have some passion in their life?  Students are taught to talk and write about their passion.  When we go for a job interview we talk about our passion.  It seems that passion is an overused and overrated word.  Now don't get me wrong, I too exude passion when I talk about the work I do.  But passion alone is just  not enough.

When people come to see me seeking to join my team, I don't ask them how passionate they are about making a difference, instead I ask them to share with me any difference they may have already made, however small or insignificant it might be.  This is a far more insightful way to discover their strengths and weaknesses.

I believe that success in any career is dependent on more than passion. 

If you are serious about making a difference I recommend that you focus on what I call the 5 Cs:  Conviction, Capability, Capacity, Commitment and Compassion.  This may not be as sexy as passion but I guarantee you it will drive a greater and more lasting impact.

Let me elucidate a bit. 

To make an impact in anything, whether starting a lemonade stand or deciding to give up all your possessions and move to another country to work in a rural environment, one must first and foremost have conviction - a belief in an idea, a product or a service that you are willing to focus on. 

Most of us have a new idea every minute but it's conviction that allows us to sieve through these ideas and settle on one that we are willing to pursue; one that is well thought out.  

Once you have 'the idea' you then need to have the capability and the right skills to take that idea further.  For example:  you may have an idea to develop a system for water purification but unless you have  some knowledge of the issue or the willingness to put in the time to acquire the expertise, the idea will not progress.  Deep knowledge and skills are critical before embarking on implementing 'the idea'.  

Once you know you have the skills to take your idea further you then need the capacity and the ability to put your ideas and skills to work - this means you have now taken the hard step of figuring out a plan of action and have the capacity to put that plan into practice.  

The fourth 4 C is, in my opinion, is often the hardest to undertake and sustain - commitment.  You must combine the ability to take the plan and make it work with  the strength and resolve needed to stay the course.  There will always be obstacles and setbacks to overcome.  This is where most give up.  But to succeed you must make a commitment to stay the course, not fear failure, and learn from your mistakes - which are an inevitable part of making a difference.  With commitment you will try new avenues no matter what.  There are no short cuts. 

Finally, it is about compassion.  You need to develop your ability to think beyond a narrow impact into a realm where you think beyond yourself and immediate context.  Now you are becoming conscious of the community around you and the impact your work will have - both good and bad.  You are focused on developing insight into any potential unintended consequences of your actions. 

When you combine the 5 Cs you have the opportunity to drive sustainable, real, positive change.  Passion is a personal pursuit, it is important but the combination of Conviction, Capability, Capacity, Commitment and Compassion are the essential elements to getting real results.  

When you understand and accept these demands you will be in a far better position to succeed in what you do, enjoy what you do and have a fulfilling experience at the same time.  If that is your definition of  passion then so be it. 

Earlier this week I decided to skip the usual lunch routine to check out the innovative ideas of some of the nation's brightest students who are looking to change the world at the U.S. finals of the 2011 Imagine Cup which took place this year on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington.

Bill Buxton of Microsoft Research listens to a pitch from Drexel's smart and energetic Zack Howitt.

Microsoft established the Imagine Cup competition nine years ago with the belief that students can and will change the world. The Imagine Cup begins with local, regional, and online contests in over 100 countries and regions with the finalists going on to attend the worldwide finals.  The competition challenges students to use technology to address the United Nationals Millennium Development Goals.

I wasn't the only person who made the decision to examine the next generation of technology leaders; amongst the gigantic crowd, house music, and digital display frenzy, I saw many familiar faces from the Microsoft digital world such as Alfred Thompson, Scott Lum, and Matt Bernardy. Those in attendance listened to pitches from 22 different teams focusing on a number of areas from software development to game design. The teams tackled a range of global issues with incredible ingenuity such as disease diagnosis through mobile devices, supply chain management and the deployment of resources during disaster response, fighting pollution, alternative energy solutions and more.

Jason Wakizaka (pictured above) of the LifeLense teamkindly took some time to talk to us about their application for Windows Phone 7 that can diagnose malaria and track cases using bing maps.

The LifeLens idea took second place award at the US Imagine Cup Finals, so a big congratulations to Jason and the team!!

Team Note-Taker  (pictured below) from Arizona State University won the Software Design competition and will represent the U.S. at the Imagine Cup 2011 Worldwide Finals in New York City this summer. The team, made up of Michael Astrauskas, David Hayden, Shashank Srinivas and Qian Yan, designed an assistive technology to help vision-impaired students take notes in class. In victory, Hayden remarked, "Technology empowers the individual to make the world accessible according to their own needs. Our work demonstrates this by equipping low-vision students with a portable assistive technology that enables them to take their own notes - a process that is well known to benefit retention."

At the awards ceremony, principal researcher from Microsoft Research, Bill Buxton, shared a number of ingenious insights with the students and his closing comments reiterated what I had been thinking all day: "You students have taken far more steps to change the world through innovation, than I had at your age."

You can find details on all of the winners and see who will represent the United States in New York this summer, on the Imagine Cup Blog: Microsoft Names U.S. Imagine Cup Winners.