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Blog Post: Community technology centers can provide critical emergency infrastructure

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Guest post by Maria Garrido, Research Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington The two-year anniversary of the devastating, magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile offers a unique vantage for grasping the value of investing in community technology. The earthquake revealed that community...

on6 Mar 2012
Blog Post: Consistency and Flexibility are the Foundation of Microsoft’s Community Investments

Akhtar Badshah

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of blog posts reflecting on the evolution and impact of Microsoft’s Community Technology Skills Program you can find links to the previous entries at the end of this post. If I had to summarize in a few words the most important thing Microsoft...

on24 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Partners with Deep Local Roots Can Make the Difference

Akhtar Badshah

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of blog posts reflecting on the evolution and impact of Microsoft’s Community Technology Skills Program you can find links to the previous entries at the end of this post. When I think of Ren Xuping, I think about rabbits, and the importance...

on20 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Effective Community Investments Require Strong Local Partners and Leaders

Akhtar Badshah

A lot of factors determine whether a community technology skills program is successful. One of the most important is identifying strong community leaders with a deep understanding of community needs, a vision for how those needs can be met, and a willingness to take risks and innovate. Whether it’s...

on17 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Meeting Local Needs is Key to Success of Community Investment Programs

Akhtar Badshah

When Microsoft first began working on strategies to increase access to technology in underserved communities, we assumed that the most successful programs would be those run by nonprofits with a track record of success operating community technology centers and ICT skills training programs. It was...

on13 Oct 2011
Blog Post: Reflecting on Eight Years of Community Investment Worldwide

Akhtar Badshah

As Microsoft approaches the eighth anniversary of its Community Technology Skills Program (CTSP), I have been taking some time to reflect on the opportunities imagined and realized, the amazing things we’ve learned about running a global community investment program, and how all of that will guide...

on10 Oct 2011
Blog Post: “Tvoy Kurs” Gives the People What They Want!

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Guest post by Melissa Pailthorp, Senior Manager Community Affairs, Central and Eastern Europe Tvoy Kurs (“Your Course”) celebrated its first year in Moscow last week, convening project coordinators from the 140+ centers in 82 cities across all of Russia’s 20 regions to discuss progress and share...

on16 Feb 2011
Blog Post: Celebrating Technology for Good in Washington State

Akhtar Badshah

After years of working to build the technology capacity of nonprofits, I have to admit: great examples of technology for good can be elusive. I often hear nonprofit organizations say, “W e don’t know what we don’t know. ” They want great examples from their peers for both inspiration...

on4 Feb 2011
Blog Post: The importance of technology leadership for nonprofits

George Durham

Last week, Microsoft Community Affairs hosted a Nonprofit Technology Leaders Summit on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond, Washington. The summit brought together leaders from a variety of our nonprofit partners, including NetHope , NPower , NTEN , and others. We spent two days discussing the role technology...

on3 Feb 2011
Blog Post: Assistive technology provides access to jobs

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Maria Nicolacoudis, executive director at TransAccess TransAccess, a Bay Area nonprofit organization, helps youth and adults with disabilities to achieve their goals. In partnership with local schools, government agencies, and businesses, we provide individualized assessments, career and job placement...

on3 Feb 2011
Blog Post: Addressing social and economic issues in Asia

Clair Deevey

There are three fairly standard reactions I receive when I am telling people about the work Microsoft is undertaking with Governments and community partners to improve lives and drive national competitiveness and first up is usually surprise! I find people are generally unaware of the breadth and depth...

on19 Jan 2011
Blog Post: Employee volunteering program protects children online in Belgium

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Laurence Verriest, Community Affairs Lead, Microsoft Belgium. Child Focus is a Belgian NGO that has been working tirelessly to protect children online for many years. Microsoft has collaborated with Child Focus for the last four years and has been training children and teachers in schools around Belgium...

on18 Jan 2011
Blog Post: A Mouse, 500 Employees, and the Commitment to Build a Strong Community

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Jon Fine, CEO, United Way of King County In 1983, Microsoft introduced the first version of Microsoft Word, a product that would go on to revolutionize word processing and software interface. The same year, came the Microsoft Mouse, a device we all take for granted now, that changed the...

on17 Jan 2011
Blog Post: 2010 was the biggest year of employee giving so far…

Microsoft Citizenship Team

When you visit a Microsoft office and discover that it’s been transformed from a place of work to an amphitheater for a keenly contested rock-paper-scissors contest, or when you overhear people discussing an ongoing bidding war for the world’s best baloney sandwich, then chances are you’re...

on14 Jan 2011
Blog Post: Preparing Today’s Students for the Jobs of Tomorrow

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Microsoft Education Note: Cross posted from the Microsoft on the Issues blog. This week, people from around the world will gather at two education events in London – the Education World Forum (EWF) and the BETT trade show – to discuss how technology...

on11 Jan 2011
Blog Post: Rebuilding Haiti, One Story At a Time

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Frank Schott, Global Program Director, NetHope One year later, another chance to reflect upon the international humanitarian response to the earthquake’s devastation in Haiti. There are many stories to tell; some that are filled with inspiration and courage and others that are filled with disappointment...

on10 Jan 2011
Blog Post: Top five Microsoft Citizenship posts of 2010

Microsoft Citizenship Team

As the year comes to an end it’s a great opportunity to both look forward to the coming year and review what’s happened over the past twelve months. We thought it would be interesting to highlight the top stories on the blog for 2010 as voted by our readers through their visits. It...

on31 Dec 2010
Blog Post: Cultivating the future of CSR, MBA students debate the issues with Microsoft

Dan Bross

One of the great things about my job is that I get to regularly talk with students across the country about Corporate Citizenship. Recently I had the opportunity to talk with students a little closer to home when I was at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business to work with a few...

on19 Dec 2010
Blog Post: Technology to help giving

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Like our colleagues in other countries the work we do in local communities is very important to us and as we move closer to Christmas it's great to be able to tell you about something that Microsoft UK is doing to help the vulnerable and underprivileged children in our communities this festive season...

on6 Dec 2010
Blog Post: The Truly Global Nature of Washington State

Akhtar Badshah

Is it our location on the fringe of the lower 48, our bustling ports, our proximity to Asia, or our inspiring natural surroundings that give the state of Washington such an orientation toward global development issues? I don’t really know, but there is no denying that something is in motion here...

on23 Nov 2010
Blog Post: Helping NGOs Crowd-Source Solutions from Students

Akhtar Badshah

The I magine C up is Microsoft’s annual student technology competition that asks students from around the world to combine their creativity and passion for technology to help solve the toughest problems. Personally, it’s one of my favorite events that Microsoft puts on for students. Every...

on22 Nov 2010
Blog Post: Recognizing Those Making a Difference in the Daily Lives of Others

Akhtar Badshah

I have seen and met some truly inspiring individuals in my life as part of various jobs I have held throughout my career however the last two weeks were very special. Last week I had the privilege to meet some amazing individuals who are veterans and whose sacrifices have allowed us to live our lives...

on19 Nov 2010
Blog Post: Supporting the Work of our UN Partners – A Decade of Impact and Counting

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Posted by Linda Zecher , Corporate Vice President Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft Last night in New York, the United Nations Foundation honored Microsoft with the inaugural Corporate Award for leadership in advancing UN causes. I had the distinct honor of accepting this award on behalf...

on19 Nov 2010
Blog Post: Grants Awarded to Four Puget Sound Organizations at Opening of Microsoft Bellevue Retail Store

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Posted by: Jane Broom Today, Microsoft opened our seventh Microsoft Store, right here in our backyard in Bellevue, Washington. As with each of our previous store openings, we awarded grants to local community organizations as part of the Grand Opening. At a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning...

on18 Nov 2010
Blog Post: A Tale of Two Cities: Prepare, Respond, Rebuild

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Originally Posted on the Microsoft on the issues blog by Orlando Ayala Corporate Vice President, Chairman Emerging Markets From the National Security Leaders Forum in Cartagena, Colombia. The event brings together leaders in the public and private sector to discuss helping transform multi-agency operational...

on18 Nov 2010