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Blog Post: New European partnerships aim to tackle youth unemployment

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Earlier today as part of our global YouthSpark initiative we held an event in Brussels with representatives from the public, private and nonprofit sectors to discuss the challenges facing young people in Europe. Around the world the prolonged economic downturn has disproportionately affected youth and...

on22 Jan 2013
Blog Post: How Reach Out and Read believes in immunizing kids against illiteracy

Microsoft Citizenship Team

While literacy isn’t traditionally considered part of well-child visits, one organization is working to change this. Reach Out and Read believes that “immunizing” kids against illiteracy is just as important as general pediatric preventative care. This innovative nonprofit builds on the unique relationship...

on15 Oct 2012
Blog Post: The Power of Partnership: Working Together to Solve the Youth Underemployment Crisis

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Lori Harnick, General Manager, Citizenship & Public Affairs, Microsoft We have been talking quite a bit lately about the need to close the opportunity divide for youth – the gap between those who have the access, skills, and opportunities to be successful and those who do not. Bridging this gap is...

on12 Oct 2012
Blog Post: Philharmonic Society of Orange County is making music accessible

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Music can have a profound effect on everything from our mood to our ability to learn and concentrate. A 2007 study published in the Journal for Research in Music Education tied quality music education instruction to improved academic performance — specifically, better scores on standardized tests. No...

on8 Oct 2012
Blog Post: Great Futures Start with Great Opportunities

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Editor’s Note: We recently announced Microsoft YouthSpark a new company wide initiative that aims to create opportunities for 300 million young people. A key part of YouthSpark is the work we are doing with nonprofit organizations focused on helping young people access education, employment and entrepreneurship...

on4 Oct 2012
Blog Post: We Day Seattle Debuts on March 27; Sparks Opportunities for 15,000 Youth in Washington

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Brad Smith, Executive Vice President, Microsoft Today, in front of 2,000 students and teachers at Federal Way High School in Washington state, I had the honor of joining Free The Children founder Craig Kielburger and Seattle Seahawks’ Head Coach Pete Carroll to announce We Day Seattle - an exciting...

on2 Oct 2012
Blog Post: Beaming Bright in Brussels - Innovate4Good sparked by European Youth

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Sylvie Laffarge, Europe Director of Citizenship & Public Affairs “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas!” is how the saying goes. That is precisely the enthused response that Innovate4Good drew in Brussels where I just spent the day with 150 amazing young people from around...

on3 May 2012
Blog Post: A Good Kind of Madness in Singapore

Microsoft Citizenship Team

This is a report on the Innovate4Good day that took place in Singapore last weekend. It was originally posted on the Microsoft Citizenship Asia Pacific blog . There is a palpable energy and enthusiasm at the Innovate4Good@Microsoft event today in Singapore. The event kicked off with a warm welcome...

on3 May 2012
Blog Post: TEALS: Helping students discover computer science

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Gretchen Deo, Citizenship & Public Affairs, Microsoft Recently I sat with a group of 22 kids from Rainier Beach High School & South Shore Middle School who were on Microsoft’s campus in Redmond for the day. The kids were here as part of their involvement in Microsoft’s TEALS (Technology Education...

on24 Apr 2012
Blog Post: The Spring of Hope -- Restoring the Dignity

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft I am in Tunis – this is where the Arab Spring got launched in December 2010. I have had the privilege of being in the Arab world for the last two weeks meeting and having discussions with youth and young entrepreneurs...

on19 Apr 2012
Blog Post: Meeting young change makers in Qatar

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft. Youth employment and entrepreneurship is a major issue around the world and of course the Arab world with all the changes taking place at the moment, is no different. In my last few posts I have shared some of my experiences...

on16 Apr 2012
Blog Post: The Journey Continues – from Seattle to Cairo with Innovate4Good@Microsoft

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Editor’s note: This is Akhtar’s second post from Egypt, you can read his first post “The butterfly effect – everyone was a hero in Cairo” here . By Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft. Sherine Soliman Ibrahim is a slightly built woman and a powerhouse. She was the...

on8 Apr 2012
Blog Post: Spending a day with the leaders of today and tomorrow

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft Last weekend I had the privilege to spend a lot of time with close to a hundred young leaders at our first Innovate4Good @Microsoft event . They spent all day Saturday brainstorming how they can collectively use their talents...

on3 Apr 2012
Blog Post: The panel at Innovate4Good Seattle

Microsoft Citizenship Team

This morning we’re hosting an array of different sessions and we’ve just had a panel discussion. Introduced by our own Akhtar Badhah, the panel included (from left to right) the honorable Norman B. Rice, Asha Sharma, Genevieve L’Esperance, Johnnie Lovett, Adora Svitak, and Wilson To. Each member of the...

on31 Mar 2012
Blog Post: Photos: The first Innovate4Good event is underway

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Our first Innovate4Good event kicked off on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington today. Here’s some photos from the event and you can follow the event on Twitter at #InnovateForGood . Innovate4Good Seattle March 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

on31 Mar 2012
Blog Post: From Seattle to Singapore: How Microsoft is taking lessons from young people

Microsoft Citizenship Team

By Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director, Citizenship and Public Affairs, Microsoft There are 1.2 billion young people on our planet today – more than ever before and the numbers continue to grow with projections of 1.5 billion young people by 2035. Many of them are doing amazing things. They are innovating...

on30 Mar 2012
Blog Post: Supporting the right to play

Microsoft Citizenship Team

Earlier this week in London, Microsoft announced a 2012 sponsorship program with leading international children’s sport and play charity, Right To Play . As part of the partnership Microsoft will be providing Right to Play with funding, employee volunteers, Microsoft hardware and software products and...

on24 Mar 2012
Blog Post: Empowering Youth through Partnerships

Microsoft Citizenship Team

I had the pleasure of speaking at the International Youth Foundation’s Youth Leadership and Livelihoods conference in Washington, DC, today. I participated on a panel entitled “The Global Challenge – and Opportunity – of Youth Employment” with colleagues from public, private...

on7 Oct 2010