Rosalyn in Nairobi, Kenya is a 40 plus year old mother who has a business of manufacturing shoes from recycled tires which she sells over the web around the world. Ma Jianlu, a farmer in the remote Loess Plateau in China is selling eggplants online which he has grown on his small greenhouse. Since 2003 Microsoft through its Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills Program has helped over 160 million people around the world to get access to basic and intermediary level IT training leading to both economic and social empowerment. Through over 1500 non-profit partners and 60,000 Community Technology Centers the program has supported, youth, women, the elderly and people with disabilities get training at no-cost or very low cost. In the United States we have reached over 23 million people through our programs to date. A good example is Michelle Hartman, unemployed at age 63, she had little or no computer skills, but needed to obtain those skills to meet the requirements of local employers. After successfully mastering several Microsoft Office applications, a prospective employer offered her $4 more an hour that they had planned to pay because of her upgraded skills.

In 2009, when the economic downturn began hitting it’s full stride, Microsoft launched Elevate America, incorporating a number of programs and resources that share a common focus; providing technology skills training, and resources to help people find employment. Through the Elevate America state voucher program, we distributed nearly 900,000 no cost Microsoft e-learning and certification vouchers for the unemployed and underemployed in partnership with 32 States, and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and American Samoa. In the words on of one the person who has participated in the state voucher program, Sandy Mills of Missouri, “I missed the computer wave...but now I’m catching it. And, it’s amazing what the general software programs can do now. I remember when it was all customized software, which was complicated and expensive. Now these more powerful programs are out there. Being able to learn them is a real excitement for me.” The aspiration of Elevate America is to help 2 million people over the next 3 years get IT training so that they are prepared for the jobs of the 21^st century workforce.

In February 2010 we launched the Elevate America veterans initiative to support returning veterans and their spouses successfully transition to civilian jobs. In partnership with a coalition of veterans serving organizations including, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), The American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, United Service Organizations (USO), and the Wounded Warrior Project we announced a competitive Request for proposals (RFP) process that will fund eligible nonprofit organizations interested in contributing expertise, cash and in-kind resources to give U.S. veterans and their spouses the skills and resources they need to be successful in today's workforce. The response we received to this RFP has been very positive and we are in the final stages of the selection process. We are very excited with the number of organizations that are providing holistic services in support of our veterans and their successful transition to the civilian workforce.

Elevate America community initiative

Continuing our commitment to skills training and workforce development in the United States, last week we announced that we will invest $10 million ($4 million in cash and $6 million in software donations) in nonprofit organizations that truly embody Microsoft’s commitment to help people from communities gain the skills they need for success in the workforce. We are looking for innovative solutions to get people trained with the critical 21^st century skills required to get back to work in long term, family wage employment. It is estimated that within 10 years, 77% of all jobs will require some level of IT proficiency. Through this RFP, it is our goal to open up opportunities for organizations and their partners who are providing proven, comprehensive and innovative training and job placement services to get people back into the workforce.

Through a competitive funding process, Microsoft will award cash, software and other resources to eligible IRS registered 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organizations and their partner organizations which may include: workforce agencies, community colleges, labor organizations, and other nonprofit organizations. Over the next two years, grant recipients will be funded to provide individuals with the support needed to help people find employment. Successful applications will include collaborative partnerships between two or more organizations in the nonprofit, workforce development, labor and education sectors. We are looking for organizations with a demonstrated track record of serving underserved communities especially women and young workers, in job training and job placement. The services provided by successful applicants to ensure a fully supportive experience for participants will include technology skills training, job placement and strong employer connections and may also include career counseling and other support services such as childcare, transportation and housing.

Microsoft has a long history in supporting IT skills training and we are committed to working with nonprofits that share our mission and zeal to improve through IT skills training the ability of the underserved community to get into the workforce. As Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire stated when Elevate America launched in the state, “This is an example of what we need to emerge stronger from this recession. When this downturn ends, we will need more skilled workers ready to enter the job market. Microsoft’s generosity will provide thousands of men and women the skills they need to work with the software that runs our businesses. This will help strengthen our economy and increase our state’s global competitiveness.”

Click here for more information on the Elevate America community initiative.

Today we are launching the Elevate America community initiative, a new grant program that will support nonprofit organizations offering employment services, including technology skills training and job placement, in local communities across the United States. To support this initiative, we are committing $4 million in cash, $6 million in software and technology skills training curriculum over the next two years.

We are inviting nonprofit organizations to respond to our request for proposal (RFP) , detailing their plans for partnering with us on proven, successful, scalable programs that respond to the 21^st century skills training and employment needs of people across the country.

The deadline for submissions is October 8, 2010 at 5pm Pacific Time with the successful projects being announced in January 2011.

Since 2003, Microsoft has been partnering with nonprofit organizations through our Unlimited Potential initiative to support technology skills training in underserved communities across the United States, with programs that have reached more than 27 million people to date. Through the Elevate America community initiative, we will continue to seek partnerships with organizations that support underserved communities, with a special interest in those that focus on the needs of women and young workers (ages 18-25) who have greater barriers to employment and re-employment than the broader population.

This is the latest extension of Elevate America, which was launched in February 2009 to provide people across the United States with no cost and low cost access to the technology skills they need to find employment. Since the program’s launch we have worked with 32 states and the District of Columbia to distribute nearly 900,000 no cost Microsoft training and certification vouchers. In March 2010 we announced the Elevate America Veterans initiative, focused on helping U.S. veterans and their spouses to transition from military to civilian employment.

How can you respond to this RFP?

Interested organizations are encouraged to review the full RFP and related information on our website to ensure their organization meets the full criteria for consideration.

To be eligible, all proposals must include at least one organization that is eligible to receive cash funding from Microsoft as defined by the following criteria:

• Qualify as an IRS registered tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization. State tax exemptions alone are not considered eligible.
• Meet Microsoft general funding guidelines as outlined in “Eligible Organizations” .
• Successfully pass the Elevate America community initiative eligibility survey located here. Following successful completion of the survey, access to the grant application tool will be provided.

Online training resources

For more information about Elevate America and the no cost and low cost training and education resources we offer to help people develop better technology skills for the jobs of the 21^st century workforce please visit: http://www.microsoft.com/elevateamerica

It seems like such a long time since we blogged about how *abz Austria was able to use technology (specifically, CRM) to optimize their service delivery to jobseekers in Austria (in real time, it was only about two weeks ago, but – in social media time – that feels like eons ago!). Are you ready to summit this Nonprofit IT Pyramid? It’s that time! To continue our 4-part post on the simple IT planning framework we call “The Pyramid”, let’s look at an example of how the innovative application of technology can transform how we address pressing social issues.

Transform through Innovative Technology

The top of the pyramid can feel like the trickiest level, but it can also produce some of the most astounding results (as Akhtar said in his recent post, it’s where we go from transactional to transformational use of IT). At this level, IT solutions empower organizations to deliver services in new or different ways. IT becomes a strategic investment that adds significant value and truly helps address big, hairy, real-world problems.

Technologies or innovations at this level include things like handheld devices for data collection, Geographic Information Systems (“GIS”) or mapping systems that help visualize data, mobile phone-enabled solutions, or new and custom web technologies or software applications, often sector-specific. Since transformative IT solutions have a reputation for requiring lots of IT expertise and/or serious up-front cash to implement, this is historically the most difficult level for organizations to achieve.

Still, the top of the pyramid is important to all nonprofits, even those that don’t feel they’re anywhere near it yet. Keeping an eye on the innovations at the top of the pyramid could be what inspires your own transformative technology solution. Or, you may come across a transformational solution from a sister organization that you could replicate, such as the mobile solutions Hilmi Quraishi has created to help with mass healthcare communications in India.

Using mobile technology to combat tuberculosis in India

Hilmi Quraishi, selected by Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation as a leading inventor-entrepreneur, is changing the way the world delivers important public health messages. Keenly aware that tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death in India, Quraishi sought ways to use technology to change the status quo. With 70 percent of India’s population in rural areas with little access to information, Quraishi needed to think beyond the existing “old-school” mass communications systems to enable people to more actively participate in their own healthcare. He set out to deliver TB awareness information to a generation of tech-savvy consumers with top notch, interactive, mobile phone games.

Innovating on existing solutions, Quraishi adapted mobile technology solutions and gaming platforms for a mass health awareness campaign. His solutions include educational games and training delivered through a standard mobile phone, as well as new management and tracking systems connecting mobile end points with centralized systems.

Quraishi’s games have now tracked more than 12 million sessions in South Asia and Africa. Users find the games a more accessible (and addictive!) way to learn about tuberculosis. And with the pervasiveness of mobile phones – even in rural areas – the critical information reaches a much broader audience in a more engaging way (over 33 million people in six languages to be exact!). Quraishi is not only changing outcomes through a transformative solution, but his concept is replicable and scalable as mobile phones become increasingly affordable and prevalent in the developing world. And as one of the first 25 participants in the new Ashoka Globalizer program, Quraishi is actively working with other global entrepreneurs to extend this innovative model around the world.

From Transactional to Transformational

Quraishi’s example of using technologies to literally change the game of how we address social challenges is what gets us excited about technology. It’s not the technology itself, but the impact it can have on our communities and our world that really gets our geek-motors running. And, while we can’t all be at the top of pyramid all the time, understanding the potential of technology to transform our work may be just the kick in the pants we need to start (or keep) climbing.

To learn more about Hilmi Quraishi’s technology-enable initiative to combat tuberculosis, watch his short video at http://bit.ly/tbvideo. And to see how all levels of the pyramid are interconnected, come back for our final post in the series, in which we’ll follow one organization’s journey from the bottom to the top of the IT Pyramid. Till then, happy climbing!

Part One in this series available here.
Part Two in this series available here.

Lindsay Bealko helps Microsoft Community Affairs put technology know-how in the hands of nonprofits through resources like webinars, NGO Connection Days, and software donations. With several years’ experience in the nonprofit sector, Lindsay understands the unique challenges and opportunities nonprofits face when trying to adopt technology to help them meet their missions. She tweets (sometimes) at @linzbilks.

For many parents and teachers, this time of year means preparing for back to school and looking forward to a new school year full of possibilities. Parents are busy making sure their children are ready and have the gear they need for school. Meanwhile educators are preparing their lessons and personalizing their classrooms for the students.

While not on the traditional back-to-school checklist, making sure student technology is prepped for a student that has a learning or physical disability is worth remembering. Whether you are a parent, educator or both – you understand the challenge of supporting students with different learning styles. When a student has a disability, supporting their educational success includes making sure their PC is comfortable to see, hear, and use.

At Microsoft we have published Accessibility: A Guide for Educators which explains to educators and parents how to make sure students with disabilities can comfortably see, hear, and use their PC to enhance their learning. For those new to accessibility and working with a child with a disability, accessibility can seem overwhelming. The guide explains types of disabilities and possible accessibility solutions and products, including walking you through how to use the accessibility features and program that come with Microsoft Windows.

As schools encourage students to use technology to acquire new skills, parents and schools have a responsibility to provide accessible technology that can be personalized for each student’s needs. We at Microsoft take that responsibility seriously and want to help parents and teachers understand how to make sure students with disabilities have equal access to learning.

Too few people know about the accessibility features and programs that built into their Windows computers. I encourage you to share this information with the parent of child with a disability or a teacher you know. After all, nearly all of us know someone with a disability.

LaDeana Huyler, Senior Product Manager for Accessibility, Microsoft

LaDeana is passionate about increasing awareness about accessibility, especially for children with disabilities. For more than ten years, she’s worked on accessibility at Microsoft including publishing the Microsoft Accessibility Web site.

The floods in Pakistan have caused devastation of an unprecedented scale. A huge swath of the country is submerged under water and we are seeing millions of people suffering. The number of people impacted is of a scale not seen before.

The world is watching, learning more, and realizing the scope and enormity of the problems caused by the seemingly ceaseless rains. UN Secretary General Ban KI Moon has described the devastation as something he has never seen before. Many organizations in the relief and development community are bracing for another disaster to unfold due to lack of food, drinking water and safe places for people. There is not yet as high a toll on human life as there was earlier this year in Haiti, but if disease begins to spread rapidly the consequences may be much more severe.

“Tens of thousands of Pakistanis displaced by the floods are now infected by water borne illnesses, like the potentially fatal cholera” – Jim Sciutto of ABC News reported from the flood zone, highlighting the new danger facing the already battered nation.

News agencies are now starting to report out on the disaster that continues to unfold around them. The calls for help are getting louder. In Pakistan, many in the middle class are taking matters in their own hands to deliver relief to people in need wherever they can. Five of our employees in the Microsoft office in Islamabad jumped in to help by collecting food, supplies and quickly raising funds to acquire supplies. Driving a truck they set out for Nowshera, a town one hour northwest of Islamabad, but closed roads and mud turned it into a three-hour trip. About 15,000 people had taken shelter on high ground there, and the employees enlisted help from some of the town's elders to distribute the boxes of supplies. What they saw and experienced was shocking: there was complete and utter devastation; there are hundreds of similar stories where ordinary people – doctors, office workers, and other professionals – are setting out to provide help where no help is coming from elsewhere.

Shoaib Khalil (second from left), marketing lead for Microsoft Pakistan, was one of five colleagues who took employee-donated food, water, and supplies to a flood-ravaged town an hour outside of Islamabad.

The rains continue and flooding has not yet receded. The impact is now being felt beyond the north-south band in the center of the country which is flooded. The country's main oil refinery is flooded, and power plants have been forced to shut down. There is no fuel or electricity in flooded areas, and bigger cities now have a daily six-hour blackout to conserve energy. The international community and all of us must step up now and help. Aid response has been slower than previous incidents as the enormity of the tragedy is just now becoming clearer. At Microsoft, our employees in Pakistan and around the world are stepping up to help out: Microsoft and its employees have donated over $300,000 to relief organizations doing work in Pakistan.

Microsoft has also been helping to raise awareness of the disaster through its online properties such as MSN, Bing, and our corporate citizenship site, but more needs to done by all of us.

The U.S. State Department has announced a Pakistan Fund to which people can donate you can find about the text ‘SWAT’ to 50555” campaign here. Mercy Corps and International Rescue Committee are two organizations that have a long history and strong presence in Pakistan. The Pakistani community in America has also stepped up and is trying to mobilize support.

If you are looking for organizations facilitating aid response, www.pakistaniat.com has a list of organizations that are undertaking relief efforts in Pakistan.

As the suffering of millions continue, a sustained effort is needed by the international community and global citizens are needed to raise public awareness and help rebuild the lives of flood victims, particularly the millions in need of immediate humanitarian aid.