YouthSpark Archives

Getting Inspired at We Day #Youthspark

August 20, 2015 by Beeb 6 Comments

Travel consideration provided.

During my last trip to Seattle, I had a chance to attend We Day Seattle at the Key Arena. We Day is a very unique event that is part pop concert and part inspirational seminar. We Day is an initiative started by Free The Children that aims to mobilize and motivate young people to make a difference in the world. You can’t purchase a ticket to We Day; tickets are earned through community service.

Now, I have to admit, many times when adults try to get young people motivated about a cause, it can seem out of touch or a little cheesy. What amazed me about We Day was how on-point the event was, both in planning something that was both compelling and genuinely cool for young audiences and also respected their intelligence. When we walked into Key Arena, the excitement and energy was palpable: Thousands of high school kids were dancing and singing along to music in anticipation of the show starting.

To kick things off, Free The Children founders Craig and Marc Kielburger gave the audience an inspiring pep talk about making a difference. They talked about the way today’s teens are often dismissed as being self-absorbed slackers, and how unfair this is. Craig Kielburger has not forgotten what it’s like to be young, as many people my age seem to: He began this initiative in 1995 at 12 years old by taking a trip through South Asia in order to learn more about child labor. He met other children who were forced to work in deplorable conditions and spoke to them about their lives and experiences, including one girl whose “Job” was to take apart used hypodermic needles. This organization, founded by one motivated 12 year old, has grown into an international charity that has made a big difference in the world and shown young people that they can be a powerful force for good.

Judson Althoff, President of Microsoft North America, interviews AfriGal Tech

This kicked off a day filled with talks from some of the most inspirational people around. We heard from so many incredible young people with remarkable stories of overcoming adversity and making a big difference in the world, including 2014 Imagine Cup finalists AfriGal Tech. These four young women created an app called mDex that can actually diagnose sickle cell, which they developed as a solution to the lack of access to diagnosis centers in Uganda. I had the opportunity to meet with the AfriGal Tech team at the Microsoft Campus the day before We Day, and they are truly remarkable people; they spoke about the devastating affect of sickle cell and how witnessing this inspired them to begin this amazing project.

Hannah Simone of “New Girl” interviews Dr. Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to go to space

Kweku Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela

Laila Ali

The lineup of speakers was incredible; I was inspired and moved to tears a few times. The talks were broken down into general categories of social problems and potential solutions, packing in a lot of information and food for thought.

Lennon & Maisy from “Nashville”

Lily Collins

Macklemore

Pete Carroll

The Seattle Seahawks

The talks were interspersed by musical performances and appearances from a slew of celebrities. I have never heard a crowd scream louder than when Macklemore made a surprise appearance to introduce Pete Carroll and the Seahawks! The atmosphere at We Day really is special and it was my privilege to be able to witness it first hand.

We Day events take place across the US, Canada and UK; but if there’s not a We Day happening near you, never fear – you can tune into ABC tomorrow, August 21st to watch We Day live, hosted by Selena Gomez. The show starts at 8 PM PT/ET, 7 PM CT – you won’t want to miss it! And stay tuned tomorrow when I’ll be sharing more about We Day and how you can get your children involved.

More About YouthSpark: Microsoft Expands Free Tech Resources

September 12, 2014 by Momstart 1 Comment

YouthSpark, launched two years ago this month to provide opportunities to 300 million young people around the world and specifically the technical skills and education that experts say youth need to get jobs and start businesses. In an effort to reach even more young people, Microsoft today announced:

· The TEALS program (Technology Education And Literacy in Schools) is doubling its reach in the U.S. This year, TEALS is placing software engineers as volunteer computer science teachers in 131 high schools across 18 states plus Washington, D.C. This is an increase from 70 schools in 12 states last year. The program’s expansion is an effort to meet the rising demand for computer science education.

· The popular YouthSpark Summer Camps at Microsoft retail stores won’t end this fall. Across all full-line Microsoft Stores in the United States and Canada, YouthSpark Summer Camps are expanding to a full school year program of field trips for K-12 students.

· To celebrate and support young innovators around the world, Microsoft is launching Imagine Cup 2015, the worldwide student technology contest. Students ages 16 and older are invited to register for the Imagine Cup 2015 season and learn about the many opportunities to compete throughout the year.

· And for the millions of youth around the world that still face a digital divide, Microsoft is expanding its Digital Literacy Curriculum to 10 more languages to increase youth access to the basic technology skills they’ll need to help cross the opportunity divide.

Joshua Uwadiae from the UK got a second chance when he enrolled in an apprenticeship program and went from being a high school dropout to an IT manager with a promising future. Joshua’s story, and the stories of other “YouthSpark Stars” underscore the program’s impact but also the movement that is being made to address the youth unemployment gap.

The State of Education: Microsoft’s Youthspark ImagineCup

August 13, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Youthspark is area of Microsoft that focuses on educating children to understand what the tech field is, to become excited about the tech field and to encourage growth in the tech field. It’s an umbrella for many different programs. They have employees that volunteer to teach programming classes, they partner with teachers that aren’t able to teach it and then teach the teacher how to teach it and within two years that teacher is supposed to be able to teach computer programming.

They have programs for just girls, they have computer camps that are run out of Microsoft Stores and they are free camps. Then they also have this thing called Imagine Cup. I just attended Imagine Cup while staying in Seattle with Microsoft and it was eye opening what I learned about students all over the world. In one way it made me sad because I don’t feel like kids in the United States are learning as much. I feel like we need to do more in the United States to improve education or our kids are going to fall behind.

Imagine Cup is a technology competition for students ages 16 and up to develop a technology application in one of three categories (citizenship, games and innovation) and create a business plan to bring the technology to market. One team in each category will win $50,000 and business acceleration training. The students first had to compete against students in their own countries and the projects that I saw were amazing. One team created an app that would determine if someone had sickle cell and if they did then it would allow people in that community to request medicine. Most people that die from it do not even know that they had it. So raising awareness is key. Another team created this glove that helps stroke patience move their hand after they have lost mobility. Seeing that made me super excited because I have arthritis and imagine needing help with mobility in my hands one day. Another team created software that made your computer completely usable from your facial expressions and voice.

Theses kids are future world leaders and I want kids in our country to be world leaders too. What has to happen to raise the bar for education and the requirements for graduation.

Microsoft YouthSpark & Give For Youth

October 5, 2012 by Momstart 17 Comments

As an ambassador to Microsoft Windows I also find out about things the company is doing, other products, hardware, and even what they are doing to help out communities. Our youth are the future of our country and I believe we need to empower them to make good decisions, give them opportunities to learn, and help them try new things. Microsoft believes it’s vital that companies, nonprofits and governments work together to address the challenges facing youth today. The International Youth Foundation Opportunity for Action report, shows that nearly 75 million young people worldwide were unemployed in 2011 and The International Labour Organization’s latest statistics indicate that the current global youth unemployment rate, about double the adult rate, is projected to increase to 12.9 percent by 2017. It’s because of these global trends that Microsoft is taking action and refocusing its citizenship efforts around YouthSpark. See this video for a story of opportunity from a young woman named Adora who is helping to change the world, one student at a time.

Microsoft YouthSpark is a new global initiative which aims to create opportunities for 300 million youth in more than 100 countries in the next three years. The initiative encompasses new and enhanced programs that help young people obtain more opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

· YouthSpark marks a new focus for Microsoft’s philanthropy efforts. Microsoft will dedicate the majority of its cash contributions to nonprofits that serve youth and is announcing support for five new nonprofits: Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City Year, Junior Achievement USA, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and Year Up.

· Microsoft has also launched Give for Youth, a global micro-giving marketplace that allows anyone to donate to youth causes.

· Microsoft is also launching the YouthSpark Hub, an online space to access all of the youth services, programs and resources provided by Microsoft and its nonprofit partners.

For more information, please visit Microsoft News Center or the Windows Experience blog.

I received this information as a Windows Champion.