Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin. Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2bKCzd1. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. ----------------- Devin Thorpe , CONTRIBUTOR I cover social entrepreneurship and impact investing. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Microsoft MSFT -0.24% reported doing over $1 billion of corporate giving, mostly in-kind, for fiscal year 2015. The software giant is making giving a more integral part of its strategy, as I explored here. One current initiative is a drive to encourage more STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, a three-year, $75 million program called YouthSpark. [Full disclosure: I own an embarrassingly small number of shares in Microsoft.] Here’s the thing, Microsoft Philanthropies President, Mary Snapp (the first female lawyer at the company back in 1988), says, “No single organization or company can close the global computer science education gap. ” This may be the best lesson social entrepreneurs can take from Microsoft’s massive giving budget. When entrepreneurs set out to solve big problems, they need to partner with organizations who can help. Microsoft has partnered with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to expose a broader range of kids to computer science careers. The program provides a “Computer Science Pathway” with four modules, each one building on skills taught in the prior module. This builds upon Microsoft’s longstanding support of BCGA which includes more than $100 Million in cash and software donations. ----------------- Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2bKCzd1. Need a corporate social responsibility speaker? Learn more about Devin Thorpe at http://devinthorpe.com.
#458: Microsoft: No Single Organization Can Close Skills Gap