It’s easy to love living in Silicon Valley: perfect weather, exciting and innovative technology, top universities, amazing food, and stunning natural beauty. However, it’s becoming increasingly hard to actually live in Silicon Valley: housing sale prices rose 33% during the economic recovery, and nearly 1 in 6 commuters travel two hours or more every day (www.svcip.com). The media is full of stories about success and failure in Silicon Valley, but the real story is about the struggle it takes to thrive in our region.
Imagine a child born this year in east San Jose or east Menlo Park. What will it take for that child to thrive in Silicon Valley? What will it take for that child to become a successful adult? If that child grows up to love Silicon Valley’s weather and food and foothills and companies, what will it take for that child to make a living in this region in 2040? At Microsoft, we’re committed to supporting that child’s path to a successful career through our open grant round with Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Per recent reports by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation, 3rd grade and 8th grade mark crucial milestones for educational success. Put bluntly, a child that is not reading proficiently by 3rd grade or studying algebra by 8th grade is significantly less likely to enter college, finish college, and secure a well-paying job. In Silicon Valley, the statistics are bleak: only 59% of 3rd graders in Silicon Valley read proficiently, and only 54% of 8th graders score proficient in algebra (www.svcip.com).
In addition to those crucial educational building blocks, success in the 21st century requires digital literacy and an understanding of finance and the business world. Once a student makes it to college, financial literacy serves as a key skill for successful college completion and a smooth transition to the workplace, and digital literacy serves as a gateway for STEM careers and civic engagement with the larger world.
Microsoft’s 2015 YouthSpark grant round offers funding to non-profits working in these four areas: early childhood literacy, STEM education in middle school, digital literacy and coding, and entrepreneurship and fiscal literacy. In Silicon Valley and all around the world, youth face an opportunity divide–a gap between those who have access to the skills and training they need to be successful, and those who do not. Simply put, the future of our youth and of our global economy depends on closing this divide.
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To learn more about Microsoft’s commitment to youth and education, visit our YouthSpark Hub or follow us on twitter at @msftcitizenship.
