Being in Cambridge for ten years, we know just as well as any local that we’re housed in an area with some of the top minds in the world. With world-class hospitals, universities, politicians, industry leaders, and more surrounding us, it can sometimes be daunting to acknowledge how much intelligence is in every corner of the city.
Generation Citizen, a national organization (and Microsoft partner) that works to inspire civic participation and empower students through civic education, has recognized this bout of intellect and is working to use it for good. For the past four years, our local Generation Citizen (GC) chapter in Massachusetts has utilized this “intelligence problem” at an annual Trivia for Changemakers night. GC’s Trivia for Changemakers brings together teams from Boston industries, pitting them against each other in a night of trivia, where the winners claim the coveted ChangeMaker’s cup.
All proceeds from Trivia For ChangeMakers support Generation Citizen (GC), a 501(c)(3) education nonprofit serving over 3,000 students annually in Boston, Malden, Cambridge, Arlington, Melrose, Lowell, Brockton. GC provides action civics programming in which youth lead community change projects and develop the skills, knowledge, and motivation to become lifelong active citizens. The result is passionate, responsible civic participation that will revive our democracy and the Greater Boston community.
This year, as in years past, Microsoft employees at Microsoft New England R&D Center jumped at the opportunity to participate in GC’s Trivia for Changemakers. Alongside companies like OpenView, Trip Advisor, Bain Capital and ActBlue, Microsoft team members Aimee Sprung, Shannon Felton Spence, Christopher Scranton, Kavitha Scranton, Maggie Schmidt, Ken Danilla and Eric Sprung took on the challenge. Together, they tackled “common sense” questions like “Who is the current president of the Boston City Council?” (Michelle Wu), identified photos of lesser-known presidents, and dove head-first into challenging questions like What former NBA champion and all-star served in the Senate for 18 years and later ran for President? (Bill Bradley). And to our delightful surprise… our team won!
Thank you to Generation Citizen, OpenView, Trip Advisor, Bain Capital and ActBlue, and our amazing team for granting us this year’s bragging rights. See you next year!