On October 26, in celebration of Microsoft’s first flagship Microsoft Store opening in New York City, we were excited to make another huge announcement. In keeping with our mission to support our local community, Microsoft is providing over $3 million in software grants to community organizations in all five boroughs. With these grants, we’re aiming to help these organizations make their local communities better, brighter, and bolder through the use of technology.
The full list of grant recipients:
Manhattan:
All Star Code
PowerMyLearning
We Connect the Dots
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship
National September 11 Memorial Museum
Bronx:
New York Botanical Garden
Per Scholas
WhedCo
Brooklyn:
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Directions for our Youth
Queens:
New York Hall of Science
Staten Island:
Staten Island Children’s Museum
Staten Island MakerSpace
Our grant recipients took the time to talk to us about their organizations and where these grants will take them:
What’s your company’s mission statement?
Per Scholas:
Breaking the cycle of poverty by providing technology access and education in underserved communities.
Staten Island MakerSpace:
Staten Island MakerSpace is a non-profit community based organization dedicated to building economic growth and supporting innovation in our community. Our education programs open new doors to learning, creative problem solving, and invention through the sciences, new technology, and vocational skills for all ages. Our goal is to promote creativity and collaboration across disciplines and to make technology accessible to anyone who desires to make or invent something, regardless of skills or experience.
We Connect the Dots, Inc.:
Our mission is to excite, inform and educate students about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) careers. Through a collaboration with the community, education, government and the technology industry, WCTD provides awareness and education of the 21st Century workforce skills, as well as the opportunities available to students embracing STEAM careers. Impacting students at a local, national and global level, our programs create a hunger for learning that empowers students to find their own paths to success.
National September 11 Memorial & Museum:
The Memorial Mission
Remember and honor the thousands of innocent men, women, and children murdered by terrorists in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001.
Respect this place made sacred through tragic loss. Recognize the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who risked their lives to save others, and the compassion of all who supported us in our darkest hours.
The Memorial Museum Mission
The National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center bears solemn witness to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The Museum honors the nearly 3,000 victims of these attacks and all those who risked their lives to save others. It further recognizes the thousands who survived and all who demonstrated extraordinary compassion in the aftermath.
PowerMyLearning:
PowerMyLearning helps students in low-income communities, together with their teachers and families, harness the power of digital learning to improve educational outcomes.
All Star Code:
All Star Code is a non-profit initiative that prepares qualified young men of color for full-time employment in the technology industry by providing mentorship, industry exposure, and intensive training in computer science. We are dedicated to closing the opportunity gap between young men of color and the tech industry.
How will you be using software to further your organization? What software do you use?
All Star Code:
Interpersonal and business skills development is a key part of ASC’s programming. Our students use Word to format their resumes and PowerPoint to make project presentations. And the 25% of our 2015 Summer Intensive cohort that attend school outside of the five boroughs continue to use Skype to participate remotely in mentor sessions and hatch new ideas for companies with their fellow All Stars.
Per Scholas:
The most current Microsoft software will equip our IT training classrooms to reflect what the students will encounter in the workplace. As well, Per Scholas is a data-driven organization. We track, measure and report out on performance and outcomes, evaluate trends and forecast programmatic performance results. This is supported through our use of Microsoft Office, Dynamics, and Windows.
PowerMyLearning:
The software donation will boost productivity and reinforce our network structure, allowing us to strengthen our free digital learning platform, PowerMyLearning Connect. Throughout our offices, we benefit from a number of Microsoft products, ranging from using Microsoft SQL Server as the back-end database to our platform, to leveraging the Office suite, which supports our day-to-day tasks.
What’s your favorite Microsoft technology?
National September 11 Memorial & Museum:
In 2014, Microsoft sponsored an online registry to collect and display a historic record of survivors, rescue and recovery workers and commemoration surrounding the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Designed by the global technology and design company Infusion, the registries can be accessed online and on touchscreens in the museum’s Foundation Hall.
PowerMyLearning:
With teammates in different locations, we’re big fans of Skype for Business! Skype video chats simplify our collaboration, plus it’s always fun to *see* our colleagues smiling faces!
We Connect The Dots, Inc.:
Yammer has brought the most value to our organization because it allows us to stay connected and collaborate with our students, teachers, and industry partners. Our programs are developed in this collaborative space and provide a great way to gain feedback through our growing community.
How will you use this grant to help your local community?
Staten Island Maker Space:
We are an organization dedicated to helping bring access to tools and technology to our local community through low cost memberships to our facility and education programs for all ages. This grant will help us build our overall organizational capacity to help us bring programs to our community.
All Star Code:
In 2015, only 146 African-American students in New York State took the AP Computer Science exam. 75% of New York State schools don’t even teach computer science at all. Next year’s All Star Code Summer Intensive cohort alone has the potential to more than double the number of African-American students who take the AP Computer Science exam in New York. All Star Code is committed to teaching computer science skills to the next generation of tech pioneers, starting right here in New York City.
PowerMyLearning:
This grant will provide our technical team with the enhanced Microsoft tools and software they need to build a stronger and more stable PowerMyLearning Connect platform. With these enhancements in place, our platform will be capable of responding to increased user demand, giving us the opportunity to impact the lives of more students, parents, and educators.
Per Scholas:
Per Scholas will benefit from this software upgrade to ensure students are familiar with the latest technology and hence enter the field with the knowledge to operate and support it. Additionally, Per Scholas staff would benefit from an upgrade in order to work more efficiently and keep up with the current technology standards.
What’s the best part of your borough?
Per Scholas:
Some say the Yankees. Some might say Arthur Avenue. The savviest say the birth of hip hop. But Per Scholas would say the best part is the untapped potential that surrounds us. The Bronx is the next pioneer for a tech corridor to further establish New York City as an inclusive, culturally rich, and competitive Silicon Alley.
Staten Island Maker Space:
We opened Staten Island MakerSpace exactly one year after we were flooded in Hurricane Sandy. The way the community came together to help each other out really inspired us to create a space where we could give back to what we feel is the greatest borough in the city. Staten Islanders have big hearts and we are grateful to be a part of this community.
We Connect The Dots, Inc.:
The schools and the students! Teachers in the NY Metro area care about their students and want to invest in their collective future. The students are eager, brilliant young people with a stamina and hunger for knowledge that makes them the best kind of unique.
National September 11 Memorial & Museum:
The first responders and others involved in the 9/11 response and recovery efforts who sacrificed so much for our city are a real treasure. We’re proud to be a part of the resilient community of Lower Manhattan, which has undergone a remarkable transformation since the terror attacks of 2001.
PowerMyLearning:
The people! It’s the people in Manhattan who make it such an incredible place to work. It’s these people who inspire us with their diversity, motivate us with their energy, and encourage us to push ourselves to new heights. It’s a special honor to be headquartered in Manhattan and we work hard to make our neighbors proud of our efforts to help all students succeed.
All Star Code:
The best part of Manhattan is Silicon Alley, which is generating the vast majority of the 291,000 tech industry jobs in the greatest city on earth.