Empowering Youth to Change Their World

By Lori Forte Harnick, General Manager, Citizenship and Public Affairs

Microsoft is very proud to announce our support for Free The Children, a global nonprofit dedicated to inspiring young people to help others in local communities near and far. As part of our company-wide YouthSpark initiative to empowering youth through technology, we’re launching a three-year commitment as co-title sponsors of Free the Children’s signature We Day event and We Act program in Seattle and in San Francisco.

Microsoft YouthSpark reporters Gabrielle, Delaney and Keilon join We Day co-host Munro Chambers from the hit TeenNick TV show “Degrassi” at We Day Seattle 2013.

Our goal is to encourage more young people to build and use technology to change their world – like these four Ukrainian students who developed a way to translate sign language into the written word by embedding flex sensors, gyroscopes, touch sensors and accelerometers into a glove…and these three young men in Uganda who created a portable and affordable device to deliver prenatal health care in rural areas of their country…and students like Sneha, a sophomore at the University of California, who created an app that combines gaming and social networking to encourage other students to get involved in local fundraising and community work. 

We’re incredibly inspired by these stories, and working with Free The Children, we hope to encourage and empower even more talented youth who are eager to put their smarts, passion, and energy toward making the world a better place. Please join us as we celebrate more stories like these at We Day Seattle on March 21 and at We Day California on March 26!

To learn more and find out how to get involved, visit www.WeDay.com.