Microsoft congratulates the following Unlimited Potential (UP) grant recipients. We are proud to support their work.
Argentina
Committee for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI)
Since 1995, CDI has been developing a pioneering initiative to promote social inclusion by using information technology as a tool for citizens' rights. In 2004, Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) supported CDI's three-stage project, 100 Community Technology Centers (CTCs). The project involves the creation of 100 CTCs, development and implementation of new training methodologies, improvements in operations, and development of a digital exclusion map. The UP contributions helped CDI successfully complete the first phase of the project, opening 40 new CTCs in the country; these CTCs provided training to more than 2,000 people. During the second phase, the UP donation of US$82,700 will be used to build 30 new CTCs.
Brazil
Comunitas: Rede Jovem (Youth Net) project
Comunitas is a nonprofit organization focused on promoting civil rights and social development in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Brasilia, Brazil. The Rede Jovem initiative was developed by Comunitas to offer young adults the opportunity to become familiar with new technologies. Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) donated US$85,000 to Comunitas to help them offer IT skills training in all 52 Computer Internet Labs. The donation will also be used to offer e-learning courses through the Comunitas Web site and to publish reports on its methodology.
Committee for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI)
Since 1995, CDI has been developing a pioneering initiative to promote social inclusion by using information technology as a tool for citizens' rights. Headquartered in Brazil, CDI manages a network of regional offices that use the CDI training model worldwide. The $300,000 grant will be used to improve activities and infrastructure for CDI Headquarters to support the work done by its regional centers in Latin America. CDI Headquarters is responsible for supporting 48 regional centers, which in turn support 900 community technology centers (CTCs) by ensuring the CDI training model is executed to a high standard. The funds will be used to improve infrastructure and to provide training in management skills. CDI will also adopt the UP training curriculum in Portuguese during this period.
Fundação Bradesco (Bradesco Foundation)
The Bradesco Foundation, founded in 1956, provides free basic education to children and teenagers and professional training to adults from disadvantaged communities through the implementation of schools in underserved areas. In 2004, Microsoft Unlimited Potential supported the Bradesco Foundation with a US$75,000 grant, which was used to set up 12 Digital Inclusion Centers (CID) that provided training to nearly 20,000 individuals last year alone.
This new project will develop 10 CIDs, with 10 PCs each, throughout the country. The Digital Inclusion Center is a space designed especially for disadvantaged communities. It provides access to technology, promotes digital inclusion, and encourages the involvement of both communities and private companies on social issues. Microsoft will donate software and funds to be used for hardware and training. The project will benefit an average of 10,000 individuals annually.
Instituto Ayrton Senna (Ayrton Senna Institute)
Instituto Ayrton Senna is a nongovernmental and not-for-profit organization that was established in 1994. Its mission is to create education opportunities for children, teenagers, and adults so they can develop their potential as people and citizens, thereby preparing them for success in the twenty-first century. Although its main office is in São Paulo, Ayrton Senna's actions are carried out nationwide. This project will develop five community-based technology learning centers (CTLCs), with 15 PCs each, throughout the country. The CTLCs will be implemented in disadvantaged communities, with the aim of promoting digital inclusion through the use of new information and communication Technology (ICT) to promote citizenship and social development. Microsoft will donate software and funds to be used for hardware and training. The project will benefit an average of 21,000 individuals annually.
Chile
Corporación El Encuentro
The mission of Corporación El Encuentro is to broaden digital inclusion and improve the quality of life in vulnerable sectors through technology and communication training programs. The Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) donation of US$75,000 will help increase the organization's presence in the community by restoring 90 percent of its hardware and infrastructure, including the installation of 96 new computers, 50 printers, new flooring, and new furniture. In addition, the grant will help the center expand its activities through training new teachers, linking all the centers under one network, offering training through the Microsoft Unlimited Potential curriculum, and providing job-placement services.
Fundación Chile
Established in 1976, Fundación Chile works to increase the competitiveness of human resources, production, and service sectors by promoting and developing high-impact innovations and technology transfer initiatives. The main purpose of this project (Plan de Empleadbilidad) is to improve employment prospects for disadvantaged young people in technology-driven companies from two sectors: telecommunications and financial services. The training package, designed to improve youth competencies, comprises three skill clusters: IT skills, soft skills (teamwork, communication, project planning, etc.), and entry-level technical and occupational skills.
In the project's first year, 350 low-income individuals between the ages of 20 and 29 will be trained at four different community-based technology learning centers (CTLCs). These individuals are not currently employed but have completed their secondary education or have some basic technical training.
Fundación de Vida Rural (FVR)
Founded in 1952, FVR is a nonprofit organization and part of Catholic University. FVR's mission is to reduce poverty and to address the needs of low-income people by providing education and training in rural communities. Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) first partnered with this organization in FY03 in support of the project National Program of Digital Alphabetization for the School and the Community, the largest digital-inclusion project in Chile.
In FY03, the donation of US$100,000 helped FVR implement a mobile educational program, Traveling Infocenters. The donation provided support to 22 of the organization's existing community learning centers as well as to a Traveling Infocenter, providing IT skills training to 50,000 people. During the first half of FY05, UP donated an additional US$70,000 to support 4 new and 14 existing Traveling Infocenters. The Traveling Infocenters will provide more than 270,000 hours of IT skills training in Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Various other organizations, including OLIDATA-Chile and Telefónica, the Ministry of General Secretariat of Government, the Ministry of Education, and the Society of Manufacturing Promotion (SOFOFA), are also supporting the National Program of Digital Alphabetization for the School and the Community.
Colombia
Fundación Renacer
Fundación Renacer, a nongovernmental organization founded in 1988, works with child and teenage victims of sexual exploitation. This project (Technology Training for Child and Teenage Victims of Sexual Exploitation) aims to improve the quality of the technology training and services at Fundacion Renacer's telecenters in three cities. This will help strengthen the computer training programs, which are administered at the day center and at long-stay homes. The children who receive the training will have the chance to improve their quality of life by gaining new knowledge and skills that they can use in their studies, subsequently giving them better opportunities when they join the work force. The project will benefit 100 individuals in its first a year.
World Vision Colombia
World Vision Colombia, established in 1976, seeks to provide programs that improve the quality of life for children and youth living in Colombia's most impoverished communities. This project's purpose is to increase computer science literacy for children and youth living in the underserved communities of Monteria City by creating an additional community-based technology learning center (CTLC). This first stage will focus on the direct involvement of the nearly 17,000 children and youth that form the target group of the 10 educational centers that operate in Monteria City. These centers will provide them with IT skills training, thereby affording them opportunities not available at school or on the streets. The project will benefit 8,640 people in its first year.
Costa Rica
Asociación Roblealto
Asociación Roblealto was founded in Costa Rica in 1932. It is a nonprofit organization that responds to the social problems of children and their families. Asociación Roblealto provides services for approximately 650 children and adolescents who have little access to social services and few economic resources or opportunities. Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) has contributed US$20,300 to this organization in the past. In 2003, the UP contributions helped build the first computer lab for the Enrique Strachan School in the Hogar Bíblico Shelter, located in Barva, Heredia. The most recent UP grant of US$21,300 will be used to build new computer labs in two of the organization's learning centers, El Manatial Day Care Center and the Graduate Teenage Program. The new labs will teach teenagers and families in underserved communities the value of information technology.
Dominican Republic
Asociación Dominicana Para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ADOPEM)
ADOPEM (Women's World Banking) assists women and their families with financial support and training to prepare them to start and run their own small business. Microsoft Unlimited Potential donated US$26,900 to implement an IT skills training program for almost 640 low-income youth in poverty-plagued communities, including Sabana Perdida. The contribution will help people understand the important role of technology in the growth of businesses and the region's workforce.
Fundacion Taiguey
Fundacion Taiguey, founded in 2003, seeks to drive, develop, guide, and evaluate the process of social change on the community level by promoting participatory methodologies and the use of appropriate technologies. The purpose of this project is to promote sustainable development in the Cienaga community and environs by opening a community-based technology learning center (CTLC), which will provide community members with IT skills training. This project will establish the first community center in Cienaga to offer computer and Internet access and productivity applications training for the general public. With the support of Microsoft Unlimited Potential, Fundacion Taiguey expects to train at least 100 individuals in the first year of the center's operation.
Ecuador
Fundación Crisfe (Banco Pichincha)
Fundación Crisfe, established in 1994, seeks to finance projects that promote public access to quality educational services and adequate housing. This project (Citizen's Beacon of Knowledge) will increase the technological capacity of the northwestern part of the province of Pichincha, which has great agro-industrial potential as well as opportunities for increased tourism. This initiative, which includes the support of four community-based technology learning centers (CTLCs), will benefit 600 youth, children, and their families. It will significantly improve the quality of life for individuals in this area.
Junior Achievement (JA)
Junior Achievement is a nonprofit organization that uses hands-on experience to help young people understand basic economics. In partnership with business and educators, Junior Achievement brings real-world examples and scenarios to students, expanding their individual opportunities. Junior Achievement reaches approximately 5.2 million students worldwide. The Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) donation of US$66,500 to JA Ecuador will help create a new community technology center with 10 computers. This center will provide IT training to 200 underprivileged youth in the city of Quito. Students will receive 56 hours of IT training on Microsoft applications, with the support of a JA Ecuador partner, New Horizons.
The top five students in the program will be granted a scholarship to study intermediate and advanced IT, courtesy of New Horizons. The best out of five will receive a scholarship for a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification. In addition, JA Ecuador will offer 16 hours of basic business training to help prepare students for the work force and will provide PricewaterhouseCoopers with the resumes of program participants.
Jamaica
Children First
Children First, founded in 1997, aims to work with street, working, and vulnerable children to improve their life opportunities and enable their contribution to society. The purpose of the proposed project is to encourage street and working children between the ages of 16 and 24 in the Spanish Town and Old Harbour Bay environs to develop their potential as responsible citizens, thus enabling them to achieve both personal and national goals. This will be achieved by providing IT skills training at a community-based technology learning center (CTLC). Upon completion, individuals will be referred to apprenticeships, other vocational institutions, and job placements. In addition to providing youths with new skills for possible employment, information technology provides a useful tool to unlock creativity and to transform social and intellectual attitudes. This project is important to the development of both areas, as skilled people contribute to the socioeconomic development of their communities. The project will train 625 individuals in its first year.
Mexico
Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía (CEMEFI)
The Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía (Mexican Center for Philanthropy) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and increase philanthropic involvement in Mexico. Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) partnered with CEMEFI to create a fund for Adult Technology Education in Mexico that seeks to enrich information technology capabilities among disadvantaged groups. Three community foundations (in Tijuana, Baja California; Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca; and Guadalajara, Jalisco) will identify these particular groups and monitor their progress. The local community foundations, CEMEFI, and Microsoft Mexico will jointly evaluate and make grants to local nonprofit organizations in each state. Microsoft donated US$200,000 to support this initiative.
Comité para la Democratización Informática, México AC (CDI)
The Committee for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that, since 1995, has been developing a pioneering initiative to promote social inclusion by using information technology as a citizens' rights and developing tool. Headquartered in Brazil, CDI manages a network of regional offices that execute the CDI training model worldwide, including in Mexico. In 2004, Microsoft Unlimited Potential partnered with CDI Mexico to launch a new program called Basic IT Skills for the Unemployed. This included a grant of US$115,463, which was used to set up 12 community-based technology learning centers (CTLCs) that provided training to 5,280 individuals last year.
This new initiative focuses on the community of Tlalpan, one of the poorest districts in Mexico City. CiberTlalpan is a project that aims to promote digital inclusion by providing IT training to underserved residents. CDI and the district government are partnering to develop 20 CTLCs to improve social and economic conditions in the community through the use of information and communication technology (ICT). The project will benefit 4,000 individuals in its first year.
Instituto Mexicano de la Juventud (Mexican Youth Institute)
The Institito Mexicano de la Juventud (IMJ), established in 1998, seeks to develop strategies and programs oriented toward Mexican youth as a complement to their capacity-building and skills development. The IMJ offers a program called Centros Interactivos Poder Joven (Youth Empower Interactive Centers). These centers are integrated spaces where youth can meet and express their concerns, and where they can access new technologies and information while receiving training to foster their personal development. The network provides services to 119 centers in 29 states of Mexico. Microsoft Unlimited Potential began funding this initiative in 2004, when it awarded IMJ a grant of US$81,000 to set up 10 community-based technology learning centers (CTLCs). Last year, nearly 5,000 individuals were trained; that number is expected to double in 2005. The proposed project marks the continuation and expansion of the Centros Interactivos Poder Joven initiative, which aims to support 10 additional centers. These centers will provide technology skills training to participants with the objective of encouraging young people to use technology as a tool to develop their potential and improve their quality of life. The project will benefit 6,000 people in its first year.
Panama
Gabriel Lewis Galindo Foundation
Established in 1996, the Gabriel Lewis Galindo Foundation seeks to improve the quality of education for Panama's poorest communities. The foundation recognizes that, while information and communication technology (ICT) offers important opportunities in both education and employment, it is not always feasible to establish community learning centers. This project will provide two mobile community learning centers that will serve as classrooms for several communities throughout the country, training individuals based on the needs of each participating community. Each of these mobile centers will be equipped with 20 laptops, a printer, a scanner, 20 digital cameras, and 20 headphones.
One of the main goals of the project is to train Panamanians in both rural and urban settings, providing technology skills training in places where it is otherwise difficult to access. As a result of this grant, 27 Microsoft Master Teachers in Office XP will be able to share their knowledge with children, families, schools, and businesses to help reduce the digital divide. In its first year, 540 individuals will be trained as a result of the program.
Mona Foundation
Since 2003, Microsoft UP has supported the Mona Foundation in Panama. The foundation's objective is to support grass-roots educational initiatives and to raise the status of women and girls in the United Sates and abroad. To further expand educational opportunities for underserved populations, the Mona Foundation—in partnership with FONDESCU, a local organization whose mission is to promote universal education in indigenous communities in Panama, and Microsoft Panama—established the first community-based technology learning center (CTLC) in the Ngobe Bugle community. Microsoft UP has now given more than $130,000 in cash, software, and curriculum to develop this ambitious project. The center is located at the community's radio station and provides basic computer skills and technology training for teachers, students, and community members during after-school hours. It provides Internet access and e-commerce opportunities to this remote region. Microsoft UP recently awarded the Mona Foundation an additional grant of US$12,000 to support the continuing education and training of Ngobe instructors, teachers, and a project manager. By 2010, the center expects to train close to 1,000 individuals.
Peru
Organization of American States (OAS)/Trust for the Americas
The Trust for the Americas is a foundation established in 1997 to foster partnership among corporations, foundations, governmental bodies, and academic institutions operating in the Americas. The trust's mission reflects the central goals of the Organization of American States (OAS): mobilizing resources to confront extreme poverty and to promote democracy through actions that are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. In 2005, Microsoft Unlimited Potential awarded the trust a grant of US$594,638 to set up 12 community-based technology learning centers (CTLCs) in seven countries throughout Latin America, which will benefit nearly 6,500 individuals annually. This initiative, Partnership in Opportunities for Employment through Technology in the Americas (POETA), allows people with disabilities to gather in a central place in their community to receive technology skills training and benefit from the use of technology.
This new project marks the expansion of the POETA partnership by supporting an additional center in Peru. The project objective is to strengthen the ongoing work of our local partners, Organizacion Mejarando La Calidad De Vida (MECVIDA) y el Centro de Educación Especial y Rehabilitación para Ciegos Nuestra Sra. del Carmen (CEERCNSC), in managing and maintaining one CTLC in Cuzco, as well as expanding the ICT training and learning opportunities it can provide to youths and adults with disabilities.
The goals of the program are to improve the learning curricula and job-readiness skills available at the center; increase the effectiveness of local disability organizations in the community in which the center is located; continue with its awareness campaign among local businesses and the government, particularly in those areas where the center will be located; expand collaborative activities with Peruvian universities to create a permanent volunteer service for people with disabilities, focusing on the centers; and achieve full sustainability of the CTLC under a business plan prepared by participants and volunteers. This project will train 75 people with disabilities in its first year.
Puerto Rico
Iniciativa Tecnológica Centro Oriental (INTECO)
The mission of INTECO is to increase computer literacy and to inspire youth to pursue careers in science, engineering, and technology. Microsoft Unlimited Potential donated US$58,500 to help INTECO hire IT instructors and provide them with additional IT training. The instructors will provide IT training for the Digital Divide and SmartTeens programs. The SmartTeens program targets underserved adolescents, while the Digital Divide program targets underserved adults. Program participants will learn how to create newsletters, multimedia presentations, general letters, and spreadsheets for financial analysis.
Stone Soup Leadership Institute
Founded in 1997, the Stone Soup Leadership Institute is a 501(c)(3) educational organization that develops tools, programs, and community initiatives that honor everyday heroes. It also trains future and emerging leaders to work together to build a better world. The Vieques Technology Initiative, spearheaded by the Stone Soup Leadership Institute, invests in the dreams of the Viequenses and Jovenes Viequenses Unidos Organization and marks the first step toward their ambitious goal of establishing their own university in Vieques. With this Microsoft Unlimited Potential grant, which provides funding to develop a community-based technology learning center (CTLC), these students will be the first tutors of the Technology Initiative and will inspire hundreds of young Viequenses to learn about the power of technology. The project aims to encourage young people to take initiative in their own lives and to work together to create public-private partnerships for Vieques' future. In the project's first year, 180 individuals will be trained.
Trinidad and Tobago
Servol Ltd. (Service Volunteered for All)
Servol was founded in 1970 to help disadvantaged children and young people from marginalized areas in the country. This grant will be used to upgrade the computers and networking in the three existing Hi-tech Centers in North (Barataria), Central (Chaguanas), and South Trinidad (La Romain). While some upgrading has already occurred as a result of Servol's fundraising activities and through contributions from the local community, further support is necessary so that the centers can effectively train young people in programs relevant to employment opportunities in the current job market.
Servol will also establish computer labs in three of its skill training centers in Port of Spain (urban), Forres Park (semi-rural), and Palo Seco (rural). This additional funding will ensure that the most underserved areas will benefit from computer literacy programs as part of the skills training program. Such training is in keeping with new national certification standards, which require that all skills training graduates be computer literate. Many of the young people to whom Servol will provide training have dropped out of school and, without the opportunity for further education, would be more inclined to a life of crime and violence. The funds will be used to upgrade hardware and software for seven centers and to provide furniture and equipment for the new computer labs. This initiative will train 1,200 individuals in its first year.
Uruguay
Committee for Democracy in Information Technology (CDI)
Since 1995, CDI has been developing a pioneering initiative to promote social inclusion by using information technology as a tool for citizens' rights. Microsoft Unlimited Potential contributed US$50,000 to a project that will open a Special Learning Center in Barrio Sur, a neighborhood in which 40 percent of the people are unemployed. The Special Learning Center will provide support to 24 schools in Uruguay by hiring new trainers who, in the future, will train volunteers and other teachers. In addition, the funds will be used to open a new CTC in the same community.
OAS/Trust for the Americas
The Trust for the Americas is a foundation established in 1997 to foster partnership among corporations, foundations, governmental bodies, and academic institutions operating in the Americas. The Trust's mission reflects the central goals of the Organization of American States (OAS): mobilizing resources to confront extreme poverty and to promote democracy through actions that are environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. Microsoft Unlimited Potential (UP) has partnered with the Trust for Opportunities for Employment through Technology (POET), a regional project that seeks to establish CTCs for youth with disabilities in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Argentina. Microsoft's donation of US$423,000 will be used to establish 12 new CTCs in these seven countries.
During the course of the one-year start-up project, the Trust will work with local implementing partners and through the OAS country offices to educate local representatives of business and government on the importance of giving fair employment access to people with disabilities. The Trust and local implementing partners will actively seek job-placement opportunities for participants in the program.
Venezuela
Christel House
Christel House International, founded in 1998, aims to help children around the world break the cycle of poverty and become self-sufficient. This project will develop a Technology Information Center in La Vega community, one of the poorest areas of Caracas. This center will train 660 people in its first year, servicing youth from the Christel House Education Center and adults from the community who have not had any previous formal education. The objective is to empower members of this community, providing them with IT skills that will enable them to find better job opportunities and break the cycle of poverty.
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