You may have seen earlier this summer that we arranged to donate PCs to the participants of Year Up –a Microsoft YouthSpark nonprofit partner. Year Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. While Year Up is nationwide, we focused our giving efforts on the Chicago area, and today were able to donate enough PCs for the Year Up Chicago Class of January 2014.
These Year Up students are currently in the internship phase of the program, and are gaining real-world experience at some of Chicago’s most well-known companies. This experience gives them the opportunity to network and learn the skills necessary to thrive when they enter the workforce.
As part of the program, students are educated on Windows and also allowed to keep these devices enabling them to play with the latest technology from Microsoft whether they are at work or having fun at home. It is our belief that a Microsoft Surface RT device or any of the great Windows 8 devices, combined with these experiences, will provide them with a valuable tool as they take on new professional and academic experiences.
This donation comes in part thanks to those of you who participated in our Chip In program this summer. If you are interested in learning more about Year Up, please check out there.