Our mission as a business and our mission as a corporate citizen are one and the same: helping enable individuals and their communities to achieve their full potential. As a company, our optimism and passion for innovation are balanced with our focus on creating real solutions for the tough challenges facing communities around the world. To help meet these challenges, last year Microsoft contributed nearly $264 million in cash and software to nonprofit organizations striving to improve lives and strengthen communities. By providing innovative technology to help remove obstacles and create opportunities, we affirm our belief in the ability of people to make the world a better place.
Using technology as a tool for change
Through computers and the Internet, modern technology is creating an era of unprecedented access to information. And yet there are individuals and communities that face a significant disadvantage because they do not have access to technology resources and training. With technical skills, supporting infrastructure, and the availability of more learning environments, an unlimited number of opportunities could be created for millions of people around the world. By providing technology resources and technology skills development through community-based learning centers, Microsoft's Unlimited Potential program is designed to help create social and economic opportunities that can change people's lives and transform communities.
Creating opportunities for 21st-century learners
Nowhere else is our mission to help individuals realize their potential more immediate and apparent than in education. Three key initiatives within the Partners in Learning program highlight Microsoft's commitment to improving the learning experience. A new program called Fresh Start for Donated PCs provides Windows operating systems for computers donated to schools without original licensing documentation. School Agreement Subscription offers software at significantly discounted prices to schools around the world. And Learning Grants provides cash investments to fund curriculum development and technology training for both students and teachers. While they address different needs, all of the initiatives within the Partners in Learning program recognize the importance of education in empowering learners to realize their true potential.