MICROSOFT'S WORK TOWARD ENGAGING AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR ALL

As Business for 2030’s mission is to encourage businesses to help create a more sustainable and equitable future, we want to highlight the amazing work that Microsoft has continued to do this past year, especially aimed toward SDG 4.4. This 2030 goal aims to increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment and entrepreneurship. In line with this target, Microsoft continues to work at all levels of education to empower institutions, educators, and students to enable inclusive, engaging, and immersive learning.

Through Microsoft Philanthropies, the company is investing their resources to equip people, schools, teachers, and students with digital skills and computer science education. Microsoft is focusing their investments in three core areas: bringing industry volunteers to schools in the United States, Canada, and Mexico to teach computer science skills; building the capacity of nonprofit organizations and education providers to scale their impact; and supporting advocacy and collective action to promote inclusion of computer science in formal education.

Microsoft Philanthropies also runs the Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) program, which connects classroom teachers with tech-industry volunteers in order to create more sustainable computer science programs.

TEALS’ free programs help students develop science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills. As part of Microsoft’s commitment to addressing racial inequity, in 2020, TEALS began an expansion into 13 states and the District of Columbia, with a 2025 goal of bringing computer science education to an additional 620 high schools that primarily serve Black and minority students.

From July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021, Microsoft provided millions of students and young people with high-quality digital skills, experiences, and computer science education, training them for future job opportunities.

The company also trains over 150,000 teachers to teach computer science, providing them with the skills and resources to reach millions of students.

To help ensure the continuation of education during Covid-19, The Learning Passport, a partnership between Microsoft and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), facilitated learning opportunities for young people who are affected by conflict and global and natural disasters.

As of September 2021, the Learning Passport is currently available in 11 countries including: Bangladesh, Egypt, Honduras, Jordan, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Puntland-Somalia, TimorLeste, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

Microsoft is also a founding member of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Global Education Coalition for the pandemic response. This coalition aims to bring inclusive learning opportunities for children and youth during this period of unprecedented educational disruption.

Read more about Microsoft’s commitment to empower youth and their partnerships and programs which do so, check out their website.

To read more about Microsoft’s contribution to our SDG’s, check out their case study on Businessfor2030’s website.

“Reinvigorating Inclusive Multilateralism: Business Town Hall”

The 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76): “Reinvigorating Inclusive Multilateralism: Business Town Hall” took place on September 20th from 1 - 2:30 pm EST. This event brought together industry leaders to discuss routes to achieve the global sustainability agenda, including international cooperation and encouraging the private sector to align with global business and provide solutions using inclusive multilateralism. Speakers also raised questions about the resilience of the United Nations and values of democracy, rule of law, inclusive societies, and the treatment of workers. 

This event, which was organized by the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), Business at OECD (BIAC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE), was extremely successful in stimulating innovative and productive conversations about the future of government and policy changes surrounding climate change, Covid-19, and multilateralism. USCIB’s Norine Kennedy moderated a thoughtful conversation with Robin Oglivy, the Special Representative and Permanent Observer of OECD to the UN, and Ester Baiget, the CEO of Novozymes and USCIB Trustee Sustainability Champion, who pointed out an unsettling and rather large gap between words and actions regarding policy targeted toward environmental justice. 

The event also highlighted the responsibility companies, citizens, and the government hold, not only to shareholders, but to our communities, future generations, and the planet we live on. Government, businesses, and citizens all have key parts to play in reaching global net-zero goals, reducing mental health related to climate change, achieving and incentivising sustainability, and working toward a cleaner future.

This session included a series of “Fireside Chats,” which featured three priority topics, determined by the General Assembly. USCIB’s Brian Lowry moderated a discussion of climate change which featured Michele Parmelee, the president of the IOE and Deputy CEO and Chief People & Purpose Officer of Deloitte. 

This interdisciplinary discussion also included the topics of human rights and pandemic response and recovery, featuring guest speakers such as USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, Microsoft Vice President of UN Affairs John Frank, and Dr. Scott Ratzan, the Executive Director of Business Partners for Sustainable Development. These moderated discussions, including esteemed industry leaders and scholars, facilitated conversations about business engagement and innovation in conjunction with this overarching theme of multilateralism and how to promote it.

The 2021 THRIVE | Bayer Sustainability Challenge

The THRIVE | Bayer Sustainability Challenge, which took place over ten months, culminated on Thursday September 9th, 2021 as ten finalists from start-ups and scale-ups across the globe pitched their solutions to a live audience and esteemed panel of leaders across the agrifood industry. These ten innovators were chosen out of the 268 applications received from 57 countries for a chance to compete for the THRIVE | Bayer Sustainable Startup Award, Sustainable Scaleup Award, and the People's Choice Award.

This virtual event, led by THRIVE Founder and CEO John Hartnett, successfully combined Bayer Crop Sciences’ sustainability commitments and THRIVE’s Global Initiative focus on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals to promote innovations that can address pressing challenges in the global agrifood chain.

Panel members included Bayer Head of Global Public Affairs for Science & Sustainability Sara Boettiger, U.S. Department of State Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, and Food and Agriculture Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. The panel explored many topics including the reduction of field greenhouse gas emissions and food waste, the environmental impact of crop protection, and the empowerment of smallholder farmers to access sustainable agricultural solutions. They also discussed the importance of innovation, entrepreneurship, and being open to new ideas as it can help promote vital conversation, education, collaboration, and policy in the agtech industry.

After listening to the ten international finalists pitch their solutions, the judging panel made the difficult decision of presenting the three awards. 

The 2021 People’s Choice Award is voted on by agrifood leaders and peers—determining their “favorite company.” This award was presented to AgroCognitive, a Venezulan company working on an AI precision farming universal platform. 

The 2021 Sustainable Startup Award was granted to Haystack Ag, an American company promoting high-accuracy, cost-effective soil carbon measurement. As the selected winner of this award, Haystack is set to receive investment, placement in THRIVE’s accelerator program, and access to Bayer’s research and development team.

Lastly, the 2021 Sustainable Scaleup Award was presented to MagGrow, an Irish-based company that is improving the effectiveness of pesticide sprays and reducing water usage. As the winner of this award, MagGrow will go on to explore a proof-of-concept pilot project with Bayer. The scaleup will receive automatic nomination for THRIVE’s Top 50 listing, which annually ranks agtech and foodtech companies who are pushing the boundaries of innovation and technology. MagGrow will also receive access to the Leaps by Bayer investment team, who invests in paradigm-shifting advances in the life sciences and collaborates with the world’s brightest minds in biotech and agriculture to solve the industry’s most pressing problems.

Missed the event? No need to worry. Watch the recorded livestream of the THRIVE | Bayer Sustainability Challenge here!