Giving Compass' Take:

• This Microsoft Asia News Center highlights the company's efforts to engage with the community in Japan — employees go to local schools to train teachers and students in computer programming.

• How can this model of corporate-based volunteering be replicated in the U.S.? Would other tech companies be able to lead the way in bringing more digital learning to classrooms?

• Here's more on how hands-on activities can bring STEM to life for students.


Yuka Matsubara feels energized by the creativity of children. Having worked at Microsoft Japan since 2015, Matsubara is one of the many employees at the company actively engaged in volunteer work. She gives coding lessons at elementary schools — along with other places — and uses material designed to teach programming to school-aged children.

Her exceptional volunteering encapsulates Microsoft’s major philanthropic pillar of empowering society through the effective use of technology. As it becomes a growing force in our daily lives, making technology easily available has become an important social mission.

To help achieve that goal, Microsoft gets involved in the community through employee engagement and support for nonprofits. Microsoft provides cloud solutions that nonprofits can use for their daily work, while also sending its employees as volunteers to train nonprofits on how to use this technology.

In education, computer programming is set to become a compulsory subject in Japanese schools by 2020. However, work needs to be first done to improve the IT skills of teachers, especially those tasked with educating children on computer science. Microsoft’s technology experts, like Matsubara, are well placed to work with teaching staff to bring more digital experiences to schools.

Read the full article about paving the future with technology at Microsoft Asia News Center.