Microsoft invests in local programs that benefit people of all ages. In India, our collaborations are organized by our focus areas of Skills for Jobs, Enabling Sustainability, and Empowering Communities.
The following program list contains a sample of the investments Microsoft makes on an annual basis.
Skills for jobs
Microsoft believes everyone should have access to the skills, technology, and opportunity they need to succeed in a changing economy.
United Way Hyderabad (UWH) works to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities to create long-term social change and advance towards the common good. Founded in 2010, UWH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting socio-economically underprivileged communities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. UWH focuses on community-based solutions in education, environment, diversity and inclusion, financial stability, and health, impacting over 10 million lives in the last fiscal year.
- The Empowering College Students Through Tech Skilling project targets young students (18–25 years) from economically disadvantaged backgrounds attending government ITI, degree, and Social/Tribal Welfare residential colleges. UWH aims to impart tech skills to approximately 90 students and English Language and Life Skills to 300 students over two years. The program enhances communication, technical, and life skills, making students job-ready and resilient. Placement support will be provided to approximately 70% out of the tech-skilling beneficiaries, ensuring opportunities in skilled support jobs through organized job drives and direct placements.
Enabling sustainability
Climate change requires swift, collective action and technological innovation. We are committed to meeting our own goals while helping communities to do the same.
One Tree Planted is dedicated to making it easier for both individuals and businesses to give back to the environment, create a healthier climate, protect biodiversity, and help reforestation efforts.
- The Fruit Trees to Improve Ecosystem Services project engaged Sustainable Green Initiative (SGI), with support from Microsoft and One Tree Planted, to plant 25,000 fruit trees in Hyderabad, including 10,000 at several local schools and universities. These additional trees are expected to help reduce air pollution, create large areas of canopy cover to help mitigate urban heat islands, reduce stormwater runoff, and improve water quality. Fruits from the trees will serve as a source of supplemental nutrition for CISF trainees and their families as well as students from low-income families that attend the government-run schools.
- The Urban Oxygen Park in Pune helps improve air and water quality, provide shade, reduce noise pollution, and create a green, recreational space for approximately 6,000 residents nearby. Acacia Eco Trust, with support from Microsoft and One Tree Planted, secured a 3-acre barren parcel in the Lohegaon area from the Municipal Corporation of Pune and transformed it an urban “oxygen park” by planting 25,500 trees. Over 40 native species were utilized to create high-density forest pockets.
United Way Hyderabad (UWH) works to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities to create long-term social change and advance towards common good. Founded in 2010, UWH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting socio-economically underprivileged communities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. UWH focuses on community-based solutions in education, environment, diversity and inclusion, financial stability, and health, impacting over 10 million lives in the last fiscal year.
- The Semi-Urban Afforestation in Hyderabad project is creating urban forestry parks within Mekaguda and Chandenvalli. UWH was allotted land parcels of 2 acres and 1 acre respectively by local governments, who have expressed their unreserved enthusiasm for such an initiative. The project is planting 8,000 trees of native/adapted species, including fruit-bearing trees, flowering trees, and woody perennials. The program includes land preparation, sapling plantation, and three-year maintenance of the plants in order to ensure high survival rates. The green spaces created through this project will add value to the community in the form of lung spaces, in addition to improving biodiversity in the region.
Empowering communities
Microsoft is committed to strengthening communities and empowering the organizations that help them thrive. Whether affected by a recent emergency or decades of challenges, we use data, technology, and strategic investments to restore and support them for future generations.
United Way Hyderabad (UWH) works to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities to create long-term social change and advance towards common good. Founded in 2010, UWH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting socio-economically underprivileged communities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. UWH focuses on community-based solutions in education, environment, diversity and inclusion, financial stability, and health, impacting over 10 million lives in the last fiscal year.
- The Community Empowerment project aims to create a community-led model of development interventions evolving from the community’s needs, identified through a participatory approach. The project is creating and building capacity of village empowerment committees in two villages, Mekaguda and Chandenvalli. UWH will select and manage the execution of interventions through a Village Empowerment Fund. By democratizing the needs assessment process, the project will ensure a collaborative approach where the community’s commitment is a crucial driving force for the success of the interventions and creating sustainable growth.