TechSpark Round-Up: Coping with COVID-19

As we’ve all witnessed, tech has accelerated at an incredibly fast pace since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, transformation doesn’t look the same for every person. Historically, digital opportunities have been concentrated in urban areas and tech hubs along the U.S. coastlines, leaving behind the millions of Americans who live in rural areas.

In 2017, Microsoft launched the TechSpark civic initiative to foster economic impact and job creation through deep partnerships with local rural communities by promoting digital skills and employability, increasing access to broadband and helping local organizations thrive. The TechSpark initiative covers six regions – North Dakota, Wisconsin, Washington, Wyoming, Virginia and El Paso and Juarez, Mexico, with local regional managers invested in bridging the technology gaps in their communities. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across America, each of our regional managers shared their experiences through LinkedIn stories. Today, I’d like to share their perspectives in one place. They each wrote about how people in their communities are rising to the occasion and supporting one another, and that is my biggest takeaway from this pandemic – our people and our communities are our biggest strength.

• Michelle Schuler in Wisconsin talked about a social startup created to help nonprofits become tech-enabled. [LINK]
• Dennis Ellis in Wyoming reported about a technology coalition that is helping their community respond to the pandemic. [LINK]
• Taya Spelhaug in North Dakota spotlighted community events that swiftly shifted to taking place online only. [LINK]
• Lisa Karstetter in Washington showed the transforming power of community. [LINK]
• Jeremy Satterfield in Virginia highlighted the local Girls Who Code leader who inspired so many girls to overcome challenges while having fun together, despite the social distance put in place by the pandemic. [LINK]
• Omar Saucedo in Juarez, Mexico wrote about a program to reskill local youth. [LINK]
• Jonathan Childress in El Paso, Texas shared how his community is supporting small businesses. [LINK]