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Corporate Volunteering In The Digital Age: Microsoft’s MySkills4Afrika Lutz Ziob Dean of 4Afrika Academy [email protected]
Corporate Volunteering In The Digital Age:
Microsoft’s MySkills4Afrika
Lutz ZiobDean of 4Afrika Academy
INNOVATION
WORLD-CLASS
SKILLS
AFFORDABLE
ACCESS
Youth SMEs Government
4Afrika
Academy
School of
Government
Internships &
AppFactory
MySkills
4Afrika
World-Class Skills
MySkills4Afrika
Program
Objectives
Promote global leadership and skills development amongst Microsoft
employees around the world
Transfer relevant skills and perspectives to enable Africans to grow,
innovate and compete globally
Promote deeper understanding of African and emerging markets
throughout the company
MySkills4Afrika To-Date
Launched
Dec 2013
200in-country
volunteers
180 virtual
volunteers
150+ organizations
supported
MySkills4Afrika Impact
88% believe their experience will change
the way they work in the future
96% witness positive development in
their leadership skills & competencies
89% of host organisations confirmed that
they received a sustainable difference to their
business
72% of host organisations felt they would
not have been able to achieve the same
impact without MS4A program
Virtual Volunteering
180
virtual
volunteers
Coaches &
Mentors
Scholars,
Interns,
Fellows
Global
volunteer
participation
True cross-
Africa
engagement
“Initially, I worried about being isolated from my host organization or being undervalued. As
they say, out of site out of mind. But I soon realized these worries were unfounded. I believe
the Kenyan team had just as big an impact on me as I did on them. I would do it all again.”
In-Country Volunteers Virtual Volunteers
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%self confidence
self awareness
problem-solving skills
ability to see thingsfrom differentperspectives
ability to work withculturally diversegroups or teams
ability to deal withambiguity
ability to assimilateboth intuition and
fact into my decisions
ability to achievetasks through other
people
Global Leadership Competencies
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%self confidence
self awareness
problem-solving skills
ability to see things fromdifferent perspectives
ability to work with culturallydiverse groups or teams
ability to deal with ambiguity
ability to assimilate bothintuition and fact into my
decisions
ability to achieve tasksthrough other people
MySkills4Afrika – New Virtual Volunteer Support
A Few Lessons Learned …
1.Business / Staff / Project
Interests Aligned
2.Intelligent, Appropriate
Use of Digital Tools
3.Virtual Volunteering Works,
but Differently
