About the Microsoft Datacenter Community Development Team

Microsoft operates datacenters in communities all over the world and their mission is to establish a positive presence in these communities, contributing to long-term social, economic, and environmental health.

Through the Datacenter Community Development initiative, they work to build local partnerships that contribute to Microsoft's overall mission and deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits. Their commitment to accelerating global progress towards a more sustainable future, means that their community investment often focuses on climate-related issues, contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals like "Goal 13: Climate Action" "Goal 15: Life on Land" and "Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities".

In order to drive progress toward these goals at a local community level, every datacenter location is assigned a community lead. The community leads build relationships with local community leaders and local NGOs, finding impactful ways to support their work.

The Challenge

Holly Spangler Beale leads the Global Environmental Sustainability vertical for the Microsoft Datacenter Community Development team from Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA. Holly and her team are building a world-wide program of partnerships to manage and execute environmental sustainability projects. Through a partnership with ChangeX, Holly was looking for ways to make it easier for her and her team to:

(1) Find the right grassroots projects and people to invest in

(2) Increase the number of projects her team could support

(3) Maximize the impact an investment would make

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