Dell Grants Nearly $2.4 Million to Support Youth Learning, STEM Education and ICT Skills Training in Underserved Communities Across America

ROUND ROCK, Texas, Nov. 20, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Today Dell announced it has provided nearly $2.4 million to 26 U.S. organizations as part of its Powering the Possible for Communities Youth Learning Initiative.   

The initiative aims to close the learning gap among underserved youth by providing technology, training, grants, and volunteers to organizations in 11 states where Dell employees work and live. Partnering organizations will use the resources to support technology access, STEM education and ICT training for young people in underserved communities.

Organizations were selected because they share Dell’s vision of preparing youth for success through STEM education and the development of ICT skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and technology literacy. Examples of this year’s partners include:

• Skillpoint Alliance, Austin – Skillpoint’s FIRST® Robotics programs inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in team robot-building competitions. With Dell Power, the STEM Council of Skillpoint Alliance will sponsor 38 K-12 teams of students underrepresented in STEM in Central Texas, inspiring innovation and building science, engineering, technology, and leadership skills in up to 420 disadvantaged students underrepresented in STEM.
   
• Urban League, Oklahoma City - The Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City (ULOKC) reaches the poorest residents of Oklahoma City, particularly African American youth struggling with poverty and its related negative consequences. The project will nurture the learning strengths, interests, and capacities of minority young people who experience poorly performing schools. It will strengthen the academic and career development of poor minority youth through their involvement in a technology rich educational setting within the ULOKC’s main administrative facility. The setting will incorporate furnishings, Dell products, projectors and wall treatments to make inquiry-based collaborative education a positive, engaging, and skill enhancing opportunity for 200 minority youth.
   
• Youth Villages, Nashville - Youth Villages in Nashville is piloting their New Frontiers project in which children with special needs have access to Dell Latitude E6420 and Dell’s Assistive Technology Services to help them overcome language and disability barriers to improve problem solving and critical thinking.
   
• Girl Scouts USA - A longstanding grant partner, the emphasis for the Girl Scouts USA will be to promote the newly-released “Be the Video Game Developer” program and curriculum and related PSA contest.  The program engages girls in ICT and STEM skills by putting them in the driver’s seat as content creators as they choose avatars, storylines and other video game features, that will inform the development of a new video game to be available on the GSUSA website.

Dell’s Youth Learning initiative works to close the learning gap for thousands of young people across the country who lack access to quality programs, education, technology and tools to learn. Additional details on charities and programs selected this year can be found at www.dell.com/youthlearning.

The Youth Learning initiative is a component of Dell’s new 2020 Legacy of Good Plan and Powering the Possible, a long-term framework to aggregate and accelerate the ways that Dell and its IT solutions help customers, Dell team members and communities make lasting contributions to the planet and society.

As part of Dell’s 2020 Legacy of Good Plan, Dell plans to help 3 million youth directly and support 10 million people indirectly over the next seven years. The company also plans to support youth learning partners with help from team members looking to engage in community service as the company plans to provide five million cumulative hours of service to outside organizations by 2020. As a global technology leader, Dell believes it can be a powerful force for good and help provide young people with a more promising future.

Quotes:

Trisa Thompson, vice president of Corporate Responsibility, Dell
“Dell’s Youth Learning Initiative is incredibly important to our team members and the communities where we live and work. We are especially excited about this year’s partners, each of whom embodies our commitment to using technology to empower children and enable the success of future generations.”   

Jon Phillips, Director, Worldwide Education, Dell
“We believe that providing the right tools, technology, and approach can have a dramatic impact on the future of a child. This is why we are excited to work with such an impressive group of partners to provide life-changing learning opportunities to so many promising young people.”

Michele Glaze, Giving Manager, Americas, Dell
“In today’s connected and rapidly changing world, children are finding new and exciting ways to learn, inside and out of the classroom. Our contributions to these partners will ensure that the exciting opportunities presented by technology-enabled learning environments are made available to all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status.”

Dell World
Join us at Dell World 2013, Dell’s premier customer event exploring how technology solutions and services are driving business innovation. Learn more at www.dellworld.com, attend our virtual Dell World: Live Online event or follow #DellWorld on Twitter.

About Dell’s Youth Learning Initiative
Since 2009, Dell’s Youth Learning Initiative has reached more than 3 million children across 1,000 communities through more than 50 global partnerships. It originated in 2009 with the first grants being awarded in India. It quickly expanded to Brazil, Mexico, China, Morocco, South Africa, the UK and France in 2010, and then to Panama, the U.S. and Canada. Dell team members around the world volunteered more than 500,000 hours since 2011. To see Dell’s programs in action, watch this video.

Follow us on Twitter at @Dell4Good and @DellEdu.

Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

Contact Information

Media Contacts:
Sarah Luden
Dell Global Education Communications
+1 (512) 728-7953
Sarah_Luden@Dell.com

Colleen Ryan
Dell Global Communications
+1 (512) 728-3863
Colleen_Ryan@Dell.com