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Friday, November 14, 2008
Tech Citizenship
Local techs lending a hand
By Mass High Tech Staff
MHT Editor Doug Banks on NECN: How companies are using social media
How is the economic crisis affecting tech companies?
MHT Editor Doug Banks on NECN: Decoding the Gen Y workforce
Brainshark chooses the Special Olympics for new nonprofit grant
Online rich-media company Brainshark Inc. has launched the Brainshark Nonprofit Program, and chosen the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games as the first grant recipient under the new program.
Waltham-based Brainshark will provide license discounts and quarterly grants to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, so they can use Brainshark’s on-demand presentations to reach members, volunteers, and supporters. The Games Organizing Committee of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games is using Brainshark in preparation for the games in February to train more than 5,000 volunteers online through an on-demand service.
Brainshark’s nonprofit program will offer the standard edition of its software-as-a-service platform at a 40 percent discount for eligible nonprofit organizations. The grant program will award a one-year license to one nonprofit each quarter.
According to Brainshark, more than Special Olympics 3,000 volunteers have already completed online training, including many international volunteers.
Intel ponies up $120M to boost STEM education
Intel Corp. is committing $120 million over the next 10 years to help stimulate more interest among youth in math and science, according to the company. The funding from the Intel Foundation for its longtime science competition partner, Society for Science & the Public, supports the company’s commitment to the Intel Science Talent Search and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
The $120 million commitment will extend its title sponsorships of the Intel Science Talent Search through 2016 and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair through 2019.
Stand for Children seats Hessan, Rudden on board
Education advocacy group Stand for Children has added Communispace Corp.’s president and chief executive officer Diane Hessan and veteran software industry executive Eileen Rudden to its advisory board.
This year, Hessan was named an Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award winners. She helped found Watertown-based Communispace, a social networking company, in 1999 and since its inception it has won awards ranging from Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council’s “Best Social Media Company of the Year” in 2007 to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s “Award for Business Excellence” in 2006.
Rudden previously served as vice president and general manager for unified communications at Avaya Inc., a voice over Internet protocol communications company, and was senior vice president and general manager at software development company Lotus Development Corp. before its acquisition by IBM Corp. She is a member of the board of directors of Agilysys Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), Bedford-based Soundbite Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: SDBT) and serves on the advisory board of the Pew Center on the Internet and American Life.
Google’s grants to help track disease outbreaks
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google Inc., provided a grant to the International Society for Infectious Diseases’ ProMED-mail program, a free publicly available emerging disease and outbreak reporting system. The partnership between ProMED and HealthMap, an automated digital surveillance program of Boston’s Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, received $3 million for a three-year collaboration to enhance emerging disease detection and surveillance.
The grant is part of Google.org’s Predict and Prevent Initiative, which has given more than $23 million to support partners like ProMed.
Raytheon adds $600K to math scholarships
Raytheon Co. revised its Math-MovesU scholarship and grants program to invest more substantially in students already committed to studying science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).
Under the restructured plan, students who have already won the MathMovesU scholarship are eligible to win one of 30 additional $20,000 merit-based bonus awards if they major in a STEM-rlated field at an accredited college.
The company also changed its $1,000 awards program available to 150 middle school students. These student now have the option to attend math and science summer camps or programs across the country, or save the money for college.
Waltham-based defense company Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) has awarded more than $2 million annually in MathMovesU scholarships and grants since the program’s inception.
Submit news items and photos to editor@masshightech.com. Photos of check presentations will not be accepted.
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