Microsoft Power Platform as a tool for opportunity and inclusion

Members of the Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 community came together for a series of online pub quizzes in July to raise money for local charities and support social action against racism. The events took place in midst of civil protests in cities around the world drew hundreds of participants and raised money for local non-profits. In the UK, funds from the event went to Black Minds Matter, a London-based organization focused on mentoring, education, and other support services for black and ethnic minority young people. Microsoft MVP Tricia Sinclair, a key organizer of the original series of events, has continued her efforts to support the organization by creating a Power Platform-focused training curriculum for them that brought together subject matter experts from the Microsoft community to educate and mentor the group. The multi-week program concluded with a hackathon where the participants developed and presented Power Platform creations focused on themes like mental health and legal services. On this episode, we are joined by Tricia Sinclair as well as Malik Gul, Director of Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network in London, and program participant Rosina St. James to look back at the hackathon and the broader program, to discuss the outcome, and to learn more about exposing professional opportunities in the Microsoft ecosystem to under-represented communities. Show Notes: 2:30 - Introductions to our guests and their work 5:00 - Origins of the effort to raise funds, awareness, and support for Black Minds Matter in London 7:00 - The mission and goals of Black Minds Matter in the context of social trends, including boosting opportunities for learning and development 12:00 - Why making the connection between under-served communities and professional opportunities is so important 13:45 - Reaction of the students to the program and the various roles and options 15:30 - Getting an understanding of the software industry 17:45 - Bringing Power Platform community members together to help build out the student program 19:00 - Where is the overall effort to train the next generation on Microsoft business apps workers?23:45 - Preparing the student group for the hackathon 27:30 - Rosina's app from the hackathon 29:30 - Developing ideas for new solutions, and the judging panel's observations and engagement with social and healthcare services organizations 34:15 - Next steps for the program including mentoring, internships, apprenticeships, and education options 38:45 - Plans for scaling these efforts, from technology education to more diverse health and social opportunities   Links: Black Minds Matter A demo of the iFeel App Tricia Sinclair's blog Wandsworth Community Empowerment Network