The Lenovo Foundation today announced the opening of its next TransforME skilling grant round, as well as the winners of its inaugural grant round. To date, Lenovo has committed more than USD $2 million to organizations around the world focused on equipping today’s workforce with the skills needed to transform their careers, lives, and communities. Lenovo philanthropy is investing in skilling as part of its goal to deliver transformational impact to 1 million people by 2025. In FY 2021-22, Lenovo philanthropy provided $21M to communities around the world as part of their broader mission to empower under-resourced populations with access to technology and STEM education.
Organizations interested in applying for support can submit their applications until October 24, 2022. Any organization interested in the global effort to provide access to STEM skills can join a webinar on October 11 featuring the inaugural grantees of the TransforME grant round, as well as Lenovo philanthropy’s foundational skilling partners.
Investment in skilling is a priority for many tech companies, as candidates with skills in automation, artificial intelligence, web development, and data analytics (and more) are in high demand. A recent World Economic Forum report indicates that 97 million new job roles may emerge that are adapted to division of labor between humans, machines, and algorithms making skills in automation, artificial intelligence, web development and data analytics (and more increasingly high demand. These key skills are needed for emerging technologies to be adopted by companies across industries but are currently in short supply in labor markets.
“We knew we wanted to provide support for skilling in communities, but it was critically important to us that we work with organizations working to increase representation of women and diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds in technology,” commented Calvin J. Crosslin, President of the Lenovo Foundation and Lenovo’s Chief Diversity Officer. “A more diverse tech workforce could be as critical to the future of innovation as closing the skills gap, as research continues to find that innovation and problem solving are stronger on diverse teams.”
According to the 2020 Future of Jobs survey, a skills gap in the labor market and inability to attract specialized talent are the #1 and #2 reasons that businesses are struggling to adopt new technologies. The technology skills gap and unequal access to opportunity are both predicted to widen with the ongoing impact of COVID-19, the digital divide, and its impact on the labor market. To address this gap and deliver smarter technology for all, Lenovo philanthropy launched the TransforME initiative to create a more inclusive, globally representative, and innovative future.
2021 TransforME Grantees
In 2021, Lenovo Foundation launched its inaugural TransforME skilling grant round, and received hundreds of applications from organizations working to build STEM skills in their community. With help from an employee evaluator committee and the leadership of Lenovo’s global philanthropy team and philanthropy board, Lenovo is honored to support the following finalists as grantees.
| Organization Name | Location of Impact |
| Code the Dream | United States |
| INSTITUTO ALIANÇA COM O ADOLESCENTE | Brazil |
| NairoBits Trust | Kenya |
| Plan International Hong Kong | Indonesia |
| Associação Instituto Proa | Brazil |
| Instituto de Reciclagem do Adolescente | Brazil |
| Fundación Forge | Mexico & Brazil |
| Douar Tech | Morocco |
| Centre for Information Technology and Development | Nigeria |
| ICT Academy India | India |
| Dream Space Foundation | Sri Lanka |
While the philanthropic entity retains its broader mission to empower underrepresented populations with access to technology and STEM education, it has taken up a specific transformational goal to focus on partnerships that offer a deeper impact for the current adult population.
“We continue to invest in STEM education, but the reality is that the STEM talent shortage is happening now. An opportunity this big requires investment across the entire talent pipeline, and we are excited to support adults who are ready to transform their careers today,” commented Crosslin.
The Lenovo Foundation has been investing in STEM skilling through established partnerships with organizations like Laboratoria, Migracode, TNS India Foundation, and Waffle Foundation, Japan. You can stay up to date with giving opportunities and learn more about Lenovo Foundation and its partners on LenovoFoundation.com.
