Update November 16, 2022: The Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Hackathon has been extended to November 22, 2022 at 11:45 PM PT.

Today, as the world confronts social, economic, and environmental challenges, there is an increased customer expectation that businesses demonstrate how they are addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns. As a result, we see our Microsoft partner ecosystem aligning their lives and businesses with broader societal impact.

There is $121T in assets under the UN principles for responsible investment and 73% of CEOs reported feeling pressure to act on their climate ambitions. The time to drive an inclusive economy is now.

At Microsoft Inspire 2022, I spoke about Microsoft’s commitment to empowering inclusive economic opportunity and a more sustainable future within our 400,000-partner strong ecosystem.

One way we’re doing this is through the Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Initiative, which enables partners to build and bring solutions to market in support of helping to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Be inspired by these partners who’ve shaped their businesses and solutions for impact:

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Join us at the Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Hackathon

I’m thrilled to share that the Microsoft #BuildFor2030 Hackathon has returned for a second year! The hackathon is an eight-week stretch of collaboration to focus your resources and attention on growing as a changemaker and building solutions that will make a difference.

I’d like to invite partners to design new solutions or update existing ones around these hackathon challenge areas:

• Gender equality: Solutions that create more equal participation, economic access, and opportunities at all levels in work and life for women and girls
• Climate action and sustainability: Solutions that address sustainability challenges faced by customers and industries across the globe, help organizations unlock data, support environmental impact reduction initiatives, and create more sustainable outcomes
• Accessibility and disability inclusion: Accessible technology and solutions that enable inclusive experiences for more than 1 billion people living with disabilities
• Enabling the nonprofit sector: Solutions that enable the nonprofit sector to achieve scalable and measurable mission impact
• Empowering communities: Solutions that strengthen our institutions, create more equitable access to health, education, and social services, and support resilient communities

In addition, this year we’ve added a new open category to encourage all partners to engage and align your solutions toward enabling social impact. We love seeing how you’re taking steps for change:

• Open category: Industry, horizontal, or other community-oriented solutions that support any of the 17 UN SDGs

Participating in the hackathon offers partners powerful learning content on changemaking, responsible AI, digital accessibility for hybrid work, inclusive design principles, inclusive marketing, Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and Cloud for Nonprofit, and more. You can gain access to solution-building resources and sales acceleration services to grow your business.

Winning partners will receive cash prizes, engagement opportunities with Microsoft leaders, as well as technical and go-to-market benefits to help develop their solutions and bring them to market.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the support that Microsoft has given us. It’s not just the monetary award, but it’s the introductions, the network, support with the tech build, go-to-market support. It opens doors that as a startup we would only dream of. Everyone at Microsoft wants you to succeed and goes out of their way to help you.” —Helen Tinnelly, Propelelo, Winner of the 2021 #BuildFor2030 Hackathon – Gender equality

Join us on the journey
Changemaking is not an individual pursuit, we are stronger together. Whether you’re well on your way as a purpose-driven business or just starting out, we are here to support your journey.

We encourage you to get involved with partnering community organizations at the hackathon such as Black Channel Partner Alliance, IAMCP, Women in Cloud, The WIT Network, and Voices for Innovation to grow your P2P network and community along the way.

Want to make a positive change in the world? Now is the time to do it.

• Register today for the #BuildFor2030 Hackathon
• Draw inspiration from last year’s #BuildFor2030 Hackathon Winners and Heroes
• Discover featured solutions as part of the #BuildFor2030 Initiative

I look forward to reading your entries.

The #BuildFor2030 Hackathon is open to partner organizations with an active membership with the Microsoft Partner Network (or the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program after October 3, 2022). Final entries are due by 11:45 PM PT, November 22, 2022.