Texas State selected to participate in Microsoft Community Impact Pitch-Off

Hannah Holder, Office of Media Relations | October 28, 2018

SAN MARCOS – Texas State University is one of the four universities throughout the United States selected to participate in the Microsoft Community Impact Pitch-Off program. 

Microsoft has teamed up with Net Impact to give students the opportunity to propose a solution addressing a problem in their local community. Judges from Microsoft and the local community will evaluate proposals. There are four prompts students can choose among to develop a solution for. The prompts include:

  • How can Microsoft extend its commitment to environmental sustainability? 
  • How can Microsoft leverage its technical knowledge and assets to address the digital divide? 
  • How can the company extend this commitment to help underrepresented groups gain digital skills? 
  • How can the company best engage with community stakeholders to understand local needs?

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, as well as faculty can form teams of two to five people. The teams' 300-word proposals will be due on Oct. 30 on the Net Impact website. 

The top 10 teams will pitch their idea in front of the judging panel on Nov. 30 at 12:30 p.m. in Texas State’s Emmett and Miriam McCoy College of Business 233. The winning team will receive $1,000 in prize money and $5,000 seed money to implement their idea. 

With more than 300 chapters in nearly 40 countries, Net Impact is a leadership accelerator for students and emerging professionals will bring positive change to the world’s most pressing challenges. Net Impact's programs help new leaders broaden their thinking, build their networks and scale their impact beyond just individual actions. 

For more information about the program, visit www.netimpact.org/programs/2019-Microsoft-Interest-Form.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 188,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.

For more information, contact University Communications:

Jayme Blaschke, 512-245-2555

Sandy Pantlik, 512-245-2922