Dell to Give $5 Million for UT Social Innovation Competition

Dell Inc. is putting their money where their mouth is. The company gave $5 million to the University of Texas to expand a competition that encourages college students worldwide to come up with creative solutions to social problems.

The company already is the title sponsor for the Dell Social Innovation Competition. The competition is operated by UT's RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, which is part of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

The competition focuses on how technology can address problems such as poverty, health issues and the environment. This year, there were nearly 1,500 applications from 85 countries.

In addition to the money — Dell's largest cash donation to UT — Dell executives have mentored students in the program.

"The expansion of the program that Dell's gift allows will really take this program to scale, reaching an estimated 20,000 students over the next five years, encouraging them not to just make their communities and the world a better place, but with business plans to take those dreams and turn it into reality," said Robert Hutchings, dean of the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Donations like this one from Dell Inc. make me sorry that BDPA no longer has an active chapter in Austin, Texas. Of course, it also make me want to look again at submitting a grant proposal to the Dell Foundation!

$50 Million Social Innovation Fund To Target Education, Health, Economy

First Lady Michelle Obama outlined education, health care and economic opportunity as three focus areas for the administration’s efforts to promote social innovation and entrepreneurship as a means to solve some of the nation’s problems.

Those themes will key the $50 million Social Innovation Fund approved as part of the $5.7-billion Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, signed by President Barack Obama last month.

"The idea is simple: to find the most effective programs out there and then provide the capital needed to replicate their success in communities around the country that are facing similar challenges," Obama said. "By focusing on high-impact, result-oriented nonprofits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of the public trust."

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