Impact Series

Amazon’s first ‘Nonprofit Expo’ encourages employees to give back through volunteering

Amazon employees interested in giving back had the chance yesterday to chat with representatives from nearly 70 local charitable organizations… Read More

From street to software: This non-profit helps previously homeless men and women start coding careers

In one week, Jeremy Wallace will graduate from General Assembly‘s full-time, immersive web development course, armed with a set of… Read More

Tech startup GiveSafe has a radical plan to help Seattle’s homeless population

Chris Creighton knows he doesn’t look homeless. Standing next to GiveSafe founder Jonathan Kumar, in a black blazer and gray… Read More

‘Apprenti’ program aims to train and place 600 tech workers, led by WTIA and backed by $3.5M grant

Two of the biggest challenges for the technology industry are building a more diverse workforce and finding skilled employees for… Read More

What preschoolers can teach the tech industry about working on STEM problems

Tech engineers and managers struggling to improve productivity and performance could take a lesson from preschoolers. A new study from the… Read More

Can video games save the planet? Students and professors hope to inform and inspire with EarthGames

Millions of gamers love nail-biting, edge-of-your-couch “Call of Duty” scary games. Millions more adore cuddly, irresistible Pikachus, Eevees and Jigglypuffs.… Read More

$1.2M crowdsourced contest aims to improve breast-cancer detection through deep machine learning

Breast-cancer screening using mammograms certainly saves lives, but too many women receive false positives from the test and — even… Read More

Intensive summer coding camp introduces girls to tech industry, with help from women who’ve made it

It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of women in technology, and in Washington state alone there are more than… Read More

Interview: Candace Faber, Seattle’s first ‘civic technology advocate,’ on tech for change, and how to save Seattle

Nine months ago, Candace Faber became Seattle’s first “civic technology advocate,” a job that includes spreading the power of tech to… Read More

Can technology fuel the next labor movement? Union leaders pursue new innovations to empower workers

Technology as an industry has been largely anti-union. But could technology at last become a powerful tool of the labor movement?… Read More

Hackathon-inspired app aims to help renters avoid and resolve payment disputes with landlords

With the housing rental market so tight in many cities, the last thing a tenant wants is to get evicted.… Read More

How cleaner cookstoves are sparking an environmental and societal revolution

Researchers say the Northwest is the perfect place for a cookstove revolution — and they’re already making progress toward that… Read More

#SeaHomeless: Finding affordable, innovative ways to harness technology to combat homelessness

Pull up the Facing Homelessness page on Facebook and you might learn that Eric and Michelle have been living out… Read More

How this two-year college is tackling the tech industry’s talent shortage

Washington state’s tech sector is adding roughly 3,500 new jobs each year that require a computer science degree — but… Read More

Students from tiny Lopez Island class make history with Washington state ‘insider’ app

A tiny eighth-grade history class on Lopez Island, Wash., has spent the school year learning enough about state history to… Read More

Anita Borg Institute launches Seattle chapter, expanding support for women in tech

When the Anita Borg Institute announced a launch party for its new Seattle chapter, it took only 36 hours for… Read More

New ‘WeCount’ app enables direct donations of essential items to homeless people

Seattle-area residents eager to help people who are homeless have a new web-based app that will allow them to more… Read More

Inside the modern science fair: Wind-tunnel tests, spacecraft parachutes and Kevlar soccer socks

If you’ve been to a school science fair in the last decade or two, you already know that they’ve moved… Read More

Giant wave of government data could be unleashed by proposed law

There are roughly 200,000 data sets available from the federal government, including information on weather and meteorology, patents and census… Read More

How the tech industry can combat sex trafficking and prostitution — and why it should

If participants in Tuesday’s Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) conference get their wish, there’s going to be a new topic… Read More

How drones could transform healthcare delivery and save lives around the world

The notion of getting your Amazon order whisked quickly to your doorstep by a drone might sound delightfully convenient. But in… Read More

Walk this way: New metric from researchers could help kids with cerebral palsy

For more than 20 years, clinicians working with children with cerebral palsy have been gathering “a deluge of data” to… Read More

How Zillow and other Seattle-area tech ventures are tackling homelessness and housing issues

From Zillow and Amazon to Fuse IQ and Seattle In Progress, tech companies large and small are stepping up to… Read More

How mobile tech is helping environmental advocates preserve forests

Picture a hike in the beautiful Cascade Mountains — such a great chance to escape the bustle of modern life… Read More

HERE Seattle looks to provide a diverse social outlet for local techies

Let’s be clear about a few things up front. If you’re going to one of the HERE Seattle meetups, don’t… Read More

20 years in tech, through the eyes of 8 women: How these computer scientists made their own way in an industry dominated by men

When Elizabeth Walkup was a graduate student at the University of Washington in the early 1990s, she sometimes attended women’s… Read More