Impact Series – Page 4 of 13

Study: Kids stereotype tech as being for boys and not girls – but not for the reason you might expect

New research from the University of Washington and the University of Houston found that gender stereotypes around computer science and… Read More

Jeff Bezos gives Obama Foundation $100M, names plaza in honor of late Congressman John Lewis

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is giving $100 million to the Obama Foundation, the organization that’s building the former president’s library… Read More

Nonprofits accept cryptocurrency as Bitcoin and Ether values spike – is it a fad or the next frontier?

As the values of Bitcoin and Ether are hovering near record highs, America’s nonprofits are in the peak months of… Read More

AWS launches Skills Center in Seattle, boosts efforts to give free cloud training to 29M people

Amazon on Thursday is opening the doors to its first Amazon Web Services Skills Center in downtown Seattle. The 8,000-square-foot… Read More

Bezos’ Day 1 Families Fund awards $96M in grants to 32 organizations helping homeless families

Jeff Bezos’ Day 1 Families Fund on Wednesday announced the latest round of grantees who are working to help U.S.… Read More

Microsoft, Boeing and Rubens family pledge new funds to Washington State Opportunity Scholarship

Marking its 10th anniversary Tuesday morning, the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship said it received new funding commitments totaling $30 million… Read More

$10B Bezos Earth Fund earmarks $2B for land restoration and food production efforts

As the United Nation’s COP26 climate talks in Glasgow kicked off this week, the Bezos Earth Fund on Monday announced… Read More

Armed with a paddle and a GoPro, entrepreneur aims to create ‘Street View’ of Puget Sound

We’ve all indulged in a little voyeuristic spying and exploration using Google Maps’ Street View, peering at homes and other… Read More

Seattle-area maritime high school sets sail with support from tech luminaries Bezos and McCaw

The Bezos Family Foundation and the McCaw family are putting some wind in the sails of the newly launched Maritime… Read More

Is your company offering fair pay? New nonprofit certifies those with nondiscriminatory wages

Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements inspired many companies over the past year to pledge their commitment to fighting inequities.… Read More

Climate investor Dawn Lippert on raising a $60M fund and what’s stoking demand for climate tech

A nonprofit organization with Pacific Northwest ties has spun out its first venture capital fund totaling $60 million for investing… Read More

Gates Foundation pledges $922M to address global malnutrition, targeting women and kids

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged to spend $922 million over five years to help tackle global malnutrition.… Read More

An engineer’s journey from fighting crime on the dark web to leading ‘societal resilience’ at Microsoft

Chris White believes in the power of technology to, if not save us, at least make the world a better… Read More

How a national lab stokes the startup pipeline with ready-to-go innovations for commercializing

Entrepreneurs with a yen for creating a business but who come up short on an innovation are welcome to take… Read More

Climate tech heats up in the Pacific Northwest as startups raise more than $1B since 2020

The Canadian company that has set the country’s record for going from launch to unicorn status in the shortest amount… Read More

Paul Allen-backed effort completes groundbreaking atlas of Earth’s coral reefs to aid conservation

After four years of collaboration, an international team of researchers and institutions has produced the Allen Coral Atlas, the first… Read More

Can we innovate our way out of the climate crisis? Venture capitalists sound off on saving the Earth

Eager investors keep coming. It’s the Amazon employee who has seen the company’s stock price rise steadily; the former venture… Read More

Are we just ants in a death spiral? Researchers call for scientific studies of social media networks

As misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines is spiking, the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public (CIP) is gearing… Read More

How an Alaska fisherman saw potential for a sustainability startup in a mountain of crab shells

Maybe the cliche is right, that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. But Craig Kasberg… Read More

New interactive tool using satellites and AI creates more precise wildfire maps for public, firefighters

Anxiety-inducing images of skies hazy from wildfires and hillsides set ablaze are increasingly popping up on my Twitter feed and… Read More

Wildfire forecast: How to stay safe and what to expect this summer in the Pacific Northwest

If you were in the Pacific Northwest during last September’s super smoky wildfires, it was a miserable, apocalyptic-hued experience that… Read More

The push for corporate board diversity is growing. How do Pacific NW tech companies stack up?

Former drugstore.com CEO and board chair Dawn Lepore doesn’t need to be convinced that it’s important to have diversity on… Read More

A year after pledging to do more on racial injustice, Microsoft releases report on progress

Almost a year after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made a pledge to step up its game in fighting racial injustice,… Read More

Scientists develop method to recycle plastic bottles into aviation fuel using less energy

Humans produce more than 6 billion tons of plastic every year, and its accumulation in landfills and oceans is considered… Read More

The Black Boardroom Initiative launches with support from Seattle tech to boost board diversity

Perkins Coie is launching an effort called The Black Boardroom Initiative to increase the diversity of S&P 500 corporate boards… Read More

I want to fly to Hawaii, but I don’t want to wreck the planet. With carbon offsets, can I do both?

The gift I best remember from my high school graduation was a pale blue stuffed whale. The parents of one… Read More

6 tips from Seattle tech companies on how to support racial equity programs

As people around the country observe the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, companies that pledged to do more… Read More

How Melinda French Gates has ‘transformational potential’ to boost equality in VC, tech and beyond

Melinda French Gates created Pivotal Ventures in January 2015 with so little fanfare that news of the effort came out after… Read More

How the Gates Foundation and Seattle nonprofit PATH are helping get oxygen to India

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has teamed with two Chicago financial groups to channel $5.5 million into efforts by… Read More

Amazon begins the ‘huge’ lift to shrink the carbon footprint of its devices to reach climate goals

Amazon’s newest Echo Dot is sold in charcoal, glacier white and twilight blue. But behind the scenes, the smart speakers… Read More