As today is International Corporate Philanthropy Day [23], we salute private-sector partnerships that seek to make a better world. IREX's work is supported by a mix of funding [24]from government agencies, private foundations, and individual donors. Corporate philanthropy also plays an important role in IREX's programming, especially in such areas as education [25], technology [26] and media development [27].
For example, IREX recently won a competition for funding from Tengizchevroil [28](TCO) in Kazakhstan. Building off of our Tech Age Teens [29]program, which was also sponsored by TCO, the forthcoming “Tech Age Teachers” project will, as the name implies, train local educators in technology use in the classroom. Tech Age Teachers is designed to:
• Make the Internet a relevant, accessible part of education in schools;
• Improve the quality of education, both among teachers of informatics and teachers of other disciplines;
• Give teachers in Atyrau and Zhylyoi new skills that are invaluable in a developing economy, which they will pass to their students to improve students’ future employment prospects; and
• Preserve cultural heritage and advance Kazakh online content both for and about the region.
IREX also was pleased to have several corporate sponsors for World Press Freedom Day [30]last year, including Bloomberg [31], Goldman Sachs [32], Google [33], MasterCard Worldwide [34], and Yahoo!. [35]And we recently received a donation of software from Microsoft [36].
These are all cases where community investment and corporate social responsibility priorities coincide with IREX's mission and work. With clearly established goals, shared values, and communication, these partnerships can bring important resources to the communities where these businesses operate, giving people additional tools to help them improve their societies.
And in a time when budgets for international development are under threat, the support of the business community couldn't be more welcome.