| The
Philanthropist Connecting
the Microsoft Alumni Philanthropic Community January
2012 | | | | | As we look
forward to 2012, we'd like to take a moment to look back at 2011. Thanks to our
Alumni, last year was a year of dramatic growth. We have added programs,
celebrated the great non-profit work being done by former Microsoft employees,
partnered with other local philanthropic organizations and created more ways for
alumni to become involved and help give back. This is what we mean when we say
"We do philanthropy." (read more about our year in
review) | | Congratulations to our 2011 Integral Fellows | | On
November 16, 2011, nearly 600 Microsoft alumni and friends gathered to celebrate
the philanthropic work of their peers and learn who would be the recipients of
our 2011 Integral Fellows Award. Congratulations to Oliver
Hurst-Hiller of DonorsChoose.org, Tom Ikeda of Densho,
and David Risher of WorldReader. The 2011 MSAF
Celebration, held this year at the new Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
campus in Seattle, was a grand success. (read
more) | | New Year, New MSAF Board Members | | In 2011,
founding board member Scott Oki retired from the MSAF board of
directors. Scott's tremendous contributions, not only to MSAF but to many
philanthropic organizations, was recognized at the 2011 Celebration where he
received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his passion and vision. (video)
This year
we are honored to have three experienced and active Microsoft alumni join the
MSAF Board of Trustees. Craig
Bruya, former Microsoft CFO, brings with him invaluable
experience in organizational leadership from Room to Read and First Tee of
Greater Seattle, and a clear passion to help children. Carla
Lewis, retired investment and business manager for Microsoft
and current president of Washington Women's Foundation brings leadership in
grant-making and community building. Dawn
Trudeau, Chairperson of Force 10 Hoops LLC (ownership
group of the Seattle Storm), brings experience from a broad range
of social entrepreneurship ventures. Please welcome our three new Board
members. Learn more about the MSAF
Board of
Directors. | | Volunteer Manager Goes Live |  In a
partnership with Microsoft, MSAF now makes available exclusively to our members
a new online resource for finding volunteer opportunities in your community and
for tracking your volunteer hours. Additionally, the non-profit organizations
supported by MSAF members can be entered into Volunteer Manager. This provides
exposure not only to MSAF membership but to all Microsoft employees, whose time
is matched at $17/hour. MSAF is providing online information and in-house
training for non-profits looking to utilize this resource. (learn
more) | | | With all of this
progress last year, we look forward to building on that foundation by sharing
more stories, connecting more alumni with each other, improving existing
programs and maybe introducing a few more as resources allow. If you are not
already a member, we encourage you to join this year. Step up at a leadership
level by becoming a Founders' Circle member or
simply join as an annual member
for a $39 donation. It takes both financial and humans resources to keep this
moving forward. Consider volunteering with us.
There is always a project needing a smart resource to move it forward. All of
this, we hope, will help us live up to our mantra: We do
philanthropy. Please join us so that together we can work to make a
difference in the world. On behalf of MSAF, we wish
you prosperity and good health for this the New Year. Sincerely, 
Marylou Brannan
Microsoft Alumni
Foundation
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