The world stands at a crossroads. While there are more young people on the planet than ever before, youth unemployment is double that of the adult population. Countries are struggling to develop modern workforces due to the growing gap between the skills of unemployed workers and the skills needed to perform the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Today’s young people face an opportunity divide – a gap between those who have the access, skills and opportunities to be successful and those who do not. Closing this opportunity divide is one of the most important actions we can all take to secure the future of our youth and the future of our global economy.

Microsoft YouthSpark is a companywide initiative designed to create opportunities for hundreds of millions of youth around the world. Through partnerships with governments, nonprofits and businesses, we aim to empower youth to imagine and realize their full potential by connecting them with greater education, employment, and entrepreneurship opportunities. We want to empower youth to change their world.

Learn more about Microsoft’s new initiative, YouthSpark, along with other corporate citizenship programs such as DreamSpark and the Imagine Cup a the Microsoft Corporate Citizenship website.