Meet Giving Hero Washington State Opportunity Scholarship

By Elisa Willman, Senior Manager MarComm, Microsoft Citizenship

Attending an international school in India, Poorvi Shrivastav took her first computer programming class at the age of 7. Like most young people, she became obsessed with the gadgets, phones and computers that allowed her to email her classmates after school and stay connected with her father when he traveled. But Poorvi wanted more, she wanted to write the programs that made the technology work.

Now a Software Development Engineer in Test at Microsoft, Poorvi is working to bring that same inspiration to other young people. She and her husband, Brahmjot Singh Kohli, teach advanced placement computer science courses at Hazen High School in Renton as part of Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS), a Microsoft YouthSpark program. They jokingly refer to themselves as the TEALS couple.

TEALS places high tech professionals who are passionate about computer science education into school districts that don’t have the finances or skills available to offer such courses. Brahmjot and Poorvi heard about the program in 2012, shortly after they moved to the United States from India to work at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. They both previously taught primary school math and were looking for a similar opportunity.

“We know the U.S. is facing a shortage of people with STEM degrees and now we have an opportunity to impact high school students and improve that,” says Brahmjot. “I was introduced to programming very early and that is what led to my career in engineering.”

As part of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative and our Employee Giving Program, we’re featuring their story among 30 Microsoft employee Giving Heroes who are helping young people overcome a number of challenges and capture new opportunities. To further extend our support, a $1,000 grant will be donated in honor of Poorvi and Brahmjot to the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, which provides young people the opportunity to take their aspirations in computer science to the next level in college. Highlighting their story also gives them a chance to raise even more money through the upcoming #GivingTuesday campaign.

In the U.S. alone, there are projections of 1.5 million CS-related jobs by 2018. Unfortunately, U.S. college graduates are expected to fill less than a third of those jobs. TEALS is providing U.S. students with the skills they need to pursue technology in higher education and the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship is helping them finance the educations that will land them in 21st century jobs.

Poorvi and Brahmjot are certain that some of the 55 students in their classes will turn their newfound computer science skills into college degrees. Since they started teaching the 7:20 a.m. classes two months ago, the change is already evident. 

While initially some of the students seemed to be attending class because of pressure from their parents, the progress they’ve made has turned the obligation into real interest. Some are so excited, they want to encourage others to take the course next year and are planning an event to spread the word.

“I can see on a daily basis the impact I can have on someone’s career choice,” Brahmjot says. “I predict that many of them will take up a career in computer science and for me that is huge.”

Poorvi, who has a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, gives special attention to the girls in the classroom because of the inequality of women in the computer science field. She encourages them, praises their successes, and assures them there is a place for them in the industry.

“I was lucky that I went to a school with great teachers who taught STEM,” she says. “I owe many thanks to the teachers in India who got me interested in science and technology. If I am able to help impact a few students and make them interested, it will give me great satisfaction.”

Meet other Giving Heroes by following #youthspark, #givinghero and #msftgiving on Microsoft Facebook and Twitter.  We’ll showcase inspiring employees making a difference for youth each day this month and leading into #GivingTuesday.