Microsoft and Fast Company announced the winners of Create GOOD

Cristina Blanaru Creativity, CSR

Fast Company and Microsoft announced the winners of Create GOOD, a joint initiative to identify, celebrate, and guide a new age of creative, socially driven actions.

From a call to action that began on April 24 and culminated at the FC-LA Creativity Counter-Conference in Los Angeles (May 6-7), the advertising industry and members of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People” community were invited to nominate non-profits that they are closely affiliated with. From the numerous nominations received, Fast Company and Microsoft selected the following three causes to participate in Create GOOD: Haitian trilingual elementary school l’Ecole de Choix (the School of Choice), scientific cancer history research organization Paleo-oncology Research Organization (PRO), and Rainforest Partnership, the international non-profit committed to protecting tropical rain forests.

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We are energized with the amount and caliber of entries we received for Create GOOD (…) While it was tough to narrow the selection to three finalists, we know the selected winners will benefit hugely from the creative problem solving coming out of Cannes. This effort is an integral part of an overall initiative that Microsoft has undertaken to empower creativity and people to achieve more in enriching lives and making the world better.

Jonathan Oliver,

Global Head of Innovation, Advertising, Microsoft.

As part of the Create GOOD initiative, the three winners will be flown to the 62nd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to lead workshops on June 23rd (from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) at the Microsoft Beach Club at 52 Boulevard de la Croisette in Cannes, France. With participation designated creatives and industry leaders attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the Create GOOD workshops will work to help solve a creative challenge for each non-profit – from creating compelling new logos to devising impactful social media strategies.  Fast Company and Microsoft will take the final assets created from the workshops and run digital advertising on behalf of each organization on fastcompany.com to further generate awareness.

In addition, the three non-profits will be featured on stage at FC/NY, Fast Company’s week long Innovation Festival taking place in November. At this event, Microsoft and Fast Company will continue with the Create GOOD efforts by holding a workshop called Create MORE Good in which non-profits from around the globe will participate in speed-dating style creative workshops on the ground in New York.