bdpatoday®

Huntsville, AL—Meta is thrilled to announce recipients of their 2022 Community Action Grants. Congratulations BDPA Huntsville!

Through their Data Center Community Action Grants program, Meta provides funding for nonprofits and schools to support the long-term vitality of Huntsville. They fund projects that help put the power of technology to use for community benefit, connect people online or off and improve STEM education. Congratulations to the 2022 Huntsville Data Center grant recipients and a big thank you for your impactful work!

2022 Huntsville Data Center Grant Award Recipients

• National BDPA Huntsville Chapter / $18,750
To empower the FLIGHTS program to give students real-world career experiences

• Drake State Community & Technical College / $15,247
To develop STEM learning opportunities with solar robotics kits and an Arduino Rev3 programmable robot

• Huntsville City Schools / $10,000
To support the development of a community STEM garden that connects the community together

• 100 Black Men of Greater Huntsville, Inc. / $5,000
To help put on STEAM events and programs to inspire young people from diverse communities in Huntsville

• Girls Inc. of Huntsville / $15,000
To support Operation Smart program for increasing leadership and improving graduation rates by providing programs for young girls

• The Livin’ Room / $17,870
To provide new computers and projectors for trainings at the community center

• Northwood Community Outreach / $50,000
To equip community coding classes with technology to improve connection for students and residents

• Madison City Schools / $27,000
To provide tablets and enable equitable internet access for students in need

• Village of Promise / $42,243
To equip adults with technology for pursuing GEDs, training for jobs and finding employment

• Discovery Middle School / $1,000
To support the Greenpower Racing Program for inspiring hands-on problem solvers

• CAP & GOWN Project / $15,000
To enable transformative opportunities to pursue college for underserved secondary school students

Data centers are part of the infrastructure that helps us bring WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more to people around the globe. They support Meta’s mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

_{Sources: Meta Platforms, Inc. and BDPA Huntsville}

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***Earth Day Tech Summit 2022 is a virtual event for students, JROTC Units, and young adults.***

MENLO PARK, CA—Thursday during Connect 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta Platforms, Inc., doing business as Meta, as an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company, which brings together Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp technologies among others under one new company brand. Meta’s focus will be to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses. Zuckerberg calls the metaverse, “the successor to the mobile internet.”

The metaverse will feel like a hybrid of today’s online social experiences, sometimes expanded into three dimensions or projected into the physical world. It will let you share immersive experiences with other people even when you can’t be together — and do things together you couldn’t do in the physical world. It’s the next evolution in a long line of social technologies, and it’s ushering in a new chapter for the company.

The annual Connect conference brought together augmented and virtual reality developers, content creators, marketers and others to celebrate the industry’s momentum and growth. This year’s virtual event explored what experiences in the metaverse could feel like over the next decade — from social connection, to entertainment, gaming, fitness, work, education and commerce.

New tools were announced to help people build for the metaverse, including Presence Platform, which will enable new mixed reality experiences on Quest 2, and a $150-million investment in immersive learning to train the next generation of creators.

^{— Source and photo: Meta}

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