Understanding the Microsoft MVP Program: Seeking Clear Guidance
Hello everyone, I’d like to start a discussion about the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program. My main concern is understanding the process of becoming an MVP and the specific requirements involved. I know the program recognizes exceptional community leaders and experts who share their knowledge and support others, but the actual path to nomination and selection seems a bit unclear. Could anyone share clear guidance on the eligibility criteria, the nomination process, the types of contributions that are most valued, and practical tips to strengthen an application? Your insights and experiences would be highly valuable, not just to me but also to others in the community who may be interested in pursuing this recognition. Thank you so much for your attention and participation.Thinking of Joining the MVP Program? Hear What Makes It Special!
We’re thrilled to share our brand-new video spotlighting the heart of the MVP Program - our MVPs themselves! In this inspiring video, MVPs from around the world open up about what being part of this global community means to them, and why they love it. Watch the MVP Program video here If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be an MVP - or if you're considering applying - this is the perfect place to start! But that’s just the beginning. We’ve gathered a set of helpful resources to guide you through the program and how to get involved: New to the MVP Program? Start Here: MVP Communities Website – Find everything you need to know about the MVP Program, including how to apply, who the MVPs are near you, and the impact they’re making in their communities. MVP FAQs - Our updated FAQ page answers key questions about the application process, eligibility, expectations, and more. Live Event Replay - Don’t miss the replay of our recent live session, where MVPs Anastasia Salari and Zaid Zaim share their personal journeys, practical advice, and tips for those thinking about applying. Ready to Take the Next Step? If you’ve been actively contributing to the community over the past 12 months, this might be your moment. Whether through sharing knowledge, helping others, organizing events, or driving conversations - you’re exactly who the MVP Program is looking for. Dive into the resources, get inspired by the stories, and if you meet the criteria, consider applying or connecting with someone who can nominate you. Your journey to becoming an MVP could start today!
The Remarkable Journey of Microsoft Communities in Northern Nigeria
In 2019, a staggering statistic from the World Bank revealed that 87% of Nigeria's impoverished population resided in the North. Motivated by this alarming reality, Hriscare International Foundation, a local NGO in Northern Nigeria, embarked on a mission to combat poverty. Fortuitously, during the Microsoft Certified Trainer West Africa boot camp in Abuja that same year, Tabitha Hris, the founder of Hriscare International Foundation, and Collins Ajonye, CEO of GovirtualAfrica, were introduced to the Microsoft Certified Trainers West Africa Bootcamp which was held in Abuja . This encounter highlighted the absence of an active Microsoft community in Northern Nigeria. Guided by Mr. Seyi Oluwawujumi and Mr. Ayodeji Folarin, Tabitha Hris and Collins Ajonye resolved to establish the Northern Microsoft Community. In 2021, Hriscare International Foundation initiated a program called Techprenuer's Ignite with Microsoft, launching the first project in Jos, Plateau State. This initiative led to the creation of the Jos Microsoft Community, followed by the Abuja Microsoft Community. These communities actively work towards replication in other Northern states. GovirtualAfrica partnered with Hriscare Foundation, providing co-working spaces and halls for training sessions in Jos , Plateau State while Fulcrum iLab in Abuja extended their facilities to support the Abuja Microsoft Community. Over the past year, since the establishment of the Microsoft Communities in Northern Nigeria, facilitated by Hriscare International Foundation, numerous success stories have emerged. Each community comprises Students Communities, Women Communities , and General group (Professionals , Students and others), fostering inclusive participation. Remarkably, the Northern Microsoft Community has already produced the region's first Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (Tabitha Hris) and Five Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors (Panshak Koproda, Joshua Dakim, Paul Umaru, Christiana Hris, and Nyipoji Jibarang), solidifying their pioneering status in Northern Nigeria. Earlier this year, Hriscare International Foundation took a step towards inclusivity by including visually impaired individuals in the Jos Microsoft Community. One standout participant was Kefas Lungu, a visually impaired student at the University of Jos. Within two months of joining the community, Kefas achieved remarkable success. He was the first to complete the Microsoft Student Skills Summit challenge, a task created by Microsoft for the global summit's after-party in March. Additionally, he developed a powerful solution using Power Automate. Inspired to streamline his daily tasks, Kefas Lungu , a visually impaired University of Jos student who created and presented a powerful solution at the just concluded Global Power Platform Bootcamp 2023 in Jos . He joined Jos Microsoft Community two months ago and has been on fire! Kefas automated a tool that checks for operating system updates, installs pending updates, removes unnecessary files, and scans for damaged system files. This tool proved invaluable, saving him significant time and ensuring the optimal performance of his system. Hi, my name is Kefas James Lungu, a 300-level student of history and international studies university of JOS. I’m a visually Impaired person from Adamawa state Nigeria. I’m a python and C developer who in February attended a Microsoft event in Jos, and picked interest and I decided to take the challenge during the Microsoft Student Summit and was able to finish within 2 days, becoming the first person to finish the challenge. After the Event, I was inspired to use power automate to automate one of those tasks I do often. I didn’t want it to be too complex, so I automated a tool that checks for operating system update instead of doing it manually, checks and automatically install all pending updates on the system, removes junks and other unnecessary files from the computer. Then, it will proceed to scan your system for damaged or missing any operating system files, and fix them all. Before now, I had to do these things manually, and depending on your number of apps, it can be very time consuming, given that different apps have separate ways of checking for updates. Plus, you must do these tasks as much as necessary to prevent operating system malfunctioning, and with the rising cyber threats, it is always advisable to keep all your apps up to date. And that is where the tool come in handy. My desktop flow was highly inspired by this tool. Apart from this, I sometimes practice coding with leetcode to enhance my coding skills. One of the major challenges I fazed during my tech journey and still facing is having to deal with inaccessible infrastructures. My next target is to build a bott with the power virtual agent, but I don’t know when that will be. The Northern Microsoft Community in Nigeria is witnessing a substantial shift in the adoption of Microsoft tools, leading to improved employment prospects for its members. Although there is still progress to be made, the community acknowledges the positive strides they have taken. By embracing the latest Microsoft technologies and fostering innovation tailored to their unique needs, they believe it is possible to eradicate poverty in Northern Nigeria.Refactoring a Career Through Consistency: TodayCode’s Joeun Park’s MVP Story
Joeun Park’s MVP story is not defined by a single breakthrough, but by decades of steady, intentional progress. With more than 20 years of experience as a developer, she began coding long before developer communities and content platforms became mainstream. Over time, she navigated shifting technologies, industries, and life stages, continuously reshaping her role. After many years as a backend engineer, a major life transition prompted her to expand into data science, content creation, education, and community leadership—ultimately leading to her work as the founder of TodayCode and as a Microsoft MVP. Park’s journey into software development began early. She wrote her first programs in elementary school using GW-BASIC, exploring computers out of pure curiosity rather than career ambition. In middle and high school, she became deeply involved in PC communication communities, where people built things together, shared knowledge, and learned collaboratively. Many of the connections she formed during that time remain active today, with peers still working as developers. She studied Information and Communications Engineering at university and later pursued a master’s degree in Information and Computer Education, originally intending to become a teacher. However, abrupt policy changes drastically reduced hiring for computer teachers nationwide. Faced with a closing door, Park pivoted back to industry—a decision that came with significant challenges. At a time when discriminatory interview questions were commonplace, she reportedly submitted nearly 3,000 applications before securing her first role at an IT company in Korea. From there, her career gained momentum. Over the next decade, she worked as a backend developer across diverse domains, including gaming and advertising. Each transition brought new business contexts and new technical stacks—ASP, PHP, Django, Ruby on Rails—often outside what was considered “mainstream.” Park viewed these shifts not as disadvantages, but as training. She believed that once the core principles of software engineering were understood, adapting to new languages and frameworks was possible. Working in smaller teams, she often took on overlapping roles as a backend engineer, data analyst, and data engineer—experience that would later support her transition into data science. Python Korea User Group for over ten years. These long-term community roles strengthened her belief that sustainable growth happens faster when people learn together. Community involvement was another central pillar of her growth. Park has been active in the Python Korea User Group for over ten years, consistently contributing through knowledge sharing and community engagement. She has also participated in PyCon Korea both as a speaker and as an organizer, helping shape the conference from behind the scenes as well as from the stage. These long-term community roles strengthened her belief that sustainable growth happens faster—and more meaningfully—when people learn together. A major turning point came after two years of parental leave. Upon attempting to return to work, Park faced pressure to resign. While formal processes allowed her to return on paper, there was no longer a team or role prepared for her. Eventually, she chose to leave the company. Rather than viewing this period as a pause, she treated it as preparation. She committed to a personal rule: do something every day. Her “one commit a day” practice—sometimes no more than a single line of text or a comment—became a way to maintain continuity, confidence, and momentum. In 2017, she launched a YouTube channel called TodayCode, meaning “share what you learned today” and “write code today.” What started as a personal learning log quickly evolved into a platform. Her early content focused on hands-on, practical topics such as Kaggle, public data analysis, and applied data workflows—addressing a gap she saw in overly theoretical materials. As the audience grew, so did invitations to teach, consult, and collaborate. TodayCode became a company, and Park’s professional identity expanded to include data scientist, creator, educator, mentor, and community organizer. Her sustained contributions were eventually recognized with her selection as a Microsoft MVP. Park’s impact lies in demonstrating that small, consistent actions can fundamentally reshape a career—especially when setbacks occur. Her daily commit habit is not about visibility or metrics; it is about continuity. Even on days when progress feels minimal, continuing to act builds confidence and keeps learning active. Over time, those small actions compound into real skills, tangible outcomes, and new opportunities. She defines a successful developer as someone who helps others grow. Through YouTube, teaching, mentoring, and long-term community involvement, she has worked to create environments where beginners and non-traditional learners can progress sustainably. Her decade-long engagement with the Python Korea User Group and her contributions to PyCon Korea exemplify this philosophy in practice: knowledge grows when shared, and communities accelerate individual growth. By openly sharing her experiences around parental leave and career disruption, she has also contributed to broader conversations about fairness and sustainability in tech. Her work as an MVP reflects not just technical expertise, but long-term community building. Joeun Park’s story is a reminder that careers can be refactored—sometimes by choice, sometimes by circumstance—but rarely without consistency. If you are questioning your direction or navigating change, start smaller than you think you need to. Make one commit. Write one note. Share one thing you learned. Those actions add up. And if possible, step into a community. Learning and growing together often changes not just the speed of progress, but its meaning. Resources Todaycode YouTube https://www.youtube.com/todaycode Microsoft MVP Profile https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/MVP/profile/6e97d5d1-396f-ed11-81ab-000d3a5600fa Book (Co-author): Korean Text Analysis with Python github https://github.com/corazzon https://www.linkedin.com/in/todaycode/PrivyDoc: Building a Zero-Data-Leak AI with Foundry Local & Microsoft's Agent Framework
Tired of choosing between powerful AI insights and sacrificing your data's privacy? PrivyDoc offers a groundbreaking solution. In this article, Microsoft MVP in AI, Shivam Goyal, introduces his innovative project that brings robust AI document analysis directly to your local machine, ensuring zero data ever leaves your device. Discover how PrivyDoc leverages two cutting-edge Microsoft technologies: Foundry Local: The secret sauce for 100% on-device AI processing, allowing advanced models to run securely without cloud dependency. Microsoft Agent Framework: The intelligent orchestrator that builds a sophisticated multi-agent pipeline, handling everything from text extraction and entity recognition to summarization and sentiment analysis. Learn about PrivyDoc's intuitive web UI, its multi-format support, and crucial features that make it perfect for sensitive industries like legal, healthcare, and finance. Say goodbye to privacy concerns and hello to AI-powered document intelligence without compromise.VS Code Dev Days: How Global MVPs and Communities Brought AI-Powered Coding to Life
The VS Code Dev Days series was a global celebration of AI, community, and learning. Designed to reintroduce developers to Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot, this pilot program brought together Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals), Microsoft employees, GitHub Campus Ambassadors, and Student Ambassadors. Over two months, 92 events across 36 countries transformed Microsoft offices, universities, and community spaces into innovation hubs. What made this truly special was the collaboration — MVPs and local leaders working hand in hand with Microsoft teams to empower thousands of developers eager to explore the next era of coding. From Toronto to Buenos Aires, Islamabad to Bengaluru, VS Code Dev Days showcased the vibrant spirit of the global developer community. Each region added its own unique energy and creativity. In Toronto, Canada, there were two VS Code Dev Days events by MVP Jack Lee who is leading North Toronto Cloud & DevOps User Group and another MVP Ehsan Eskandari who is leading the Metro Toronto Azure Community and celebrated the power of community-led innovation, “Hosting at Microsoft Canada HQ was incredible. Working closely with the Microsoft team made everything smooth — from logistics to content. The interest in VS Code and Copilot was stronger than ever” said Ehsan Eskandari. & DevOps User Group & DevOps User Group In Bengaluru, India, MVP Mohammed Azarudeen and the TechNexus community hosted over 300 developers at Microsoft’s Bellandur office. “It was a hit! The energy was unlimited,” Azarudeen shared. “Having Microsoft’s venue, content support, and FTE partners like Prasanna Nagarajan made the event seamless. Developers were thrilled about Copilot workflows and MCP integration — so many ‘aha!’ moments” continued Azarudeen. In Buenos Aires, Argentina, MVP Pablo Piovano described the day at the University of Buenos Aires as “a space for knowledge, collaboration, and networking that strengthens and empowers the local tech ecosystem.” ru, India In Islamabad, Pakistan, MVP Hamza Khattak led the city’s biggest developer event of the year. “We had 300+ registrations and 111 attendees — all passionate about AI and Copilot,” he reflected. “Microsoft’s support with content, logistics, and visibility made it feel like a true partnership. Seeing students and professionals code together was inspiring” Khattak continued. In Makati, Philippines, MVP Ziggy Zulueta also led inspiring event with more than 100 attendees. Zulueta said, “We not only demonstrated the basic features of the two platforms, Visual Studio Code and GitHub Copilot, but we also had a hackathon for the participants to test out advanced features of autonomous AI development. The energy and attendance inspire me to hold more events.” Across dozens of cities, organizers echoed the same sentiment — MVPs and Microsoft came together to create great events. Impact and Insights Thousands of developers attended in-person and virtual events with feedback indicating that the majority of participants plan to continue using VS Code with GitHub Copilot, citing its intuitive interface, AI-powered productivity, and integration capabilities. MVPs and local organizers highlighted how Microsoft’s regional support — from providing venues and SWAG to content mentorship — elevated the experience. “Access to Microsoft offices gave our communities credibility and excitement,” said MVP Ehsan Eskandari from Toronto. “Having direct connections with local FTEs created lasting bridges between Microsoft and grassroots communities.” These events also reinforced how global developers are at different stages in adopting AI-assisted coding. Some were using Copilot daily; others were encountering it for the first time. Yet all left inspired and equipped to use AI in their workflows. Ultimately, VS Code Dev Days proved what happens when Microsoft and its MVPs co-create experiences — a ripple effect of learning, curiosity, and empowerment. Call to Action VS Code Dev Days wasn’t just an event series — it was an endeavor of collaboration. Together, Microsoft teams, MVPs, and local user groups helped thousands of developers take their first steps into AI-assisted development. Now, the journey continues with the Microsoft AI Tour — a global event where developers and organizations can explore Microsoft’s latest AI tools, Copilot innovations, and real-world applications. Join us to connect with experts, experience hands-on learning, and see how AI can transform your coding journey. The future of development starts here. Resources Learn more about the MVP Program follow us on MVP Program Website and LinkedIn
