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What impact can education have on a country, a city, a village, a family, a child?  And what impact can an educated child have on their family, their village, their city, their country, and the world? These are some of the questions Blackboard seeks to ask, understand, and answer through Project Activate. Partnering with Seeds of Empowerment, a non-profit organization developed through Stanford University, Blackboard is spending 2 weeks in rural Tanzania to understand the educational imperatives in a region very different from that shaped our beginnings.  We will work with 140 students in grades 8-9 in Newala, a rural town in the Mtwara region of southern Tanzania, to introduce them to different mediums of learning technology.  Our goal is simple and may sound familiar:  To significantly improve students’ education experience through the use of easily accessible mobile devices and applications. Join us on this journey of discovery and innovation to learn how important education really is in a place where electricity is often undependable, students learn in a language they can barely understand, and the closest thing to technology most people own is well… nothing. Does technology stand a chance in an environment like this?  And if so, can it help improve the education experience of students and teachers? We believe it can.  But there’s only one way to find out. About Neha Mehta Neha Mehta is a senior marketing manager for the Blackboard International marketing team. Neha is based in the DC headquarters for Blackboard and has been with the company for more than six years in various marketing roles. Neha has a passion for philanthropy, especially opportunities where she can assist children and families in third world countries to improve their daily life and she is participating in Project Activate to do just this. Neha is the face of Blackboard in Tanzania this February where she has partnered with a small team of students and faculty from Stanford University.