Most Valuable Professionals FAQMicrosoft Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs, are technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with the community.
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Program Information
Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (or MVPs) are technology experts who passionately share their knowledge with others. MVPs have very deep knowledge of Microsoft products and services and a keen ability to bring together diverse platforms, products, and solutions to solve real world problems through technology. MVPs make up a global community of over 4,000 technical experts and community leaders across 90 countries/regions; they are collectively united by their passion, community spirit, love for innovation, and quest for knowledge. In addition to their amazing technical abilities, MVPs are always willing to help others - that's what sets them apart. Search Profiles and get to know some MVPs. Read about the impact MVPs are making on the MVP Communities blog. Or learn what MVPs are saying by searching #mvpbuzz in social media or visiting our channels on LinkedIn or X.
For more than 30 years, the MVP Program has recognized exceptional community leadership. The contributions MVPs make to their communities have incredible impact. Becoming an MVP provides ample opportunities for networking with fellow experts, Microsoft employees, and other influential figures in the tech industry. This can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and new opportunities. And MVPs play a significant role in shaping the future of Microsoft products through regular interactions with product teams. Visit MVP Program Overview to learn more.
Key benefits to MVPs include early access to Microsoft preview products and direct communication channels with our product teams that include upcoming roadmaps. MVPs are invited to attend the MVP Summit, an exclusive annual event featuring Microsoft executives that is hosted in and livestreamed from Microsoft’s global headquarters in Redmond. MVPs also engage regularly with regional and local Microsoft leaders who identify opportunities in their region or country. Other benefits include an executive recognition letter, badges & credentials to identify yourself as a Microsoft MVP publicly in online and customer channels as well as access to numerous, cloud- and subscription-based products like Visual Studio Enterprise, Azure Credits, Microsoft 365, GitHub Copilot, LinkedIn Learning, additional 3rd party benefits, and more!
MVPs leverage their technical expertise, in-depth knowledge of Microsoft products, and exceptional ability to share insights within the community. There are three primary characteristics that make MVPs unique:
- Advocacy: Build global awareness and adoption of Microsoft products and services as well as open source through community participation.
- Product Feedback: Share insights and experiences that improve Microsoft products through in-person and online channels (including interactions directly with Microsoft engineers).
- Community Health: Foster a diverse and positive community through use of technology and/or expertise to advance social impact in community.
All MVPs must acknowledge the MVP Program Agreement upon acceptance. To participate in the MVP Program, you must be: (a) eighteen (18) years of age or older, (b) an individual person (not a corporate entity), (c) not a Microsoft employee, (d) not a Contractor currently engaged in work for Microsoft (unless otherwise qualified to participate under the Active Vendor Policy), (e) regarded by Microsoft as a community influencer and technical advocate by virtue of online and offline contributions in forums, user groups, speaking engagements, projects or other publicly-accessible venues, and (f) have made impactful contributions to Microsoft technology communities in the past twelve (12) months. A complete version of the MVP Program Agreement will be made available with additional details for you to review and acknowledge during the application process and again upon acceptance.
Nominations
A nomination referral must be first submitted on your behalf by either a Microsoft Full Time Employee (FTE) or a current Microsoft MVP. You will receive an email from an @microsoft.com address that indicates you have been nominated. Please check your junk email folder if you don’t see it in your inbox or firewall settings to allow emails from Microsoft.
No. You will be invited to complete the MVP Application online form in which Microsoft product leaders and MVP Program leaders will review your technical expertise and community contributions that you indicate on the MVP Application. You will also need to review and acknowledge the MVP Program Agreement including eligibility requirements.
A decision can typically take up to 90 days after you submit your MVP Application. The decision is communicated via an email address ending in @microsoft.com. The length of time is determined in part because: (1) applications are reviewed on a monthly basis, (2) multiple Microsoft stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process to ensure every application is reviewed as completely as possible (3) it allows for preparation of benefits and onboarding.
Accessing Your Microsoft MVP Application
You will receive an email from an address ending in an @microsoft.com that indicates you have been nominated. To begin your MVP Application, click on the URL as indicated in the email. To ensure your identity is the same as the identity that was nominated, you will be asked to sign-in with the email address that the nominator indicated in the application. The URL is unique to each MVP application and cannot be accessed by anyone else without sign-in.
To access the MVP Application, you will be asked to sign-in using the email address provided by the nominator. You will not be able to sign in if you use a different email address.
You can find the email address the nominator used to nominate you in the ‘To’ line of the nomination email.
Nominees have 45 days to complete the MVP Application.
Yes, you are eligible to be nominated again 6 months after the date of prior nomination.
How to complete your MVP Application
The MVP Program evaluates applicants based on qualifications outlined in the MVP Program Agreement, acknowledged during the application process. Microsoft product leaders and MVP Program leaders assess candidates across the following key areas:
- Technical Expertise: Applicants must demonstrate deep technical knowledge and expertise in Microsoft products and services. They should have a proven track record of engaging Developer, IT Professional, and/or Technology Decision-Maker audiences effectively.
- Community Leadership and Influence: Candidates should showcase their ability to lead and engage with the community by leveraging their technical expertise. This includes building awareness of Microsoft products and solutions on both local and global scales.
- Product Feedback: Successful applicants provide valuable and constructive feedback that contributes to the innovation and enhancement of Microsoft products and services.
- Community Health: Candidates are expected to embody Microsoft's values of inclusion and adhere to the MVP Program Code of Conduct. MVPs play an active role in fostering a positive and welcoming community environment for all.
Before you begin your MVP Application, we recommend deciding what Technology Area(s) you want to apply for and gathering a detailed list of contributions you have made to your community from the past 12 months that align as closely as possible to that Technology Area. Only contributions from the past 12 months will be considered in the review.
You may apply to up to two Technology Areas in the MVP Application. Each Technology Area aligns to a singular Award Category. When you apply for two different Technology Areas that align to different Award Categories, you are recognized for and receive the benefits for both Award Categories. Please review the current MVP Program Technology Structure for a specific list.
To allow us to thoroughly review your application, please make sure to provide the following details for each contribution, including an active URL and metrics demonstrating community impact.
You will need the following for each contribution:
- Alignment to specific Technology Area(s) you are applying for
- Date(s) of contribution; this might include a singular moment or a series
- Type of contribution. The MVP Program categorizes contributions into the following which you will indicate when completing the MVP Application:
- Article/Blog
- Book/E-book
- Content Feedback and Editing
- Online Support
- Open Source/Project/Sample Code/Tools
- Product Feedback
- Mentorship/Coaching
- Speaker/Presenter at Microsoft Event
- Speaker/Presenter at Community Event
- User Group Owner
- Webinar/Online Training/Video/Livestream/Podcast
- A verifiable, working URL that references the contribution if online.
- Measures of community impact. These may include the number of attendees, number of online views, number of subscribers, number of engagements or other indicators of success in context of the type of contribution.
Most contributions are encouraged and accepted as part of the MVP Program if they pertain to the technology community; however, please be aware of the following limitations:
- Paid work that you do for your employer or business.
- Contributions should be available to the public at no cost (this includes no previous payments or a paid subscription). The exception to these are in-person events (which usually charge an entry fee for the cost of venue/logistics).
- Community leaders may not receive payment for a given contribution to the MVP Program (for example, a speaker’s fee or payment for publishing an article).
- Contributions must have a verifiable link (include a valid URL of the event, blog, etc.).
The MVP Application automatically saves your progress after each step and specifically after each contribution you enter. Applications in saved status will not be reviewed. You must submit the MVP Application when completed to begin the review process.
If you encounter an issue with the MVP Application, ensure that all required steps and data form validations are correctly completed. If that does not resolve the issue, try submitting the MVP Application 24 hours later. If that does not resolve, please contact MVPGA@microsoft.com for further assistance or request to be connected to a Community Program Manager in your region.