Most companies wait until a new product or project is completed before writing a press release to announce it. At Amazon.com Inc., the press release gets written before work even starts.

It’s a process the company calls “working backwards,” where a product manager will write an internal-only press release to announce the finished result. The document is nearly always centered around a customer problem and how Amazon’s solution will solve it.

“Those are fun to write because you want to know what you’re going to be delivering and how you’re going to be delivering it,” said Dave Levy (pictured), vice president, federal government, at Amazon Web Services Inc. “It’s a really great exercise because it helps you focus on the mission and sets the stage for delivery in the future. The customer is at the center of that.”

Levy spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the AWS Imagine event in Seattle, Washington. They discussed how Amazon supports the nonprofit community through technology and the firm’s interest in major global issues (see the full interview with transcript here).

Help with accelerated initiatives

The process of “working backwards” is helpful as Amazon works with customers in the nonprofit sector. The firm is lending its support to assist nonprofit organizations with needs that involve hosting websites, performing back-office functions in the cloud, or running research and donor platforms, according to Levy.

It’s all done while keeping an eye on the nonprofit’s mission and end result.

“We’re trying to help them deliver on their mission with our technology,” Levy said. “At Amazon, we really identify with missionaries. Nonprofit missions are accelerating, and we’re helping them do that.”

That acceleration is driving Amazon’s interest in tackling major global issues, from population migrations to healthcare around the world.

“We’re tackling some huge problems out there,” Levy said. “I’m just passionate about this space, and there’s so much opportunity, everything from solving challenges around heart disease to research for cancer and patient care to human trafficking. It touches all of our lives.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the AWS Imagine event.

Photo: SiliconANGLE