Accenture and Conexão today announced that Accenture and Accenture
Foundations have awarded Conexão a grant of US$3.3 million to help the
organization expand its efforts to help thousands of unemployed young
people in Brazil gain the job readiness and entrepreneurial skills they
need to enter the workforce. This grant brings Accenture’s direct
support to Conexão to more than $6.5 million since 2007.
The award is part of Accenture’s global corporate citizenship
initiative, Skills to Succeed, which plans to equip 500,000
people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a
business. The three-year grant will help Conexão, a Youth Business
International partner, provide vocational skills for an additional
20,900 young people.
In addition to the grant, Accenture will continue supporting Conexão
with pro bono services, as it has done since the organization’s
inception in 2007. Specifically, Accenture employee
volunteers will teach professional training courses and provide
mentoring support to the entrepreneurs.
“Conexão shares our passion for building skills and for the impact those
skills have on people, businesses, industries, markets and communities,”
said Jill Huntley, managing director – Global Corporate Citizenship at
Accenture. “In Brazil, the organization is proving it’s possible to make
a significant, lasting impact on the economic well-being of individuals
and their communities by developing skills and connecting people with
the right job opportunities.”
Established with the support of a US$1.1 million grant from the
Accenture Foundations in 2007, Conexão has since trained more than
25,000 young people from seven of Brazil’s main cities in job readiness
and entrepreneurial skills. Approximately 9,000 of these trainees have
entered the workforce, and more than 300 have started or developed a
business.
“Our mission is to transform the life of low income Brazilian youngsters
and entrepreneurs, and provide them with the skills required for success
in the market,” said Marcelo Khoury, general coordinator of Conexão.
“The extension of the partnership between Conexão and Accenture is
really exciting because it will help us bring this dream to reality for
thousands more families.”
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company, with more than 266,000 people serving clients in
more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience,
comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions,
and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance
businesses and governments. Through its Skills to Succeed
corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 500,000
people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a
business. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the
fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About Conexão
Conexão is a social venture of Rede Cidada, a Brazilian organization in
partnership with Youth Business International, which supports young
people striving to start businesses. The Conexão vision is to seek a
more just society by giving underprivileged young people the opportunity
to have access to the job market through training and hiring programs
and small entrepreneur development in poor neighborhoods. Its home page
is www.conexaocdirc.org.br.
Copyright Business Wire 2013