October 18, 2011
Accenture Awards Conexão Additional US$1.1 Million to Equip Young People in Brazil with Business Skills
Grant is part of Accenture’s corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed
SAO PAULO; October 18, 2011 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Conexão today announced that the Accenture Foundations have awarded Conexão an additional grant of US$1.1 million to help the organization expand its efforts to provide employment skills for underprivileged young people and mentor local entrepreneursin Brazil. This grant brings Accenture’s direct support to Conexão to more than $3.2 million.
The award reflects Accenture’s global corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which will equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The one-year grant will help Conexão provide vocational skills for an additional 5,700 young people and mentoring and coaching for approximately 100 entrepreneurs.
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. Earlier this year, Accenture featured Conexão in a television advertisement about the company’s global Skills to Succeed initiative.
“Supporting Conexão helps bring to life Accenture’s commitment to building skills,” said Adrian Lajtha, chief leadership officer at Accenture. “Conexão 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.”
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. Established with the support of a US$1.1 million grant from Accenture Foundations, Conexão has already enrolled more than 20,300 young people in technical courses, helped approximately 6,400 enter the workforce and provided support for more than 200 entrepreneurs.
“We are delighted that Accenture has decided to extend its partnership with Conexão,” said Mario Vieria, Conexão’s chief executive officer. “This will enable us to extend our reach to thousands more young people and entrepreneurs, supporting them with training and skills for the workplace. With this initiative, we will make a huge difference to them and their families, giving them more independence and choice.”
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 236,000 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 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
About Conexão
Conexão is a Brazilian-based social program is established in the main cities of Brazil (São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte). The Conexão vision is to seek a more just societyare giving underprivileged young people the opportunity to have access to the job market (first employment) through training and hiring program and generating income in poor neighbourhoods through entrepreneurship, which will have a knock-on wider benefit in these communities. Conexão has employed 6,000 young people in the last four years and, in the next twelve months, Conexão will train more than 5,700 young people and will have more than 4,000 young people employed. Besides this 115 young entrepreneurs will receive professional coaching. Its home page is www.conexaocdirc.org.br.
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Ivan Scarpelli
Accenture
+55 11-5188-1796
Mario Vieira
Conexão CEO
+ 55 11 3159-0326
+ 55 11 8278-0444 ( mobile)