September 08, 2011
Accenture Supports TSC’s IT Training Expansion With $100,000 Grant
New Harlem classroom to open in October
NEW YORK; September 8, 2011—Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and NPower’s Technology Service Corps (TSC), which provides free IT career training to underserved young adults, today announced that Accenture has awarded NPower an additional grant of $100,000 to expand its IT training program nationally, beginning with the opening of its first branch classroom in Harlem this fall. The grant brings Accenture’s direct support to NPower to US$1.9 million since 2004. Together, the two organizations have helped equip approximately 450 young adults with IT skills.
The Harlem facility will open in October and begin by providing 20 young adults, ages 18 to 25, with an extensive 22-week program that includes detailed classroom work, professional mentoring, internships, job placement support, and the possibility to secure a Cisco certification. Initially, NPower plans to offer two 22-week classes per year at the Harlem facility.
The grant reflects Accenture’s corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which aims to equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. In addition to teaming to expand TSC in Harlem, Accenture is working with NPower to increase IT training, professional skills and mentoring, internships and job placement for service members and veterans.
“Accenture’s support is critical to expanding Technology Service Corps’s positive impact,” said Stephanie Cuskley, CEO of NPower, a national nonprofit that is TSC’s parent organization. “During the last decade, TSC has been able to change the lives of hundreds of young adults by helping them secure meaningful careers in IT through our Brooklyn center. As a National Corporate Underwriter of NPower, Accenture has always supported our work. Now, with Accenture’s newest commitment, we will eventually be able to help thousands of young people across the country gain skills and get their lives on track.”
“Supporting NPower’s expansion of TSC helps bring to life Accenture’s commitment to building skills,” said LaMae Allen deJongh, managing director—Accenture U. S. Human Capital & Diversity. “NPower is succeeding at a rapid pace and is proving it’s possible to make a significant, lasting impact on the economic well-being of individuals and communities by building skills through coaching and mentoring.”
TSC’s Harlem expansion is further strengthened through its association with STRIVE, a nonprofit based in East Harlem that works to transform lives through training and job placement across various sectors. STRIVE will help TSC recruit and place candidates in the Harlem program. TSC will also locate its initial classroom at STRIVE’s East Harlem Employment Service on 123rd Street in New York, NY.
Other Harlem-area community groups supporting TSC’s expansion include: the Harlem Children Zone, Seedco, Harlem Congregation of Community Improvement (HCCI), and The Urban League.
TSC’s expansion comes after almost a decade of providing underserved young adults with IT training and career support, primarily through its Brooklyn facility. During this time, TSC has completed 25 classes and graduated approximately 450 students. Close to 90 percent of recent graduates have continued their education, secured jobs in IT or are doing both.
TSC alumni also have excelled outside the classroom as a growing number of graduates are securing jobs at Fortune 500 corporations such as JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, TD Ameritrade, and UBS as well as positions at major nonprofits such as the ACLU, NY Charities, NY Foundling Hospital, New York University and Lawyers Alliance, among others.
The TSC program is free to qualified students. Successful applicants must have a high school diploma or GED and complete a written and in-person review process. Graduates are required to successfully complete all the course work, including their internships.
“Our goal has always been to take the TSC model national and our Harlem classroom is the first step in that direction, thanks to Accenture,” said program director Patrick Cohen. “We will now begin actively recruiting students for our first class in Harlem through partners like STRIVE and other community-based organizations.”
About NPower
NPower is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in New York that provides IT services and training to nonprofits and young adults. For more information, visit NPower.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 223,000 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$21.6 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
# # #
Contacts:
Andrew Graham (for NPower)
+1 646 385 0189
Caitlin Storhaug
Accenture
+ 1 415 537 5458
caitlin.storhaug@accenture.com