Accenture and Entreculturas equipping 95,000 youth
Accenture and Entreculturas Foundation have successfully equipped 95,000 young Latin American people with the skills needed to secure employment or become an entrepreneur. The partnership that has been running for four years is part of Accenture’s Skills to Succeed programme.
The Entreculturas Foundation is a Latin American non- governmental organisation that supports disadvantaged populations in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The NGO promotes education as a tool for development and for social change, and encourages citizen participation, intercultural dialogue and networking with other institutions.
As part of its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship initiative, aiming to equip more than 3 million people with skills to get a job or build a business by 2020, consulting firm Accenture partnered with the NGO in 2011. In the past four years, the two partners have succeeded in equipping 95,000 disadvantaged youth with skills needed to secure employment or entrepreneurship opportunities across 10* Latin American countries, with 19,000 of securing employment.
To accomplish this success, Accenture invested $2 million and nearly 50,000 hours of pro bono services to boost Entreculturas’ operational abilities, including an e-learning offering and a job placement service. “Working together has enabled us to improve the training of young people, allowing them a better approach to employment and also establishing a groundwork that will benefit future generations,” explains Javier Urrecha, Entreculturas Project Manager.
Ana Millán, Director of the Accenture Foundation in Spain, adds: “Our support to Fundación Entreculturas is providing significant professional opportunities for thousands of disadvantaged young people in Latin America. Together we’re making a measurable and sustainable difference in the economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities.”
* The 10 countries are Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.
