At present, there are more than 80 Skills to Succeed initiatives in place around the world. The current Skills to Succeed programs in Australia are:
Skills for Life: The Accenture Australia Foundation, in collaboration with World Education Australia, has developed the Skills for Life initiative. With funding of $A1 million, the program aims to help 22,500 people in rural communities across Asia Pacific fight poverty and environmental degradation over three years. This program will impart technical skills to people and educate them about environmentally sustainable farming practices. The program targets underprivileged rural communities in the Philippines, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Cambodia and China.
Beacon Foundation: Accenture is working with the Beacon Foundation, a non-profit that addresses youth unemployment and equips students with the skills required to tap into employment opportunities in Australia. Accenture is assisting the organisation to deliver its innovative “No Dole” program in five secondary schools across Australia. The program works with young people before they leave school to help develop the skills and confidence needed to achieve personal success and, at the end of its first year, it will have impacted the lives of more than 500 Australian students.
Foundation for Young Australians: Accenture and the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) are working together to create leadership development opportunities for disadvantaged youth through the Worlds of Work (WOW) program. The focus of the program is to help young people explore and understand the critical question: “What does it take to succeed in the global world of life and work?”
The Smith Family - Learning for Life: Accenture is working with The Smith Family, a national, independent, social enterprise that supports disadvantaged Australian children and their families to create a better future through education. Accenture is supporting The Smith Family's Learning for Life program, principally through funding scholarships for tertiary students and providing mentors to support the scholarship recipients.
LEAPS program: Since 2007 Accenture has participated in the Department of Education-approved LEAPS program, mentoring disadvantaged year 9 students at Chester Hill High School in NSW. In this time Accenture employees have directly influenced the lives of at least 35 students. Notably, the students who were mentored in 2007 are now in their final year of high school and are confident young people with clear plans to attend university and enter the workforce. These students have commented on the impact that the program has had on their view of what is possible for their lives.
Accenture Australia Corporate Citizenship:
It is anchored in our core values, our Code of Business Ethics and, ultimately, it is reflected in the actions of our people.
With a focus on providing disadvantaged people in the community the Skills to Succeed, many of our employees are involved in volunteering, mentoring, fundraising and coordinating relationships through the charities we support.
Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) offer opportunities for our people to really put their skills to the test and undertake an overseas assignment for a not-for-profit organisation, while our partnership with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) makes trekking Everest base camp or Mt. Kilimanjaro a reality for many of us.
The other key pillar of our corporate citizenship program is our commitment to reducing our environmental impact: a footprint we’re glad to report we’re shrinking in our workplace and homes. We’ve implemented an environmental management system in the business and we’ve launched tools such as the carbon calculator.