Skills to Succeed

Skills are a key driver of economic empowerment for individuals and communities alike, and the need is greater than ever to have the right skills to build capabilities and confidence that will open doors to employment.

Skills to Succeed focuses on advancing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in both mature and emerging markets. At the same time, Skills to Succeed engages and inspires our people, clients, recruits, strategic partners and the people whose lives we change. Together we have the opportunity to create measurable impact that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Looking ahead, we will continue to build out our strategy with a focus on driving impact and achieving scale—through the use of technology and collaboration. Our vision is to maintain our focus on Skills to Succeed, accelerating, strengthening and deepening impact, as we increase shared value for Accenture, clients and the community.

We launched Skills to Succeed in 2009 and the following year, we set an overarching goal for our efforts: by 2015, Skills to Succeed initiatives will equip 250,000 people around the world with skills to get a job or build a business. By the end of fiscal 2012 (August 31, 2012), we surpassed our goal by equipping more than 320,000 people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills. As a result, we increased our goal to equip 500,000 people with skills by 2015, or an additional 180,000 people.

We exceeded our original goal by working with global and local nonprofit partners that deliver measurable employment and entrepreneurship outcomes at scale. Additionally, our geographic programs accelerated our progress by shaping locally-relevant strategies in their markets.

Our increased Skills to Succeed goal reflects our focused commitment to making a sustainable, measurable difference to the communities in which we live and work. As with all aspects of delivering high performance, we won’t stand still—this is how we do things at Accenture.

In 2010, Accenture and the Accenture Foundations committed to contribute more than US$100 million by the end of 2013 to support our corporate citizenship efforts. In fiscal 2012, we contributed cash as well as pro bono contributions of time and Accenture employee skills equivalent to US$53.5 million to support our corporate citizenship efforts, including Skills to Succeed, bringing total contributions since 2010 to US$98 million.

At the heart of Skills to Succeed is the measurable impact we have achieved through our long-term relationships with strategic partners—by increasing marketplace competitiveness and economic resilience, building sustainable businesses and creating employment opportunities.

We collaborate with global and local nonprofit organizations that share our passion for building skills, understand the value of being both global and local, and bring rigor and discipline to the importance of measurement and outcomes. Together, we have made tremendous progress on supporting planned, structured and externally recognized and/or certified programs that develop participants’ marketable job skills.

Collectively, our strategic partners, pro bono, volunteering and grant-making efforts are making a sustainable difference to the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities around the world.

Today, we have more than 200 collaborative initiatives with strategic partners worldwide. Learn more about our strategic partners and the impact we are making through Skills to Succeed.

Skills to Succeed is a tremendous source of pride for our people. Their passion, experience and commitment to developing and nurturing talent fuel our initiatives and by harnessing their talents, we have greatly enhanced our contribution to our communities.

Our people share their time, skills and advice to provide individuals with support including resume writing, interview training and mentoring. Their contributions are intensely personal, meaningful and inspiring.

Learn more about how Skills to Succeed is making a sustained impact in our communities and how our people are contributing in their local markets around the world.

View the Skills to Succeed Impact Map.

Read more about Skills to Succeed in our 2010–2011 Corporate Citizenship Report.

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