Skills to Succeed in the United States

Skills to Succeed has seized the imagination of our people. Thanks to their passion, experience and commitment to developing and nurturing talent, we exceeded our original goal of equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. As a result, we increased our goal and plan to help a total of 500,000 people globally by 2015, or an additional 180,000 people. Our people share their time, skills and advice to provide individuals with support including resume writing, interview training and mentoring here in the United States and around the world. Their contributions are intensely personal, meaningful and inspiring.

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 (which ended August 31, 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.

The United States is facing a talent gap that stretches from new entrants to the workforce to displaced workers. Our US Corporate Citizenship program focuses our Skills to Succeed efforts in three key areas: preparing the next generation to find their first jobs, reskilling people for better opportunities and helping entrepreneurs start or build a business.

• First Job: Preparing the next generation to join the workforce – Landing a first job can make all the difference in a young person’s professional career. Our goal is to help high school, community college and disadvantaged university students in job-readiness and to equip them with the professional skills employers seek. We work with our strategic partners to provide in-school and after-school training and learning experiences, digital and social media resources as well as mentoring and internships. Providing much-needed resources to help socio-economically disadvantaged young people is an important focus for our programs.
  
  

  Read stories about our First Job focus area:
  Helping Los Angeles Students Prepare to Job Search
  One-on-One Mentoring – 21st Century Style

  
  
  
• Reskill: Readying people for new job and career opportunities – Our goal is to give active or displaced workers and the underemployed the skills they need to secure new career opportunities. We focus our efforts on military veterans, immigrants, individuals experiencing homelessness, women, the disabled and the formerly incarcerated. Our strategic partners help us offer opportunities such as job-readiness training, mentoring, vocational and technical training and new career programs.
  
  

  Read stories about our Reskill focus area:
  A Hand Up in Returning to the Workforce
  Helping Skilled Immigrants Transition to US Jobs

  
  
  
• Build a Business: Supporting entrepreneurs in launching a business – Small businesses underpin our nation’s economic growth and provide livelihoods to millions of Americans. To help fuel this economic engine, we team with our strategic partners to equip youth and adult entrepreneurs with the skills they need to launch and build a business. Our strategic partners help us provide opportunities such as incubating ideas, training, coaching and support.
  
  

  Read stories about our Build a Business focus area:
  Seeding Entrepreneurship at Texas Venture Labs
  Preparing Female Veterans for Entrepreneurship

Working hand-in-hand with global and local nonprofit organizations that share our passion for building skills, Accenture is helping improve the economic vitality of our communities. Our strategic partners help us drive measurable impact by increasing marketplace competitiveness and economic resilience, building sustainable businesses and creating employment opportunities.

We select our strategic partners based on their shared vision for Skills to Succeed; their ability to fully leverage our services and resources; a footprint and a reach that enable our employees to engage and support them; and their proven track record.