Accenture and Out & Equal Create Accenture Skills to Succeed LGBT Award

(3BL Media) New York, NY - May 4, 2012 - Accenture and Out & Equal today announced that they have created the Accenture Skills to Succeed LGBT Award, which will honor a nonprofit organization working to equip people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities with workplace and entrepreneurial skills.

The two organizations invite nominations from nonprofit groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that fund, support or provide programs aimed at directly improving the work skills of LGBT community members as well as their options for employment.  Self-nominations are acceptable, as are nominations completed by others on behalf of an organization.  The award will be presented at the Global LGBT Workplace Summit in London in July 2012.

Skills to Succeed, Accenture's corporate citizenship initiative, applies an Accenture core competence—training talent—to the need for skills that open doors to employment around the world. By 2015, Skills to Succeed initiatives will equip 250,000 people with the skills to get a job or build a business.

“Accenture focuses on building the skills of our people as well as people in communities around the world to help them get jobs and build businesses,” said Nellie Borrero, managing director, Global Inclusion & Diversity at Accenture.  “This award reflects our commitment to inclusion and diversity and to establishing equality for LGBT people around the globe.”

“Many members of the LGBT community continue to face discrimination that leads to underemployment and unemployment. We want to honor organizations around the world that are taking concrete steps to provide full workplace equality,” said Selisse Berry, Out & Equal’s executive director.  “We are delighted to work with Accenture to recognize a program that builds skills and empowers LGBT people.”

Organizations interested in applying for the award should go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/skillsaward for an application and instructions.  Deadline for applications is Friday, May 11^th, 2012 at midnight, Pacific Standard Time.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 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.  Though 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$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011.  Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About Out & Equal
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates is an international nonprofit organization committed to ending employment discrimination for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees.. We believe that people should be judged by the work they do, not by their sexual orientation or gender identity. Every day, we work to protect and empower employees to be productive and successful—so they can support themselves, their families, and contribute to achieving a world free of discrimination for everyone.

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