Accenture Awards Conexão US$3.3 Million to Equip Young People in Brazil with Business Skills

SAO PAULO, August 16, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Accenture and Conexão today announced that Accenture and Accenture Foundations have awarded Conexão a grant of US$3.3 million to help the organization expand its efforts to help thousands of unemployed young people in Brazil gain the job readiness and entrepreneurial skills they need to enter the workforce. This grant brings Accenture’s direct support to Conexão to more than $6.5 million since 2007. 
 
The award is part of Accenture’s global corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which plans to equip 500,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business.  The three-year grant will help Conexão, a Youth Business International partner, provide vocational skills for an additional 20,900 young people. 
 
In addition to the grant, Accenture will continue supporting Conexão with pro bono services, as it has done since the organization’s inception in 2007. Specifically, Accenture employee volunteers will teach professional training courses and provide mentoring support to the entrepreneurs. 
 
“Conexão shares our passion for building skills and for the impact those skills have on people, businesses, industries, markets and communities,” said Jill Huntley, managing director – Global Corporate Citizenship at Accenture. “In Brazil, the organization is proving it’s possible to make a significant, lasting impact on the economic well-being of individuals and their communities by developing skills and connecting people with the right job opportunities.”
 
Established with the support of a US$1.1 million grant from the Accenture Foundations in 2007, Conexão has since trained more than 25,000 young people from seven of Brazil’s main cities in job readiness and entrepreneurial skills. Approximately 9,000 of these trainees have entered the workforce, and more than 300 have started or developed a business.
 
“Our mission is to transform the life of low income Brazilian youngsters and entrepreneurs, and provide them with the skills required for success in the market,” said Marcelo Khoury, general coordinator of Conexão. “The extension of the partnership between Conexão and Accenture is really exciting because it will help us bring this dream to reality for thousands more families.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 266,000 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. Through its Skills to Succeed corporate citizenship focus, Accenture is committed to equipping 500,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
 
About Conexão                  
Conexão is a social venture of Rede Cidada, a Brazilian organization in partnership with Youth Business International, which supports young people striving to start businesses. The Conexão vision is to seek a more just society by giving underprivileged young people the opportunity to have access to the job market through training and hiring programs and small entrepreneur development in poor neighborhoods. Its home page is www.conexaocdirc.org.br
 

 
Contacts:
 
Sam Hyland
Accenture
+ 917 452 5184
samuel.hyland@accenture.com
 
Fernando Alves 
Conexão
+ 55 31 3290 8000 ex. 8046
+ 55 31 8709 0070 (mobile)
falves@redecidada.org.br