Accenture Grants Youth Business International US$4.95 Million to Equip Young People with the Skills to Start their own Businesses

(3BL Media) London - May 21, 2012 - Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Youth Business International (YBI) today announced that Accenture and the Accenture Foundations have awarded YBI a grant of US$4.95 million to give thousands of 18 – 35 year olds the skills and support they need to start their own businesses. This grant brings Accenture’s direct support to YBI to more than $8.5 million since 2006. 

The three-year grant will help support 33,500 underserved young people and help strengthen YBI’s global network.  It is part of Accenture's Skills to Succeed initiative, which is equipping 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The award consists of cash and time and skills of Accenture employees to enable YBI’s network members to improve the services they offer to young people. In addition, Accenture employees will offer mentoring and training to the entrepreneurs.   "Supporting Youth Business International helps bring to life Accenture’s commitment to building skills,” said Adrian Lajtha, chief leadership officer at Accenture. "We share YBI’s commitment to making a significant, lasting impact on the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities around the world.” "Thanks to the support of Accenture, YBI is well-placed to play a major role in supporting young entrepreneurs around the world," said Andrew Devenport, chief executive of YBI. “We are delighted to work with an organization like Accenture which understands both the importance of building tomorrow’s generation of business leaders as well as our global network approach to tackling the problem of youth unemployment.”   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.  Through 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 Youth Business International Founded in 2000 by HRH The Prince of Wales, Youth Business International (YBI) is a global network of independent non-profit initiatives helping young people start and grow their own business and create employment. YBI supports under-served young entrepreneurs with a combination of training, access to capital, mentoring, and other business development services. YBI members have helped over 100,000 young people to create their own business and generate employment. An estimated 70% of these businesses are still trading after three years, with many going on to create significant levels of employment and further benefits for their communities. More at www.youthbusiness.org.   # # #     Contacts:   Caitlin Storhaug Accenture + 415 537 5458 caitlin.storhaug@accenture.com   Steve Metcalfe Youth Business International + 44 (0)20 3326 2079 steve.metcalfe@youthbusiness.org