Hilton Worldwide and International Youth Foundation Announce Plan to Measure Global Youth Wellbeing

(3BL Media) New York City, NY - September 24, 2012 - Today Hilton Worldwide and the International Youth Foundation (IYF) announced their commitment to create the Global Youth Wellbeing Index to monitor the state of young people and help increase the effectiveness and accountability of investments targeting youth. The joint commitment, titled “Investing in Youth: Global Youth Index & Plan for Business Impact,” was made at the Clinton Global Initiative 2012 Annual Meeting and will provide governments, business leaders and civil society organizations with tools to focus and measure their contributions to critical youth development issues.  

While progress has been made, far greater resources are needed to meet the staggering challenges facing today’s young people effectively.  By creating consensus among key stakeholders on a standard set of indicators to measure and track progress, IYF, with support from Hilton Worldwide, aims to attract increased investments in areas that demonstrate the greatest and most urgent youth needs.

“Leading companies invest in issues that impact their businesses and benefit from their unique resources and expertise,” said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO, Hilton Worldwide. “As a growing employer of young people around the globe, youth are of critical importance to our bottom line and the future of our company. Hilton Worldwide is proud to join IYF in galvanizing greater investments for the youth development sector.”

As a complement to the Global Youth Wellbeing Index, Hilton Worldwide and IYF also announced their intent to create a Hospitality Industry Impact Framework, a tool that will help focus hospitality sector investments and provide a mechanism for reporting progress.  IYF and Hilton Worldwide hope this framework will become a model for other industries and will unlock a new set of resources and expertise in support of the world's young people.

“Going it alone is rarely the answer to addressing tough challenges” said William S. Reese, president and CEO, International Youth Foundation. “Together with Hilton Worldwide, we make this commitment with the goal of finding other business leaders, civil society organizations and government partners who will join us in developing these critically important tools to support young people and bring attention to the many challenges they face in their communities.”

In June 2012, Hilton Worldwide and IYF announced a $3 million, three-year partnership as part of Travel with Purpose, Hilton Worldwide’s promise to providing shared value to its business and communities around the globe. Today’s commitment to action is an extension of Hilton Worldwide’s existing work to create opportunities for youth globally, leveraging its industry expertise to help disadvantaged youth climb the “ladder of success” through expanded access to education as well as  workforce and life skills training. The partnership is also a key component of IYF’s mission to prepare young people to be healthy, productive and engaged citizens.

Both the Global Youth Wellbeing Index and Hospitality Industry Impact Framework are set to begin development at the end of 2012, and drafts will be released for comment by the end of 2013. To learn more about the Clinton Global Initiative and the Index, visit http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/.

About Hilton Worldwide
Hilton Worldwide is a leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from luxurious full-service hotels and resorts to extended-stay suites and mid-priced hotels. For 93 years, Hilton Worldwide has offered business and leisure travelers the finest in accommodations, service, amenities and value. The company is dedicated to continuing its tradition of providing exceptional guest experiences across its global brands. Its brands are comprised of more than 3,900 hotels and timeshare properties, with 640,000 rooms in 91 countries and include Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Hotels, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hilton Grand Vacations. The company also manages the world-class guest reward program Hilton HHonors®. Visit www.hiltonworldwide.com for more information and connect with Hilton Worldwide at www.facebook.com/hiltonworldwide, www.twitter.com/hiltonworldwide, www.youtube.com/hiltonworldwide, www.flickr.com/hiltonworldwide and www.linkedin.com/company/hilton-worldwide.

About the International Youth Foundation

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) invests in the extraordinary potential of young people. Founded in 1990, IYF builds and maintains a worldwide community of businesses, governments and civil-society organizations committed to empowering youth to be healthy, productive and engaged citizens. IYF programs are catalysts of change that help young people obtain a quality education, gain employability skills, make healthy choices and improve their communities. To learn more visit www.iyfnet.org/.