Salesforce to give $1 million in grants for the UK’s next generation workforce
Howard Lake | 31 October 2018 | News
Salesforce.org, the philanthropic arm of Salesforce, is to give $1 million in grants to School 21 and Ada to train the UK’s educators and equip young people from varied backgrounds have the necessary skills to thrive in the future workforce.
The two $500,000 grants to School 21 and Ada will be used to support new programmes at both institutions as they nurture the talent and leadership skills needed for the jobs of the future. In particular they will support the School 21 Innovative Leadership Development Programme and the Ada Apprenticeship Scheme.
Salesforce UK staff already volunteer for both organisations to support their education and apprenticeship programmes.
Minister for Digital, Margot James, welcomed the grants, saying: “Through Salesforce.org’s grants and our Digital Strategy we will continue working with industry to inspire the talent of tomorrow and give some of the country’s brightest young minds the chance to learn digital skills and thrive in the future workplace.”
Ebony Frelix, EVP & Chief Philanthropy Officer at Salesforce.org added: “At Salesforce.org, we’re focused on equality for all youth and work to support organisations that prepare leaders and arm the next generation with the skills they need for tomorrow’s jobs. School 21 and Ada could not be better positioned to provide teacher training and nurture new talent for the UK’s workforce to ensure that young people have access to these opportunities regardless of their gender or background.”
School 21
School 21 is a state school in Stratford, East London, for children from all backgrounds.
The grant will help create and launch the Innovative Leadership Development Programme (ILPD) to build courageous and innovative leadership within schools. It will be available for teachers at some of the most disadvantaged schools, providing them with tailored one to one coaching, experiential learning in authentic contexts, and peer review of leadership in practice. In addition, it will help participants of the programme share their innovative practice across the education sector.
Through open source online modules, the programme will also be scaled to reach teachers around the globe.
Ada
The grant will help Ada, the National College of Digital Skills, grow its apprenticeship programme. This creates opportunities for students of all backgrounds to learn relevant digital skills to pursue their dream jobs in the technology industry.
The goal is to recruit 35% of apprentices from low-income backgrounds by 2019.
Mark Smith, CEO at Ada said: “Salesforce.org’s passion for ensuring people from all backgrounds and walks of life are given the same opportunities, completely chimes with our beliefs and the core value of our organisation to use technology as a tool for social mobility.”
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.