At Salesforce, we are committed to empowering everyone – regardless of gender, race, or socioeconomic background – with the skills they need to thrive. Mentoring plays a large role in driving social mobility, helping young people to unlock their true potential.
I am delighted to announce that Salesforce has issued a $500,000 grant, as well as an ongoing commitment to support The Diana Award’s mentoring programme across the UK. This flexible programme is directed at young adults in their last two years of high school and aims to improve their career readiness and professional connections through mentoring and work experience.
“This programme has been designed to drive social mobility by helping young people shape their careers and futures,” said Tessy Ojo, CEO, The Diana Award. “We are dedicated to making sure young, vulnerable people, who may have certain issues and distractions at this stage of their lives, get the guidance they need to ensure they do not leave full time education without support for gaining employment. Our team of highly trained facilitators are ready to welcome young people onto the programme after returning to school this September.”
This year’s programme will run summer workshops focused on developing career awareness and the skills needed for school and the world of work. The workshops will empower participants to engage in their communities, re-focus on personal goal setting for skills development and create active citizens who are ready to learn and transition back to school.
Building a positive vision for the future
We are proud to support this incredible work by The Diana Award’s team in the UK. We must ensure young people from all backgrounds and cultures can clearly visualise a future in the technology sector.
“Working with and receiving funding from Salesforce enables us to give mentees on our programme access to a world-leading business in an exciting and vibrant industry,” said Poppie Jones, Mentoring Programme Manager, The Diana Award. “As well as providing access to a wide range of potential career paths, the success of the programme depends on having a representative team of mentors who young people can relate to. This is vital to achieving our aim of creating social mobility and educating about the opportunities and pathways that exist.”
At Salesforce, we have a philanthropic goal of driving a more inclusive and diverse global workforce prepared with the skills to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and beyond. We are partnering with organisations across the world to improve workforce development initiatives to address the social capital gap. By increasing access and expanding opportunities, young adults will have more pathways to success.
