Salesforce Opens Ohana Floor in Salesforce Tower London and Grants $1.25 million for the UK’s Next Generation Workforce

Press Release: Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to speak at the grand opening as Salesforce signs Good Work Standard, a benchmark for high employment standards

Salesforce pledges $1.25 million in grants to non-profit organisations, Ark and Ada, to help transform young lives through access to high-quality education and meaningful career opportunities

Salesforce expands Pathfinder Program to the UK, building on the company’s commitment to workforce development

LONDON, U.K.– 5 December, 2019-Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, today opened its Ohana Floor in Salesforce Tower London, a top floor hospitality space that is made available to non-profit and community organisations to host events on weeknights and weekends at no cost.

As part of the opening event, Salesforce will announce its latest commitments to support education and workforce development with a $750,000 grant to education charity Ark and a $500,000 grant to Ada, the National College for Digital Skills. Salesforce will also share plans to expand its Pathfinder Training Program into the UK, one of the company’s workforce development initiatives, designed to address the skills gap by providing participants from diverse backgrounds the technical and business training they need to obtain jobs in the Salesforce ecosystem. This marks the first time the program will expand outside of the US.
Joining the event, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will recognize Salesforce as a member of the Good Work Standard, aligning to the mission of making London the best city in the world to live and work.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m delighted to help Salesforce open their new Ohana Floor and to accredit them to the Mayor’s Good Work Standard. Not only is Salesforce setting an example of how businesses can give back to the community, they are also joining a list of London employers committed to the very highest standards in employment practice.”
“Today is a landmark moment for Salesforce in the UK, as we make significant investments to skill and train the workforce for the future, while also opening our first international Ohana Floor – an inspiring space for the whole community. We believe businesses have a responsibility to benefit everyone in society, so we must step up to meet that challenge. Today’s announcements underline our commitment to making sure the digital age works for everyone and helps generate equality for all,” said Salesforce CEO, UKI, Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia.

Giving Back to the Community
The new Ohana Floor in Salesforce Tower London offers a unique and flexible space available for Salesforce employees, customers and partners, which will also be available for non-profits and local education groups on weeknights and weekends at no cost. Salesforce is focused on giving back by welcoming community organizations focused on humanitarian, environmental and social causes, as well as education and workforce development. Organizations can request to use the Ohana Floor starting today. To date, events across Salesforce’s global Ohana Floors have raised over $9.4 million for charity.

Salesforce Continues Commitment to Skill the Next Generation
Salesforce is committed to supporting the UK’s workforce to gain the skills to thrive in the 21st century. IDC recently projected that the Salesforce economy will create more than £54 billion in new business revenues and 144,000 jobs over the next five years in the UK.
The $1.25 million granted to support Ark in advancing mathematics education through its Mathematics Mastery programme, and Ada in scaling diversity in its digital apprenticeship program, builds on Salesforce’s Future Ready philanthropic initiatives, which seek to ensure that everyone—regardless of background or circumstance—has access to high-quality education and meaningful career opportunities.
This continues Salesforce’s ongoing commitment to preparing young people from underserved communities to realise their potential and builds on programmes already in place with both organisations. The grants underline Salesforce’s overall commitment to create a more inclusive and diverse workforce prepared with the skills to thrive in the 21st century.
The Pathfinder Training Program, a workforce development initiative launched in collaboration with Deloitte, is designed to train individuals in technical and business skills to earn a Salesforce Administrator or Developer certification. Over the course of 16 weeks, Pathfinders complete 150+ hours of training. 62 percent of Pathfinders come from underrepresented groups in technology, including students, career changers and military veterans, providing them with an opportunity to build a career in the Salesforce ecosystem.

About Salesforce
Salesforce is the global leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in the digital age. Founded in 1999, Salesforce enables companies of every size and industry to take advantage of powerful technologies—cloud, mobile, social, internet of things, artificial intelligence, voice and blockchain—to create a 360-degree view of their customers. For more information about Salesforce, visit: www.salesforce.com.

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Further detail on Good Work Standard
The Mayor’s Good Work Standard brings together best employment practice and links to resources and support from across London to help employers improve their organisations. The initiative has been developed in collaboration with London’s employers, professional bodies and experts. The Good Work Standard sets the benchmark the Mayor wants every London employer to work towards and achieve. Organisations able to meet the Good Work Standard criteria can apply for accreditation and recognition as leading employers from the Mayor.

About Ark
Ark is an education charity that exists to make sure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to a great education and real choices in life. Within Ark, Ark Ventures incubates, launches and scales ventures with shared mission and values. One such venture is Mathematics Mastery, a national programme working in partnership with more than 500 primary and secondary schools across the UK to transform maths education so that every child can enjoy and succeed in mathematics irrespective of their background.

About Ada
Ada, The National College for Digital Skills was announced by the Prime Minister in December 2014 as an initiative to deliver the skilled workforce of the future and abolish long-term youth unemployment. Ada’s mission is to design curriculum with employers “to produce the skills needed now and into the future to ensure the UK remains innovative and at the forefront of pioneering industry.”