ATLANTA, July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On
Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. announced "Accelerate," a new
program designed to address economic recovery through both skilling
underserved communities and re-skilling the many Americans impacted
by COVID-19. Accelerate: Atlanta
is the first of many city-focused digital skills and employment
partnerships designed to upskill and increase employability.
Accelerate: Atlanta is the
first U.S. implementation of Microsoft's global skills initiative,
an ambitious plan to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new
digital skills by the end of the year. The announcement supports
the needs of Atlantans impacted by the global pandemic and racial
inequities in access to education. With support of the mayor's
office and additional public and private partnerships, the
initiative aims to accelerate economic recovery from the impact of
COVID-19, address the needs of people of underserved communities
who require digital skills to stay competitive, and empower them to
seize the employment opportunities of the future. Expanding access
to digital skills is a critical first step in improving
employability to help build local economic recovery, especially for
the people hardest hit by job losses.
Accelerate: Atlanta brings
together civic, learning and corporate partners to provide skills
across the spectrum of digital proficiency to build a more
inclusive workforce for all.
- Empower underserved communities to close the digital divide in
the growing workforce.
- Provide digital skills to promote economic uplift for
Atlanta's populations with the
highest susceptibility to automation and COVID-19 impact.
- Target the market with existing digital fluency to ensure that
they can keep up with the advances in AI and machine learning.
Partners in the coalition include:
- Civic partners: The Office of the Mayor of
Atlanta and Metro Atlanta Chamber
of Commerce
- Learning partners: General Assembly, OpenClassrooms
and TechBridge
- Corporate partners: Accenture and others to be
announced soon
Microsoft is backing the effort with over $1 million in investments to assist those who
need it most, including people with lower income, people with lower
educational attainment and racial/ethnic minorities. Atlanta-based nonprofit organizations led by
and serving Black/African American communities will be among the 50
such organizations across the United
States receiving cash grants to aid in this skills
initiative.
"Through Accelerate: Atlanta,
Microsoft and its partners will help close the digital divide and
ensure there is a place for everyone in our shared future," said
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. "The road to economic
recovery must begin with pathways to opportunity that are
inclusionary and accessible to all. This is more than an initiative
— this is an investment in underserved and underrepresented
communities that will equip our residents with skills to compete in
a modern workforce, while at the same time grow our middle
class."
"Atlanta is the first U.S. city
in our ambitious national investment plan to support our country's
economic recovery," said Kate
Johnson, president of Microsoft U.S. "We're delighted that
we can bring the breadth of the Microsoft technology ecosystem in
partnership with the mayor to provide communities in Atlanta with the digital skills needed for a
more equitable, prosperous future."
"We're committed to equipping more communities with the digital
skills needed to come back from this crisis even stronger through
our work with Microsoft," said Jake
Schwartz, CEO and co-founder at General Assembly. "We've
been proud to be a part of Atlanta's thriving tech, startup and
innovation ecosystem for years, and are thrilled to continue our
investment in the community while advancing this important national
partnership with the launch of Accelerate: Atlanta."
"Microsoft shares our commitment to serving underrepresented
communities with equity, access and opportunity. We are thrilled to
align our mission of 'breaking the cycle of generational poverty
through the innovative use of technology' with Microsoft and the
Atlanta community to close the
digital divide, creating real opportunities for those who need it
most," said Nicole Armstrong, CEO of
TechBridge.
"I applaud Microsoft and the many partners working to make
Accelerate: Atlanta a success. Our
region is uniquely situated to benefit from this initiative through
our dense innovation community coupled with the presence of noted
higher education institutions training our brightest minds," said
Metro Atlanta Chamber President and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick. "I am excited to see the
progress as Accelerate: Atlanta
closes the digital divide and equips the next generation with the
in-demand skills needed to succeed."
"Accenture is committed to advancing equality for all people all
the time, and to doing more to drive sustained change in our
communities," said Jimmy Etheredge,
Accenture's CEO for North America.
"We are pleased to join Microsoft and our coalition partners in
Atlanta to equip more of our
citizens with the digital skills they need to be prepared for the
jobs of the future — and we look forward to extending the impact of
this initiative across the United
States."
More information can be found at
https://aka.ms/AccelerateAtlanta.
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital
transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-and-the-city-of-atlanta-lead-coalition-of-partners-to-close-the-digital-skills-gap-and-build-a-more-inclusive-workforce-301086975.html
SOURCE Microsoft Corporation