Deloitte21 program e-Learning for Kids and e-Learning for Life: Founding dreams through free digital education

What chances does a young person have nowadays without a good education? In a world where quality education is taken for granted in order to have well-being and prosperity we’re not always aware that this is not the case for everyone. Worldwide, there are still millions of youths who will not achieve their dreams of becoming, for example, a nurse, entrepreneur, police officer, or engineer, let alone a Nobel Prize winner simply because of a lack of good education. These young people may not be gaining computer literacy, teamwork skills, and the ability to solve problems, local or global, in a creative and innovative way. Or, they may even work long hours in factories to earn little money, survive in dangerous warzones, or live in remote areas where schooling is unavailable. Because of these circumstances, the goal of a prosperous future seems unattainable.

Who are e-Learning for Kids and e-Learning for Life, and what do we do?

We are here for every child and young adult with a dream. Since the end of 2004, e-Learning for Kids and e-Learning for Life have been developing free, digital, and innovative lessons for underprivileged children and teens, advancing young people’s 21st-century skills-readiness on a global scale. We see ourselves as a foundation that helps young people realize their dreams by preparing them for successful futures. Through our programs, young people enjoy working and playing on the computer. Our digital lessons are designed to inspire learning in a fun way. It is our belief that every young person deserves a chance to reach his or her full potential.

Deloitte21: Helping underserved young people thrive

Barry Salzberg, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, enthusiastically shares his thoughts on Deloitte21, a Deloitte network-wide global initiative aimed at helping underserved young people acquire the education and skills needed to thrive in the 21st-century economy.

“The world is currently facing a growing talent gap between what potential workers are learning and the actual skills needed to thrive today and in the future.”

“It is imperative for businesses worldwide to recognize this void and take action toward adequately preparing young people for a knowledge-based economy.”

-Barry Salzberg, CEO, DTTL

0:06 - What is Deloitte21?
1:43 - How is the Deloitte global network taking action and what is unique about its approach?

        

Bridging the digital divide: Deloitte21 program Close the Gap

In 2003, I founded Close the Gap International, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to bridge the digital divide by providing refurbished computers and information technology (IT) equipment to educational programs in developing, and more recently, in developed countries. Our objective is to improve the lives of underserved young people by providing them access to IT equipment, and by extension, computer literacy skills and information via the Internet that they would not otherwise have access to. 

In the industrialized world, computers are replaced every three to four years, meaning that companies are increasingly looking for sustainable ways to replace their used devices. At the same time, millions of computers are needed, particularly in developing countries. Recognizing this cycle, Close the Gap created a win-win situation. By supplying developing countries with high-quality, refurbished IT equipment that’s donated by companies in Western countries, Close the Gap creates practical, social and sustainable solutions that enable people to bring about a true change in their lives through the use of IT.

Through 2010, Close the Gap collected more than 160,000 computers from donors in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg, and the Netherlands. These devices are being used in learning centers in sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia,  Latin America, and also more recently in employability programs in Belgium, France,  Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

The Deloitte21 Challenge: Innovating to change lives

As you may have read in Julie Engerran’s recent blog post, Deloitte21 represents a far-reaching commitment by Deloitte member firms to change the lives of thousands of underserved young people across the globe. Through Deloitte21, Deloitte leaders and professionals contribute their time and expertise to nonprofit programs that provide access to the education and skills necessary for success in the 21st-century economy.

Deloitte21: Equipping young people to thrive in the 21st-century

Fundamental shifts have been shaping the 21st-century workplace: developing countries such as India, China, and Brazil have joined the world stage; technology has become inherently intertwined with daily routines; and the global economy has moved from a labor-based system to one dependent on education and knowledge.  These changes have highlighted the inequalities in access to education, and shown how necessary an educated workforce is to the health of global and national economies.  They’re also showing how a lack of access to quality education in both developing and developed countries is creating a global talent shortage.

Expectations for the classroom have also shifted. Schools must expose young people to the critical thinking skills that will allow them to be successful members of the 21st-century workforce.  Opening doors to new opportunities and developing responses to the many challenges facing our world requires that we equip young people to innovate, solve problems, work across cultures, and collaborate on teams.

Crossing borders through global investment and education

It is with great pride each year that Deloitte is represented by a delegation of leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other influencers of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

This year, Barry Salzberg, CEO, Deloitte LLP, and Robert Kimmitt, Independent Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Cross-Border Investment, provided their thoughts from Davos on important issues around cross-border investment and global education initiatives covered at this year’s Forum. We are pleased to share the perspectives of these two leaders from this important world event.

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1:14 - Barry Salzberg on his impressions of Davos this year

2:19 - Bob Kimmitt's takeaways from Davos

3:39 - Barry asks Bob: How has the nature of cross-border investment changed as a result of the global power balance shift?

4:35 - Barry asks Bob: How should companies prepare to execute a cross-border investment?

6:08 - Barry asks Bob: What new cross-border investment models have emerged as a result of the global financial crisis?

6:45 - Bob asks Barry: How do we ensure our young talent force has the skills to compete in the global marketplace of the future?

10:38 - Bob asks Barry: How can businesses, governments, and academia work to combat the talent challenge?

14:21 - Bob asks Barry: What can businesses do internally to develop leaders of the future?

Live at Davos | Deloitte’s response to “Preparing for the Global Talent Crisis”

As the Global Managing Director of Brand at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, I am often asked how employer branding—the way an organization uses its brand to attract, engage, and retain its people—can protect the sustained future of an organization and the global business community.

The answer, as you might suspect, is not simple—engaging employees with their employer’s brand requires the utmost innovation. In fact, central to the idea of investing in an employer brand as a way to achieve competitive eminence is viewing talent and brand as an integrated solution to resolve the unparalleled global crisis of talent scarcity.

With that in mind, I am proud to be in the company of the distinguished government, business, and community leaders participating in this year’s World Economic Forum session on “Preparing for the Global Talent Crisis: Action Time”. The Forum is a wonderful opportunity to engage in education-focused discussions with other thought leaders.

Below are several key insights and responses on the impact of global talent risk from the Forum’s report Global Talent Risk – Seven Responses:

Deloitte 21: Project Grasp My Future in action at Deloitte France to help underserved young students

After these wonderful days in London participating in the Deloitte21 workshop this is our turn to introduce the essence of French mentoring. The Grasp My Future mentoring program forms part of Deloitte’s desire to help today’s youth access higher education in favorable conditions. To this end, Deloitte takes part in several educational programs from junior high school through to five years post high school diploma.

The Grasp My Future mentoring program is open to all Deloitte France employees and student mentees volunteer to participate, and are supported by their school and teachers. Two Deloitte employees are matched with one student to mentor for two years. The Deloitte employees provide mentees with:

• A first contact with the corporate world: its method of operating, its culture and its demands, which will enable the mentee to start a professional relationship adapted to the corporate world.
• A fun approach to the corporate world: providing access to information on the activities of companies and contact with employees in a variety of business sectors and illustrating, through immersion, the description of a business or activity sector.
• Skills development and career guidance support: the mentors assist the mentee with the construction of a professional development project whereby the mentee is able determine the best training courses to develop his/her skills. The mentors work with the student to help them decide what classes to take and diploma to pursue, and what company would be interested to hire them after their studies.

The Grasp My Future program operates around two major meetings supplemented by individual mentoring sessions:

• A launch evening: the first meeting of the year, bringing together all mentors and mentees. In 2008 and 2009, this evening was held in November at the Louvre.
• A human resources workshop day at Deloitte’s office: this session brings together mentors and mentees for a series of workshops. Volunteer employees are mobilized to offer numerous workshops to mentees: drafting CVs, practice interviews, access to the E-Learning center to test their level of English, and presentations of Deloitte’ businesses. Since 2008, this day of workshops has been held during the student’s Spring holidays.

Outside of these two major events, the mentors and mentees meet on a more informal basis in line with the mentees needs. Each mentee is at a different stage in the development of his/her professional development project. Needs will therefore differ from one mentee to another and the frequency of meetings will vary depending on the “study point” at which the mentee finds him/herself.

The French mentoring is quite the same as we did in London with the students we met, but with a continuous relationship all along the year.
Mentoring provides the Deloitte volunteers with satisfaction in a number of areas, including:

• Participating in a civic initiative within Deloitte’s corporate social responsibility framework, with the support of Executive Management
• Committing to an association directly at their place of work, rather than having to travel off-site to participate
• Getting involved alongside other Deloitte employees, of all grades and from all departments
• Sharing experience and communicating know-how to the younger generations

Feedback from students is very encouraging and helpful:

“I’m proud of making it to the end. It was difficult, but I learned a lot and developed more efficient working methods… At the beginning of the course two years seems long, but it goes so quickly you don’t see time pass. I’m glad it’s finished, but it’s really a worthwhile experience.”

“This was a powerful human experience, with several important encounters that helped me progress. It was a difficult experience, but it enabled me to see that we can push beyond our limits. After these two years, I feel more mature and stronger. However, the stress is still there with the beginning of the exams…”

We are now planning for the new tutoring session, with new students and mentees, which will officially start at the end of October. At the same time, we are developing a partnership with a suburban college. The kick-off event will be held at the end of September and we are really eager to start this partnership!

We look forward to sharing with you how these initiatives progress!

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Charlotte Jaffré is a supervisor in the Deloitte France audit practice and holds a master’s degree from University Paris Dauphine with a specialization in accounting and finance. She is also a Deloitte21 Fellow.

Deloitte21: The OK! project and Deloitte Finland mentors are ready!

My Deloitte21 placement, the OK! project, is about to start its fourth consecutive class. Our aim is to improve unemployed young immigrants’ work readiness skills and provide them with employment opportunities. The program was initiated in response to the demand for more skilled workers and the need to ensure immigrant youth are integrated into Finnish society. I serve on the project steering committee, train the youth, and now for the first time will serve as a mentor for some of the youngsters.

The program consists of work-readiness skills training and an internship. This is the first time we have included mentoring into the curriculum. Every one of the youngsters will get a Deloitte professional who serves as their mentor during this 14-week journey. As mentors, we provide guidance,  career planning, and answer those questions that might puzzle youngsters facing their first day at their internship company. We are aiming to create an open and trustworthy dialog between the participants and their mentors.

I am very pleased by how many Deloitte volunteers signed up for this task. I think this is a great example of Deloitte employees’ activeness in the local communities. For us, it’s not just words but actual hands-on volunteering and the willingness to put yourself out there!

The recruitment is about to start shortly and the program will launch early November as the youngsters arrive to Deloitte House where the training is held. I am confident that we will get a group of well-motivated students, as word has travelled among the youth that this is a truly unique opportunity for them.

I have been working with the OK! project for 3 years now, but have more energy and excitement than ever to make this a successful and life-changing experience for these youngsters, and I can say the same for my fellow mentors too! I will keep you posted on how my project moves along.

If you are interested in learning more visit the OK! project website on Deloitte.com.

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Mia Liimo joined Deloitte Finland in 2004. Mia is a Marketing Advisor and leads Deloitte Finland’s Community Agenda, serves as the Corporate Responsibility Portfolio Manager, and is a Deloitte21 Fellow.

Deloitte21: Working with Junior Achievement's MESE program in Japan

I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to meet the Deloitte21 Fellows from all over the world last May in London. After sharing the wonderful experiences together during the workshop, I felt inspired by other Fellows and empowered to move our Deloitte21 program forward here in Japan.

After careful consideration, our Deloitte21 program project team decided to focus our efforts on assisting the MESE (Management and Economic Simulation Exercise) by Junior Achievement. We believe that the MESE program aligns well with the Deloitte21 mission of assisting underserved youth in developing 21st century skills.

MESE is a computer-simulated program developed by Junior Achievement. In the program, students assume the roles of corporate managers, and make production and marketing decisions for an imaginary product called Eco-Pen. During the simulation, students decide on pricing, amount of production, advertising cost, capital investment, and R&D expense. They analyze industry reports, balance sheets, profit and loss statements and market conditions before making their decisions and submitting them to the facilitator. The most successful teams will be those that best balance supply and demand at the highest level of production and price. The purpose of this program is to develop basic skills needed for social life, such as decision-making, courage to express different opinions from others, and acceptance of cultural diversity.

Over the past few months, we have been working closely with Junior Achievement to develop more effective ways to promote the MESE program to high schools all over Japan. Our objective is to raise awareness of these necessary skills that students will need to succeed in the 21st century economy to both students and their teachers through the promotion of the MESE program.

In order for our team to better understand the MESE process, several weeks ago Ms. Yoriko Kuroki, Director from Junior Achievement, facilitated an MESE simulation for our Deloitte21 team, enabling us to experience the program in action.

Nine employees from different divisions participated in the activity. We were divided into three teams -- each team, or “company” was given a name of a major manufacturer. Our goal was to market a fictitious product called an “Eco-Pen.” By default, the pricing for each Eco-Pen was set at $30.  In the first round, each company had to decide on its initial selling price based upon the business information provided, and compete with other companies. The intent of this exercise was to provide the teams with a realistic market situation.

One team dropped the price to increase their sales volume, another raised the price to increase their profit margin. Our team decided not to change the price from the default. We obtained the performance results (Management and Performance Index) calculated by a computer application on the facilitator’s PC with the prices that each company set.  Based upon the results, we analyzed the data and made the subsequent decisions hoping to obtain higher performance results. We repeated the process several times which included adjusting the amount of production, advertising cost, capital investment, and R&D expense as well. 

The simulation lasted about two hours, and to my surprise, my team won with the highest performance score!  It was really interesting to see that one company never recovered from the bottom ranking, even after several rounds.

Even accounting professionals like ourselves, with real-world experience working with clients were very excited participating in the simulation, and each of us found ourselves engaged in heated discussions as the game progressed.

According to Ms. Kuroki, “The key learning from the program for students is that decision-making is often accompanied by the result and the responsibility.  In the near future, students will face numerous situations in which they have to make a decision including choosing their future career path.”  She also said that if students could make decisions by themselves, they would take the responsibility and could accept the result.

As the next step, we are planning to develop marketing tools, such as brochures and promotional video clips, which will encourage teachers to use the program in their school curriculum. As the program is implemented, we believe that MESE will be more effective if facilitated by Deloitte professionals who have broader business knowledge and experiences. Therefore, we plan to select professionals who are willing to contribute to their alma maters by promoting the program and facilitating it as a touch point.  We hope that the schools will benefit from the presence of our professionals and in turn, our professionals will feel the sense of fulfillment from their contribution. By taking this approach, we anticipate that the program will continue and grow. We are really excited to meet high school students through this program!

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Shinako Matsuzaki is a Certified Public Accountant and joined Deloitte in the US in 2006 where she performed accounting and auditing functions for major corporate clients. Shinako moved to Tokyo in April 2009 and is currently a Senior Consultant in Enterprise Risk Services as well as a Deloitte 21 Fellow.