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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
6.20.2005 ET
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You're Hired! BizAcademy Launched By Salesforce.com/foundation To Support Entrepreneurship And Summer Jobs For Teens
Salesforce.com/foundation and the BizWorld Foundation Offer Intensive Program for High School Students, Teaching Commerce and CRM Basics
(CSRwire) SAN FRANCISCO - Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the technology and
market leader in on-demand customer relationship management (CRM), is
providing hands-on support and training for the business leaders of
tomorrow through its Foundation's newest program. High school students
participating in the BizAcademy program, opening today, will have four
days to prototype their ideas, pitch to venture capitalists, design,
manufacture, market and sell their products - and they'll all be rewarded
with cash, prizes, and great summer jobs.
Salesforce.com/foundation, the leader in integrating philanthropy and
business, provided a $25,000 grant to the BizWorld Foundation, which
provides schools with learning programs that teach students the basics of
business, entrepreneurship and money management, to develop the initial
curriculum and pilot the program. They will be co-presenting the
BizAcademy program from June 20-23 at salesforce.com's San Francisco
headquarters. The "mini-MBA"-style program will teach entrepreneurial
skills and CRM basics to 24 business-minded high school students.
During the four-day workshop, students will break into teams to design,
manufacture and sell a number of office-related products such as desk
accessories and picture frames, using Salesforce to manage the process. In
addition, they will develop marketing materials including TV commercials to
help promote their products. Local business leaders, including Benioff and
Tim Draper, Silicon Valley venture capitalist and BizWorld founder, will
give students the lowdown on everything from raising money to advertising
and selling their products effectively. In addition, through a
partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District's
School-to-Career program, all 25 graduates will be placed in summer
internships following the program.
On "Market Day," to be held June 23, the students will offer their
products for sale to the thousands of people who visit the lobby of
salesforce.com's headquarters at 1 Market Street in San Francisco.
The winning team will be determined by net profits raised. Each individual
winning team member has the potential of earning up to $500 each. In
addition, each participating student will receive a paid summer internship
at one of several top Bay Area employers, including salesforce.com,
University of California/San Francisco, OutCast Communications and
Foundation Systems.
"We're thrilled to offer these students a unique opportunity to bolster
their entrepreneurial instincts and learn what it takes to launch a
successful business," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com,
and chairman of the Foundation. "This program is a perfect example of our
model for integrated philanthropy in action. In addition, our employees
will be volunteering to coach students in their areas of expertise. Armed
with new knowledge, the students will be responsible for everything from
raising VC funds to counting up the money from market day. The program
provides young people with the tools they need to be successful in
business and in life. Best of all, the program provides much coveted and
hard-to-find summer jobs for these young people to practice their skills
and be mentored by other professionals at leading Bay Area employers."
"We believe the best way to learn about business is to actually run a
business, which is what each BizAcademy student will be doing," said Tim
Draper, founder and chairman of BizWorld Foundation, and managing partner
of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. "With the guidance of some of the Bay Area's
top entrepreneurs and executives, these students will find out what it
takes to become a high-caliber, productive and ethical business
leader."
The students will use salesforce.com's on-demand CRM solution to manage
their business planning, sales, marketing, and expense tracking processes.
Salesforce.com makes it easy for organizations and individuals to share and
manage business information, and to customize the solution to meet unique
business needs.
About salesforce.com/foundation
Salesforce.com/foundation is the leader in integrating philanthropy and
business. Through its goal of donating 1% of salesforce.com profits to the
community annually, 1% of equity to its programs and 1% of employee working
hours to community service, the Foundation is building a new model for
corporations to better serve the communities in which they operate. The
Foundation also strives to better the lives of youth by providing relevant
access to technology for youth in underserved communities both domestically
and abroad. The Foundation works with other corporations, youth development
agencies, and NGOs to create a society in which children, regardless of
socio- economic background, ethnicity or learning level, have access to
technology and understand how to use it to enhance their lives. Since July
2000, the Foundation has opened over 60 Community Technology Centers across
the globe serving nearly 50,000 youth and other community members; has
provided nearly 17, 000 hours of service to the community through
salesforce.com's 600 employee volunteers; and supports Salesforce.com in
its efforts to offer its award winning online customer relationship
management application to more than 400 qualified nonprofits globally
saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. It is the
recipient of the national 2003 Points of Awards Award for Excellence in
Corporate Community Service and the national 2003 U.S. Chamber of
Commerce's first annual Corporate Stewardship Award. More information is
available at http://www.salesforcefoundation.org.
NOTE: Salesforce.com is a registered trademark of, and sforce,
Customforce and Supportforce are trademarks of, salesforce.com, Inc., San
Francisco, California. Other names used may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
About BizWorld Foundation
The BizWorld Foundation is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, whose
mission is to challenge and engage students, across the cultural and
economic spectrum, through experiential learning programs that teach the
basics of business, entrepreneurship, and money management and promote
teamwork and leadership in the classroom. To date BizWorld has reached
over 100,000 students in all 50 states and 84 countries. For more
information, visit http://www.bizworld.org.
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