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You're Hired! BizAcademy Launched By Salesforce.com/foundation To Support Entrepreneurship And Summer Jobs For Teens

You're Hired! BizAcademy Launched By Salesforce.com/foundation To Support Entrepreneurship And Summer Jobs For Teens

Published 06-20-05

Submitted by Salesforce.com

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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Salesforce Foundation's fundamental mission is to enable community success and build the capacity of nonprofit organizations. As the leader in integrating philanthropy and business, the Foundation has pioneered the 1/1/1 model for corporate philanthropic change. This model delivers 1 percent of salesforce.com's product to the nonprofit community, 1 percent of founding equity to community programs and 1 percent of employee working hours to volunteerism. The Foundation has built a new model to support how corporations can more deeply serve the communities in which they operate. The Foundation also strives to better the lives of youth by supporting technology and educational programs in underserved communities both in the U.S. and abroad.

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