Partner Article

Coventry charity boosted by link with major global company

A global software company with headquarters in California has joined forces with a Coventry charity to inspire young people

A group of 20 leaders from customer relationship management (CRM) software company Salesforce UK joined members of the Positive Youth Foundation (PYF) at Hillfields Young Peoples Centre in Coventry for a day of learning and activities designed to share experiences.

The two organisations shared perspectives on the importance of community support and using personal backgrounds, unique qualities and challenges as strengths, building on a link that was first established as part of Business in the Community’s (BITC) Seeing is Believing programme in May.

In addition to Q&A sessions, inspiring presentations from Salesforce employees and teambuilding exercises, the company also heard about PYF’s work in the Coventry community from the young people involved in its programmes.

Salesforce was founded in 1999 and has offices across the globe with UK headquarters in London. Its cloud-based CRM platform supports organisations of all sizes with marketing, sales, and customer service.

Brandon Love, Regional Sales Director of Salesforce UK, said: “PYF and Salesforce share a lot of core values, and speaking to the young people here today has shown that there is no reason why their ambition, sense of community and hardworking ethos couldn’t be applied to almost any industry, but especially computing.

“The world is digital, and with so many opportunities in the tech industries, these young people really have an edge over the competition should they want to pursue a career in IT or CRM solutions, and we are thrilled to be supporting them with sessions like today.” PYF specialises in assisting young people across Coventry into positive destinations through targeted support provision in the areas of education, health, creative and social-engagement programmes.

PYF members Jarrod Adams and Aicha Bamba took part in the session. Jarrod, 18, said: “It was great to hear about the kinds of things Salesforce do and the values that are important to them, and will be really useful and inspiring for I when I enter the working world.

Aicha, 16, added: “Today has helped me think about the things that are important in any career and also gave me an insight into the world of work, but it’s also been great to show a large company the kinds of projects we have been working on with PYF and our potential as individuals.”

Zahra Bahrololoumi, Executive Vice President and CEO of Salesforce UK and Ireland, said: “It was inspiring to hear from a fantastic group of young people today and find out more about PYF after first joining forces six months ago, and it’s links like this that are really important to the community objectives and corporate identity of Salesforce.”

Rashid Bhayat, founder and chief executive of PYF, said: “Today has been a fantastic opportunity to hear some inspiring stories from some outstanding people to show our young people the kinds of things that can be achieved with the right attitude and the right network around you.

“To be able to also share some of our own work with Salesforce has been incredible and everyone at PYF is extremely grateful for the chance to share our projects with them. “I’d like to thank BITC for helping to set up this link and shining a spotlight on our work. The insight into what success means and how anyone can get there has been invaluable, and I hope we can extend this partnership with Salesforce for years to come.”

Heather Black, Coventry Strategic Partnerships Manager at Business in the Community, said: “It was such a pleasure to be part of the visit and to see in practice the impact that meaningful connections between business and community organisations can have. “I look forward to seeing the relationship between PYF and Salesforce develop and the outcomes for the young people in Coventry”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .