How SAP’s partnership with GBC-Education is reaping rewards
Case Studies
Katie Booth from the global software company talks about the benefits of working with us on new projects that combine our experience in both the global and local education and youth skills sectors.
SAP is a global leader in business and customer relation software solutions. The company also invests in education around the world, aware that knowledge is key to young people finding employment.
But even a world-leading company like SAP can benefit from expert guidance to help it understand the education and youth skills sectors, transform its approach, and build partnerships.
SAP joined the Global Business Coalition for Education in 2012 as a founding member. Over the years, we have worked closely with its global CSR (corporate social responsibility) team.
So when the company was preparing to launch a North America pilot of a program called Educate to Employ, it turned to us because of our proven track record at both global and local levels.
Katie Booth, SAP’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for the Americas, said: “We are a global company and we believe that education is the key to people finding successful pathways to employment. But before I worked with the Global Business Coalition for Education, I was struggling with how to bring a globally designed programme to life in a local market.”
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SAP launched Educate to Employ in 2023 to give youth the skills, knowledge, and values needed to excel in the digital economy. When SAP decided to roll out the program in the United States and Canada, it knew GBC-Education’s expertise could help to shape the company’s approach.
Booth said: “We brought in GBC-Education to support the project and help me find partnerships and organisations across the United States and Canada that might be fit for our new strategic direction. I was able to launch a program that was fully aligned to SAP’s global goals but also made sense for our local markets.”
GBC-Education was able to assist because of our in-house expertise and a vast network of more than 150 companies, nonprofits, experts, and thought leaders which inform our perspective on trends, needs, and challenges in education. Our Youth Skills and Employment Accelerator program – now in its third year – also engages youth-focused organizations in the US with common goals of equipping youth with skills for the future.
We helped SAP identify, evaluate, and vet potential Educate to Employ partners in North America. From dozens of candidates, a shortlist was developed of potential partners until the final decisions were made. This new collaboration will inform SAP’s education and future skills partnerships in North America through 2026.
Booth said: “We in the corporate space don’t have all the answers. The experience of working with the Global Business Coalition for Education has been fantastic because they have a deep understanding of the education ecosystem globally but also in the United States.”
Working with SAP’s executive team, we also helped them communicate this message to all levels of the company by holding corporate-wide employee sessions – resulting in education becoming a theme of the employee volunteer program.
Beyond this collaboration, SAP also participates in task forces, speaks at events, and contributes to other initiatives to upgrade impact for the business community, as a valued member of GBC-Education, including through the Youth Skills and Employment Accelerator.
Booth said: “[The Accelerator] builds an incredible bridge from corporate leaders, other philanthropists, people of all walks of life, to leaders who are in local communities building and executing programs.
“The program provided a really strong bridge of expertise to people that were doing the work every day on the ground. The discussions that happened in those meetings were really insightful for me to bring back to the leadership level of my company.”
GBC-Education members have access to our advisory services – a wide range of innovative resources and bespoke briefings for their corporate staff. Contact us to find out how GBC-Education can support your company’s education and impact goals.
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