Deloitte touches 8,75,000 lives

New Delhi, 27 November 2015: Deloitte today celebrated the 13th annual edition of its unique, employee-driven community involvement programme for social causes – the Impact Day. This year, nearly 32,000 Deloitte professionals participated in over 160 community projects across 13 cities, investing an entire workday to undertake activities that impact 8,75,000 lives. As part of this initiative, Deloitte today also introduced its ‘Courageous Principals’ programme to 150 school principals.

 “Over the past 13 years, Deloitte, as part of its community involvement strategy, has focused on education and employability, which are two major areas of concern and opportunity in India today. The next wave of socio-economic change as well as opportunities of growth is for businesses to invest their skills back into the community. Businesses that volunteer their time and expertise towards educating them are investing in their own future workforce, as well as the socio-economic development of India,” said SV Nathan, Senior Director and Chief Talent Officer, Deloitte India. 

Education and employability continue to be key areas of focus this year for Deloitte. On Impact Day, more than 80% of projects were conducted in schools, colleges, and NGOs, and centered on soft skills and curriculum development, library setup, parental counselling, and infrastructure enhancements.

In September 2015, 60 principals from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana attended the Courageous Principals workshop at DU: The Leadership Center in India, Hyderabad. A programme conceptualized and launched by Deloitte in the United States, Courageous Principals has been successful in extending Deloitte's time tested leadership development framework to build capacity and leadership capabilities within the public school system. In India, while enrollment rates at the primary education levels are encouraging, the challenge of preventing a large number of children from quitting at the high school level remains. Adapted for India, Courageous Principals seeks to address these issues by developing leaders in our school systems. By focusing on the principals, it allows for a multiplier effect – a small group of principals can reach a large group of teachers, who in turn reach thousands of students.

Extended to an additional 150 principals in Hyderabad today, the programme comprising Deloitte’s robust leadership development curriculum with a focus on relationship-building, communication, and influence connects principals from school systems across the country with eminent leaders in business, the public sector, and not-for-profit organizations for a series of learning experiences that produce breakthrough thinking and action supporting systemic change.

“It is exciting to see Courageous Principals expanding globally and specifically in India,” said Bruce Stewart, Regional Managing Partner, Deloitte LLP. “This is our investment into capability building for generations to come, and based on the overwhelming positive feedback received from the principals, I am confident that this programme will truly make an impact that matters in India and across the globe.”

It is noteworthy to mention that Deloitte’s Impact Day has been recognized consecutively for seven times by the Limca Book of Records for the highest number of community service hours by a corporate in India on a single day.