LAS VEGAS, Oct. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- JiveWorld14 -- From the stage of its annual customer and partner conference, Jive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: JIVE) today unveiled a global initiative dedicated to strengthening the pathway to professional careers in technology for youth from underserved communities through its new Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action. Called "Jive for Jobs: Supporting Opportunity Youth," the Commitment further extends Jive's employee-led volunteer and community action program – JiveGives – as well as the company's longstanding support for Clinton Global Initiative and its member communities.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has long prioritized youth employment as one of the key issues for her work at the Clinton Foundation, and says she believes business-led initiatives will play a critical role in addressing this important economic challenge.

"This has been a priority for us because six years after the financial crash, many young people are still struggling," said Secretary Clinton. "In fact, one of the most terrifying statistics is that nearly six million young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are out of school and out of work. For those who don't get a college education or even high school, most doors just won't open no matter how hard they knock."

In June, Secretary Clinton introduced Job One–  a major set of commitments focused on improving job pathways for youth in the United States, specifically asking businesses to 1) expand training, hiring or mentoring opportunities for youth within their companies, and 2) become advocates in the business community on the compelling business case for engaging youth.

"Nearly six million young Americans are out of school and out of work, with a staggering 75 million young people unemployed globally," said Elisa Steele, EVP Marketing and Products at Jive. "Despite enormous talent and motivation, many of these individuals lack access to higher education and a path to careers that can provide a living wage. Through the Clinton Global Initiative and partnerships we've forged with strategic nonprofits focused on bridging the opportunity divide between opportunity youth and employers, we believe that working together we can create a lasting and sustainable impact."

Jive becomes the sixteenth organization to formalize a Commitment to Action to the Clinton Foundation's Job One effort, and the fourth technology provider alongside Microsoft, Salesforce and Symantec. Other participants currently include JP Morgan Chase, Corning, EY, Marriott and Gap Inc.

Scope of "Jive for Jobs: Supporting Opportunity Youth" Commitment

Through this Commitment, Jive seeks to address the issue of limited opportunity for young people in underserved communities seeking careers in technology – a competitive industry with highly skilled professionals. To this end, it has partnered with two organizations dedicated to advancing this cause:

• Year Up Bay Area. With twelve locations nationwide, Year Up is a one-year, intensive IT training program that provides low-income young adults, from ages 18 to 24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, corporate internships and support. Within four months of completing the program, 85 percent of graduates are either employed or attending college full time. Since its founding in 2000, Year Up has served more than 10,000 young adults and has provided interns to more than 250 corporate partners across the company.
• Appleseeds Academy. Jive also extended the reach of its Commitment internationally through a partnership with Appleseeds Academy in Israel. Established in 2000, Appleseeds Academy is focused on reducing social disparities in Israel by providing accessibility to information and technology to youth (currently more than 1,000 active participants from 17 communities) located in Israel's social and geographic peripheries. The organization specializes in the initiation, management and operation of technological programs throughout Israel, combined with socially oriented training adapted for each sector, population and age group.

Leveraging the framework of programs and activities implemented by its partners, Jive will contribute the time and expertise of its leadership team and employees to support a range of high-quality, locally relevant and future-thinking career training programs. In particular, these will involve long-term mentoring of individual students, hosting students on site at Jive offices, participating in youth hackathon events and providing Jive employee volunteers for an ongoing series of professional development events.

"Jive is the world's leading provider of modern communication and collaboration solutions – enabling people to work better together is our core mission. Our Commitment to foster youth employment is a natural extension for our company and our employees in supporting the next generation of corporate and community leadership," said Elisa Steele, EVP Marketing and Products at Jive. "We believe providing talented young people with access to opportunity, real-world jobs skills training and hands-on work experiences will make a real difference in their lives and in local communities."

Extending Jive's Shared Mission with Clinton Global Initiative

Jive announced its new Commitment to Action today at JiveWorld14. Many of Jive's customers and partners – nearly 40 organizations – are also members of Clinton Global Initiative and were well represented at the event. Given its shared mission with many of these organizations, Jive used the opportunity to encourage these businesses and their employees to join Jive's commitment to action in improving opportunity youth employment.

Jive's Commitment expands upon the company's longstanding support for the Clinton Global Initiative and its mission. For nearly five years, Jive software has powered the external online member community – CGI Connect – that enables CGI's members around the world to connect, communicate and collaborate. Jive also now supports CGI's newest online community – CGI U Connect – which brings together CGI University student members from around the world.

"Jive has been a tremendous partner to Clinton Global Initiative for many years," said Madhuri Kommareddi, Director of Program Development, Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Clinton Foundation. "We are pleased Jive is making a formal Job One Commitment to Action to advance youth employment alongside some of our other members." 

Jive's Commitment to Action was announced today at JiveWorld14, the premier conference for modern communication and collaboration, attended by more than 1,600 Jive customers, developers, thought leaders and technology partners across several industries. This year's program focuses on how people and organizations can work better together and gain competitive advantage through collaborative workstyles. JiveWorld14 offers more than 60 breakout sessions and hands-on training workshops about topics such as advanced community management, customer and partner communities and internal collaboration.  Jive also introduced today the latest version of its internal communications and collaboration platform. For the complete list of JiveWorld14 news, please visit the Jive Software News Room.

The conference is sponsored by leading technology and service providers such as Diamond sponsors Cognizant and PwC; Platinum sponsors 7Summits, Cisco and Okta; and Gold sponsors Accenture, Box, Bunchball, JCS Consulting and Social Edge Consulting. To see the complete list of sponsors, please visit https://jiveworld.jivesoftware.com/sponsors/, and for more information, follow @JiveWorld or #JiveWorld on Twitter.

About Clinton Global Initiative

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 180 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 3,100 commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

About Jive Software

Jive (Nasdaq: JIVE) is the leading provider of modern communication and collaboration solutions for business. Recognized as a leader by the industry's top analyst firms in multiple categories, Jive enables employees, partners and customers to work better together. More information can be found at www.jivesoftware.com or the Jive News Blog.

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SOURCE Jive Software