Citi and Citi Foundation Expand Global Job Skills-Building Initiative to Improve Employability and Economic Opportunity for Underserved Communities

New York – Citi and the Citi Foundation today announced an expansion of the global Pathways to Progress initiative, led by a Citi Foundation investment of $100 million to improve employability and economic opportunity around the world.

Through Pathways to Progress, young people become equipped with the skills and confidence they need to make a positive impact in their lives and their communities, and also access employment opportunities to succeed in rapidly changing economies.

Since 2014, the Citi Foundation has invested approximately $200 million globally in Pathways to Progress programming. By 2023, the Citi Foundation expects to cumulatively impact over a million young people around the world with a total investment of $300 million. In the U.S., the program has served approximately 100,000 Black and Latinx youth over the past three years, and expanded efforts will focus more intently on employment skills and entrepreneurship programs serving communities of color.

"COVID-19 has exacerbated the existing wealth and opportunity gaps facing communities of color and other communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, making an already uneven playing field that much worse in terms of employment and job prospects," said Michael Corbat, CEO, Citi. "With our expansion of Pathways to Progress, we are maximizing the training resources and opportunities we can provide to hardworking people, and ensuring that everyone has equal access to jobs and the economic opportunity and security that comes with them."

As part of this commitment, Citi is strengthening its in-house work experience programs—from summer internships and full-time analyst and associate roles, to on-campus programs and opportunities with Citi® University Partnerships in Innovation & Discovery (CUPID) Program, which engages diverse students on a range of innovation projects across the Company. These efforts will provide 10,000 young adults over the next three years with the opportunity to gain work experience and develop their careers at Citi.

Pathways to Progress also engages thousands of Citi employee volunteers, who lend their time and talent to serve as mentors, coaches and role models to many young people globally. Over the next three years, Citi expects 10,000 colleagues to volunteer to mentor and coach youth on their paths to economic success.

Examples of Pathways to Progress programming include:

North America

• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with NPower, including an additional $4 million investment, to help advance the careers of young Black and Latinx women in the technology field in cities including New York, N.Y.; Jersey City, N.J.; Dallas, Texas; San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area, Calif.; and St. Louis, Mo.
• Continuing Citi Foundation's partnership with Echoing Green, including an additional $1 million investment, to create a more inclusive social entrepreneurship sector and support Fellows who represent and work with communities of color in the U.S.
• Launching a new Citi Foundation partnership with Public Allies to offer young adults of color across the U.S. the opportunity to serve in grassroots nonprofit organizations and enroll in a skills-building and leadership curriculum
• Expanding Citi Foundation's support to engage college students from low-income households to participate in paid internships at cultural institutions, including Brooklyn Museum and Park Avenue Armory in New York, N.Y.; Perez Art Museum in Miami, Fla.; Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, Calif.
• Continuing Citi Foundation's support of Management Leadership of Tomorrow to equip low-income, first-generation students with the skills to succeed academically and prepare for leadership roles in the private and public sectors in New York, N.Y.; San Francisco, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; and Washington, D.C.
• Joining New York Jobs CEO Council alongside the largest employers in the New York area, with the commitment to collectively hire 100,000 traditionally underserved New Yorkers by 2030

Latin America

• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with Laboratoria in Peru, Brazil and Mexico to strengthen training and skills programs for young women entering the technology field
• Continuing Citi Foundation's partnership with International Organization for Migration to provide young Venezuelan migrants living in Colombia and Peru with access to education, jobs and social support
• Expanding Citibanamex's partnership with 10 non-profit organizations in Mexico to provide job opportunities for low-income youth, and through the Impulso Citibanamex program, provide opportunities for internship and analyst roles for recent graduates
• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with Trust for the Americas to create a new Innovation Lab in Trinidad & Tobago and expand their lab in Jamaica, where young entrepreneurs will be able to access technology to prototype their business ventures and receive training in financial literacy, business modeling, digital skills, computer science and mentorship
• Continuing Citi Foundation's partnership with Global Fairness Initiative to provide low-income youth in Argentina, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru and Mexico with an employability skills curriculum, mentorship, and job placement support

Europe, Middle East and Africa

• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with the International Rescue Committee to support refugees and displaced youth in Cameroon, Germany, Jordan, Lebanon and Nigeria in opening and expanding their own businesses
• Continuing Citi Foundation's partnership with Technoserve to support female entrepreneurs in Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania with digital and financial resources to help sustain their businesses and communities
• Launching the first apprenticeship program in Citi's London office for young people leaving school to pursue formal training and job opportunities
• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with Perspektiva to improve the employability skill sets of disabled Russian youth and connect them to job opportunities in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ryazan
• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with XLP to support young Londoners living in areas that experience high levels of anti-social behavior and gang violence and provide skills development programs and employment opportunities

Asia Pacific

• Expanding Citi Foundation's partnership with the United Nations Development Programme through Youth Co:Lab to support young social entrepreneurs in more than 25 countries and territories across the region to start and grow businesses that accelerate the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
• Launching Citi's commitment in India to deliver demand-driven skills training to 200,000 low-income youth and provide at least 70% of these young people with employment opportunities across India's growth industries
• Continuing Citi's support for paid internships through Hong Kong Council of Social Services and Kyung Hee University in South Korea to provide university students the opportunity to gain work experiences at nonprofit organizations
• Launching Citi Foundation's partnership with AIME in Australia to help Indigenous high school youth further their education or transition to job training and employment
• Continuing Citi Foundation's partnership with the Philippine Business for Education through First Future, which supports the first careers of K-12 graduates by connecting education with concrete economic opportunities
• Launching Citi Foundation's partnership with Sodateage Net to provide online career counseling, employability trainings and entrepreneurship support for underserved youth in Japan

Pathways to Progress, which first launched in 2014, is a flagship program of the Citi Foundation. The Citi Foundation, together with Citi Inclusive Finance and the Citi Impact Fund, work as part of the Global Public Affairs' Community Investing and Development team, which aims to enhance positive social impact and financial innovations that benefit underserved communities around the world. Through equity investing, lending and grant making, Citi and the Citi Foundation are working in new ways to effect positive and meaningful change in the communities around the world.

In Pathways to Progress: Insights from Six Years of Programming, the Citi Foundation summarizes the learnings and insights gathered that have helped inform the programming and evolution of this initiative.