‘BecomingX Ukraine’ – an online learning platform supported by Accenture and Amazon – is announced by Bear Grylls, supporting President Zelenskyy’s UNITED24 charity and helping Ukrainians realise their potential
London, 16th June 2023 – A new education platform called ‘BecomingX Ukraine’ is being developed to help Ukrainians build digital skills, enhance their employability prospects and gain the confidence to succeed. Initiated by the BecomingX Foundation, the charitable arm of learning and development company BecomingX, the project has been supported by Accenture and Amazon who have provided funding, resources and expertise.
BecomingX was co-founded by adventurer Bear Grylls who recently became an Ambassador for President Zelenskyy’s charity UNITED24, having visited the Ukrainian President in Kyiv in November 2022. BecomingX Ukraine is supporting UNITED24’s Education and Science programme and aims to equip Ukrainians around the world with the skills and confidence to succeed.
Bear Grylls, BecomingX co-founder and UNITED24 Ambassador, says:
"We have seen the incredible determination and resilience of the Ukrainian people and we want to do everything we can to help them realise their potential, despite the challenges they are facing. We're so proud to have. the support of great companies like Accenture and Amazon to help us develop BecomingX Ukraine, and we're forecer grateful for the insights of the inspiring people we have filmed, who share their experiences and advice to help others follow their dreams. We stand firmly behind UNITED24's education initiative, and if BecomingX Ukraine can help bring hope of a brighter future ahead, then it's something we can all be proud of."
BecomingX Ukraine will provide interactive courses in Ukrainian for adults on careers and digital skills, as well as equipping educators and parents with inspiring resources to support young Ukrainians. Ready-to-use lessons and activities for students focus on personal development topics such as ambition, resilience, mental health, creativity and problem-solving which are not part of the Ukrainian education system. Introduced in fluent Ukrainian by Bear Grylls, with the help of Ukrainian voice cloning company ‘Respeecher’, lessons for young Ukrainians feature insights from inspiring icons and engaging activities co-created with Ukrainian companies and people.
BecomingX is working with refugees to translate its film library into Ukrainian, allowing users to get insights from some of the world’s most inspiring and resilient people. Users will hear highly personal stories from military veterans, refugees, and people who have overcome severe adversities, as well as iconic stars like tennis star Roger Federer, Oscar winner Julia Roberts and Ukrainian boxing legend Wladimir Klitschko. Films and education content will also be shared with Ukraine’s online platform ‘DIIA Education’ as a collaboration between BecomingX and Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Other leading education organisations are supporting BecomingX Ukraine to provide free resources to users, including AI education leader CENTURY who provides English, math and science courses, online reference resources from Britannica, English language courses from Cambridge University and free TV streaming content in Ukrainian from Da Vinci Kids.
Yaroslava Gres, United24 Platform Coordinator, says:
"We are grateful to all the UNITED24 ambassadors for their constant support of Ukraine at this crucial moment in its history. The BecomingX Ukraine educational platform is a great example of how talented people can strengthen Ukraine at this pivotal moment. At the same time, this umbrella project is an opportunity to enhance fundraising efforts, support Ukraine, and keep Ukrainians' hope and faith alive; to let them continue learning, despite the war. We are very grateful for this fantastic project and happy to give an award from President Zelenskyy and UNITED24 to Bear and all the people who share our path."
Jean-Marc Ollagnier, CEO of Accenture for Europe, says:
"The enormous humanitarian tragedy in the heart of Europe continues to weigh on us. Accenture remains committed to supporting Ukrainians both at home and all over the world as they establish new lives, grain meaningful employment and start businesses. We are proud to partner with organisations like BecomingX as part of our global Skills to Succeed initiative, providing them with learning opportunities through digital skills courses to prepare them for sustainable futures."
John Boumphey, Amazon UK Country Manager, says:
"Since the start of the invasion, Amazon has committed more than $100m to help the people of Ukraine address both immediate and long term needs. Our support includes the donation of millions of critical relief products - from medical supplies, to books and devices to help Ukrainian children continue their education, as well as cloud computing support to help the government preserve vital Ukrainian government data. We were delighted to provide the seed funding for BecomingX Ukraine, as well as contributing digital skills content, case studies and operational support. Amazon stands with the people of Ukraine and we will continue to draw on our unique resources and logistics capabilities to help those impacted by the conflict."
According to the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency), 8.2m people have fled Ukraine with a further 5.9m internally displaced, representing 32% of the population. 40% of Ukrainian refugees are children and almost 70% of all Ukrainian children have been displaced. All have had their education disrupted. It is estimated that 50% of Ukrainian adults in the UK are currently unemployed, despite only 6.5% of working age adults being unemployed when they left Ukraine.
BecomingX Ukraine will launch in September 2023 and BecomingX Foundation is inviting other companies to contribute to the platform, and for individuals and organisations to donate to UNITED24’s Education and Science initiative at https://u24.gov.ua/donate/education.
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Resources
For more information, content and interviews, please contact:
Paul Gurney: media@becomingx.com T: (+44)7919485266
Notes for Editors
About BecomingX
BecomingX was set up with a singular purpose, to create a world where everyone can realise their potential. It does this through creating films with the world’s most inspiring and iconic people, developing inspiring education content to help people learn the skills at attitudes to thrive and through it’s registered charity BecomingX Foundation, set up to deliver BecomingX’s mission in lower-income countries and underserved communities. BecomingX is ‘B Corporation’, certified to meet the highest social and environmental standards. It has been awarded ‘Best for the world’ status and is the highest scoring education company in the UK.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent and innovation led company with 738,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Accenture Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients succeed and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
About United24
UNITED24 was launched by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the main platform for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. More than $350 million has been raised through donations from over 110 countries during 13 months of operation of the UNITED24 fundraising platform. UNITED24 ambassadors include singer and actress Barbra Streisand, actors Liev Schreiber, Mark Hamill, Katheryn Winnick, Ivanna Sakhno and Misha Collins, music band Imagine Dragon, Balenciaga art director Demna, film director Michel Hazanavicius, astronaut Scott Kelly, British adventurer Bear Grylls, historian Timoothy Snyder, businessman Richard Branson, country singer Brad Paisley, philosopher and economist Francis Fukuyama, Nobel laureates Paul Nurse, Edward Moser, and May-Britt Moser, as well as famous Ukrainian athletes, Andriy Shevchenko, Elina Svitolina, Oleksandr Usyk and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
About BecomingX Ukraine:
BecomingX Ukraine is a digital education platform for Ukrainian adults, educators, parents and students. Subscription is free and includes: