A global community

Through internships, we also open the door to our part of the corporate world in Switzerland. Today, 20 former Powercoders work for UBS, either on fixed contracts or as interns in various parts of the firm, including Group Technology. One of them, is Tenzin Gyadhotsang.

“I remember the day I was accepted as if it were yesterday,” he said with a smile. “It was the 9 January and I was so happy to be the first Powercoders participant to receive a permanent position at UBS.”

As a result of the partnership, individuals in need develop the skills to support their own autonomy, Swiss society benefits from skilled tech workers and reduced welfare costs, and our firm diversifies its talent pipeline with fantastic new talent – the Powercoders organization, its participants, the volunteers and UBS all benefit from this collaboration.  

Project Entrepreneur, a UBS program designed to level the playing field for female founders, launched the Democratizing the Friends & Family Round program to award USD 25,000 grants and virtual coaching and skills building to 40 female founders of color leading early-stage, high-growth companies. 

Women entrepreneurs of color have historically been denied equitable access to capital of all forms. Black and Latinx female founders receive less than one percent of venture capital, but the funding gaps start far before founders of color prepare to raise their first venture round. Nearly 40 percent of early-stage entrepreneurs raise initial funding through a Friends and Family investment round. However, because of the racial wealth gap in the US – the disparity in median wealth between people of different races – many entrepreneurs of color do not have access to a network that can provide them with the necessary funding. As a result, entrepreneurs are prevented from testing their innovations, hiring key talent, and having the runway to grow and raise future investments.

Any time you get that support of people who believe in you and
want to contribute to that journey, it makes a huge difference,
and I am just so thankful.

After receiving more than 12,000 applications to the program, which was launched in partnership with Hello Alice, a multichannel platform that helps businesses start and grow, 65 UBS volunteers reviewed submissions to arrive at the 40 finalists from across the US. Some of the winning companies included STEAM-focused gaming for girls, artificial-intelligence-powered beauty brands, med-tech innovations, and artisanal food products.

“It’s hard building a company from scratch,” said grant recipient Dr. Christine Izuakor, Founder & CEO of Cyber Pop-up. ”Any time you get that support of people who believe in you and want to contribute to that journey, it makes a huge difference, and I am just so thankful.” 

Since 2015, Project Entrepreneur has supported female founders with programs to increase their investment readiness, connect them to the networks and resources they need to grow and scale their companies, and expand the ecosystem of support that can help women entrepreneurs succeed. To date, the program has trained 1,800 female founders with alumni going on to raise more than USD 60 million in capital.

COVID-19 restrictions made it possible for employee volunteers to get involved in projects outside of their own locations. How? All the thirteen markets in APAC joined forces and were connected virtually to support more than 60 community non-profit-organizations, reaching out to the underserved youth and children whose learning opportunities were hard hit by the pandemic. 

It is truly inspiring to see the socially and economically vulnerable children and youth encouraged by UBS volunteers to take a step forward. Many are deprived of the opportunities that we may take for granted.

In total, the APAC 2021 Regional Volunteering Experience (RVE) ran more than 30 volunteering events on 15 days, during which 635 employees were involved and contributed over 1,000 hours to help communities across Asia Pacific. The largest and most comprehensive staff volunteering program to date, it offered a variety of volunteering opportunities, including a pen-pal cultural exchange program between Hong Kong and Japan (which encouraged children to learn about other cultures and languages), a communication skills workshop with teenagers in the Philippines, a toy and book appeal in Australia, read a story a day on international literacy day in India, and virtual activities with school students and senior citizens in Singapore.  

“It is truly inspiring to see the socially and economically vulnerable children and youth encouraged by UBS volunteers to take a step forward. Many are deprived of the opportunities that we may take for granted,” said Kumiko Hori, Asia Pacific Head of Community Impact. 

The Stella Virium Foundation promotes life-long learning, education and the acquisition of new skills, primarily for people who might be otherwise excluded from these opportunities. Since UBS began working with the Foundation in 2014, 300 people have graduated from the program, which has supported participants to re-enter employment or change the direction of their career. And 155 participants benefited from the program in 2021. 

The Foundation helps people to understand the requirements associated with working in a business environment, including multinational corporations, as well as to acquire and develop the skills needed to succeed in that environment. "I believe that this is a great opportunity for people who do not work in corporations to find out what work in a large international company looks like and what is needed to get there,” explained one of the volunteers.