Community development Skills IBM made a groundbreaking commitment and released a global plan in October 2021 to provide 30 million people of all ages with new skills needed for the jobs of tomorrow by 2030. This ambitious initiative kicked off with more than 170 new academic and industry partnerships, utilizing IBM’s existing programs and career-building platforms to expand access to education and in-demand technical roles. Partnerships extend to NGOs as well, particularly those focused on underrepresented and historically disadvantaged communities. IBM’s combined education initiatives reached 3.5 million participants in 2021 via IBM SkillsBuild, STEM for Girls, our Global University Programs, P-TECH, free courses offered on edX and Coursera, Cognitive.ai, IBM training, and other initiatives. IBM SkillsBuild IBM SkillsBuild is a free, digital training program that helps students and adults develop skills, explore career options, and connect to potential job opportunities, regardless of their background or education. As of 2022, IBM SkillsBuild operates in 159 countries, offering over 1,000 courses in 19 languages in technical disciplines such as cybersecurity, AI, quantum computing, or data analysis, as well as workplace skills. Participants can earn IBM-branded digital credentials to certify their relevant skills, and a global network of 90 nonprofit partners helps connect learners with local job opportunities. Most learners start with no experience and can be ready to apply for IT jobs within six months through project-based learning and mentoring support. As of February 2022, 1.72 million students and job seekers worldwide have joined IBM SkillsBuild and completed nearly 4 million learning hours. Teachers also access additional resources to help lead hands-on projects and classroom discussions, as well as an educator dashboard to track students’ progress. STEM for Girls STEM for Girls is an initiative launched in India to improve education and career pathways for girls in schools. To date, the program has impacted 200,000 girls. Girls receive digital literacy, coding, and technology skills, and career development support through mentors. We have established baseline measures and have some early positive indicators, such as increased excitement about STEM and increased confidence for participants. The program has recently been expanded to Taiwan and Italy. University programs IBM Global University Programs builds a synergistic relationship between academia and industry. IBM is providing technology, supporting research, and creating assets to advance relevant skills for today’s workforce. To date, we have more than 900,000 participating students across 10,000 universities, offering over 334 specialized academic courses. – The IBM Academic Initiative provides students and faculty at accredited institutions with self-service access to select IBM resources at no charge for classroom and noncommercial research purposes. Participants completed over 67,000 learning hours in 2021. – The IBM Skills Academy offers online “train the trainer” sessions to faculty members, to help empower college and university students with high-demand technology skills. In 2021, 87,000 participants completed 6.5 million learning hours. – IBM University Awards supports basic research, curriculum innovation, and educational assistance through monetary and in-kind awards in areas fundamental to innovation and strategic imperatives to IBM. We distributed 99 awards in 2021, valued at $11 million. – The IBM University Guest Lectures program provides IBM Academic Ambassadors (technical subject matter experts) to speak on topics in their expertise in university settings. These free lectures are available in the classroom, virtually and on demand. Our experts provided over 66,000 hours of guest lectures in 2021. IBM also continues to invest in the IBM-HBCU Quantum Center education and research initiative with historically Black colleges and universities. Since its launch in 2020, the initiative has grown to include 23 HBCUs across the United States, with more than 500 participating faculty, researchers, and students. In 2021, IBM also announced it will partner with more than 20 HBCUs to establish Cybersecurity Leadership Centers to build a more diverse US cyber workforce. 31 IBM 2021 ESG Report