Sales Impact Academy Launches New Foundation To Create Career Paths For Marginalized People Worldwide

The Foundation will pave the way forward to a life-changing career in sales and go-to-market roles in tech companies for people across the globe

LONDON, May 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sales Impact Academy (SIA), the world's leading go-to-market learning platform, believes that there should never be a barrier to entry for those seeking a lucrative career in sales and go-to-market roles at fast-growing tech companies. With this in mind, the company has today announced the launch of the SIA Foundation. This Foundation will grant free go-to-market education, in the form of scholarships, to support job creation for thousands within marginalized populations.

The first of its kind, the SIA Foundation will enable anyone, across incredibly diverse backgrounds, to access completely free learning that will create a clear path to careers in the lucrative go-to-market profession - all that is needed is the drive and a web connection. While launching initially in the United States and the United Kingdom, as the company scales this program, it aims to see tens of thousands of people globally each year coming through the Foundation, creating a massive, worldwide human impact. 

"We want to ensure that everyone, regardless of where they come from, where they live, or the challenges they face, can learn core go-to-market skills through the SIA Foundation and then secure lucrative jobs at fast-growing tech companies," says Paul Fifield, CEO and co-founder of SIA. "We created the SIA Foundation to reach people who are unemployed or in low paying jobs, veterans, refugees, moms re-entering the workforce, young people who don't have access to university - everyone and anyone. Imagine it, we could upskill people in just 4-6 months and then help them secure a $50,000 or $60,000 base salary job with limitless room for growth. We can totally change lives this way." 

The Foundation's mission begins with the re-skilling of a new workforce and ends with employment at a leading technology company. SIA customers, who include the likes of HubSpot, GitHub, 6Sense, Gong, Klaviyo, and Rubrik, will be able to recruit directly from people who complete education programs via the SIA Foundation, ushering in a new, diverse wave of sales and go-to-market professionals. 

Fifield expands, "We will be creating learning pathways for front line roles like sales development representatives and customer success managers, but also for more technically-minded people who perhaps don't want to be customer-facing, in roles across the revenue operations and marketing functions. Here at Sales Impact Academy, we have created an infinitely scalable live learning solution for in-work professionals who are already in-role at the best tech companies in the world. We see it as our moral obligation to use this learning platform to give people from every background, and part of the world, equal access to a better future." 

The SIA Foundation was inspired by the Salesforce 1/1/1 model, in which the foundation owns 1% stock, 1% of corporate profits, and 1% of employee time is spent on the foundation.

"But I wanted to go one better," Fifield continues. "So, we doubled our contribution with a 2/2/2 model instead! 2% equity, 2% profit, and 2% employee time. The Foundation's stock is already worth seven figures and our employees will optionally spend up to 4 workdays a year working at the Foundation. I love the idea of embedding philanthropy into the very DNA of our company, so as the business rapidly scales, so too does the ability of our Foundation to change lives."

Head of HubSpot Ventures, Brandon Greer says, "We couldn't be prouder or more supportive of the SIA Foundation, created by our portfolio company Sales Impact Academy." He goes on to say, "not only are they waving the flag for the idea of business for good, but this foundation will change the lives of tens of thousands of people and create a highly diverse talent pool that will benefit our industry at large."

SIA as a company has seen significant growth within the last year – growing from 25 to 125 employees, from 82 to 260 customers, 500% YoY revenue growth, and securing a $22M round of funding last month. They hope to scale the SIA Foundation at a similar rate, starting with a smaller launch in the US and UK this year, but aiming to grant thousands of scholarships in 2023 and tens of thousands by 2024.

About Sales Impact Academy:

Sales Impact Academy is the world's leading go-to-market learning platform providing a continuous live learning solution for high-growth technology companies.  It has over 40 courses taught live by the biggest names in the industry on prospecting, sales, CS, marketing, and leadership.    

SIA supports the skills development of over 14,000 learners across 280 customers including HubSpot, Github, Gong, Klaviyo, Rubrik & Thoughtspot.

Over 70 instructors on the platform include people like Mark Roberge who was CRO at HubSpot, Sarah Brazier from Gong, Chris Voss (FBI's lead international hostage negotiator), Sam Nelson from Outreach, Dan Steinman from Gainsight, Elissa Fink former CMO of Tableau, and many others. 

Sales Impact Academy is backed by VCs Stage 2 Capital, MIT, HubSpot Ventures, and Emerge Education.

Contact: Holland Eichorn, holland@meetkickstand.com

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