Making a Measurable Difference

Corporate Citizenship at Accenture in IndiaFiscal 2015 Review

Overview

Corporate Governance

Skills to Succeed

Supply Chain

Our People

Environment

Table of Contents

Message from our leaders India is a nation of striking contrasts. At one end it has the world’s third-largest number of dollar billionaires and at the other it is home to a third of the world’s poor and hungry. With 1.2 billion people and the world’s fourth-largest economy, India is home to internationally known companies in information technology, pharmaceuticals, steel and space technology. With the largest and youngest workforce the world has ever seen, it is today recognized globally as a country with enormous potential.

A country of historic crossroads faces its own challenges. As one of the leading corporates with significant operations in this country, we have the opportunity of being a part of this fast-developing country and contributing positively to its growth. We engage and collaborate constructively with our government and non-government partners, clients, suppliers and employees to improve the ecosystem that will best influence the way India works and grows.

At the heart of all our corporate citizenship efforts, are our employees who are committed to driving change with innovative technologies, forging strategic partnerships and giving their time and money to resolve problems and transform communities.

Our Journey To 2020Moving forward, we will continue increasing our measurable impact in the communities in which we live and work. In this report, we reflect on fiscal 2015 across the five pillars of our corporate citizenship reporting strategy: Corporate Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Supply Chain and Our People.

In India, our focus will continue to be on helping youth acquire skills to succeed in the job market and to work towards empowering women entrepreneurs in the economically weaker sections of the society. We will also continue to concentrate on ways to minimize our own carbon footprint.

These complex issues require persistent efforts and collaborations across sectors to achieve sustainable impact. With support from our employees and partners, we are confident of bringing about a measurable impact at the ground level.

We look forward to partnering with you in the coming years.

Rekha M. Menon Chairman, Accenture in India

Anindya Basu Country Managing Director Accenture in India

Accenture at a GlanceAccenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000* people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.

At Accenture, corporate citizenship is central to our vision to improve the way the world works and lives, and it reflects our core values. From our Skills to Succeed initiative to our efforts to drive sustainable economic growth with our people, clients and suppliers, we take thoughtful actions to bring positive change, for today and for the future. This includes playing a vital role in convening people and organizations to create long-term value for our communities, strengthen our business and enhance our contribution to society.

373,000

40people serving clients in more than 120 countries

industries across all business functions

*as of November 30, 2015

Corporate Citizenship FY15 Highlights

196,000+ Number of people from low-income backgrounds who have been equipped with market relevant skills in India between fiscal 2010 and 2015.

21% Percentage of Accenture’s energy portfolio in India that was generated from zero-emission sources

95,000+ Number of hours our people spent in pro bono consulting and technology projects with non-profit partners.

39Number of teams who participated in the Oxfam Trailwalker

32,000Metric tons of carbon dioxide avoided through the purchase of wind power in India

22 WeeksNumber of weeks to which we extended maternity leave for women employees (from existing 12 weeks)

Corporate GovernanceStrong corporate governance and ethics are key parts of Accenture’s business strategy. They help make us a high-performance business and are critical to the long-term creation of stakeholder value at Accenture. Central to corporate governance at Accenture is our Ethics & Compliance program, which includes five main elements: leadership; risk

assessment; standards and controls; training and communication; and monitoring, auditing and response.

Our Global Management Committee, which is our senior most management group, plays an important role in our Ethics & Compliance program. It generally meets in person four times a year and a compliance topic is included in at least two of these four meetings.

Code of Business EthicsOne of our most important written standards is our Code of Business Ethics (COBE). It establishes an ethical framework of expected behaviors in everything we do, from serving our clients and running our business, to further enhancing our brand, reputation and transparency. We update our COBE regularly to account for internal and external factors, changes in the regulatory environment, and business priorities and strategies. Ethics and compliance, however, go beyond having policies, training and processes. It is about having a robust ethical culture and a healthy work environment where our people are empowered and confident to speak up and can operate at their full potential to help grow our business.

Our efforts to promote ethical behavior have been noticed: 2015 marked our eighth consecutive year on Ethisphere’s “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list, recognizing our commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate citizenship.

Corporate Citizenship GovernanceAccountability to advance corporate citizenship at Accenture starts at the top, with our Chairman & CEO, and cascades through our business, including performance objectives relating to corporate citizenship. The company’s strategy, operations and management include our five corporate citizenship pillars — Corporate Governance, Skills to Succeed, Environment, Our People and Supply Chain.A dedicated subcommittee of our Global Management

Committee guides the work of the Corporate Citizenship Council and the Environment Steering Group. These two groups make strategic recommendations on our sustainability initiatives and our leadership approves and acts on these recommendations.

Data Privacy & Information SecurityOur mandatory Client Data Protection program dictates how we protect our clients’ sensitive information and comply with regulatory requirements. The program is regularly monitored by senior management and requires process controls, technology controls and employee training to protect against data breaches. This, coupled with our ISO 27001- certified delivery centers, provide a market-differentiated, end-to-end approach to security for our clients.

Companies Act CSR RulesUnder the Companies Act, 2013, any company having a net worth of INR 500 crore or more or a turnover of INR 1,000 crore or more or a net profit of INR 5 crore is required to spend at least 2 percent of the last three years’ average net profits on corporate social responsibility activities, which include activities defined as per Schedule VII of the Act. The rules came into effect from 1 April 2014.

In addition to the formal corporate citizenship governance and strategy globally, in India, we developed an India-specific Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy

document detailing all aspects of our corporate citizenship agenda, focus, programs and their governance, monitoring and reporting. As per the mandate, we have also formed a three-person CSR committee comprising directors, who report into the Accenture Services Private Limited (Accenture in India) board, and are responsible for the formulation of the CSR policy, recommendation of expenditure to be incurred for the programs and reporting in the annual report.

8th

Number of consecutive years recognized among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies, recognizing our commitment to ethical leadership, compliance practices and corporate citizenship.

As per the Companies Act, 2013 India, we developed a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy document detailing all aspects of the CSR agenda, focus, programs and their governance, monitoring and reporting in India.

Skills to SucceedOver the last few decades India has grown in stature as a knowledge-based economy. Over the next few decades it has the potential of building on this reputation exponentially. As a developing nation with a young workforce, it has a demographic dividend that, with the right skills training, can help the nation retain and build on this distinctive edge. At a time when workforces globally are ageing, this can be a definite advantage for the country.

For the millions who enter the job market, having the right skills to open doors to meaningful, lasting employment or business ownership is critical. Our Skills to Succeed initiative was launched in 2009 to address this need and advance employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in markets around the world including India.

3m+Our global goal is to equip more than 3 million people with the skills to get a job or build a business by the end of fiscal 2020.

Skills to Succeed draws on two of Accenture’s core capabilities: training talent and convening partnerships to achieve tangible, measurable results. By mobilizing our people, partners, clients and others, we strive to make a measurable and sustainable difference in the economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities.

By the end of fiscal 2020, together with our strategic partners, we will pursue the following targets: equip more than 3 million people around the world with skills to get a job or build a business; increase our focus on the successful transition of individuals from skill-building programs to sustainable jobs and businesses; and bring together more organizations across sectors to create large-scale, lasting solutions aimed at closing global unemployment gaps.

Making a Measurable Difference in IndiaThe National Skill Development Corporation has identified 24 key sectors that will need skilled talent by 2022. Accenture has identified five of these sectors that have the highest potential for employment for our Skills to Succeed initiatives including: business process outsourcing, hospitality, retail, construction and microenterprise.

To maximize the impact and make a real difference to society and individuals, Accenture partners with leading nonprofits that bring on-the-ground expertise and work with underprivileged youth, women and Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). By investing in these long-term relationships, our initiatives deliver measurable employment and entrepreneurship outcomes at scale.

Accenture’s Skills to Succeed initiative in India has three main pillars — nurturing inclusive societies by focusing on women, Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and youth from weaker sections of society; building deep, collaborative skilling partnerships with nonprofits of repute; and using our extensive expertise across industries for building capacity and scale into our programs.

Inclusive Empowerment

We focus on inclusive skilling programs that enable youth, women and PwD to create environments that nurture their skills and progress their livelihoods.

Technology and Industry Expertise that enables Scale and Capacity Building We draw on the rich consultancy background and technology expertise of our employees to cohesively map methodology, insights and frameworks with technology-driven implementation of our programs with nonprofit partners.

Collaboration for Systemic Change

We collaborate with community-based organizations, our clients, business partners, vendors and government in India to further develop the capacity of the skilling ecosystem. They are experts at addressing local issues and we combine this with our pro bono consulting, cash donations, employee volunteering and fundraising to create outcome-focused and sustainable programs.

Skilling at ScaleOver the years, our Skills to Succeed initiative has scaled to reach out to 23 states with a primary focus on Accenture locations in India. The key drivers of our success to date include:

• Focusing our corporate citizenship efforts on one consistent global initiative that plays to our strengths of developing talent and convening partnerships, while mobilizing the time, skills and expertise of our people.

• Ensuring successful delivery through strong relationships with our network of partners. We team with global and local partners that share our passion for building skills and bring rigor and discipline to measuring program outcomes. Increasingly, we are bringing together our people, our clients, nonprofit and others to drive collaboration.

• Leveraging technology to accelerate our impact and drive innovative solutions at scale.

Partnering For Success We recognize that no single organization can adequately address the issues of employment and entrepreneurship. Convening these partnerships requires flexibility, patience and an ongoing dialogue — however, we believe this type of deeper collaboration is critical to durable systemic change. The focus of the collaborations is to ensure sustainable outcomes, thereby addressing issues of employability and income generation, and improving the quality of life of the underprivileged in India.

We have grant partnerships – both global and local - with nonprofits that target diverse segments and have a wide geographic reach. Our partners have deep on-ground knowledge of local issues at the grassroots level.

Key partnershipsSkilling youth for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and IT workforce

Young people are trained in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s Foundation’s Livelihood Advancement Business School (LABS). Accenture subject matter experts develop market-relevant curriculum for BPO and IT services skills. The quality of outcomes at each training center is driven to a large extent by the trainer. Accenture subject matter experts volunteer to conduct train-the-trainers sessions to ensure quality training. Accenture volunteers mentor and coach students and prepare them for corporate jobs.

Creating a competent retail workforce

QUEST Alliance was formed to train young people from across India in retail skills, life skills and in the English language through a blended-learning curriculum. This advanced method of training leverages technology put together by Accenture to equip trainees with employable skills.

Local job market-aligned skills training

Women and youth are provided with skills training relevant to the local job market. This collaborative initiative with Anudip Foundation (Kolkata) has been highly successful resulting in good placement and retention rates.

Empowering to build the rural economy with microenterprise skills

The Mann Deshi Foundation runs business schools for rural women – a unique project in remote parts of Maharashtra. Accenture works with the non-governmental organization to train and empower women in various livelihood skills to enable them to start their own business and become economically independent.

Training youth for India’s hospitality industry

We work with Don Bosco Tech which trains youth interested in working in the hospitality industry. Using

state-of-the-art facilities, equipment and infrastructure with a curriculum provided by industry majors like ITC Ltd, the non-governmental organization provides students access to technical expertise, high-quality training curriculum, on-the-job training, certification and placement assistance.

Onsite training for construction workers

For construction workers, training in 10 construction-related trades is provided on construction sites to ensure maximum participation. Accenture has developed multi-lingual videos in collaboration with LabourNet to help workers learn the skills better.

Market linkage and Skilling for Art and Craft

In partnership with Charities Aid Foundation we are working with Urmul Trust, Society for Child Development, Women’s Interlink Foundation for several art and craft and green skilling programs. The proposed intervention will directly reach out to skilled individuals and communities practicing traditional crafts and enable them to develop sustainable craft-based business enterprises and generating dignified livelihoods in the craft sector.

Accenture is partnering with Rural Education and Development (READ) India to provide training to women and adolescent girls in sewing and stitching. Through this program, women will gain the skills and the confidence to take decisions, earn, and share their insights with their family and community and chart their own life course.

Delivering BPO skills training to Persons with DisabilitiesWe have special projects with Enable India and Dr. Reddy’s Foundation to deliver BPO skills training to persons with disabilities and the unemployed to improve their employment prospects in the BPO sector.

Global Grant giving projectsThrough a project which impacts India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, Accenture supports Leonard Cheshire Disability in expanding its Access to Livelihoods program to several locations in South and East Asia. The program helps persons with disabilities gain access to meaningful employment through training, life skills and placement services.

We help Plan International in India, Vietnam and Thailand provide training to young urban women to work in high-demand sectors such as IT, customer relations, BPO and electronic equipment repair.

Employees’ ContributionThrough our pro bono programs, we offer our business process outsourcing, technology and consulting skills to our Skills to Succeed strategic partners. These projects range from developing application software to creating business plans and strategies. We also have knowledge partnerships where we conduct training sessions, capacity-building workshops and develop market-relevant curriculum and training tools for our partners through employees keen to work on pro bono projects.

Accenture employees are the driving force behind our efforts in a variety of ways. They share their time, skills and counsel by volunteering for activities such as conducting soft skills workshops for jobseekers, creating new technology solutions for skills training, implementing new technology platforms for our nonprofit partners and providing long-term mentoring support for entrepreneurs.

Our Employee Giving Program is an example of how charitable donations from our employees can make a difference in the lives of the less privileged. Through this program, we have contributed to 27 non-governmental organizations. In all, contributions from Accenture people in India have positively impacted more than 20,000 youth, women and children as of August, 2015.

Meet our Beneficiaries

Driving Opportunity Driving Employability

After her father passed away, the onus of sustaining the family of five fell solely on Jugri’s mother who used to toil hard as a daily wage laborer. Jugri turned to Dr. Reddy’s Foundation’s Livelihood Advancement Business School center in her city where she completed the Customer Relations & Sales/Retail skills training course. Today, Jugri is working as a customer sales associate at a renowned fashion brand store in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh and contributes to the family’s income.

While helping Jugri find her feet, Accenture has also realized its own goal of providing people with skills to succeed and bridge the service standard gaps in retail India.

To meet the basic daily financial and other needs of her household, Ranjitha dropped out of school and started hunting for a job. In the process, she learned of Don Bosco Tech, a Skills to Succeed grant partner and enrolled into a program to learn skills required in the hospitality industry. She is now placed at a well-known pizza delivery restaurant in Hyderabad and is supporting her family.

With Ranjitha living a life of dignity, Accenture has also fulfilled its dream of skilling India and building an inclusive society.

“ My 45-day training at the LABS center taught me professional and soft skills transforming me from a shy girl to a confident woman. My facilitators have also motivated me to pursue higher studies and get a professional degree.”

Jugri Bai, Chhattisgarh

“When I dropped out of college I felt pretty hopeless. But DB Tech helped me get a job and support my family. Today, I look forward to making a career in the hospitality industry.”

Ranjitha, Andhra Pradesh

Driving Inclusivity and ChangeAn attack of polio as a child has left Arasu physically disabled. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English, but struggled to find work after university due to lack of confidence and basic job skills.

Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Livelihoods Resource Centre in Chennai provided Arasu with training in computer and communication skills, workplace culture and interviewing. Arasu soon got a job in a publishing company where over the next three years, his income increased by over 60 percent. In 2014, he dug into his savings and went back to school to pursue his dream of becoming a teacher.

With Arasu’s dream, Accenture has helped fulfill its own dream of helping Persons with Disability find a meaningful place in society.

“The Counselling session at LABS helped give my life a new direction. I am now much more confident of myself and am happy that I can support my family and chase my dreams as well.”

Ruksana Begum, Chhattisgarh

“The Learning Resource Centre helped me realise my potential and acquire the skills and training I needed to get a job. Through the training I also learned about interview preparation, communications skills, workplace culture and personal development.”

Arasu Mari, Tamil Nadu

Driving Empowerment for Women21 year old Ruksana Begum wanted to add to the family income and support her father with household expenses. Post a counseling session at the DRF LABS, Ruksana enrolled for a 45-day training in Information Technology Enabled Services. Today, Ruksana works as a Computer Operator and is now helping her father by supporting her family. Ruksana is saving money to pursue further studies too.

For Accenture, Ruksana validates its belief in empowering women and in using its expertise to support the efforts of its partners.

EnvironmentFostering sustainable economic growth for our company and our stakeholders is at the heart of our environmental strategy, and it is central to our vision to improve the way the world works and lives. Accenture’s environment strategy comprises four areas — running efficient operations; working sustainably; enabling client sustainability; and providing insights to advance sustainability.

India’s natural resources are under severe strain due to its 1.25 billion strong population. We take these issues seriously and try and address these through our

environmental strategy, which addresses key areas to reduce our carbon footprint and enable our clients to improve their sustainability performance as well.

More than 80 percent of our carbon footprint consists of the emissions our people generate from air travel for business purposes and from the use of electricity in our office locations. To address this, we have been engaging in the following initiatives as part of our environmental strategy:

Our widespread adoption of the latest collaboration technology, across all the countries where we operate and hundreds of thousands of employees serves as a powerful catalyst for reducing the cost, time and necessity of travel. It enables people to meet, learn and create smaller, more interconnected and personal worlds within our vast global network through instant text and phone chats, screen sharing and real-time client collaboration. By explicitly managing the need for air travel, we have reduced its use, decreasing per employee emissions from air travel.

India is home to some of the company’s greatest successes in renewables around the world. By working with renewable energy producers in Bangalore and Chennai, we are now able to source more than 20 percent of our electricity usage on green power and reduce our carbon footprint in India.

Reducing business travel

Saving Power

We have achieved power savings through the use of low-energy Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting, energy-saver panels and energy efficient uninterruptible power supply. We encourage our employees to adopt eco-friendly practices such as switching off lights when not in use at office or at home.

Resource Efficiency

Saving Paper

Our printer services have been outsourced to a third party to minimize wastage and provide better maintenance.

Saving Water

Though our operations are not water-intensive, we recognize the importance of using water sustainably through initiatives such as installing water tap sensors, bio taps and recycled water used from sewage treatment plants as a substitute for water in urinals.

Renewable Energy

Environmental Management System (EMS)Accenture has an Environmental Management System (EMS), which refers to the management of an organization’s environmental programs in a comprehensive, systematic, planned and documented manner. A software tool is being used to reduce power consumption of all connected IT hardware.

Eco Watch Team

Our people interested in conserving the environment form Eco Watch teams, which work closely with the workplace teams to implement green office practices like reducing waste, water, paper etc.

Celebrating World Environment Day

Every year, we observe the World Environment Day and contribute to an eco-friendly lifestyle by visiting partner non-profits working on environmental issues, planting trees, collecting e-waste and more.

To reduce our carbon footprint, since most Indian cities suffer from high pollution, high traffic and long driving hours, we have launched a carpool website developed by our employee volunteers with mapped high traffic routes across our key office locations in India.

2m TonsAim to reduce our carbonemissions to an average of twometric tons per employee globally by 2020— representing more than 50percent reduction against our 2007 baseline.

21%Total electricity usage from renewable sources

Carpooling

Supply ChainAs a company with a multi-billion dollar global supply chain, Accenture has a significant opportunity to use our procurement organization to create long-term value for our clients and promote sustainable and inclusive business practices among our network of suppliers and within their communities around the world.

We set high standards for the way we conduct business, and we expect our suppliers to uphold them as well. Accenture’s Supplier Standards of Conduct are our key to securing our suppliers commitment through our Global Procurement sourcing and contracting process. The standards published in 14 languages include compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, supplement our Code of Business Ethics and reflect our core values.

Our Supply Chain StrategySupplier sustainability, inclusion and diversity are key components of our procurement strategy — and central to our vision to improve the way the world works and lives.Specifically, we focus on:

• Maintaining Adherence to our Supplier Standards of Conduct — We embed environmental, social and governance factors into our purchase-decision and supplier relationship management processes.

• Driving Supplier Sustainability — We take a collaborative approach to advance sustainability practices in our supplier network across our six primary procurement categories: contractors; HR and professional services; IT and telecom; marketing and communications; travel; and workplace services and facilities.

• Advancing Supplier Inclusion and Diversity — We promote the integration of more small, medium and diverse enterprises into our global supply chain and help them develop, fostering more inclusive economic development.

• Integrating Diverse Suppliers — We implement various initiatives to diversify our supply chain worldwide with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses owned by women, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.

• Developing Diverse Suppliers — Our Diverse Supplier Development Program offers classroom learning experiences and a mentoring program model that pairs senior Accenture executives with diverse suppliers to help them grow their own businesses.

Driving Supplier SustainabilityOf our six primary procurement categories, we focus on those that create the greatest environmental impact from our suppliers: IT, travel, and workplace services and facilities.

In prior years, procurement included environmental questionnaires in virtually every Request for Proposal (RFP) issued to potential and existing suppliers. Moving forward, we aim to more critically assess environmental, social and governance factors in determining our purchasing decisions. This will help in achieving our 2020 environment goal to measure and report on the impact of our work in key areas of sustainability — not only with clients, but with our suppliers as well.

For suppliers, this underscores the expectation that they must operate responsibly and demonstrate that their environmental, social and ethical business practices align with ours.

Advancing Supplier Inclusion & Diversity Accenture is deeply committed to inclusive procurement practices to create long-term value for our clients and our communities. We believe we can make a powerful difference by creating marketplace opportunities for enterprises that have historically experienced barriers to participation. Through our Supplier Diversity Program, we demonstrate our commitment to unleashing entrepreneurial potential and promoting economic growth in the communities in which we do business. Our Supplier Diversity Program supports the development of, more small, medium and diverse enterprises - especially businesses owned and led by women.

WEConnect IndiaAccenture is a co-founder and board member of WEConnect International, a nonprofit global corporate membership organization which exists to help women -owned businesses to succeed in global value chains. Accenture sponsored the WEConnect India’s Think Big 2014, an event that provided women business owners with an opportunity to develop their professional skills, expand their networks as well as meet potential buyers, investors, and industry mentors.

Accenture spearheaded a program for the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) — an organization of poor, self-employed women workers collaborating with WEConnect International, International Trade Center, The World Bank and La Pietra Coalition in 2011 to help vulnerable grassroots women entrepreneurs, formerly waste-pickers, to improve their livelihood prospects by

training as stationery producers to commercial organizations.Through our Skills to Succeed initiative, we partnered with other industry supply chain professionals to impart crucial production and business skills to SEWA members, including support to open up market linkages. The SEWA Gitanjali Cooperative has since increased its productivity, earnings prospects and product range.

The cooperative employs a steadily rising number of women who now have prospects to substantially increase their incomes. Gift links is a WEConnect-certified, women-owned business and a long-standing merchandise supplier to Accenture in India. Its service offerings include distribution of certain SEWA products. The project is now in its 3rd phase focusing on increasing the economic resilience and improving business sustainability.

50Number of rag-pickers who have upgraded to being stationery producers.

Our People

Inclusion And DiversityThe diversity of our people is part of what makes Accenture exceptional. We recognize that each person has unique strengths. And by embracing those strengths, we all deliver high performance—together. Accenture’s enduring core values — Stewardship, Best People, Client Value Creation, One Global Network, Respect for the Individual and Integrity — have worked in support of inclusion and diversity since the organization’s founding. In February 2003, Accenture formally established a Global Inclusion & Diversity corporate function to provide strategic guidance and support for Accenture’s diversity programs and activities in countries around the world, and to promote a discrimination-free and harassment-free work environment for all employees. Globally, our five Inclusion & Diversity priorities are:

• Cross-cultural diversity• Ethnic diversity• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)• Persons with disabilities• Women

In each of Accenture’s geographies, an Accenture leader serves as Human Capital & Diversity geographic lead. It is his or her responsibility to create programs that are meaningful to employees, communities and clients in the geography. An additional governance body, the members of which have demonstrated their passion for diversity, complements the work of this team. The Accenture Diversity Council, which includes members of our Global Management Committee, assesses the inclusion and diversity matters we face, sets strategic direction and prioritizes our actions globally.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are key to how Inclusion and Diversity becomes engrained in our culture. At each Accenture location, ERGs provide opportunities to collaborate with colleagues who have similar interests or backgrounds and to participate in career development workshops, mentoring, local recruiting and community service activities. These groups—which may be organized around a common experience, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, career path, family arrangement, ability, faith or religion—focus on an individual’s needs and interests, as well as the needs of the communities in which we work and live. ERGs develop based on local demand and interest, and differ from location to location.

Irrespective of where they are located, ERGs all aim to:

• Promote diversity through initiatives that focus on education, awareness, professional and personal development and cross-cultural interactions.

• Foster a means for individuals with similar backgrounds to network around similar challenges and opportunities.

• Offer professional direction.

• Support national and local recruiting and retention efforts.

• Build external relationships with diverse businesses.

• Support diverse nonprofit organizations as part of our corporate citizenship initiative

We offer a variety of learning opportunities designed to educate individuals about inclusion and diversity in our workplace and to prepare our people to collaborate successfully with colleagues and clients. Training is available globally throughout our employees’ careers.

Persons with DisabilitiesWe are committed to fostering an inclusive, open and equitable environment that supports our People with Disabilities (PwD). To build awareness and understanding of how to integrate PwD into the workplace, we sponsor networking, training and information sharing.

We celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities annually. This year’s theme was “Change your perspective,” which addresses the need to shift our thinking from disabilities — both visible and hidden — to ability.

Accenture’s inclusion and diversity training includes: • Diversity Awareness, to help our people develop a greater sensitivity to the challenges and opportunities presented by working in an increasingly dynamic, global and diverse organization. Topics covered include cross- cultural awareness, LGBT equality and valuing persons with disabilities.

• Diversity Management, to develop our leaders’ management skills and to coach them on how to create an inclusive work environment. Topics include leading, managing and working across cultures.

• Professional Development, to build skills that increase each participant’s personal success at Accenture. Topics include leadership, client centricity, negotiation and performance.

In India, our focus has been on gender diversity and sensitivity. The success of our women is key to our own success, and we strive to create an environment that supports them. We focus on developing leaders, empowering women and enabling women to thrive.

In fiscal 2015, more than 250 women Managers, Senior Managers and Managing Directors from Technology benefited from 18 months in the Women’s Executive Leadership Development Program.

To help women balance their work and responsibilities as a parent, we announced 22 weeks of paid maternity leave benefits (from the original of 12 weeks) for all women employees. The announcement was received enthusiastically by women professionals across industry.

Accenture celebrates International Women’s Day — an annual United Nations-designated day aimed at recognizing women’s contributions to the world’s economy. In fiscal 2015, we hosted more than 20 events in India on the theme ‘Listen, Learn, Lead” as part of these celebrations. Nearly 3,000 Accenture employees and external Vaahini members attended an online webcast about #ListenLearnLead, along with more than 1,300 students. In addition, more than 1,250 employees attended our leadership roundtables on “Men as Advocates of Gender Diversity,” which were held in six locations and included 31 managing directors as panelists.

Awards and RecognitionsIn FY 2015, Accenture in India has received recognition for the work it does in various categories. Some of these are listed below:

• Golden Peacock Award: Corporate Social Responsibility

• Golden Peacock Award: National Training Award

• NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards 2015 under Category C: Companies/Organizations

• World HRD Congress: Diversity Impact Award in the Global HR Excellence Award category

• Employer Branding Award, Business Today: Ranked #2 in overall index, Ranked #2 in IT & ITES Category

• Bronze Stevie Award: Human Resources Department of the Year

• 7 awards across categories in Brandon Hall: bronze in the best Inclusion and Diversity Strategy category

• Business Today’s “25 Top Most Influential Women Leaders” list in India

• Spring board Consulting: “Asia Pacific Disability Matters Award 2014”

To read more about Accenture’s global awards and recognition, visit www.accenture.com/recognition

The Path Forward: Making a measurable differenceIn the coming year we will continue to strive to build awareness and train our employees in ethical conduct and need for compliance. In our Skills to Succeed initiative, we will work towards strengthening our partner relationships and maximizing employee participation and contribution to drive larger changes in the community and society. We will look for new ways to collaborate with clients, our partners, other stakeholders and to deepen our impact in bringing innovation to Skills to Succeed initiatives — together we can make a deeper social impact in our communities. Being a service-driven organization, our biggest strength and asset is our people. In the coming year we will continue to ensure our people realize their true potential and thrive at the workplace. On our journey to 2020, our efforts to run efficient operations and work more sustainably will continue to drive our carbon reductions and help us achieve our new carbon emissions target. As these begin to reach more sustainable emission levels, we will look for new ways to advance our environmental stewardship outside our four walls.

To read more about our Corporate Citizenship, visit www.accenture.com/IndiaCorporateCitizenship or for queries, please write to india.csr@accenture.com

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About AccentureAccenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions - underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network-Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives.