Accenture held a ‘coding pep rally’ at Microsoft’s School of the Future

By most accounts, if we’re going to fill all those empty tech jobs around Philly we have to get to work right now.

And at Microsoft’s School of the Future last Friday, a group of Accenture employees spent their “Day of Service” — in partnership with United Way — spreading the good word of working in tech.

Accenture, a consulting and professional services company that employs about 2,100 people in Philadelphia, threw a coding pep rally and helped deploy an “Hour of Code” session at the West Philly School, a joint venture between the School District of Philadelphia and Microsoft.

Hundred of Accenture employees along the East Coast participated in the company’s Day of Service, volunteering at more than 40 nonprofits in Boston, Hartford, New York, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, said Kathleen O’Reilly, Accenture’s senior managing director for the U.S. Northeast.

“We are passionate about improving the way the world works and having a positive impact on our communities,” she said last week. “We want to help students at the Microsoft School of the Future acquire the foundational technology skills they will need to succeed in the future.”

Nicole Tranchitella, Philadelphia office managing director for  Accenture, said 300 workers across Philly were volunteering at different projects, from building STEM skills in students to cleaning public parks.

“We are delighted to be here today at the Microsoft School of the Future working side by side with the students to help them build new computer science skills,” Tranchitella said.