By Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer
Earlier this year, we launched Facebook Community Boost. We’ve now visited 50 cities across the country, offering digital skills training to small businesses and job seekers. We started in St. Louis in March and I’m excited that this week we’re hosting the final event of the year in my hometown – Miami.
We want to make sure no one is left behind in an economy where digital skills are critical. Over the next three days, we’re offering trainings on everything from getting online for the first time to creating content for mobile devices. Experts will be on hand to answer questions one-on-one and the event is free for everyone to attend at the James L. Knight Center (400 SE 2nd Ave, 3rd Floor) today through Thursday.
Through Community Boost events like this one, we’re getting closer to our goal of training 1 million people in the US in digital skills by 2020. This year we teamed up with 20 community colleges and 100 organizations across the country to help reach as many people as possible. Here in Miami, we’re partnering with Miami Dade Community College to prepare graduates for careers in the digital world.
There are 90 million businesses on Facebook, the majority of which are small businesses. More than half of them say they’ve hired more people since joining Facebook. This is so important because small businesses create most of the jobs almost everywhere in the world. In Miami-Dade County, more than 82,000 small businesses employ more than half of the workforce. We want to continue supporting entrepreneurs in Miami even after Community Boost is over, so we’re providing the Miami Bayside Foundation with a grant to offer microloans to underrepresented small businesses.
We’re proud of how people are using our products to make a difference in their economies and communities — and we’re committed to helping even more people thrive.
You can register for Community Boost and stay up to date with the latest city announcements, news and program schedules at fbcommunityboost.com.