Press Release | 09/21/2020

Bertelsmann Once Again Promotes the #50000Chances Scholarship Initiative: “You Are the Digital Future”

• New edition of the campaign celebrates graduates from the first round of scholarships
• TV commercials, print and online ads, social media, and a dedicated landing page
• Bertelsmann to award 50,000 scholarships over three years, for Udacity courses in the fields of Cloud, Data, and AI
• Applications for 15,000 scholarships will be accepted until November 16
• Overwhelming response to the first round with applications from 180 countries

The job markets of the future urgently require specialists with digital skills in the fields of Cloud, Data, and Artificial Intelligence. Bertelsmann is once again mounting an image campaign to draw attention to this fact and promote a matching scholarship program. The campaign includes TV commercials, print and online ads, social media, and its own landing page, all of them designed to spark interest in digital upskilling. This time, the international media, services, and education company is spotlighting the many thousands of graduates from the first round of its Udacity Technology Scholarship Program, in which a total of 50,000 tech scholarships to the online learning platform Udacity are being given away worldwide. Applications are being accepted until November 16, 2020 for the second round, in which 15,000 scholarships are once again being offered under the heading #50000chances. The response to the first round was overwhelming; tens of thousands of interested parties from 180 countries applied, including many Bertelsmann employees.

“You are the digital future,” Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe told first-round students. “Now it’s all about making even more people successful in the digital world and getting them excited about new technologies with the help of our campaign. We are proud of everyone who seizes this opportunity for upskilling.”

The image campaign’s TV commercials and ads show scholarship recipients from various countries and continents who have already successfully completed their Udacity courses. They can now apply their newly acquired knowledge in a wide range of professional fields. Many of the graduates contacted Bertelsmann by email or via social media, for example Elizabeth Ofulue from Nigeria or Domenico Actis Grosso from Italy, who gave thanks for a “wonderful experience.” José Renato Borelli from Brazil was also pleased about this “fantastic opportunity,” which proved to be “life-changing” for him. Similarly Emmanuel Ikpesu from Nigeria, who reported that the scholarship had significantly increased his knowledge and career opportunities.

Karin Schlautmann, Executive Vice President Corporate Communications of Bertelsmann, said: “The campaign underscores the fact that Bertelsmann is advancing the topic of digital transformation. We see the successful first-round scholarship recipients, who are at the center of this contemporary campaign, as pioneers and credible ambassadors for the societal relevance of digital upskilling.”

The campaign, which was developed by the Bertelsmann subsidiary Territory, runs in German and English. Further information can be found on a dedicated landing page. On Bertelsmann’s social media channels, the hashtag #50000chances is used for both the campaign and the scholarship program.

Based in Mountain view, California, Udacity, a global pioneer in lifelong learning, is an online education platform that develops practical online courses and learning paths in collaboration with leading tech companies. Bertelsmann is the company’s strategic partner and one of its largest shareholders.

For more information: bertelsmann.com/50000chances  or under the hashtag #50000chances.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 126,000 employees and generated revenues of €18.0 billion in the 2019 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030.