Our commitment to entrepreneurshipAmericas Corporate Responsibility

A universal desire to contributeThe Gallup World Poll has yielded a discovery that astonished even Gallup: what people all over the world want, rich and poor alike, is a good job.

The fulfillment of this universal dream relies to a large extent on a small group of men and women — those courageous people known as entrepreneurs. In both developed and emerging economies, entrepreneurs are responsible for an outsized share of job creation, often revitalizing entire communities.

Leveraging our skills and strengths many times over For more than three decades, EY has been the world’s leader in advising, guiding and recognizing entrepreneurs. Our EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Program is 28 years old in 2014.

While these high-growth business pioneers tend to gain the most acclaim for their outsized accomplishments, many earlier-stage entrepreneurs with great ideas, talent and tenacity are also hard at work to realize the potential they envision for their companies. These include entrepreneurs with small- or medium-sized enterprises, women entrepreneurs lacking a network to help them scale up, young entrepreneurs just getting started and military veterans who are achieving success in their civilian life through entrepreneurship.

Leveraging the talent and skills of our highly trained people to help these entrepreneurs grow their companies is one of the most powerful ways that EY can give back to the communities around us. We are improving the lives of an ever-widening circle of people who work for, sell to and are served by these businesses.

Teaming with exceptionally effective focus organizationsOur own programs, such as the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Program, have benefited many entrepreneurs. To have an even greater impact, we have joined forces with some of the pre-eminent not-for-profits in the field, including Endeavor, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and Junior Achievement. By focusing our investment on these organizations Americas-wide, we are able to create signature volunteer programs, enlist EY professionals as board members and volunteers across our geographic regions, share best practices among our offices and help many more entrepreneurs realize their dreams.

Helping small- and medium-sized entrepreneursEndeavor and the EY Vantage ProgramEY’s Vantage Program (formerly known as the Corporate Responsibility Fellows Program in the Americas), now in its ninth year, sends high-performing EY managers and senior managers to Mexico and South America for multi-week assignments at entrepreneurial companies, at

Entrepreneurs = innovation and positive social change

Why invest in early stage entrepreneurs?

Early stage entrepreneurs face numerous challenges, but helping them overcome these challenges is an investment in corporate responsibility that pays outsized returns.

• ►In the United States, start-up firms create almost all the net new jobs.

• ►In Brazil, 66% of all jobs are created by small- and medium-sized enterprises.

• ►If just 50 of its small- or medium-sized businesses were able to scale up every year into large companies, Mexico’s GDP would grow 1%.

• ►Worldwide, just 4% of entrepreneurial companies can be considered high growth, but those companies generate 40% of the jobs created by entrepreneurs.

Sources: Kauffman Foundation, Endeavor.org, the Global Engagement Monitor (GEM) and Endeavor.

no cost to the companies served. Each Advisor uses his or her unique skills to develop and improve an entrepreneur’s key business processes. EY Vantage Advisors and companies are matched with entrepreneurs that are identified by Endeavor, a not-for-profit that spurs growth in emerging economies by assisting high-impact entrepreneurs. In the EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) Area, Financial Services Office Advisors work with Endeavor entrepreneurs both on the ground and as part of a virtual network.

In addition to the EY Vantage Program, EY sponsors these Endeavor efforts:

• ► International selection panels that identify high-potential entrepreneurs for participation in Endeavor’s network

• ► A “Finance for Exceptional Enterprises” course that offers EY’s technical insights to all Endeavor entrepreneurs

Encouraging young entrepreneursThe Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)NFTE is a global not-for-profit organization focused solely on bringing entrepreneurship education to low-income teenagers at risk of dropping out of high school. Our people volunteer as NFTE coaches, judges and mentors. In addition, many of our leaders volunteer their time to NFTE:

• ► Maria Pinelli, Global Vice Chair, Strategic Growth Markets, serves as the Chairman of the NFTE board.

• ► EY leaders serve on NFTE’s regional advisory boards in the US and have extended their support for NFTE to nine other countries, including Israel.

• ► EY has created an Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Alumni Fund through which more than US$800,000 has been raised. Contributions are split between NFTE’s Adopt a Class program (EY volunteers supporting high school entrepreneurship classes across the country) and rewarding top NFTE students with college scholarships.

• ► EY honors talented youth from NFTE’s programs at our Entrepreneur Of The Year galas across the United States.

Junior Achievement (JA)JA’s volunteer-delivered K-12 programs teach work readiness and entrepreneurship. Hundreds of EY professionals volunteer with JA annually, earning the US firm recognition as a President’s Service Award winner several years in a row. In the US, more than 45 EY professionals serve on JA boards.

Enabling women to transform industries and communitiesEntrepreneurial Winning WomenEY created the Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Program in the US as a national competition and leadership development program that identifies high-potential women entrepreneurs and connects them with the advisors, resources and insights they need to scale up. The program has helped the entrepreneurs’ companies grow revenues 50% each year on average. Started in the US, the program is now launched in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia and Russia and in development in Hungary, the Middle East and South Africa.

Building the capacity of military veteran entrepreneursEY Veterans Network EY enables military veterans to achieve success in their civilian lives through entrepreneurship. The EY Veterans Network has developed a program to help veterans scale their companies by matching them with advisors who can provide the experience and knowledge needed to drive growth.

About EYEY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

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Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.

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This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax, or other professional advice. Please refer to your advisors for specific advice.

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EY entrepreneurship volunteers across the Americas • ► In Brazil, EY Vantage Advisor Elise S. traveled from her

home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Curitiba, Brazil, where she assisted TecVerde, a developer of high-end, eco-friendly homes, with processes and methodologies for developing new partnerships.

• ► In the US, Cindy H. has volunteered with the NFTE classroom adopted by EY in the greater Los Angeles area. She also serves on the NFTE E-Council for greater Los Angeles, which brings together young professionals who are committed to driving NFTE’s goals.

• ► In Israel, Dror B. volunteers with a Junior Achievement International program called Young Entrepreneurs Israel, helping teams of high school students launch real businesses.

To learn more about our corporate responsibility efforts, visit www.ey.com/us/CR. EY professionals can also visit the Corporate Responsibility Connection at http://cr.iweb.ey.com/.