SAN SALVADOR–After nine months of study and preparation, 246 Salvadoran youths received certificates for participating in the "Jóvenes con Valor" (Youth with Valor) initiative, a course in character and values formation from the program "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens" by Franklin Covey.

The course was taught by FORJA Foundation, under the coordination of the National Internship Program JOVEN360, which is funded by the USAID Improving Access to Employment Program.

"This initiative is an important component of the Partnership for Growth, an agreement between the U.S. Government and the Government of El Salvador, which among other things promotes improving human capital to move forward with this beautiful country," said U.S. Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte during the graduation ceremony.

The ceremony was also attended by several private company sponsors of the program, including Unilever, Unicomer, AFP Crecer, Grupo Q, PBS Xerox, Almacenes Siman, Sherwin Williams and Asesuisa.  These companies received recognition from the “Jóvenes con Valor” as a token of gratitude and commitment to transform society through enhanced values as a result of the course.

The 246 graduates were chosen from more than 5,000 applications, based on a multiple-filter selection process, the first of which was to complete a profile on the website: www.joven360.com, followed by an interview to match profiles with each of the private companies. After that, youth had an interview with the JOVEN360 team, where profiles were selected as required by each company. Young college students or graduates who want to apply to the program can do so through the website www.joven360.com/jovenconvalor2013.

###