City Year UK wins Morgan Stanley’s 2021 Strategy Challenge
Melanie May | 14 May 2021 | News
Youth and education charity City Year UK has been judged the winner of this year’s Morgan Stanley UK Strategy Challenge, which saw six charities receive pro bono advice and support from the firm.
Now in its seventh year, the Morgan Stanley UK Strategy Challenge, in partnership with Pilotlight, pairs teams of Morgan Stanley professionals with non-profit organisations in London for nine weeks to provide pro bono advice on strategic challenges such as business modelling, growth plans and cost efficiencies. The programme culminates in a day-long event, during which teams present their recommendations to senior firm leadership and a panel of non-profit sector experts. Nonprofit organisations are invited to apply each year, with applicants assessed through a competitive selection process. This year’s Challenge kicked off in March.
Since its inception, the UK Strategy Challenge has delivered over 24,000 hours of service to 35 charities. As well as City Year UK, the other charities benefitting from this year’s programme were Barnardo’s, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Helpforce, NHS Charities Together and The Felix Project.
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This year’s teams presented their final recommendations to senior representatives from Morgan Stanley and the charity sector during a virtual event on 13 May, with the City Year UK team announced the winner for its development of a sustainable business model to increase the number of the charity’s volunteer mentors and fund new programme delivery for pupils.
Clare Woodman, Head of EMEA at Morgan Stanley said:
“We are extremely proud to be working with the remarkable organisations that participated this year; many of whom have been working on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. With a health and economic crisis generating increasing demand for their services, charities are experiencing greater challenges than ever before. We hope the strategic recommendations provided by the Morgan Stanley employees will help the non-profits continue their impactful work and reach even more communities.”
Kevin Munday, Chief Executive, City Year UK commented:
“We are delighted to have won the Morgan Stanley UK Strategy Challenge 2021. We are particularly pleased with the practical materials and tools the Morgan Stanley team have developed, which will help us achieve our ambition to have an even greater impact on educational inequality.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.