A&O’s new global charity partner, Women for Women International (WfWI), is making a difference to marginalised communities all over the world.
A&O started a new global charity partnership with WfWI in September 2023, with a focus on helping displaced people. The charity is dedicated to supporting women survivors of war.
Sara Bowcutt, managing director of WfWI – UK, welcomed the news: “Thank you A&O for believing in the power of women, and committing to make the world more equal, peaceful and prosperous. Together, we will create positive change for women – as well as their families and communities – for generations to come.”
Hilde van der Baan, Amsterdam partner and co-lead partner of A&O’s Social Impact Group (SIG), added: “People being displaced by conflict is a growing issue in the world today so it’s a privilege to be able to boost WfWI’s work supporting women survivors of war. Drawing on all our resources as a global organization – not just financial, but also our skills, time and expertise – we hope to make a real difference over our two-year partnership.”
WfWI invests where inequality is greatest by supporting those who are often forgotten: women survivors of war. In conflict-affected countries, including Iraq where part of our funding will be directed, we’ll support WfWI’s holistic work equipping women with knowledge, skills and resources to overcome trauma, rebuild their lives and regain hope.
WfWI’s training programmes produce quantifiable results. Graduates generate earnings and join savings groups, on average increasing household income by 199%; they defend their rights, with a 425% increase in women speaking out publicly against gender-based violence; and they strengthen their communities, with a 200% increase in women taking up local leadership positions.
For our previous global charity partner, Street Child, A&O contributed GBP1.5 million and provided GBP1.12m in legal and non-legal pro bono support.
Our funding supported Street Child’s work to keep children in school in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, education support packages teenage mother support packages where economic barriers lead to poor education outcomes, especially for girls.
Elsewhere, A&O lawyers supported the South Asian Assessment Alliance’s work to improve educational outcomes for the most marginalised children across psychosocial counseling and family mediation sessions for girls schools renovated Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, while the A&O Muslim Network helped raise GBP100,000 for Street Child with its first Iftar dinner, part of its new Ramadan campaign in 2022, repeated in 2023.
This partnership has provided so much more than just funding,” says Tom Dannatt, chief executive and founder of Street Child. “Thanks to A&O’s pro bono support we can be an even more effective and efficient organization for years to come.”
Key achievements in Sierra Leone
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1000 education support packages
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828 psychosocial counseling and family mediation sessions for girls
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244 teenage mother support packages
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17 schools renovated
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23 schools reconstructed
Standout fundraising efforts
- A record GBP703,000 donated in 2023’s ‘First Hour, First Day’ campaign, where colleagues could donate the first hour or first day of their January pay.
- More than 175 people from 29 A&O offices took on personal challenges – from cycling, running and climbing to learning a new piece of music – as part of the Around the World Challenge, raising nearly GBP44,000.
- 12 colleagues travelled to Makeni for our global charity partner’s flagship fundraising event, the Sierra Leone Marathon, taking part in a 10k, half or full marathon, and raising more than GBP44,000 for the charity.
Focus on outcomes
The newly named Social Impact Group (SIG) has been busy making an impact. Formerly known as the Pro Bono and Community Investment team, the group changed its name to reflect our increasing commitment to, and expertise in, corporate and social responsibility.
The move is also in line with our clients’ heightened awareness of global sustainability challenges, such as climate change, social inequality and corporate governance issues, which has led to an increase in social impact legal work and a blurring of the lines between pro bono and fee-paying matters.
As Franz Ranero, co-lead partner of SIG, explains: “This is a shift in the way we define what we contribute to, and how we interact with the rest of the firm. The term pro bono and community investment reflects some, but not all, of the inputs that go into what we do. Essentially, it describes the fee arrangement. We want instead to focus on outcomes – the positive impact we have on the communities we touch.”
‘Impact’ has also gone mainstream, says Hilde van der Baan: “Gone are the days when social finance and investing in social causes were considered solely the realm of pro bono work. With our clients placing more emphasis on non-financial factors and integrating Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) measures into their risk management frameworks, the relationship between pro bono and fee-paying work is more nuanced. With some clients now, we take a blended approach.
“Our team’s role in this broad ecosystem is to provide the social impact lens, working with our ESG and asset management experts. We’re here to facilitate and empower our clients, our people and the firm to maximize positive social impact.”
Belfast apprentices
Outside of legal roles, our Belfast apprenticeship programme has grown to 34 apprentices, working in IT, Finance, HR, Marketing, Legal Tech and Business Projects. Now in its tenth year, our award-winning scheme offers an alternative route to employment and education.
We work closely with local education providers to design bespoke training, enabling our apprentices to gain qualifications and skills, and earn while they learn. Around 80% of apprentices stay with A&O after finishing their two- year course, choosing to progress to a higher-level apprenticeship, or taking up a permanent role within the firm.
