Please provide a short outline of your current role and a brief description of any other relevant career experience
In my current role at Linklaters, I work within the firm’s responsible business / social impact space, with a particular focus on employability. I support the delivery of programmes that help adults facing structural and personal barriers to work to build confidence, skills and connections into meaningful employment. This includes managing relationships with partner organisations, coordinating volunteering and mentoring activity, and contributing to strategy and impact reporting.

I started my career at Linklaters all the way back in 2014; I had recently graduated from university and replied to an advert on the Guardian Job board. I started working in the Procurement team, which I did for 5 years, during which time I joined the firm’s Social Impact Committee – the firm’s grant-making governance committee. Just before the pandemic kicked off, I made an internal move to the Innovation team where I was responsible for gathering and managing innovative ideas from across the firm, making ideas come to fruition! I did realise during the pandemic that my real strong raison d’être is, and has always been, to help people and have a meaningful impact on the world. I started volunteering at a brain injury charity and became a trustee via an ELBA BoardMatch event. When a role came up in the Community Investment Team at Linklaters, I jumped at the opportunity to make my passion my day job, and I haven’t looked back since!

Why is CSR important to your organisation?
Corporate responsibility and social impact are central to Linklaters’ purpose and role in society. As a global law firm, we recognise that our influence extends beyond legal advice and that we have a responsibility to use our skills, networks and resources to address systemic issues such as inequality of opportunity, climate change and barriers to justice. Through our Social Impact and Community Investment programmes, we focus on education, employability, enterprise and the environment, because we believe long term business success depends on healthy, inclusive and sustainable communities.

Our Social Impact skilled volunteering work gives colleagues meaningful opportunities to apply their expertise and supports recruitment, retention and engagement, while a credible social impact strategy is also an important way for clients to assess our culture, governance and suitability. Ultimately, corporate responsibility is part of our broader commitment to responsible business: upholding the rule of law, advancing social mobility, promoting inclusion and diversity, and supporting the transition to a sustainable, low‑carbon economy in partnership with third sector organisations.

Which topics, themes or initiatives is your organisation currently focused on?
Linklaters’ community investment focuses on empowering underserved and underrepresented communities across its global network through four pillars: education, employment, enterprise and environment. The firm increases access to education and the world of work for school-aged children and young adults, supports adults facing barriers into employment to build skills and confidence, and helps underrepresented entrepreneurs (particularly young people and women) to build sustainable livelihoods through a mix of skills development and access to funding. Alongside this, Linklaters promotes environmental sustainability through practical volunteering, skills-based support and research. All of this is delivered through skilled volunteering, financial support and the firm’s expertise, building partnerships that create lasting social impact and two-way learning between the corporate world and the community.

At Linklaters, we are proud to be a founding partner of the Evolve project, a multi-year collaboration with UBS, Société Générale, the Société Générale UK Foundation and ELBA. Through Evolve, our people have joined over 650 volunteers contributing more than 3,800 hours to support over 300 charities across east London, helping them respond to the impact of COVID-19 and the Cost of Living crisis. ELBA evaluates Evolve’s workshops and programmes using the B4SI framework, evidencing strengthened capacity, collaboration and leadership within community organisations. For Linklaters, Evolve not only delivers meaningful impact for local charities and their beneficiaries, but also enables our people to share expertise, develop their skills and gain a deeper understanding of the communities we serve.

What is the best part of your job?
There are so many wonderful aspects of my job! I am very lucky to work with an incredible team of knowledge and skilled colleagues and friends.

One of the best parts is seeing the direct impact that our programmes and partnerships have on people’s confidence and prospects. Watching someone move from feeling excluded or unsure about their future into feeling better equipped, more hopeful and closer to secure employment is incredibly rewarding!

I also love seeing the impact of different parts of the firm together – lawyers, business teams and leadership – to work alongside community partners like ELBA. Connecting our people with these initiatives and seeing colleagues also get value out of interactions and workshops is really brilliant.

Finally, I enjoy the strategic side: using evidence and case studies from across our global network to design better, more holistic support, and knowing that what we are building now can have a lasting impact on individuals, employers and communities.