Please provide a short outline of your current role and a brief description of any other relevant career experience
I’m a Regional Manager in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) team of the Macquarie Group Foundation, and I’m approaching my first year in the role. At its heart, the Foundation is all about creating meaningful social impact by empowering our people, businesses and communities to build a better future together. My role focuses on connecting employees with opportunities to contribute their time, skills and expertise through volunteering, fundraising, board service and community partnerships, particularly through our signature programmes, Macquarie Gives and Future Ready.

My career path has been varied but connected by a common theme of helping people and organisations thrive. I started my career in HR, moved into Management Consulting, where one of my roles was the Skills, Employment & Education Lead on the HS2 project. I then spent several years working in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion before transitioning into philanthropy and social impact. Alongside my role at Macquarie, I am also a Trustee for The Parent House.

Why is CSR/ESG/Sustainability/Responsible Business important to your organisation?
At Macquarie, creating positive social impact is an important part of who we are. We recognise that strong communities, access to opportunity and long-term sustainability are interconnected. Through the Macquarie Group Foundation, we focus on supporting people to build a better future by investing in programmes that strengthen communities and create pathways to employment.

CSR, ESG and sustainability are embedded within our business functions. Through volunteering, fundraising, pro bono support, board service and community partnerships, employees have opportunities to contribute their time, money and skills in ways that are meaningful to them, supporting positive outcomes for both communities and our business. Macquarie’s Gives and Future Ready were launched to provide a clearer focus for this work and make it easier for employees to get involved.

Which topics, themes or initiatives is your organisation currently focused on?
A major focus for us is Future Ready, a Macquarie programme that supports people on their path to employment. Through funding, volunteering and skills-based support, we work with organisations helping people overcome barriers to employment and build long-term economic opportunities. We have a portfolio of 13 partners across EMEA who we fund, such as Social Mobility Foundation, Breaking Barriers, Street League, Generation UK and Generation France. This year, we’ve also launched a community of Future Ready Champions across EMEA to help raise awareness, drive engagement and connect colleagues with opportunities to get involved.

We’re also focused on Macquarie Gives, which encourages employees to donate their time, skills and money to causes they care about through volunteering, fundraising, donation matching and board service opportunities. Locally, we focus on supporting the communities in which we live and work – in London our approach to place-based giving supports ELBA’s BIG Alliance work in Islington, with Macquarie as a founder and principal funder of the initiative. Through BIG Alliance, Macquarie is heavily involved in CoRe (Community Resourcing), a flagship capacity-building programme where skilled corporate professionals (from Macqaurie and other companies) are partnered with local charities that need pro bono strategic and operational support. Through BIG Alliance and ELBA, Macqaurie is involved with BoardMatch, which helps professionals find charity trustee opportunities (including my own trustee role with The Parent House) and the annual Toy Appeal grotto, where our employees volunteer to support local children and families with festive gifts. Together, these initiatives are designed to contribute to positive social outcomes while giving employees opportunities to develop new skills, build connections and contribute to their communities.

What is the best part of your job?
Without a doubt, it’s the people. I have the privilege of working with colleagues, charity partners and volunteers who are genuinely passionate about making a difference. I love bringing people together, whether that’s through volunteering events, panel discussions, mentoring opportunities or community partnerships. There’s something incredibly rewarding about creating connections and seeing the impact that follows. No day is the same.

I also enjoy the strategic side of the role. I’m constantly thinking about how we can create more meaningful impact, how we can remove barriers to participation and how we can design opportunities that employees genuinely want to be involved in. The most successful initiatives are those that benefit both the community and our people, giving employees the chance to develop new skills, broaden their networks and gain valuable experiences while giving back.

One of the things I love most is that every day brings something new and meaningful. One day I might be planning a large-scale employee volunteering event, the next I could be working with a charity partner, developing a new programme, or helping a colleague find a board position that changes the trajectory of their career. It’s that combination of people, purpose, connection and strategy that makes the role so rewarding.