For our first CSR Profile of 2025, we’re shining the spotlight on JLL, told by Natalie Ashwood, Community Programme Manager. Natalie tells us that JLL’s company mission is to ‘shape real estate for a better world’ and we hear about how her role covers everything from volunteering and pro bono giving, to ensuring social impact is achieve in the company’s operational activity.

Please provide a short outline of your current role and a brief description of any other relevant career experience:
At JLL I manage our community outreach programme, which encompasses all volunteering, charitable giving and pro-bono activity. I also work closely with colleagues in the business to see how we can deliver social impact through our operational activity, such as recruitment or procurement.

Why is CSR important to your organisation?
Our company mission is to shape real estate for a better world. A strong focus of the business is to integrate sustainability across everything we do with clients, and how we operate a business. This includes how we deliver social impact for the communities and wider society.

Which topics, themes or initiatives is your organisation currently focused on?
We are constantly learning and evolving our sustainability strategies to understand how we can have the biggest impact. Working with ELBA has connected us with grass roots organisations that deliver essential community services on a daily basis. This is important to really understand the issues our communities face and where we can play a role in supporting them.

What is the best part of your job?
I have a very privileged job, where I get to meet a huge range of people and get initiatives running that will hopefully make a positive difference in the world.