Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced it has expanded its three-year-old, signature program to provide pro bono services to nonprofits nationwide, and has signed on to the “A Billion + Change” campaign. As a new signatory to A Billion + Change, Morgan Stanley has pledged to provide an additional $2 million worth of pro bono services by July 2013.
A Billion + Change is a national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars in skills-based and pro bono volunteer services to help build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to effectively meet community needs. Nonprofit, corporate and government leaders gathered on Thursday, November 3, at an event hosted by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) on Capitol Hill to celebrate the more than 50 companies that have pledged more than $1 billion in service to nonprofits, and to encourage companies large and small across America to join the campaign by starting or expanding their own skills-based volunteer programs.
Morgan Stanley has joined the Billion + Change campaign as a way to expand and strengthen its signature pro bono program, the Strategy Challenge, which began in 2009. The program provides consulting services to nonprofit organizations nationwide on key strategic issues, by partnering teams of Morgan Stanley professionals with a nonprofit organization during an intensive eight-week period. Under this targeted program, the firm has provided more than $2 million of pro bono strategic advice to 36 nonprofits nationwide since 2009. Morgan Stanley also is adding a separate, year-round program to its existing volunteer initiatives that will include skills-based volunteering opportunities.
"By joining the A Billion + Change campaign, we are expressing our confidence in our pro bono program to deliver high-impact, transformative advice to our nonprofit partners in the years ahead," said Joan Steinberg, Head of Community Affairs at Morgan Stanley. "Since we launched our pro bono program in 2009, nonprofits continue to tell us our pro bono advice is helping them to grow and achieve their strategic objectives. We're pleased to take the additional step in early 2012 of expanding skills-based volunteering opportunities to our professionals on a year-round basis as well."
Added Audrey Choi, Head of Global Sustainable Finance at Morgan Stanley: "Through our formal pro bono program, we have helped nonprofits over the past three years to develop the long-term sustainable business models they need for enduring success. Our pledge to A Billion + Change is a way for us to share our pro bono model with a community of like-minded companies."
Said Michelle Nunn, CEO of the Points of Light Institute, which manages and houses A Billion + Change: "We have been overwhelmed by the initial enthusiasm for A Billion + Change. Volunteers nationwide served 8.1 billion hours in 2010, yet only around 16 percent of all companies make it a regular practice to offer their employees skills-based volunteer opportunities. Skills-based volunteerism helps companies build the human capital of their workforce and invest in their communities."
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 1,300 offices in 42 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
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