Carnegie creates engagement among employees

Carnegie Investment Bank was looking for an initiative to engage employees at all its offices, both in Sweden and abroad. Together, we developed a concept where Carnegie’s employees participate in different activities to contribute to the work of social entrepreneurs.

The right fit

Carnegie, being a bank of knowledge with an entrepreneurial focus, was interested in social entrepreneurs within education. After a thorough selection process, Social Initiative recommended a partnership with the social entrepreneur Bina Lashkari and her organisation Door Step School, which educates children in Mumbai, India. When Carnegie decided to further their engagement, all employees were invited to have a say in the focus and location. A decision was made to support the social entrepreneur Mwalimi Musheshe and his organisation Uganda Rural Development Training Centre (URDT). URDT supports self-sufficient families in rural western Uganda by offering them tools to move out of extreme poverty. URDT educates girls, who then inspire and educate their families and other villagers, enabling them to improve their living standards.

Employee engagement

To anchor the participation among all employees, we established a working group at Carnegie with ambassadors from all business areas and offices. All employees have the option to contribute directly from their salary to Door Step School and URDT. To maintain participation, we host regular activities and campaigns. Together with the ambassadors, Social Initiative creates concepts, content, and communications material and make sure it happens.

Social impact and business benefit

The combination of Carnegie’s support and the active work of Social Initiative has significantly impacted the communities. Together with Door Step School, we set up the first computer centre in the slums of Mumbai. The centre still plays a vital role for the children, who otherwise have limited access to computers and thus, do not have the possibility of gaining the IT-skills necessary in today’s society and job market.
At URDT girls’ school in Uganda, the students’ families’ living standards have increased significantly since their daughters started URDT. Many families have increased their income through farming, built permanent houses, and have proper sanitary solutions.
Employees at Carnegie are personally engaged. More than half of them regularly participate in fundraising campaigns or support the organisations by donating monthly from their salaries. Carnegie’s social engagement has continued despite changes in its top management, thanks to Social Initiative’s presence throughout the journey and the fact that participation is well anchored with the employees.

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