Morgan Stanley today announced that the City Year UK team has won the seventh UK Strategy Challenge. The Morgan Stanley team working with City Year UK developed a sustainable business model to increase the number of the charity’s volunteer mentors and fund new programme delivery for pupils.

The Morgan Stanley UK Strategy Challenge, in partnership with Pilotlight, pairs teams of top-performing Morgan Stanley professionals with non-profit organisations in London for nine weeks to provide pro bono advice on strategic challenges such as business modelling, growth plans and cost efficiencies. The teams presented their final recommendations to senior representatives from Morgan Stanley and the charity sector during a virtual event on 13th May.

"We are extremely proud to be working with the remarkable organisations that participated this year; many of whom have been working on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic," said Clare Woodman, Head of EMEA at Morgan Stanley. "With a health and economic crisis generating increasing demand for their services, charities are experiencing greater challenges than ever before. We hope the strategic recommendations provided by the Morgan Stanley employees will help the non-profits continue their impactful work and reach even more communities."

Ed Mayo, CEO at Pilotlight, said: "Great charities draw on great talent and it has been inspiring to see the skills of a market leading firm put to work for the benefit of society. This is our contribution to social change and it is a powerful formula."

Kevin Munday, Chief Executive, City Year UK said: "We are delighted to have won the Morgan Stanley UK Strategy Challenge 2021. We are particularly pleased with the practical materials and tools the Morgan Stanley team have developed, which will help us achieve our ambition to have an even greater impact on educational inequality."

Since its inception, the UK Strategy Challenge has delivered over 24,000 hours of service to 35 charities. The other charities benefitting from this year’s programme included: Barnardo's, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, Helpforce, NHS Charities Together, and The Felix Project.