Ambitious projects. Hands-on involvement. An emphasis on making things happen. These words all describe our involvement in the local communities around our offices and in the global community we're a part of. In 2009 and 2010 we volunteered approximately 40,000 hours—nearly four person-years—and we helped more than 100 organizations.
Most volunteering at Bain starts as a grassroots effort, an employee-led endeavor, beginning with just one or two people and an idea. The initiators rally their colleagues. They might lead an Inspire team—a case team staffed and led by associate consultants who take on pro bono cases in their free time. Or they might get their whole office involved, as Mike Sion did with Year Up in New York City.
That's the way volunteering goes at Bain. To us, the personal stories mean more than the statistics.
Rowe school
Creating a new schoolIn Chicago's mostly Hispanic West Town section, only a small percentage of young people graduate from college. A handful of Bain volunteers set out to change that by founding a new, academically oriented charter school in partnership with Northwestern University Settlement House. It was a mammoth undertaking. About three-quarters of Bain Chicago volunteered to pitch in, devoting some 800 hours in all.
The Bain team talked with the heads of 20 successful charter schools, retained education experts, interviewed stakeholders and supported two rounds of negotiations with the city for a school site. They also benchmarked the performance of other schools, worked on student recruitment and helped create curriculum maps and lesson planning tools. Today, Rowe Elementary School has more than 260 children enrolled and community parents are clamoring to have their children admitted to this outstanding program.
Panguma hospital
Powering up a hospitalAfter Sierra Leone's civil war began in 1991, the remote Panguma Hospital had to rely on power from a diesel generator, which was available for only a few hours a day. The only source of medical care in its region, the hospital couldn't meet its patients' need without regular power.
Working with the people of Panguma and one other organization, Bain's Amsterdam office pitched in. First the Bain volunteers raised more than €20,000 to buy a solar–panel power system. Next, they arranged with the Dutch army to transport the panels to Sierra Leone. Then, together with a team of installers, they climbed up on the roof of the children's ward to put the panels in place.
After a decade and a half, Panguma Hospital had dependable power for operating room suites, oxygen generators, and the refrigerators to hold blood supplies.
Year up
Consultant Mike Sion got excited about the organization and convinced many of his colleagues in Bain's New York office to join in; all told, they put in more than 200 hours of volunteer time.
Here's what Sion had to say about how Bain helped:
Q: How did you mobilize your peers to get involved?
A: It wasn't too hard—we hosted the executive director for a talk on Year Up and on nonprofit careers. Ultimately, it came down to people having a lot of desire to increase their level of service to the community.
Q: What support has Bain given you?
A: A lot. We had a substantial programming budget from day one. We've been able to use all of the facilities and support services as much as we'd like. Bain ensured that there were managers willing to help provide guidance and, of course, great employees to serve as mentors.
