Northern Trust Releases 2021 Philanthropic Impact Report

CHICAGO – Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) has made $160 million in charitable contributions in the last decade, including $18 million in 2021 benefiting nearly 1,000 organizations globally, according to a Northern Trust’s 2021 Philanthropic Impact Report.

Additionally Northern Trust staff have provided more than 1 million hours of volunteer service in the past decade, a practice supported by the company offering two paid days off per year for volunteer service. During Northern Trust’s global month of service in October, known as Achieving Greater Together, employees volunteered more than 12,000 hours – in person and virtually -- to support organizations in their communities and beyond.

“Northern Trust is committed to creating more equitable opportunities to achieve long-term financial success for those who too often face unfair hurdles,” said Shana Hayes, director corporate of philanthropy at Northern Trust. “We have chosen to focus our efforts in areas where we feel we can do the most to advance this mission: food security, accessible healthcare, affordable housing and educational excellence.”

Examples highlighted in the report include:

Housing
Northern Trust supports SOS Children’s Villages (India), which provides shelter and services for homeless and other at-risk children, laying a foundation for educational achievement and a more secure future.

When children can no longer live with their families, SOS Children’s Villages works with the communities and state partners to provide children with supportive alternative care to ensure children’s needs are met.

Many households in Pune, India, are headed by single women living in poor and vulnerable conditions. Government statistics estimate a third of the population lives with inadequate access to basic services or infrastructure. The prevention of poverty and abandonment is a high priority for SOS Children’s Villages.

Education
Northern Trust works with its philanthropic partners to support educational equity to foster human potential. One grantee highlighted in the report is The Access Project, based in England.

Supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access the U.K.’s top universities, The Access Project offers a unique combination of tuition and in-school mentoring that helps teenagers unlock their potential and transform their prospects.

In 2021, 7 out of 10 student participants in The Access Project earned placement at leading universities, including 10 who placed at Oxbridge and 13 who placed in medical and dentistry programs. In total, Northern Trust volunteers spent 50 hours performing online tutoring for students in English, math and psychology. 

Healthcare
Northern Trust works to maximize healthcare access and awareness, which directly impacts physical and financial well-being, by supporting organizations such as Chicago-based Esperanza Health Centers.

The organization works with Chicago’s underserved communities through bilingual, high-quality primary care, behavioral health and wellness services, regardless of immigration or insurance status, or ability to pay.

Northern Trust’s donations helped fund Esperanza’s daily work throughout 2021, which included the creation of four mass vaccination sites across Chicago’s southwest side, and enabled administration of 150,000 vaccine doses.

In addition, Esperanza considerably increased its mental health counseling team and created a daily on-call workflow whereby a designated mental health counselor is assigned to “float” each day in-clinic, allowing for immediate handoffs from primary care providers as well as the capacity to address walk-ins and emergencies – all while continuing to see their regular patients.

Food security
The final philanthropic focus area Northern Trust focuses on is food security. The firm seeks to ensure reliable, everyday access to nutritious meals to strengthen concentration, the ability to fully participate in school, and patterns that sustain long-term physical health.

Among organizations Northern Trust supports is the Global Foodbanking Network – an international nonprofit that works toward a hunger-free future in more than 40 countries by sustaining, uniting and strengthening food banks – and its partners, including Feeding America and the European Food Banks Federation. During Northern Trust’s global month of service, the firm donated 50 meals to these organizations for every hour of service performed by employees, which ultimately totaled more than 600,000 meals.

Northern Trust’s 2021 Philanthropic Impact Report may be accessed here.

About Northern Trust

Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 22 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 23 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of December 31, 2021, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$16.2 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.6 trillion. For more than 130 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Please visit our website or follow us on Twitter.

Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Please read our global and regulatory information.