UK Strategy Challenge: Midpoint Update from the Prince's Trust

Posted by Andy, Anita, Anna, David and Macdara, Morgan Stanley, London

Our team is extremely proud to have been selected to participate in the inaugural UK Strategy Challenge, particularly when we were presented with our charity partner, the Prince's Trust.

For those who are not already aware of the amazing work that the Prince's Trust does, they are a nonprofit organization that provides financial, practical and often emotional support to young people who for a variety of reasons are either not in work, school or have had no formal training. Through its various programs, the Prince's Trust looks to help those affected develop the key skills, confidence and motivation needed and to help them to transition into work, education or training. Having already had the pleasure of meeting a number of people who they help, we have been incredibly impressed and moved by the impact that this work has on young people. It is truly inspiring.

The issue our team has been faced with is certainly challenging – to determine how Prince's Trust should change their portfolio mix to engage a greater number of corporate partners, and in turn amplify impact. We have deliberately been taken out of our comfort zone, and while putting five strangers together from different parts of the Firm is initially daunting, we are starting to develop a great rapport and understanding of our respective skillsets – and putting them to great use within the team.

We just completed our mid-challenge review with the Prince's Trust during which we presented our initial findings and preliminary recommendations, one of which was adopting a more proactive engagement strategy with its corporate partner volunteers. While we believe we are on the right path, a number of challenges remain – for example expanding scope, identification of new issues and the dreaded "known unknowns". These challenges apart, we are looking forward to refining our analyses and committing our recommendations to paper.

One of benefits of the Strategy Challenge has been the incredible access that we have been provided at the Prince's Trust. It is not often that we get the opportunity to work on high-level strategic issues as part of our normal "day" jobs, and the ability to meet with the various members of the Prince's Trust team and its key stakeholders. It has given us great insight into how a large national charity operates and the impact that Corporate Partnerships and their employees can have.

We look forward to presenting what we believe are going to be extremely impactful recommendations next month.

Click here for more information on the Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge.