Taproot Celebrates Deloitte's Partnership this Pro Bono Week
Pro bono as a non-legal resource? Fifteen years ago, only a few had ever considered how business professionals could use their diverse talents to support organizations working for social good. Marketing pro bono, strategy pro bono, IT pro bono: these were radical ideas to many companies in 2001, when the Taproot Foundation first began its work to lead, engage, and inspire business professionals in pro bono service. Deloitte LLP was that rare company, in both its early adoption of the delivery of pro bono service as well as in its pro bono thought leadership.
That investment in pro bono at Deloitte has continued. Jim Moffat, CEO, Deloitte Consulting LLP, notes, “Deloitte is committed to pro bono work because it’s an opportunity for us to use our skills, knowledge, and experience to drive lasting societal impact for the issues that matter most to our clients, people, and communities. We gain satisfaction from delivering leading insights and innovative insights on complex problems, while providing important leadership roles to our people and showcasing that exceeding expectations is how we do business.”
Allies since the early days of the movement, Taproot and Deloitte worked together to create the Leadership Council as part of the Pro Bono Action Tank. By bringing other early corporate pro bono champions to the table, this initiative enabled the widespread adoption of pro bono resources and the formation of the Billion+ Change campaign—driving 500+ companies to pledge to provide pro bono resources to their communities. Deloitte continues to play a leadership role in the movement, investing in both growing and diversifying its own pro bono offerings while supporting the spread of the pro bono service ethic across the private sector at large. By empowering nonprofits to be more informed, ready and able, and helping provide guidance to the development of more sustainable, scalable, turnkey pro bono programs, Deloitte continues to drive the field of pro bono service forward.
“Our organization and our people are committed to giving back to our communities, says Diane Davies, Chief Talent Officer and National Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “Our people are passionate about using the skills and abilities they’ve developed working for clients for social impact on the causes that matter to them. Many of our colleagues—regardless of generation—rate their nonprofit experiences as some of the most rewarding and satisfying work they do.”
In 2012, Taproot adopted the American Bar Association’s historic celebration of National Pro Bono Week to ensure that the thousands of individuals who volunteer their professional expertise in marketing, legal services, HR, IT and other critical areas had a national platform to showcase their efforts. In 2013, thanks to work with Deloitte, Taproot elevated the breadth and diversity of the celebration of pro bono worldwide. Deloitte’s continued support as part of Pro Bono Week 2014 builds on our earlier work in engaging nonprofits, business professionals and the corporate sector in pro bono, offering celebratory and educational opportunities to “Make it Matter” throughout Pro Bono Week 2014. By celebrating professionals engaging in their communities, we shine a spotlight on the value of cross-sector collaborations and its long term impact for social change.
“Deloitte’s pro bono program is just one component of our culture of purpose, says Jonathan Copulsky, Managing Director of U.S. Corporate Citizenship, Deloitte Consulting, LLP. “Coupled with skills-based volunteering, board service, and our recently launched Social Impact Service Line, we are able to help drive positive impact in our communities. Through our pro bono services, we also work with nonprofits to increase their own ability to be leaders.”
Together Deloitte and Taproot have created, catalyzed, and celebrated pro bono service helping inspire pro bono activities and converting intent into action by orchestrating a concentration of pro bono activity across sectors.
About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of DTTL and its member firms. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.
About the Taproot Foundation
Taproot is a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to organizations working to improve society. We engage the nation’s millions of business professionals in pro bono services both through our award-winning programs and by partnering with companies to develop their pro bono programs. One day, we envision all organizations with promising solutions will be equipped to successfully take on urgent social challenges. Taproot Foundation, the founder of Pro Bono Day NYC and an innovator in the pro bono space, has connected nearly $140 million in pro bono services through pro bono programs with volunteers and corporations since 2001.
