Celebrating the Power of Partnerships with basis.point Week
Patrons Mal Convery and Anne Keys celebrate basis.point Week with The Panel colleagues
This year basis.point week was a vibrant celebration of community, collaboration, and the transformative power of education. Across the funds industry, over 20 corporate partners opened their doors, their hearts, and in many cases, their boardrooms, to shine a spotlight on the rising stars who make this work matter.
The week itself is conceived as a way to strengthen the emotional connection between patronage and lives transformed, to encourage engagement and raise awareness amongst the wider funds community. And it didn’t disappoint.
Anca and Christopher, backroom heroes of basis.point week
Several of our Patrons – BBH, Caceis, HSBC, and Ogier – took part in hands-on activities, from assisting in Fighting Words workshops and refurbishing schools amongst the TU Dublin community, to visiting youth hubs with Foróige and organising the Battle of the Firms quiz on behalf of basis.point.
Creating seamless events takes a tremendous amount of effort behind the scenes. Our week kicked off with a spontaneous brainstorming session with MelÃosa O’Caoimh and Nicola Gerety, setting the tone for purposeful action. A timely boost from Anca and Christopher in the Northern Trust post room helped make basis.point week a reality.
Recognizing the powerful role of student voice, we worked together with our Prestige and Premier Patrons, to carefully match up young speakers with appropriate Patron organisations. Vanguard hosted a powerful session featuring Zara and Fortunate, two Leaving Cert graduates from Stanhope Street who shared how the Student Mentoring Programme delivered by Business in the Community, helped them find confidence and direction.
Their stories were echoed at BlackRock, where Summer Work Placement Programme interns, Sophia and Isaac returned to thank the team that first believed in them Sophia now studying Data Science and AI, dreaming of returning one day as a colleague.
Waystone gave the floor to Sania, a Teen-Turn alum whose journey from self-doubt to nursing student at UCD inspired all. At Caceis, 17-year-old Carla McDonnell wowed with her award-winning innovation, Vax Chill, born from the Foroige NFTE programme ahead of jetting off to represent Ireland in the international entrepreneurship competition in New York.
First Sentier explored new volunteering opportunities with the Early Learning Initiative, while Maples and EY wrapped up the week with moving stories of transformation by Joanna and Amy from isolated science enthusiasts to Teen-Turn mentors and STEM leaders.
Amy Carruth inspires team EY with her personal story
Amy’s closing words perfectly capture what we strive for – helping young people unlock their potential. For Amy, that journey was through Teen-Turn.
For others, it might begin with early exposure to entrepreneurship via Foroige, developing emotional coping skills through Soar, or even earlier, with parenting support and early intervention from ELI or Archways.
Every stage of my Teen-Turn journey has shaped who I am today. They didn’t just introduce me to STEM. They gave me the space to dream big and the people I needed to believe I could make it happen.
These events highlight the profound impact of our partnerships and the importance of continuing to support education to foster youth empowerment. Each event is a reminder: when corporate partners invest in education, they don’t just support programmes – they change lives.
Our community continues to grow stronger and whilst awareness at a corporate level is high, basis.point week is vital to ensure that employees at all levels across the funds industry understand and feel proud of the impact that the industry charity is having.
It’s clear from the picture gallery below that there is a real appetite to share the success stories of our collective effort. Thank you to Maples, Deloitte, The Panel, BNP, Blackrock, Caceis, Matheson, BBH, First Sentier, HSBC, Waystone, Vanguard, FundRecs, Key Capital, IQ-EQ, McCann Fitzgerald, SS&C, Franklin Templeton, Ogier, Northern Trust TD Securities and SEI.
If you feel inspired by what you saw and heard please consider becoming a basis.point supporter here. Thank you to all who made basis.point Week a celebration of potential, purpose, and partnership. Make sure to get in touch early to schedule your basis.point week event next year. Some weeks are simply uplifting!
