Industry Challenges
Despite rapid economic development, the world still faces a multitude of challenges: almost half of the world—more than 3 billion people—lives on less than $2.50 a day, and each day more than 25,000 children die from the effects of poverty. Approximately 1 billion people—more than the combined populations of the European Union, the U.S., and Canada—do not have enough to eat to lead healthy lives, and the concentration of hunger among women and children is particularly acute.
Meanwhile, diseases of the developing world continue to exact a terrible toll. Malaria, for example, claims nearly 1 million lives each year, with 90 percent of the fatalities occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.
BCG’s involvement in social impact work is motivated by eye-opening facts such as these. Because we possess expertise that can make a difference, we are inspired to work with social-sector organizations to have an effect on local communities and the world at large.
BCG Competencies
Having a beneficial social impact is fundamental to who we are as an organization and is one of our nine stated values. In the past year, BCG completed approximately 200 social impact projects with about 120 organizations worldwide.
Globally, we focus on issues faced by the developing world, supporting progress towards the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. Because these goals constitute long-term challenges, we believe they require long-term relationships with critical players, and so we have chosen to partner with the United Nations’ World Food Programme, Save the Children, and several organizations working to improve global health. Our local social impact projects aim for a direct effect on the communities in which we live, and each BCG office selects its own partner organizations on the basis of the given community’s specific needs.
Our work focuses on seven primary topics:
Poverty and Hunger projects support governments and organizations that are dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger—for example, through our global partnerships with the World Food Programme, Save the Children, and other organizations.
Global Health work addresses worldwide health issues facing both the developed and developing countries, including the use of strategies to fight particular infectious diseases like malaria, as well as the design and enhancement of health care access, delivery, and systems.
Education projects include those at the district, state or provincial, and national levels to boost the achievement of schools. It also entails the development of comprehensive strategies for primary, secondary, and higher education, as well as research.
Community and Economic Development activities build strategies to revitalize cities, regions, and countries and increase their competitiveness. We also work with social entrepreneurs around the world to make their ventures more successful.
Arts and Culture undertakings help cultural organizations—from symphonies to museums—grapple with a variety of planning issues crucial to the health of these institutions.
Philanthropy and Volunteerism activities support charitable foundations and individuals on issues such as portfolio management, organizational design, and impact measurement.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects help corporate clients take a strategic approach to CSR in order to achieve competitive advantage while maximizing beneficial social impact.
You can also learn more about the work we perform that is related to creating a sustainable environment. Our Sustainability page details how we work with groups that are addressing challenges related to climate change, alternative energy, water, waste, and resource management, as well as habitat and wildlife conservation.