The Family Center Team Wins Morgan Stanley’s 11th Annual US Strategy Challenge

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced that The Family Center team has won the eleventh annual U.S. Strategy Challenge, the Firm’s flagship pro bono program, which brings together rising talent to help nonprofit organizations solve strategic, mission critical challenges. Over the past ten weeks, Morgan Stanley employees provided in-depth consulting services to nine local nonprofits, addressing key strategic challenges such as expansion and scaling strategy as well as critical opportunities to enhance efficiency and effectiveness through business and program models. This effort culminated in a final competition held at Morgan Stanley’s New York headquarters on May 21^st, during which each Morgan Stanley team presented final strategic recommendations for their nonprofit partner. The team for The New York Center for Children was the runner up and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation team received third place.

The winner of the eleventh annual U.S. Strategy Challenge was the team working with The Family Center, a charity that works to strengthen families affected by crisis, illness or loss to create a more secure present and future for their children. The Brooklyn-based nonprofit challenged its Morgan Stanley team to analyze the best way for The Family Center to integrate primary care services at their facility to increase access to care. After performing extensive analysis and understanding the key drivers of success, the Morgan Stanley team created a customized financial model and partnership toolkit for The Family Center to use going forward when assessing their opportunities to deliver primary care services in the future.

“Working with the Morgan Stanley team has been a wonderful experience—the insight, information and tools they gave us will be instrumental as we continue to work to provide expert services for our families,” said Ivy Gamble Cobb, Founder and Executive Director of The Family Center.

“The financial analysis tool and the partner assessment tool are like my bible now and, with these tools, we’ll be able to better measure impact on the organization and make decisions rooted in good data.”

The Morgan Stanley U.S. Strategy Challenge pairs our talented employee base with nonprofit organizations that are in need of strategic advice on a mission-critical issue. In line with the firm’s expertise in delivering innovative solutions for clients, coupled with the culture of giving back, the program provides nonprofits with significant assistance in bringing meaningful impact and long-term change to their communities.

“I would like to congratulate each of the nine teams that participated in this year’s U.S. Strategy Challenge,” said Joan Steinberg, Morgan Stanley’s Global Head of Philanthropy. “All of the proposals put forward were extremely intelligent and impressive, which is a true testament to the success of this pro bono initiative that uniquely leverages the talents and passions of Morgan Stanley’s current and future leaders, giving back to the community in tangible and impactful ways.”