Our employees participate in the following ways:
- They are mentors/coaches and provide voluntary advisory services to the members of start-ups and social enterprises.
- They conduct educational seminars/presentations to incubators, NGOs and social enterprises.
- They provide accounting, legal, auditing and consulting services to start-ups and social enterprises.
Before the pandemic and the lockdown, all trainings and mentoring were carried out with the physical presence of our volunteers at the premises of NGOs, startups and other interested parties.
Due to the pandemic, all our activities have become online. The transition was smooth as the entire company was already implementing PwC's global network initiative to develop the digital skills of its employees with training and new digital tools that facilitated real-time online collaboration.
The training and mentoring processes were facilitated by the flexible policy and digital tools that the company provides to employees, as almost all of us now work from home. In this way we are able to reach even more start-ups and social enterprises throughout Greece.
So, completely unexpectedly, with the lockdown our social programs and also the number of volunteers increased. Young workers in particular were enthusiastically asking how they can help and participate in Corporate Responsibility activities.
Specifically, employee participation in social programs is as follows.
1. Support start-ups and social enterprises through incubators and Accelerators
- Start School of Business
Our employees are startup and small business trainers.
The program started in October 2019 and continues in 2021, in collaboration with Found.ation/SocialInnov, Microsoft and under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens. Start School of Business is a free digital and business skills development program aimed at strengthening the viability of small and start-up businesses. It consists of training courses on business topics such as: basic accounting and tax principles, finance, legal issues, internet security, digital professional skills, networking and communication. In addition, as part of our partnership with Found.ation/SocialInnov, our employees have supported Spark Accelerator startups with training and mentoring.
- AFI
The Action Finance Initiative (AFI) is an AMKE with a mission to introduce microcredit in Greece to help unemployed people create their own jobs in sustainable businesses, and to improve the legal and institutional environment of self-employment. For three years now we have been supporting AFI with our volunteers who work for a certain period of time in its offices supporting its operations, either training and providing mentoring to the small and start-up companies that are its members in matters of business and financial management, legal form, marketing and communication. Since September 2020 we have extended our support by providing pro bono audit services of our employees.
- Social Dynamo: For three years now we have been working with Social Dynamo, an award-winning hub, focusing on learning, professional support and networking and aiming at the sustainability of social enterprises and NGOs, enhancing the efficiency and social impact of their work . As part of our collaboration, PwC volunteers train the organizations supported by Social Dynamo in business, legal, communication and financial matters, in Athens and Thessaloniki.
- Actions implemented until 2018 by our volunteers
NBG Business Seeds: Trainings in business and financial matters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion.
e.g.g.: Accounting and legal pro bono consulting services and professional training to incubator start-ups.
Orange Grove: Pro bono services in Agreed upon procedures.
2. Participation in initiatives to strengthen Greek entrepreneurship
Since October 2020, we have been participating in the Elevate Greece initiative of the Ministry of Development and Investments, which aims to create the National Register of Young Businesses. Our employees will provide support to startups within 2021.
In the past two years, our volunteers participated in the Reload Greece start-up support initiatives, Antivirus Crowdhackathon by providing training and mentoring, as well as in the Convergence Forum to support entrepreneurship.
3. Synergies with social enterprises
We support AMKE Bloode, which works to increase the number of voluntary blood donors in Greece with financial support for the organization of blood donations for vulnerable social groups and hospitals in immediate need. The support of our volunteers is through participation in blood donations as well as trainings for Bloode staff.
We support AMKE Humane, which is active for the business employment of people with rare diseases and the awareness of society. Our volunteers provided training, mentoring, while PwC provided financial sponsorship for the development of a mobile application to promote Humane's activities.
PwC volunteers participated in a training day while also providing pro bono professional advice to the NGO Women on Top which aims to train unemployed women and reintegrate them into the labor market.
4. Pro bono services
Our employees provide pro bono auditing, consulting and tax services to the following organizations: Hellenic Environmental Society, Borome, MDA Hellas, All Together We Can, Initiative for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, The Fulbright Foundation.
5. Entrepreneurship training for students
Our employees provide career training, skills and mentoring to students across the state through Tipping Point's digital platform. They also participate in programs and events aimed at strengthening young entrepreneurship with new skills, such as the AIESEC conferences, the Entrepreneurship Panorama, university initiatives throughout Greece, and Thinkbiz for students and graduates. They also participate with trainings and mentoring in the SEN Junior Achievement for the support of eight high schools. The specific programs are described in detail in our initiative in the axis Bravo Society "New world. New skills: Support for education".
Donation of equipment to schools and students: Seven volunteers organized the fundraising and the provision of equipment. They continue to record the needs of the schools for their further support during the year.