The Strategy Challenge is Morgan Stanley’s flagship pro bono program, bringing together cross-divisional teams to advise nonprofits on mission-critical strategic questions such as expanding their services, improving efficiency, strengthening business models and increasing their impact. Since its launch in 2009, Morgan Stanley employees have served 220 nonprofits. This year, they contributed more than 13,000 hours of consulting to 14 organizations over 10 weeks.
The 2026 program culminated in events in New York and London, where teams presented their recommendations to nonprofit sector experts and senior leaders at the Firm—exploring how the nonprofits in the program could expand programming, improve productivity, and strengthen their service delivery and business models.
The Winning Solution: A Practical Plan for Financial Empowerment
The winning Strategy Challenge team in the U.S. collaborated with Hour Children, a leading provider of prison- and community-based family services that helps women and children stabilize and transform their lives. As the organization marks its 40th anniversary this year, it continues to grow and strengthen its comprehensive support for currently and formerly incarcerated women and their children.
The Morgan Stanley team worked with Hour Children to analyze how the nonprofit can more effectively deliver financial literacy programming to members of its Hour Working Women Program—focusing their efforts on participants and alumni of the program—which also provides job training, educational assistance, internship placement, and employment services to formerly incarcerated women. They developed a plan for an efficient and comprehensive hybrid education model, consisting of CFP®-led in-class instruction, one-on-one virtual coaching and on-demand mobile support intended to reinforce long-term financial stability for participants.
“The Morgan Stanley team demonstrated an outstanding understanding of the lived realities of the families we serve, which made their recommendations highly relevant, thoughtful and impactful,” said Dr. Kimberly Cason, Director of Hour Children’s Hour Working Women Program.
To further strengthen the financial literacy component of the program, which was historically only included during the final week of the six-week course, the Morgan Stanley team recommended enhancements to the existing curriculum, including the use of real-world scenarios relevant to participants' experiences, simplified explanations of financial concepts and terminology, and a greater emphasis on practical application. The expanded curriculum includes instruction on banking access, scam protection, and how to budget. These recommendations were designed to help participants build financial knowledge and confidence while supporting their long-term economic empowerment.
Inside the Team’s Winning Collaboration
“I’m proud, and honestly a little in shock,” said Liz Abikaram, Vice President in Legal and Compliance, who couldn’t help a joyful shout when her team was announced as the winner. “It’s been an incredible experience, and to see it all come to fruition like this means a lot.”
The group dedicated over 1,200 hours to developing their solution, drawing on a range of perspectives and skill sets from across the integrated firm.
“In my day job, a lot of what I do is thinking about the big picture—understanding the current state or problem, developing ideas and then communicating them,” said Olivia Dubi, WM & IM Shared Services. “It was great to work alongside people who are complementary but different in personality, styles and strengths, as we developed the best solution for our organization.”
The team’s skillsets were rounded out by Chris Golankiewicz in Wealth Management and Yevgeniy Breger, Vice President in Corporate Services, and they were advised by Lauren McKeon, Managing Director in Firm Risk Management.
Why Morgan Stanley Gives Back
Morgan Stanley is committed to Giving Back as a core value, and the annual Strategy Challenge reflects how employees leverage their skills and perspectives to generate innovative and positive impact where we live and work.
“Drawing on the breadth of talent across Morgan Stanley, the Strategy Challenge is a powerful example of how our employees can make a concrete impact on our communities,” said Joan Steinberg, Global Head of Philanthropy at Morgan Stanley and President of the Morgan Stanley Foundation. “Through rigorous analysis and fresh perspectives, this year’s teams developed actionable proposals to help nonprofits improve their operations and advance their missions to address important issues facing society.”
In addition to Hour Children, the 14 nonprofits that participated in this year’s Strategy Challenge across the U.S. and the UK include: Ambitious about Autism, Cancer Research UK, Center for Independence of the Disabled NY, Commonpoint, Day Care Council of New York, Exhale to Inhale, Felix, Guide Dogs, Harlem School of the Arts, The HOPE Program, Mental Health Innovations, MorDance, and Welcome to Chinatown.
For more on the Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge and each of the participating organizations, click here.
