Howard Dawber is former Chair of the East End Community Foundation and Deputy Mayor of London for Business. For more than a decade Howard was the Director of Strategy at Canary Wharf Group and a former trustee of Legacy List. He is married, has a teenager daughter and lives in London.
What motivated you to originally get involved with EECF?
“When I started working with Canary Wharf Group in 2000 and then joined the company full time in 2004, I wanted to meet local people and hear about how the company could help our neighbours access economic opportunity. Very quickly I was signposted to the old Isle of Dogs Community Foundation, forerunner of EECF, because local people trusted it, and saw it as an important bridge between businesses and local community groups.”
During your time as Chairman, the Foundation played a crucial role in addressing social issues at the grassroots level. Can you share any specific projects or initiatives that you are particularly proud of, and how they impacted the community?
“I am very proud of how the EECF responded to urgent situations such as gang trouble in the 2000s, and the pandemic in 2019-2021, where the Foundation stepped up as a trusted independent partner for directly helping local people and community organisations at times of great stress. During COVID, it provided a lifeline to help local vulnerable people with immediate support.”
Can you tell us about your personal philanthropy and what motivates you to give?
“I have been very fortunate in my life and ended up with well paid jobs doing things I love and care about. In London – especially East London – you don’t have to look very far to find people who have been very unfortunate and often through circumstance, lack of opportunity and simple bad luck end up in a position where they face poverty or disadvantage. If a relatively small amount from my pocket can make a huge difference to theirs, it’s not a hardship for me to donate. My one thousand pounds a year membership of the philanthropy network at EECF costs me less than I would normally spend on lunch – often less than the tip on a restaurant work lunch – each day, and yet provides secure and unrestricted income for EECF. £1k a year is enough to fund some great small projects.”
Corporate philanthropy can serve as a catalyst for social change and innovation. Is there any learning from your time with EECF that will inform your engagement with businesses in your role as Deputy Mayor of London for Business?
“I think business has changed and much better understands its role in society as a potential force for good outside of just providing employment, products, services and profit. One of my programmes at the Mayor’s Office is the Good Work Standard, and I will be looking to dramatically expand the number of businesses who sign up – this involves committing to pay the Living Wage, plus provide holiday and sick pay, trade union rights and other benefits. The other thing I would say is the power of partnership working. EECF is a partnership between business, the community, Government bodies and individuals.”
How can corporate philanthropy forge greater staff and civic engagement?
“There is a lively debate about whether Corporations have a philanthropic role at all. The economist Milton Friedman argued that the responsibilty ended with the creation of profit, and it was up to individual shareholders or owners to decide how to spend that profit. His view was that companies should not engage with philanthropic activity. But the trust is that philanthropy like any other economic activity works best when it is done efficiently – a company which brings both a rigour and strategic thinking to its corporate philanthropy, along with potentially hundreds or thousands of additional philanthropic donors or volunteers in the form of the staff – is uniquely well placed to deliver a maximum philanthropic impact. That isn’t to say that high net worth donors do not also have their place – but corporates can drive personal growth and development in their staff, re-ignite their corporate spirit and give reality to their vision and purpose through well organised collective philanthropy.”
What are your hopes for EECF in the next 5 years?
“I think EECF has a great Chair and Trustees, as well as an exceptional Chief Executive. I am very proud to have handed over the organisation in good shape and it is going from strength to strength. 5 years from now I would like to see the endowment having grown and the annual grant-making to have doubled. Despite all EECF’s good work and better economic situation in East London there are still so many challenges for local people. EECF is a vital part of the East End and I wish it great success.”
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