For the 2018-2019 school year, 150 North Texas students will have the critical tools they need to be successful in their quest for knowledge thanks to the generosity and efforts of 1st Global employees, affiliated firms and product sponsors in partnership with The Family Place.
When 1st Global wanted to add a corporate social responsibility project to an annual conference for financial advisors and wealth management assistants, they knew to turn to Communities Foundation of Texas for Business.
“While we’ve had a strong focus on corporate social responsibility for our employees and their families, this is the first time we asked our affiliated firms and product sponsors to get involved,” says Emily James, director of events.
During the months of June and July, 1st Global organized a drive to collect school supplies, bringing in approximately $7,000 of in-kind donations for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade students. Once these donations were collected, the supplies were brought to 1st Global’s annual Communities conference at the Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star, where more than 300 event attendees (affiliated financial advisors, assistants, product sponsors and 1st Global employees) joined together to pack 150 backpacks for the students in The Family Place.
Based in Dallas, The Family Place empowers victims of domestic violence by providing safe housing, counseling and comprehensive services that prevent violence and support women, children and men on their path from fear to safety. Many children and families walk into The Family Place with just the clothes on their back.
“When children come to The Family Place, they don’t have the supplies they need for school,” says Meg Bittner, program director of volunteer, in-kind and retail services at The Family Place. “We have 485 children in need of school supplies this year. With the help of 1st Global, we are able to provide almost half of these children the tools they need for a successful school year.”
Since 2016, 1st Global has supported and partnered with the Communities Foundation of Texas for Business to enhance its community engagement efforts. With 200 Dallas-based employees, 1st Global partners with multiple nonprofit organizations and serves the community through various outreach initiatives. Bringing a piece of this project to the Communities event allowed the company’s affiliated firms and product sponsors to join these community efforts for the first time.
“One of 1st Global’s guiding principles is to ‘aspire to servant leadership,’ because we believe true leaders inspire people more by service than position or authority,” says Michelle Grose, who serves as 1st Global’s engagement captain with CFT. “Our employees are challenged to be servant leaders in the community, and it was good to expand this challenge to our firms as we all packed backpacks for The Family Place.”
You can learn more about The Family Place at www.familyplace.org.
About 1st Global
Established in 1992, 1st Global is the only independent wealth management services partner that has a proven system to successfully integrate CPAs and professional financial advisors into strategic business models that serve the complex needs of affluent families. Focusing on leading academic research, best practices, comprehensive financial planning and informed consulting, 1st Global has the privilege to provide education, technology, business-building frameworks and client solutions to nearly 400 CPA firms nationwide.
