Founded in 2000 by finance professionals who saw the social inequities in the emerging markets where they invested, EMpower supports hundreds of initiatives that help marginalised young people to transform their own lives and communities.
Founded in the same year, MarketAxess is the world’s leading trading platform for emerging markets debt. Since 2019, it has been a proud partner and supporter of EMpower, becoming its first ever global underwriter in 2023.
As both organizations celebrate their quarter century, The DESK talks to Cynthia Steele, CEO of EMpower, and Toby West, Chief Marketing Officer at MarketAxess, about the crucial partnership between financial services and philanthropy, and their hopes for its growth in the future.
The DESK: How did the EMpower story start? Has the focus always been exclusively emerging markets?
Cynthia Steele: Like most, it’s very simple. In the late 1990s, a number of people working in emerging markets finance were struck by the disparity between their own daily lives and the experiences and lives of those in the communities around them. Their drives between airports, hotels and offices took them through slums and run-down areas where they saw the lived realities of communities – something lots of us in emerging markets finance experienced. So, they felt the need to give something back – particularly those who had their own backgrounds in EM. They wanted to find a way to invest in and support the communities they saw on those journeys.
Did you know that 85% of the world’s youth – that is, those aged 10-24 – live in emerging markets countries? And many of whom still live in poverty or exist on the marginalized fringes of society? And by and large, funding for those countries from bilateral or foundation sources has evaporated or gone elsewhere, because there’s a view that they are, or are becoming, ‘middle income’ and their need is less pressing. So to focus on young people in need, EM countries are the ones to double down on.
That said, the definitions of “emerging markets” do somewhat depend on the indices people use, and the terminology has changed a little since the charity started.
TD: What are some of the highlights of the journey so far?
CS: That we have become known and relevant to a global set of supporters and stakeholders in such a short space of time. From our US beginning, we’ve expanded to the UK, Hong Kong and India, and are now hoping to expand in South Africa and the UAE.
These are hugely important capital markets globally, and they hold many funders, donors and supporters that are philanthropically minded. So, a key achievement for us has been to galvanize and catalyze so much support from these markets. In this, our 25th year, we can say that, from this support base we’ve now directly and positively impacted the lives over one million young people.
TD: And what’s the goal?
CS: To create a world for young people where they have opportunities, skills and a voice! A key success marker for us is the number of young people whose lives we can make better. By which I mean – they have a secondary school diploma, or a job, or something that will benefit them in the moment and throughout their career. Then there’s the ripple effect – the impact on siblings, parents, teachers, and their full communities.
We have helped improve over one million lives so far – the goal is the next million. To do that, we need more funding, more partners and more supporters across the world.
TD: EMpower was formed from the finance industry. How has that shaped its approach?
CS: Since day one, there’s been an emphasis on efficiency, transparency and operational effectiveness. And of course, we’ve always brought a fiscal rigor to what we do. A core part of our ethos and value proposition is that every bit of every dollar donated will go directly into the on-the-ground work of our grantee partners. That’s one of the key elements of our model that makes us unique.
Our board directors take their fiduciary responsibilities extremely seriously. We’ve had a four star rating in the US from Charity Navigator, the top rating, for 11 years running. We have 100% rating on our financials. There’s a seriousness to this besides reporting, though, because it means that we can provide long-term, reliable and sustainable support for grantee partners – over not just 1-2 years, but 10. That has a huge effect on the impact they can make.
TD: What brought MarketAxess to EMpower?
Toby West: Ever since the early days of electronic trading for EM debt on our platform, we’d been looking for, and finding, ways to give back. We originally put on EM trading days, where trading revenues were donated to a range of EM-based charities and initiatives. But we lacked a strategic philanthropic partner whose vision and reach was aligned to our own, and who understood our industry.
In 2019, EMpower gave us that partner. Their focus on youth empowerment, education, equity and inclusion matches closely the focus areas of our MarketAxess Charitable Foundation, too, so it was a natural fit. And it has been a wonderful partnership for the past six years
Added to that, of course – they are a phenomenal team. The skills and experience that they bring to bear through both the EMpower team and their various boards and leadership councils is awesome – a lot of concentrated brainpower and global reach across a fairly small group. We love working with them.
TD: MarketAxess is EMpower’s first and only global underwriter – what does that mean, and why is it important?
CS: All of our underwriters make a three-year commitment, which is highly unusual in the non-profit sector. The level of commitment to cover our key operational expenses is higher. But it is critical for us – it means that all the other funds that we raise from donors go straight into our programs.
Typically, our underwriters join us in a single region – US/Latam, EMEA or APAC. But because MarketAxess has a footprint in all the Emerging markets countries we cover, and because we worked with their team in each region over time, they decided that the larger global commitment made sense. And we’re very grateful to them for doing so.
TW: It’s important to us because it represents our depth of commitment to EMpower and to the markets that we’re serving. Being the leading EM trading platform means we have to act as leaders – not just in technology and client service, but in how we support these markets more holistically. It also gives us scope to be more creative in how we help take the EMpower message to our clients and partners over time.
TD: Why is the partnership between financial services and philanthropy so crucial?
CS: The financial services industry has been vital to EMpower for a lot of reasons. The obvious, is bringing more resources to our sector. But I’m struck by the people that I know in finance, including those on our board. They are wicked smart. They have really good ideas. There’s an intellect, an energy, an access, in terms of who they’re speaking with and their spheres of influence, that people on the nonprofit and philanthropic side, generally don’t have.
TW: As Cynthia says, the resources and connections that financial services can bring to organizations like EMpower is so important. We need to do more to strengthen the partnership. There’s so much overlap between the markets we trade, the countries and firms whose debt raising we support, and the communities and economies they represent. It’s all one ecosystem – it’s important to remember that we have a responsibility to all parts of it.
TD: Why should market actors invest in EMpower?
CS: In a world of impermanence, having strongly rooted and grounded investment is really important. As we reflect on 25 years, we’re making firm commitments to ensuring that investment goes from strength to strength. The core of our DNA, is principles that resonate with the financial services community – we employ patient capital through risk based portfolios to ensure that our work has long-lasting transformational impact. There is synergy between our work and the markets – and we now have a 25-year-old legacy that evidences that market investments can and should be paired with in country philanthropic investments which will lead to better outcomes for all.
TW: Simply – EMpower are unique. Their model of operational transparency, patient capital, smart philanthropy and youth-led initiatives makes them the perfect philanthropy partner. It’s why we work with them. I encourage those reading to do so too.
