The Hg Foundation launches to help remove barriers to education and skills development in technology

The Board of Trustees (“the Board”) today announces the launch of The Hg Foundation (“the Foundation”), a non for profit organisation with a defined focus on education and technology.

The Hg Foundation’s goal is to make an impact to the development of skills most required for employment within the technology industry, focusing on individuals who may otherwise experience barriers to access this education.

The Foundation aims to achieve this by providing funding and operational support to charitable schemes across the UK, US and Europe where measurable, long-term and scalable impact can be demonstrated to make a difference to those that need it most.

Hg, Europe’s leading software and technology services investor, will support the Foundation, enabling access to a network of skills and expertise in technology, as well as a portfolio of technology companies, providing access to work experience and mentoring.

The Hg Foundation has already formed its first two partnerships, representing an initial total commitment of £1 million to be delivered over the first 2-3 years. Announced today is a partnership with Imperial College London, a global top ten university with a world-class reputation in science, engineering, business and medicine. The Foundation is supporting Imperial in a targeted online learning and mentoring programme focussed on improving maths skills attainment in the most disadvantaged areas of the UK.

The Foundation has also partnered with The Tutor Trust, a model piloted by the National Tutoring Programme (NTP), launched by the UK Government to provide support to over a million school pupils who have missed out on learning during COVID-19 closures. The Hg Foundation will support a new project, running a hybrid model of in-person and online tutoring, whilst also providing reconditioned computer hardware to pupils online learning at home. The Foundation will also provide an additional donation to Impetus, a leading contributor to this initiative.

The Foundation will now look to form new partnerships, with current focus on Europe and the USA.

Matthew Brockman, Managing Partner at Hg, said: “At Hg we’ve seen how our previous donations of carried interest and firm profits have had a material impact for the causes we’ve backed. The Hg Foundation now provides the infrastructure with which to continue this support in a measurable way, over a longer time horizon, at a larger scale and with a sharper focus to support issues closer to Hg’s areas of expertise.”

Tom Attwood, Independent Trustee and Chair, The Hg Foundation and former chair of the Academy and Free School Board at the DfE, said: “It is incredibly exciting to launch the Foundation at such a critical time for technology education and skills development. We welcome the support of Hg, who provide access to a team with deep technological and operational expertise, as well as its wider network comprising over 30 technology businesses and over 30,000 skilled employees.”

Sir Kevan Collins, Independent Trustee, The Hg Foundation and former CEO of The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), said: “We have chosen our two initial partnerships based on evidence that tutoring represents the gold-standard of measurable intervention in education. The move to tech-enabled tutoring and online is the next step, whilst STEM subjects remain increasingly important in the modern world. We are focused on making a real difference and removing obstacles to the world of technology for those who need it most.”

The Hg Foundation is a non for profit association and UK-registered charity. The Foundation acts independent of Hg and grant decisions will be made by the Board of Trustees. The Foundation will be funded through a proportion of carried interest from current and future Hg funds, a proportion of Hg’s annual profits and also through charitable activities carried out across the firm. The Board will closely monitor the impact of the Foundation’s projects to track and assess outcomes and impact of the schemes it supports. The Foundation’s ambition is to reach an average of over $5 million annual commitments over the first ten years.

The Foundation has appointed two independent trustees, Tom Attwood (Chair) and Sir Kevan Collins. Tom Attwood is the former chair of the Academy and Free School Board at the DfE.  Sir Kevan Collins was the first Chief Executive of The EEF from 2011 to 2019 and is a visiting professor at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE). The other Hg trustees represent the Foundation’s geographic reach, including Martina Sanow, Partner and Deputy COO, Caroline Löfgren, Head of Responsible Investment, Richard Donner, Partner and Richard Earnshaw, Director – all working from Hg’s London office, as well as Gero Wittemann, Partner and co-head of Hg’s New York office and Cornelius Becker, Senior Associate in Hg’s Munich office.