For EY, building a better working world isn’t just a statement, it’s their purpose almost a decade in the making.

Since its launch as a touchstone almost ten years ago, EY has woven its purpose consistently with care and compassion into the fabric of its people, its clients, and the communities it works within. Each of EY’s 365,000 people across 140 countries can articulate this vision. Every key decision, whether conscious or not, is first put against the litmus test: ‘if we do this, will it contribute to building a better working world?’.

Sometimes the decisions that are made in response to that question are easier than others. Stephen says: “Sometimes it’s very easy to see the link between our purpose and working with charities or local governments, but when it comes to working with clients where the purpose isn’t so obvious, we really examine why we’re doing what we’re doing. It could be that we’re lifting the capability of an organisation, ultimately contributing to a better working world for its people, for example.”

This guiding principle in decision-making is buried deep in the attraction and retention of EY’s clients, its people and its associations. The decision to join Northern Power Women, first as a category sponsor in 2016 and now for the third year running as a headline sponsor, was no different.

Stephen said: “Working with Northern Power Women to support the recognition of existing and future leaders and the projects and initiatives that people are getting involved in across the region also aligns with our purpose.

“We want to help raise the profile of Northern Power Women, and our ability to convene important conversations between influential businesses, stakeholders and leaders across the region is key to that. We get the opportunity to see and meet talent from a broad spectrum, which sometimes includes talent we might not ordinarily have had the chance to see or engage with for lots of different reasons. Supporting Northern Power Women gives us a lens into understanding what happens across our geography, whether that’s in Liverpool, Greater Manchester, Yorkshire or the North East. It’s important to engage in society and the local communities in which we live and work. NPW represents the perfect way to connect with communities.”

For Northern Power Women, EY’s purpose sits perfectly with our own steadfast belief that we can all use our power for good and that we can do it from here, in the North. EY’s office in Manchester has hosted and facilitated the launch of a number of fantastic initiatives, particularly within the last 18 months. For example, the UK’s first Neuro-diverse Centre of Excellence (NCoE), led by Alison Kay (Managing Partner for Client Service in the UK & Ireland at EY and member of the Power List 2022), launched in Manchester last year, and has since become a unique and key part of EY’s Manchester office. The NCoE in Manchester was established in a bid to fuel innovation in technology, bring a new dimension of creativity, and drive greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

“The NCoE concept has been in America for the last six years, but we recently celebrated the first birthday of the UK launch. Alison and I felt the access and prospects that we could afford to people from neurodiverse backgrounds, and the value that they could add to our business, was too good an opportunity to miss. I’m lucky to be able to say that Alison has trusted Manchester to be the base of the first Neuro-diverse Centre of Excellence in the UK.”

Northern Power Women’s Neurodiversity Insight Paper, written in collaboration with EY following the Manchester launch of the NCoE, sets out the actionable takeaways from two roundtable discussions with representatives from 25 separate organisations – all of them dedicated to using their power for good in this area. The UK launch of the global EY STEM app, accessible from app stores now, also opted for EY Manchester as its location of choice. The app aims to inspire girls 13-18 years of age to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers.

Stephen said: “The challenge we have is how we can get more schools to engage with this. We have 10,000 licenses set aside in the UK and we’re only using low hundreds at the moment, so it shows just how much of a journey we are on. The location for the UK launch of the STEM app was our Manchester office, and we were able to welcome a group of local schoolgirls to the office to introduce them to future female leaders in the cyber, tech and analytics side of the business to demonstrate that there are great careers for women in what may historically have been male-dominated sectors.”

It's clear to see that the partnership between Northern Power Women and EY goes beyond just sponsorship. Both organisations share a commitment to using their power for good, and working together to create positive change in the world. As headline sponsor of the Northern Power Women Awards, EY is helping to amplify the voices of women and promote greater gender equality in the workplace. And through initiatives like the STEM app and the Neuro-diverse Centre of Excellence, EY is using its expertise and resources to empower individuals and create a more inclusive society. By partnering with Northern Power Women, EY is demonstrating its belief that when organisations come together to work towards a common goal, they have the power to influence real change.