The Rothschild & Co Foundation

Empowering young people to build a better, fairer future

I believe whole-heartedly in our firm’s capacity to empower the next generations to make the changes our societies and our planet need.”

Co-President of the Rothschild & Co Foundation Alexandre de Rothschild

Building future-ready young people

We help children and young people aged 5-21 develop the future-ready skills they need to navigate change, adapt to uncertainty and drive positive change in their communities and beyond. We give particular attention to those most at risk of being left behind.

‘Future-ready skills’ are key abilities, knowledge, analysis, technology, and interpersonal skills that help individuals thrive and form the basis for lifelong learning and active participation in society, including teamwork, resilience, creativity, and critical thinking.

Strengthening resilient environments

Young people cannot thrive without resilient environments. Environmental instability affects education, livelihoods and wellbeing, and young people are often among the first and most severely impacted.

As Earth’s systems lose resilience, so too do the opportunities available to future generations. By strengthening environmental resilience alongside human resilience, we support young people not only to withstand change, but to actively shape a more sustainable future.

Guided by the Rothschild family’s philanthropic legacy and the Group’s long-term vision, we focus on three connected priorities to best support young people in an increasingly complex world.

Our strategic pillars

Young People

We support children and young people aged five to 21 facing disadvantage to develop foundational and future-ready skills. We prioritise organisations that focus on youth, provide safe and supportive environments, and empower young people to build confidence, voice, and agency.

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Social Impact Organisations

We support high impact, purpose driven organisations tackling the social and environmental challenges shaping young people’s futures. Because environmental instability undermines opportunity and deepens inequality over time, building resilience in the planet’s natural systems is inseparable from building resilience in young people themselves.

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Philanthropic Ecosystem

We strengthen the broader social impact ecosystem by acting as a connector across organisations, sectors and regions, supporting collaboration, knowledge-sharing and visibility, and encouraging more innovative and effective ways of working to address social and environmental challenges together.

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Our approach

By collaborating with non-profits and social enterprises, we maximise our impact with Rothschild & Co’s resources and expertise.

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Grant funding

We provide multi-year grants to international and local non-profit partners to support impactful projects and offer core funding to help strengthen their organisations and create a resilient sector.

Networking and Knowledge Sharing

We facilitate a variety of networking events, bringing together our partners, colleagues, philanthropists, business leaders to enable mutual learning and connections.

Volunteering Programmes

Our colleagues volunteer individually and as a team, giving their time to support social and environmental causes.

Pro bono Advisory Services

We share our professional expertise through our Pro bono Advisory initiative, offering free advice to social purpose organisations.

Fundraising with Company Matching

We run targeted fundraising campaigns with company matching for global and local projects, and encourage individual fundraising.

Venture4Good Investing

We back social-purpose startups with sustainable business models that tackle social and environmental challenges, reinvesting our returns to sustain long-term funding for lasting impact.

Our projects

We work through a strong network of global and local partners, combining conviction, reach and deep contextual knowledge to deliver lasting solutions.

Global

Projects of global significance that address social, environmental, and humanitarian challenges affecting young people and their communities.

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Local

Non-profits and programmes that support young people in communities near Rothschild & Co offices.

Connecting our people to purpose

The Foundation holds a unique position within Rothschild & Co. Our shared mission spans all countries where we operate and business divisions, strengthening our culture by engaging colleagues in purposeful and meaningful ways.

We provide colleagues with opportunities to engage, develop new skills, and support our mission. This includes working with our non-profit and Venture4Good partners or contributing to personal causes they value.

Our structured engagement programme offers individual and team volunteering, such as mentoring young people and supporting community initiatives. We also leverage colleagues’ expertise to provide pro bono advice that strengthens our partners’ effectiveness.

Venture4Good

Our Venture4Good impact-investing programme, in collaboration with Five Arrows, backs commercially viable ventures that tackle social and environmental challenges, reinvesting returns to sustain long-term funding for lasting impact.

Our 2030 Strategy

Discover the story behind the Rothschild & Co Foundation and the direction shaping our work through 2030. Our strategy explains why we exist, what we do, and how we help future generations adapt and thrive in a changing world.

Read our 2030 strategy

Governance

The Rothschild & Co Foundation serves as the Group’s corporate foundation and is governed by a Management Committee co-chaired by Alexandre de Rothschild and Marc-Olivier Laurent.

The Foundation’s activities are delivered through a dedicated fund managed and administered by the King Baudouin Foundation (KBF), a public utility foundation in Belgium, which disburses grants to selected non-profits.