Hour Children and Mental Health Innovations Teams Win Morgan Stanley’s 2026 Strategy Challenge Supporting Nonprofits in the U.S. and the UK

• Morgan Stanley employees provided over 11,000 hours of pro bono consulting to 14 nonprofits
• 220 nonprofits served since the program’s launch in 2009

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today announced the winners of its 17^th annual Strategy Challenge, the Firm’s flagship pro bono program which brings together rising talent to help nonprofits solve strategic, mission-critical challenges. The winning teams supported Hour Children in the U.S. and Mental Health Innovations in the UK.

Over the past 10 weeks, Morgan Stanley employees provided in-depth, pro bono consulting services to 14 nonprofits on topics such as expanding programming, enhancing productivity, and improving service delivery and business models. The 2026 Strategy Challenge culminated in events in New York and London, where teams presented their recommendations to nonprofit sector experts and senior leaders at the Firm.

“Drawing on the breadth of talent across Morgan Stanley, the Strategy Challenge is a powerful example of how our employees leverage their skill sets to make a concrete impact on our communities,” said Joan Steinberg, Global Head of Philanthropy at Morgan Stanley and President of the Morgan Stanley Foundation. “Through rigorous analysis and fresh perspectives, this year’s teams all developed actionable proposals to help nonprofits improve their operations and advance their missions to address important issues facing society.”

In the U.S., the winning team worked with Hour Children, an organization that helps currently and formerly incarcerated women reunify with their children and rebuild stable, independent lives. Morgan Stanley employees analyzed how the nonprofit can more effectively deliver financial literacy programming to members of its Hour Working Women Program. The team developed a plan for a hybrid education model consisting of CFP^®-led in-class instruction, one-on-one virtual coaching and on-demand mobile support intended to reinforce long-term financial stability for participants.

“The new financial literacy curriculum will be a valuable addition to our programming, helping us equip women and children impacted by incarceration with the tools needed for financial stability and independence,” said Dr. Kimberly Cason, Director of Hour Children’s Hour Working Women Program. “The Morgan Stanley team demonstrated an outstanding understanding of the lived realities of the families we serve, which made their recommendations highly relevant, thoughtful and impactful.”

The winning UK team worked with Mental Health Innovations, a charity that uses digital innovation and clinical expertise to improve mental health outcomes across the country. The Morgan Stanley volunteers explored how Mental Health Innovations could collaborate with fellow mental health nonprofit Place2Be to develop a digital early intervention platform for children ages 10-13, co-designed with young people and embedded with safety measures to ensure proper human intervention and crisis escalation. The team’s winning proposal includes a scalable operating and funding model for the platform, which expands user access in a timely manner while reducing pressure on existing services.

“The level of commitment, dedication and creativity shown by our Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge team was outstanding,” said Victoria Hornbey, CEO of Mental Health Innovations. “The recommendations for a comprehensive new product will allow us to move further and faster in our mission to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children across the UK.”

The 14 nonprofits that participated in this year’s Strategy Challenge across the U.S. and the UK include: Ambitious about Autism, Cancer Research UK, Center for Independence of the Disabled NY, Commonpoint, Day Care Council of New York, Exhale to Inhale, The Felix Project & FareShare, Guide Dogs, Harlem School of the Arts, The HOPE Program, Hour Children, Mental Health Innovations, MorDance, and Welcome to Chinatown. For more on the Morgan Stanley Strategy Challenge and each of the participating organizations, click here.

About Morgan Stanley
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