Corporate Advisory Firm with a Difference

Adara Partners is one of the first models of its kind in the investment banking industry. It allows financial experts to use their skills to directly support people living in poverty. Adara Partners has attracted a high calibre group (known as Panel Members) who provide their time, effort and expertise to assist clients with corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and/or complex problem solving. The panel comprises Ilana Atlas, Catherine Brenner, Guy Fowler, David Gonski AC, Matthew Grounds, Peter Hunt AM, Diccon Loxton, Peter Mason AM, Steven Skala AO and Nora Scheinkestel. The fees generated on engagements goes towards funding the operating costs of Adara Development.

Panel Members work without compensation. In addition Adara Partners has partnerships with professional services firms who provide skilled staff at no cost to Adara Partners. This unique pro-bono structure allows the majority of revenue generated to be donated to Adara Development to help the organisation improve access to health and education for women and children in the developing world. Adara Partners funds overhead, administration and emergency project costs for Adara Development. It is the funding 'engine', generating revenue to ensure Adara Development's financial viability.

Adara Partners has created an innovative software platform to allow distributed professional service teams to work on corporate transactions collaboratively. The platform combines tools for document management (including dataroom capabilities), project management and communication into one secure web-based space. It allows teams to work remotely on confidential business deals, with all the tools they need for the transaction. This industry-leading software technology product is called the Adara Playground. The platform is fun, simple and intuitive with highly functional and innovative ways for business teams (regardless of location) to work together on transactions from inception to close.

Adara Partners was launched in June 2015. 10 months on, we are excited the model works -delivering on challenging engagements to and using the Playground to work with a distributed team. Adara Partners' clients include both large corporates & innovative companies but it is the impact on our indirect 'clients', women & children in poverty, that is so significant. For example, a six-week engagement undertaken by Adara Partners generated AU$500,000 for Adara Development. Support like this enables Adara to do their life changing work reaching more than 50,000 people living in poverty each year.

Adara's story is built on a commitment to partner across divides, embodied in our tagline 'Bridging Worlds'. With so much global inequality, bridging worlds is more important than ever. We aim to bring together the worlds of business and non-profits, of privilege and poverty. Adara Partners was established as a sustainable funding source for Adara Development. The Adara Partners model has the potential to be replicated for greater impact. The Panel Member & fees-for-purpose structure can be adopted by other investment bankers or other professions with fees funding projects for people in need. By showing a commitment to social responsibility, businesses can also benefit with improved staff motivation.

Whether it be a premature baby in Uganda, or a child trying to access education in the remote Himalayas, many people want to help those in need but may not have the skills or means to do so. Some can give financially, but sometimes the traditional philanthropic model is exclusionary, with many people wanting to do more. A model like Adara Partners allows people to give to causes they are passionate about by donating their time using the skills they already have to generate funds to help people in need. This skills based giving approach can change the face of business across the globe in the financial services industry.