Howden Foundation
Our independent charity
Established in 2014, the Howden Foundation is the corporate foundation of Howden, extending the charitable work of the business and its people around the world.
What we do
Our mission is to protect people against the social and economic shocks of climate change.
As we face the defining challenge of our age, the Foundation has committed to supporting solutions which build climate resilience for disproportionately affected communities around the world.
Whilst climate related disasters are now unavoidable, we can significantly reduce the effects that these disasters have by supporting tools that further disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, including insurance.
We listen to communities in order to learn about the specific risks they face against a rapidly changing climate and work with high-quality global partners to develop solutions that have the power to build resilience in a scalable and sustainable way.
How we do it
We build long term partnerships with the international climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction communities. Through the provision of grant funding and skills based volunteering, offered in partnership with our Howden colleagues, we provide a variety of support that enables our partners to thrive.
Our funding has already helped a number of organisations drive climate resilient solutions around the world. This includes our recent partnership with The Nature Conservancy supporting the establishment of the first U.S-based coral reef insurance policy to preserve Hawai‘i’s valuable biodiversity and ecosystems and in doing so, enhancing community and ecosystem resilience to climate change.
Each year coral reefs support nearshore fisheries, while providing flood protection to people and helping to avoid direct flood damages to buildings and indirect damages to economic activity; the combined avoided damages are valued at approximately $836m in Hawai‘i. 75% of the world’s coral reefs are currently rated as threatened, a number projected to increase to almost 100% by 2050.
The continued loss of these ecosystems will compound the impacts of climate change: it has been estimated that the loss of just one metre in the height of coral reefs worldwide would more than double the annual flood damages.
People First Fund
The People First ethos has been at the core of Howden since it was founded in 1994.
Our People First Fund recognises the charitable giving of Howden employees around the world by offering match funding for employees’ donations and fundraising, helping their efforts go that bit further.
The Foundation offers to match up to £750 (or local currency equivalent) raised per employee, per year, when they donate to or raise money for charities that further its charitable objects.
The Fund also supports Howden's Giving Back Celebration campaign. Through this campaign, the Foundation awards larger donations to non-profits making a big difference in the communities in which our people live and work.
Our people
Luis
Luis Muñoz-Rojas
Luis Muñoz-Rojas
Chair
Luis is a founding Director of DUAL International, the underwriting arm of Howden. He opened the first DUAL operation in Madrid in August 1998, having previously served as a Director of GyC América, a reinsurance broking subsidiary of Gil y Caravajal (now part of Aon).
During that time Luis had considerable involvement in the Latin American territories. Luis began his insurance career in 1989 working with GyC & Partners, the British subsidiary of the GyC Group.
Louise
Louise Cable-Alexander
Louise Cable-Alexander
Trustee
Louise is one of the founding members of Howden. Over the last 28 years, she has been a constant and integral member of the Group, working across Howden Broking Group, DUAL, Howden Group Services, the Howden Foundation, and now as Chief of Staff to David Howden.
Mark
Mark Hudson
Mark Hudson
Trustee
Mark is the Chief Financial Officer of DUAL Group, the underwriting division of the Howden.
James
James Marron
James Marron
Trustee
James is a solicitor and joined Howden in 2013. He has been in the role of UK General Counsel since February 2020. Before that, he worked in private practice at a City law firm. He specialises in contentious insurance matters.
Rebecca
Rebecca Scott
Rebecca Scott
Trustee
Rebecca joined Howden in 2014 as Head of Internal Audit, taking on the role of Chief Risk Officer in 2015.
She was appointed COO of the Group in 2019, where she was responsible for working with senior management to implement the Group's strategic vision, from sustainability to our People First initiatives. In 2022, she resumed the role of Chief Risk Officer. Prior to joining Howden, Rebecca was CRO at a Lloyd's Managing Agency and a Partner at chartered accountancy firm Mazars.
Lucy
Lucy Dormandy
Lucy Dormandy
Trustee
Lucy is Director of Corporate Sustainability at asset management firm, Wellington Management. Prior to this she was the sustainability strategic engagement and communities lead at Aviva. She led Aviva’s ESG reporting approach, integration of sustainability into their stakeholder engagement and communications strategy, as well as Aviva’s award-winning strategic community partnerships. Lucy has 15 years of experience working in corporate sustainability and has worked with organisations including Hilton, Philips and Unilever.
Heather
Heather Goodhew
Heather Goodhew
Trustee
Heather has over 35 years of insurance experience and has held senior leadership roles in underwriting, business development and operations. She now serves on the board of DUAL, the underwriting arm of Howden. As well as serving on the board of the Howden Foundation, Heather is a Trustee for the Vision Foundation and an Ambassador for the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (UK).
Anshu
Anshu Mandal
Anshu Mandal
Trustee
Anshu has held various roles in the impact investment sector over the past 8 years. She is currently a Business Advisor at Shell Foundation, where she directly supports a portfolio of pioneering ventures tackling global developmental challenges through enterprise-based solutions. She also works with financial intermediaries to unlock more capital into impact sectors.
Louise
Louise Creasey
Louise Creasey
Trustee
Louise was Managing Director of Sutton Place, a single Family Office, serving as Chief Operating Officer, Head of Advisory Services, Tax Director and within the Global Executive Management Committee, Louise was responsible for governing the overall strategic vision of the family, focused on fiduciary obligations and multiple generations of wealth preservation, and the provision of professional services across multiple areas.
Louise now heads up a new single family office, ERS Private Office Limited, working on behalf of bio-tech entrepreneurs, across various European jurisdictions in both private and business spheres covering all aspects of wealth management and investment advisory services.
Both these roles have been combined with a passion for philanthropic work and as a consequence, Louise is a member of the board of various charitable organisations, advising on philanthropic strategy, good governance and key return drivers on philanthropic funding.
Clare
Clare Ballantine
Clare Ballantine
Head of Howden Foundation
Clare joined as Foundation Manager in 2021 having previously worked for the Maitri Trust, the charitable arm of global investment firm, Stewart Investors. She is passionate about international development and the role that corporate foundations can play in supporting long term change.
Clare leads the work of the Foundation and has a close relationship with the Board to ensure delivery of their strategic objectives.
Contact us
Please email us at info@howdengroupfoundation.co.uk if you have any queries. Please note we source grant proposals through our networks and do not accept unsolicited applications for funding.
Find out more information on our safeguarding policy here.
The Howden Foundation is the working name of the Howden Group Foundation, a registered charity in England and Wales (Charity Number 1156286). Registered office: One Creechurch Place, London EC3A 5AF.