Meeting Local Needs

CMS actively invests in its local communities. Whether through addressing homelessness, supporting single parents or working with community centres, we collaborate with community organisations around the world to address the real needs in our local communities.

Lékaři bez hranic (Médecins Sans Frontières)

Our global charity partner Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, provides emergency medical relief in areas fraught by crisis, war or natural catastrophe. During the covid pandemic, MSF also provided support to a number of Czech nursing facilities. They were one of the first oragnisations to provide professional guidance and education in regards to hygiene and epidemic prevention, provide personal health protective equipment and support self-isolation or quarantine care for the elderly.

CMS Social Impact Fund

In 2021, CMS launched the CMS Social Impact Fund, which aims to support organisations that make a positive social impact in their local communities. The following Czech NGOs have received a grant from the CMS Social Impact Fund to support their programmes:

1. Via Foundation 
   This Czech community and philanthropic development foundation intends to use the financial proceeds from the grant for its three “Living Communities” projects across the Czech Republic, which supportslocal communities and increasing biodiversity. 
    
2. Letokruh 
   The “Senior Companion” project, organised by Letokruh, aims to tackle the issue of social isolation experienced by many elderly people. They help seniors find a new purpose in life and support their involvement in community life through volunteering, be it tutoring, reading story books to children, or through organised events.
    
3. IT People Foundation 
   The goal of the IT People Foundation’s project “Computers for Children” is to provide equal access to education via direct technical help and support to children whose parents are not able to provide them with the technology required for their studies. 
    
4. Rubikon Centrum 
   To help people with a criminal past and their families with their rehabilitation and integration back into their communities, Rubikon provides counsellors, organises retraining courses, and connects ex-convicts with future employers.

CMS Diversity & Inclusion Festival Week

Diversity & Inclusion have always been high on our firm’s agenda. Each year, the CMS Diversity & Inclusion Team, in partnership with our ten Inclusion Networks, put together an interesting programme of events for the Festival week to which all CMS staff are invited. Throughout lockdown, the events are held virtually. Each year a new topic is covered, with past events covering topics ranging from mental health issues, diversity and inclusion in the world of music and autism spectrum disorders.  

Furthermore, as part of our previous cooperation with Amnesty International, CMS Prague took part in “The Human Library” project. This projects enables participants to hear the life stories of, and engage directly with, ‘human books’: individuals from minorities and members of marginalised or excluded groups such as Roma, refugees, the LGBTQI+ community, and people who are homeless.

Klub svobodných matek (Single Mums’ Club)

In recent months, our CMS Prague office has cooperated with Klub svobodných matek (the Single Mums’ Club). We organise collections of clothes and other items that single parents lack and may struggle to afford. We are delighted that many of our colleagues have donated and keep donating privately, even when our offices were closed due to Covid. In this way, we are able to support a number of single parents who are currently struggling.

CMS Women in Business

CMS Women in Business initiative aims to inspire our female members and to support the development and retention of talented women throughout the business and at all levels within the firm by focusing on networking, relationship-building and career development. We also actively support women in business and their male allies outside of the CMS network through inviting them to workshops, events and webinars as well as networking, mentoring and engaging in local initiatives. 

CMS Prague regularly holds events, webinars and networking opportunities. Due to the pandemic, our most recent events have been online regionally focused webinars open to all our people and connections throughout the CEE. Topics covered have included “Women & Financial Well-being”, which explored the key stages in a woman's life where they should be aware of the financial implications of their choices and what steps they can take to ensure their financial security. This was led by Lucia Desmarquest, executive director for Central Europe & Russia, and Silke Mies, head of wealth planning for Europe, from Swiss bank Julius Bear with Emilia Mamajova of Espira Investments sharing some of her own experiences regarding how women can enhance their financial situations. 

More recently, we explored the topic of Imposter Syndrome with trainer, coach, and author of “7 Skills for the Future“ Emma Sue Prince and Slovak astrobiologist DR Michaela Musilova. Together in a discussion moderated by CMS Corporate/M&A partner Helen Rodwell, they explored what imposter syndrome actually is as well as the signs and symptoms of it. They also provided practical tips and tools on how to support yourself or others in managing and overcoming imposter syndrome thoughts and behaviours.

Addressing Homelessness

Members of the CMS Prague office undertook an internal campaign to raise awareness of homelessness in Prague by showcasing Project Nocleženky (Overnight Ticket). Project Nocleženky is managed by the Czech branch of the Salvation Army, whose volunteers are able to help individual homeless people by securing them a night in a shelter with a clean bed and a hot meal.

Volunteering in the community

CMS Prague office staff volunteer on an individual basis to give back to local community. One popular project is Ukliďme Česko (Let’s clean up the Czech Republic), which connects volunteers around the Czech Republic and supports them in cleaning up illegal dump sites and rubbish in the natural environment. Several of our colleagues also contribute to Christmas collections for children and the elderly with more limited means, and help to distribute the Christmas presents through the projects Ježíškova vnoučata (Baby Jesus’ Grandchildren) and Krabice od bot (Shoe Box).

4. Quality Education

10. Reduced Inequalities 

17. Partnerships for the Goals

For full details on our programmes, please take a look at our CR Review.