What makes the help alliance unique?

help alliance turns 25 this year. how do you look on this anniversary?

Susanne: We are proud of what we have achieved in 25 years! The anniversary is a wonderful occasion to say THANK YOU to the many supporters, donors, project managers and community leads!

Andrea: I am grateful that the impulse of a few socially committed colleagues 25 years ago has developed into an established organization like the help alliance, in which so many Lufthansa Group colleagues are involved. And I look forward to inviting even more colleagues to join us in the coming months through our anniversary activities and making our work even more visible overall.

What makes the help alliance unique?

Andrea: The help alliance was founded in 1999 as a grassroots initiative by employees who wanted to get involved and make a difference. What was effective on a small scale has become bigger and bigger since then: a multiplier effect emerged from many small projects, which is constantly being expanded thanks to our strengths and assets within the Group. Today, we work on a common goal across countries, companies and hierarchies. I experience this as a culture-changing and culture-building dimension with which we make an important contribution to society.

Susanne: As part of the Lufthansa Group, which connects people all over the world, our business is located directly where help is needed. Our social benefit is not just in our own country, but everywhere we do our work: all over the world. Our colleagues are on site as a matter of course, in a different way than if we were to send them specifically for an aid project. Our projects are led by people who have always been active in local contexts and have networked with local communities. We use infrastructures that are already there. This makes our work authentic and honest. And that works in all directions: for the young people we support, but also for us, through the recognition that comes back

How has the help alliance’s vision and mission evolved over the last 25 years and which core values have proved particularly enduring?

Susanne: Our intention is and has always been to support disadvantaged people on their way to a self-determined life. As education is a central key to this, in recent years we have focussed our work even more on supporting young people and accompanying them in the areas of education and work/income. This has sharpened our profile and increased our impact.

Andrea: Over time, we have increasingly combined the strengths of the Group and the skills of our employees with our project work, for example through skill-based volunteering, which has been established for several years, or the inclusion of spices from our Nepalese farmers in the Lufthansa board menu. In this way, we repeatedly create links between our work as a non-profit organisation and the business of the Lufthansa Group and create win-win situations for both sides.

We are involving more and more people in our work, inviting them to get involved and expanding our global network of volunteers, communities and partners. This creates enthusiasm and increases our collective impact!

How do you think global problematic influences – such as climate change and social injustice – will affect our future work?

Susanne: As these influences are likely to intensify in the future, this will make our work and social aid in general even more important. For us, this means that we need to take an even closer look to see how needs are changing so that we can constantly review our focus and adjust it if necessary.

Andrea: With the help alliance, we are generally active at Lufthansa Group locations. For our work, these influences mean that we will continue to expand our global network at Lufthansa Group locations with the help of our project and community work in order to reach as many people as possible. On the other hand, it also means that there will be more and more people in Germany and our immediate neighbourhood who are affected by social injustice and disadvantage. In this respect, it is becoming more important for us to help on our own doorstep and inspire others to do the same.

What is your wish for the future of the help alliance?

Andrea: We have already achieved a lot, but our potential is even greater. My whish is to increase our social impact by a multiple by realising many more projects in the future, generating more donations and recruiting more volunteers. This will enable us to achieve an even greater social impact across company boundaries, together with Lufthansa Group customers and other important partners from science and politics.

Susanne: I hope that we will become an even bigger movement and that we can attract more and more committed people and (volunteer) supporters to join us!