Søren Staugaard Nielsen

June 17, 2024

The Ramboll Foundation and UC Berkeley join forces to advance research in the enterprise foundation ownership model

In a new long-term collaboration, the Ramboll Foundation teams up with The Nordic Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Center for Responsible Business at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business to explore global research opportunities focusing on the unique ownership model of enterprise foundations. 

UC Berkeley campus
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Nordic roots and global impact

One of the Ramboll Foundation’s primary strategic focus areas is to support high-level research, education, community building, innovation, and sustainable development. We wish to cooperate and engage with relevant public and private stakeholders in creating positive impact, and we actively seek out long-term partners with common values.

Our values are deeply rooted in the Nordic tradition and with our Nordic roots and global impact, we wish to promote a culture based on a humanitarian spirit, equality, mutual trust, low power distance, empowerment, professionalism, and creative collaboration.  

Through this new collaboration, we are able to elevate the discussion of enterprise foundation ownership in the Nordic tradition with a partner who shares our ambitions and can bring forward new ideas as well as unique pathways to explore more fully what being deeply rooted in the Nordic tradition can mean on the global stage.

Søren Staugaard Nielsen
Managing Director, The Ramboll Foundation

Universal social impact framework

Through several engagement opportunities and research avenues, the collaboration will include the Ramboll Foundation’s participation in the “People Positive for a Green Transition” initiative, which works to develop a universal social impact framework used across the renewable energy sector. With Ramboll’s “Partner for Sustainable Change” strategy, this is a unique opportunity for the Ramboll Foundation and Ramboll to contribute with valuable industry experience and insights.

A platform to promote and differentiate enterprise foundations

The unique ownership of an enterprise foundation presents as interesting subject matter for cases related to a broader responsible business context, including the opportunities and challenges of developing a for-profit company with dominant non-profit purposes. Examining such issues in a US setting is particularly relevant considering the recent moves by US entities to mimic the enterprise foundation model, which has drawn greater attention to the structure globally.

The Ramboll Foundation meeting with UC Berkeley

Such concerted inquiry into enterprise foundations can generate knowledge. We can establish a global platform here at UC Berkeley in collaboration with the Ramboll Foundation to explore the ownership model of enterprise foundations more deeply. We are very excited to see where this collaboration will take us.

Dr. Robert Strand
Executive Director, Nordic Center at University of California, Berkeley and Center for Responsible Business at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

More specifically, the Ramboll Foundation will be included in the Berkeley Haas Case Series, which is a globally recognised case series made available worldwide through the Harvard Business Review case studies.

Collaborating with the Nordic Center at UC Berkeley is a great opportunity for the Ramboll Foundation to support important research, making the enterprise foundation ownership model more known and relevant in a global setting and in the US particularly.

To us, being able to make positive, sustainable development in the world is at the core of our business, and we believe the Berkeley collaboration is a great lever to accelerate that mission.

Neel Strøbæk
Deputy Chair, The Ramboll Foundation

What are enterprise foundations?

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    Legal entities with perpetual purposes, combining business ownership and philanthropy

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    Structure is common in Northern Europe, particularly in Denmark where foundation-owned companies employ more than 300,000 people.

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    Enterprise foundations are often seen as role models for purposeful companies with long-term perspectives.

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    Studies show that companies owned by enterprise foundations are as commercially successful as listed companies

About the Nordic Center, UC Berkeley

The Nordic Center at UC Berkeley serves as a vibrant, interdisciplinary platform that brings together the Nordics to UC Berkeley and UC Berkeley to the Nordics. We foster dialogue, support exchanges, spark research, enable shared understandings, inform policies and practices, and further elevate the profile and global interest in the Nordics. The Nordic Center at UC Berkeley, housed at the Institute for European Studies, coordinates a vibrant suite of activities in close collaboration with the Scandinavian Department, Berkeley Haas Center for Responsible Business, Institute for Business & Social Impact, the Peder Sather Center, and works across UC Berkeley and beyond.

About the Ramboll Foundation

The Ramboll Foundation is an independent Danish enterprise foundation with both corporate and philanthropic purposes. It was established in 1972 with a mandate to own Ramboll and ensure the company’s continuance and development in perpetuity for the benefit of the employees and the societies where Ramboll operates. The Ramboll Foundation wishes to promote a sustainable and innovative development of nature, society, and people, and grants financial support to research, education, humanitarian aid, and employees and their families in difficult situations. Learn more on our website and follow us on LinkedIn for news and updates.

Want to know more?

  • Søren Staugaard Nielsen

    Managing Director, Ramboll Foundation

    +45 51 61 78 86

    Søren Staugaard Nielsen 640x640