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Legal leaders’ role in supporting vulnerable communities
Here, the co-founder of Pacific Blueprint expresses the significant role that legal businesses can play in driving social change and making a meaningful impact within the community.
Grace Robbie
As legal professionals possess the capability to effect positive change, their businesses must engage in and establish initiatives that promote social change and foster a beneficial impact within the global community.
Andrew Price, the founder of Inspire Mgt, has recently initiated a new venture, Pacific Blueprint, which is dedicated to supporting and enhancing the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in Vanuatu.
Having observed the considerable challenges faced by the local population, Price explained how these issues motivated him to establish this initiative to foster sustainable and enduring change within these communities.
“Pacific Blueprint was developed by my brother and I to support vulnerable people across the islands of Vanuatu. After a few years of mission trips, we decided that there are so many unmet basic needs in Vanuatu we needed to come up with a sustainable solution that could make a genuine difference,” he said.
Price shared how they invite law firms from Australia and New Zealand to regions in Vanuatu where they operate to engage legal professionals in meaningful community outreach activities.
“We decided to offer to law firms across Australia and New Zealand the opportunity to undertake events that Inspire Mgt would typically run, for example, strategic planning days or partner retreats, in Vanuatu with an additional day or two of attendees undertaking socially responsible activities,” he said.
“Law firms can raise money, we’ll source the water filters, then attendees come with us to the vulnerable communities and install the filters for families in need. We also have a range of other activities involving health, education and community development.”
Price espoused the importance of legal professionals engaging in such ventures, as he believes they possess a unique opportunity to enact substantial positive change within society.
“Many of us in the legal space are in a position where we can effect positive change for underprivileged people. For many I have spoken to, I think they are culturally aligned with what we are doing, and/or they want to help out, be it with Pacific Blueprint or in some other way, and we are providing that opportunity for those in the legal community to do so,” he said.
However, Price outlined that “it is not just the role of lawyers, but the role of those in the entirety of the legal community to effect social change”.
While pro bono legal services and policy reform are undoubtedly critical, Price contends that legal professionals have additional opportunities to contribute to community support, particularly given the unique standing of the industry compared to other sectors.
“Many see this from a legal perspective of pro bono legal work, driving positive legislative change and so on. However, the legal market is one which is generally prosperous both in terms of law firms and service providers compared to many other sectors or industries,” he said.
