ELBA works with over 100 London companies committed to improving their impact on society. Education, local employment,[4] and using business skills in the community are ELBA's three main focus areas.[5]
History
In the 1990s, ELBA was known as the East London Partnership.[6] A smaller group of around 37 companies, its work was focused on business leaders' involvement in local partnerships in Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney.[7]
In 2012, Islington Giving invited ELBA to create a business-supported employee volunteer programme in Islington, called the Businesses for Islington Giving (BIG) Alliance.[9]
In 2013, ELBA's recruitment agency London Works, launched as a social enterprise to 'help talented people from low income backgrounds into their first role in London's financial and business services sector', received a £100,000 grant from the Mayor of London's London Enterprise Panel.[10]
Competitors and alternatives
There are a number of alternatives to ELBA which offer corporate volunteering and these include:
Benefacto: Which concentrates on offering high-value volunteering experiences for small groups of corporate volunteers
Volunteering Matters: Which offers a similar service to ELBA with a wider geographical scope
^Ball, Stephen J; Junemann, Carolina (2012), Networks, New Governance and Education, p. 89: 'And Man was a founding member of what was called East London Partnership, which became East London Business Alliance, which is a business membership corporate social responsibility organisation focused on the communities in the East End, as the name suggests.', ISBN9781847429797, retrieved 1 September 2014
^"Harvey McGrath", Mayor's Fund for London, retrieved 1 September 2014
^Otgaar, Alexander H. J.; Klijs, Jeroen; van den Berg, Leo (2011), Towards Healthy Cities: Comparing Conditions for Change, p. 64: "A good example is the East London Business Alliance which connects businesses in the east of London to the regeneration challenge in the neighbouring communities. Participating firms – such as banks and insurance companies in Canary Wharf – have demonstrated their commitment to concrete projects through sponsoring (financial contributions) but also through contributions in kind such as free financial advice. Employees of financial firms also get the opportunity to help neighbouring residents with acquiring skills and finding a job.', ISBN9781409420668, retrieved 1 September 2014
^Heinelt, Hubert; Smith, Randall (2003), Sustainability, Innovation and Participatory Governance: A Cross-National Study of the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (Ashgate Studies in Environmental Policy and Practice), p. 95: 'There was a need for a single body providing a coherent business voice for the whole of East London and which comprehensively seeks to address both its economic and social requirements currently and prospectively. The purpose of this new body is to channel the influence, skills and resources of business and to provide a catalyst for the regeneration of the area, for the benefit of all who live and work in East London. ELBA hopes to be a catalyst for economic and social regeneration.', retrieved 1 September 2014
^Carley, Michael; Chapman, Mike; Hastings, Annette; Kirk, Karryn; Raymond, Young (2000), Urban regeneration through partnership: A study in nine urban regions in England, Scotland and Wales(PDF), p. 17: 'ELP links 37 East London and City blue-chip and medium-sized firms and business leaders to local authority partnerships and neighbourhood projects. ELP focuses on strategic regeneration through a main board, concerned with East London as a whole, and on area regeneration through area boards and secondments of business staff to community projects. ELP has a small, paid secretariat. Although the Partnership has hitherto worked at the three borough levels of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney, it is now establishing links to the Thames Gateway Partnership and initiating an East London Business Alliance, chaired by the Chair of Ford UK. ELP is a business partnership which, having first clearly defined its own interests in East London’s development and the way it wants to work, then reaches out to broader partnerships to offer assistance in strategic advice, cash donations and by secondment of business personnel to community groups. Local groups, such as Newham’s Community Links, rate its assistance highly. ELP, having a clear vision and an efficientway of working, gets maximum benefit from the donated time of busy chief executives. The role of a small dedicated staff, funded entirely by the business partners, is vital in ensuring that ELP works to maximum effectiveness.', archived from the original(PDF) on 3 September 2014, retrieved 1 September 2014
