JLL steps up its support for Australia’s Cerebral Palsy Alliance

SYDNEY, 9 April 2024 – Commercial real estate services firm JLL has formalised its partnership with Cerebral Palsy Alliance (CPA) in a move that broadens its corporate philanthropy while advancing its vision to influence Australia’s built form for a better future.

As an official CPA Partner, JLL will be supported to enhance its position as an organisation that supports the community and advocates for people with disability.

This will include opportunities for staff to learn more about how they can support diversity, equity and inclusion objectives by learning from, and engaging with, those with lived experience of disability.

It’s a pipeline of insight that also aligns with JLL’s ambition to help redefine how the built environment is developed, harnessed and reshaped to help make it more inclusive and accessible.

“As a company that transacts property and manages buildings on behalf of owners across Australia, JLL is in a unique position to influence the role commercial buildings can play in their communities,” said Australia and New Zealand CEO Dan Kernaghan.

“In particular, we can play a strong role in understanding how to make our buildings more inclusive, drawing on both our expertise and the intelligence that emerges from partnerships such as CPA.

“Mixed-use buildings are good for property owners as they diversify their portfolios and the offering to tenants and the communities. It’s about shaping real estate for a better world.”

The formal partnership amplifies the relationship JLL has already developed with Cerebral Palsy Alliance, including the provision of volunteers during JLL’s Global Communities Week.

JLL is also a longtime backer of the CPA’s STEPtember fundraiser. Since 2016, JLL participants have raised more than $115,000, with Mr Kernaghan serving as a CEO Stepper for the past two years. Last year, he enlisted all State Managing Directors to step up next to him. This year he will ask the entire Australian Executive Committee to do the same.

It’s another facet of a commitment welcomed by Cerebral Palsy Alliance CEO Rob White.

“We are thrilled to formalise our partnership with JLL, a company that shares our commitment to making a positive impact in the community,” Mr White said. “Together, we can create meaningful change and improve the lives of people with cerebral palsy.

“JLL's ongoing support, including their participation in STEPtember, demonstrates their dedication to our cause. We look forward to collaborating with JLL to drive further progress and support for individuals and families affected by cerebral palsy,” Mr White said.

The partnership received a strong show of support last month when over 30 JLL volunteers from various countries across the region participated in a Buddy Day & CPA Site Tour organised by CPA in Sydney. The volunteers were from JLL's Project and Development Services (PDS) division and were led by PDS Global Chief Operating Officer and PDS APAC Executive Managing Director.

This involved sending volunteer groups into two very different environments.

One crew headed to CPA’s Sydney Packforce packing services division, which was established in 1961 to provide employment and training for adults with cerebral palsy, and now serves as an Australian Disability Enterprise. Here, the volunteers buddied up with supported staff to spend a day immersed in their working life and engaging in activities ranging from labelling to warehouse assistance.

At Allambie Lifestyles, meanwhile, where individuals with cerebral palsy are empowered to achieve their goals, the other JLL cohort had the chance to see first-hand how clients are supported with social and/or recreational activities, after also being teamed up with a buddy for the day.

For Kara Collins, JLL’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead in Australia and New Zealand, participation in the event reinforced an attitude that is evident from the highest executive level of the firm down. That true corporate philanthropy isn’t just about words on paper or numbers on a cheque, it’s also an investment of people and energy, and the desire to advance change.

Ms Collins said, “It’s about seeing people who are gainfully employed and feeling good about themselves. It’s about understanding at a practical level what they’re doing.”

It’s also about looking at the ways people with a disability can be supported for meaningful participation in all areas of life. And then amplifying that awareness for greater inclusion and impact.

For JLL that includes such measures as training staff in the terminology, language and facts around disability so they are empowered to help chip away at accessibility barriers.

It also extends to the way in which JLL can bring along its clients and stakeholders such as landlords on the journey of an inclusive and diverse environment that welcomes everyone.

“Landlords want their buildings to be integrated within the broader community,” Ms Collins said.

“With office buildings, for example, they want to have people coming into their foyers, and visiting their retail sites and cafe strips.”

Then there are the workplaces themselves.

“We need to focus on creating work environments of the future where talent and smarts can shine,” she said.

“We don’t underestimate the role that real estate can play in supporting our communities,” Ms Collins said. “We want to play a key role in working with our industry and the broader community in creating a fully inclusive environment."