Lisa Cooper is living proof that you’re never too young to start giving something back. The 22-year-old economics graduate joined Capgemini’s graduate scheme last year from Nottingham University – and immediately began to look for ways to work for free.

“I felt I was in a very privileged position and wanted to use my skills to contribute to society,” she says. Capgemini already supported several large charities through its corporate scheme, but Cooper saw a space for graduates to adopt their own cause. “I started looking for something where we could make a significant difference.” A colleague suggested the Myotubular Trust, a tiny charity set up to promote research into finding a cure for myotubular myopathy, a rare muscle condition. “It was struggling to find funding and I felt we could help.”

Cooper decided to put her nascent consulting skills to work. “I decided to promote it as the formal charity within the graduate programme.” Her first step was to create a strategy to enable a small charity to grow in an already overcrowded landscape. “I conducted a strategic piece of research into the UK voluntary sector. The market is saturated, so I compared the trust with others of the same size to work out how it could set up a research programme and raise funding.” She managed to secure a half-hour slot at a team development day, delivering a short presentation that put the charity on the graduate agenda. Soon volunteers were scrambling to sign up. “I was really touched by the response. People were incredibly willing to contribute – whether it was dressing up as Santa or doing translation work.” Organising fundraising and awareness events meant her role became that of volunteer co-ordinator as well as strategic adviser. “All consultancy projects are about making a difference, but working on such a small charity, without client demands, meant we could shape it how we wanted it to be.”

If you think time management is tricky in one new job, try taking on two. “At the peak I was working about five to six hours a week on the charity.” Helpful managers were a boon. “I always knew there was someone I could go to for advice.” Fee-paying clients were also supportive, she says. “Obviously I couldn’t do the work in ordinary project time, but my colleagues on the project would sometimes stay late to help me. The team bond was really special.”

Cooper sees pro bono work as an intrinsic part of her consulting career. “Graduates might think, ‘I’ll do some charity work in a few years’ time.’ Why wait? It’s a great way to learn new skills.” Setting up a project from scratch means accepting complete ownership, she says, taking her experience outside the realms of ordinary graduate work. “Leading the project taught me things I would not otherwise know how to do at this stage in my career.” Capgemini now recognises the Myotubular Trust as the official charity for the 81 graduates on its scheme. “Everyone has heard about it and most people are involved in one way or another. It’s going from strength to strength.”

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