The many benefits of foundation ownership

The Ramboll Foundation ownership model sets Ramboll apart from competitors and as a workplace for employees. But how exactly does the Ramboll Foundation and our foundation ownership model benefit employees? We asked two colleagues about which advantages are most meaningful to them.

At Ramboll, employees have the exclusive opportunity to buy shares in the company. This enables them to make an investment in an ethically run and values-driven company and to take part in Ramboll’s growth.

“Buying shares in Ramboll is an amazing way to invest in the company’s future. It’s an under-leveraged employee benefit in my opinion,” argues Kalisha Sejpar, Geotechnical Engineer and Social Value consultant in Ramboll UK & Ireland, former member of the Foundation Advisory Forum, and Ramboll employee since 2014.

Our PhD programme provides funding to support Ramboll employees who are pursuing a PhD. “Imagine your employer sponsoring part of your studies. It brings so much value to Ramboll but it also means we get to help colleagues during a very critical stage of their education,” explains Kevin Smith, Project Manager in Ramboll Americas, member of the Foundation Advisory Forum, and Ramboll employee since 2013.

Flourish enables employees to volunteer during working hours and donate their time and talents to communities in need and people entering our industry. Over the years, the Ramboll Foundation has sponsored hundreds of volunteers to help local communities solve critical engineering problems and build capacities locally. Flourish is currently running twelve initiatives in the UK, US, and India!

“The projects that we work on around the world are also pretty amazing,” continues Kevin. “One of my colleagues recently travelled to Rwanda to build a footbridge and honestly, they just lit up when they talked about the work they were able to do there. It’s a wildly positive experience for the employees who get to participate and for the communities and people that benefit.”

As a foundation-owned company, we do not have to worry about pleasing or paying external shareholders. We can thus focus on the issues and causes that are most important to us and reinvest profits where we see the greatest value. That means profits are channelled towards employee shareholders (as dividends), towards worthy philanthropic causes, or back into the company.

"The fact that profits are reinvested into the company and that the Foundation contributes to charitable causes and research projects means your work contributes to a greater cause. Because of our foundation ownership, the business really is driven by purpose. Not just profits, like everyone else,” explains Kalisha.

Søren Staugaard Nielsen became Managing Director of the Ramboll Foundation in 2022. Building on his years as Country Market Director in Ramboll Management Consulting and as a board member in the Ramboll Foundation, he brought his understanding of Ramboll’s business and legacy to his current position. Managing the Ramboll Foundation gives Søren the opportunity to implement the strategy set out by the Foundation Board of Trustees and maintain the Foundation as the best owner of Ramboll.

“I’ve spent more than 25 years with Ramboll in different leadership positions. It has been one of the great honours of my professional life to witness and participate in the evolution of this great company. Over the years, Ramboll has developed new areas of expertise, has found new ways of working and learning, and has expanded globally. And of course as Ramboll develops so must the Foundation. Keeping our active and purposeful ownership model up to date has been an important job.”

Ramboll’s founders, Børge Rambøll and Johan Hannemann, made a very important decision in 1972. Having founded Ramboll 27 years prior, they looked at the company they had built and the vision that had guided it all and decided that the best way to safeguard their work was not to sell the company to the highest bidder, but to turn it into a limited liability company; one owned by a foundation.

“It’s quite incredible, looking back at that choice,” explains Søren Staugaard Nielsen, Managing Director of the Ramboll Foundation. “They had spent so many years building a successful company and ultimately decided that their founding values and the continuance of the company were more important than profiting themselves. That one choice cemented in Ramboll a commitment to doing good work that benefits not just the company and clients but the societies we serve, too.”

Beyond working to preserve Ramboll’s founding values and vision, the Ramboll Foundation also selects the non-executive board members in the Ramboll Group Board. The Foundation also provides support to maintain Ramboll as a great workplace where employees have opportunities to make a difference and are supported in their personal and professional lives.