Spencer Ogden Spark New Impact Partnership with Light Up The World

At Spencer Ogden, our ESG mission is: to leverage our global position and conduct socially and environmentally responsible business which benefits communities and follows clear principles of equitability, diversity, progression, and sustainability.

Aligned with this we are extremely excited to announce the start of a new impact partnership with Canada-based charity Light Up The World (LUTW).

The organisation operates in rural parts of Peru to bring reliable, clean energy and jobs to off-grid communities, significantly improving living and environmental standards. Their work has multiple benefits to the people and environment they serve:  

• Safety: Reliable lighting reduces health and security risks 

• Education: Students gain access to online learning and digital tools  

• Economic Growth: powering businesses creates new economic opportunities 

LUTW’s projects target solar installations and sustainable satellite internet in villages where their impact can be felt the most. A recent project they completed brought clean energy to 494 direct and indirect beneficiaries of the newly introduced technology, located at an altitude of 4,600m above sea level. With no previous access to reliable electricity, treated water, or the internet, LUTW was the first organisation to implement a project for the remote community, empowering 16 teachers to teach 124 children with access to technology in the classroom. They provided an off-grid solar system with 15kWh of battery storage and satellite internet to power 20 classrooms and 20 living spaces, enabling 10 computers to mobilise e-learning for the school children.  

Without LUTW’s renewable energy infrastructure installations, rural communities are reliant on traditional energy sources, such as gas generators, candles, animal fat, and kerosene. Notwithstanding the pollution that these methods produce, the socioeconomic effects of not having energy and internet access prevents educational progress as children are unable to access modern online techniques and learning materials. For the community itself, the lack of energy access restricts economic development in remote areas which lack the technology and infrastructure to communicate with the rest of the world. Consequently, entrepreneurship and business opportunities stagnate, halting the potential for living standards to increase. Not only, then, is LUTW reducing the environmental cost of these communities’ use of energy, they are actively providing the foundations from which educational and economic development can thrive.  

Our Partnership 

This collaboration speaks directly to who we are and what we stand for.

As a global recruitment business rooted in the energy and infrastructure sectors, celebrating 15 years this year, partnering with an energy-focused charity was a natural choice. Our work to support the world’s leading renewable energy and infrastructure companies in driving the energy transition makes this partnership especially meaningful.

LUTW’s mission to expand access to clean, reliable energy perfectly aligns with our purpose: creating careers to power a sustainable future. It’s a cause that inspires our people and reflects the impact we aim to have - through our work, our partnerships, and the way we give back.

This partnership has been met with huge enthusiasm across our teams, and we’re proud to align our charitable giving with a purpose-driven organisation that’s helping build a brighter, more sustainable future.

We’re committed to leading the way in sustainable staffing, and this is just one of the many steps we’re taking to make a lasting impact.

Overseeing the new partnership, Regan Callender (Global ESG Manager) comments:  

‘Partnering with LUTW is the next step in our ESG development and aligns closely with goals to support global decarbonisation, whilst also promoting socioeconomic development. LUTW’s work is invaluable in modernising rural Peruvian communities and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact of our donations. The targets we’ve set will go towards employing and training a local engineer to manage the solar electricity infrastructure and keep the lights on! We’re confident that our partnership with LUTW will engage our staff even more, as well as providing additional value and contentment for our clients knowing that by working with us, they’re also supporting such an important cause. We aim to develop our combined vision to endorse sustainable development to help LUTW to grow, increasing our impact and enabling them to expand their operations to give clean energy access to more and more communities.’ 

 LUTW add:

‘Light Up The World are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Spencer Ogden. This partnership strongly aligns with Spencer Ogden's commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles and LUTW's mission to bring essential access to underserved communities. By showcasing our collaboration, we hope to inspire others and demonstrate how corporate partners like Spencer Ogden can drive meaningful social and environmental progress. This partnership represents a significant step in our ongoing commitment to making a positive difference through a scalable approach. We look forward to a successful collaboration with Spencer Ogden as we work together to power a brighter, more sustainable, more connected, and more successful future for indigenous peoples.’

Our Combined Impact & Targets 

Our decision to partner with LUTW deliberately aims to propel our impact forward to deliver sustainable energy solutions to rural communities, whilst growing alongside a rapidly developing charity. As mentioned, our donations will support an entire village to gain access to clean electricity by allocating funding for a local engineer to be trained and employed to sustain the energy infrastructure. With each donation, we will track and report on the impact generated for the community across the following metrics:   

1. Clean energy production in kWh 
2. CO2 avoided in kgCO2e 
3. Community reach – looking at the number of people  
4. Internet access – number of people provided with this 
5. Systems improved – tracked by the amount 

We have set targets across each metric to motivate our employees and network to engage with LUTW - the more we engage, the more we can raise to support clean energy infrastructure. By aligning our donations to our internal people-focused approach, we’re empowering our people to get involved in giving back, whilst promoting our culture and their development. At Spencer Ogden we will make a direct impact through; internal promotions, our peer recognition scheme and tenure milestones.

Our second partnership with Seven Clean Seas is still in full effect, where we remove 1kg of ocean plastic for every placement we make. When we win, our impact partners win too.

We’re excited to keep you up to date on our new journey with LUTW, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn where we will be releasing further updates over the coming weeks and subscribe to our IMPACT newsletter where we give insights into our strategic operations in renewables markets, partnerships, challenges, and the personal experiences of our people every quarter.

If you would like to make your own donation to LUTW, you can do so here.