At McKinsey, we thrive on healthy debate. With teams spanning cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, our strength lies in bringing different perspectives to solve tough problems.
But when colleagues in our Middle East office were invited to support Sanad Children’s Cancer Support Association—a nonprofit in Saudi Arabia that helps families facing childhood cancer—there was no debate.
“We were all in,” recalls Jorge Grieve, a partner based in Riyadh who helps clients build new businesses and leads the office’s social impact efforts.
Over several weeks, the team partnered with Sanad on a number of initiatives: improving the onboarding process through digital tools, redesigning the patient and family experience, and developing strategies to ensure the nonprofit’s future growth.
“We interviewed a range of stakeholders to understand where patients could benefit from more support, whether financial or childcare, and what kinds of resources made the most impact on their recovery,” Jorge says.
The work also focused on equipping Sanad’s staff—doctors, nurses, and care teams—to better engage with families during moments that are often emotionally overwhelming and complex, from sharing the news of a diagnosis and offering therapeutic activities to individual counseling for siblings and integrating long-term support.
For Jorge and our broader Middle East office colleagues, the partnership reflected the best of what McKinsey aspires to bring to our clients and communities: the combination of empathy, expertise, and a shared commitment to inclusive impact. “It was a privilege to be able to hear and learn from families who are going through everyone’s worst nightmare,” Jorge says. “To be able to make even the smallest impact in their experience is creating change that truly makes a difference.”
Watch the short documentary below to learn more about our firm’s commitment to global social responsibility and our partnership with Sanad.