Twenty Years of Changing the World: The Foundation Celebrates its Anniversary and 2026 Award Winners in Vienna

This April, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation marked a milestone two decades in the making. At the Lex Mundi Annual Conference in Vienna, Austria, the Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary surrounded by the global network of firms and attorneys whose generosity has defined it. To date, the Foundation has supported approximately 1,400 social entrepreneurs on more than 3,000 matters across 120 countries. All of this translates into an estimated $90 million USD in donated legal services by Lex Mundi attorneys.

The Foundation also honored five outstanding member firms with the 2026 Pro Bono Foundation Awards at a celebratory dinner at the Belvedere Museum. This year’s award recipients were Marval, O’Farrell and Mairal (Argentina), JunHe LLP (China), Foley Hoag LLP (USA, MA), Bowmans (South Africa), and Gide Loyrette Nouel A.A.R.P.I. (France). Each was recognized for the generosity of their pro bono contributions. Clients supported by the winners ranged from NaTakallam, a social enterprise providing translation services through refugees, to Tatum Robotics, an organization developing communication tools for the DeafBlind community. You can read more here.

The conference also featured a hands-on “Hour of Power” session with Foundation client SolarBuddy, during which Lex Mundi attorneys assembled 100 solar lights and wrote personal letters to the children receiving them. It was a fitting way to bring the spirit of pro bono to life, and the lights will be distributed to families living in energy poverty.

As Managing Director Isis Bous reflected at the awards dinner: “Twenty years ago, our founders believed that if they could connect the legal expertise in this network with innovative social entrepreneurs who needed it, together they could change the world. And you have.” This accomplishment belongs not to the Foundation but to the network itself. We are and continue to be grateful to the thousands of Lex Mundi attorneys who have shared their time and expertise with our clients. We are in awe of the impact Lex Mundi firms have had and are excited to carry this work forward over the next twenty years.

Reimagining Ticketing as a Force for Good

Purchasing event tickets can be an incredibly frustrating experience, often made worse by astronomical and unnecessary fees. In 2016, high school friends Adam McCurdie and Joshua Ross founded Humanitix, a for-purpose ticketing platform created to disrupt the ticketing industry while doing good. Humanitix uses 100% of its booking fee profits to fund charities focused on education, poverty alleviation, and more. They have redirected more than $20 million AUD into social programs while offering a competitive, user-friendly ticketing solution for event organizers. Their work has gained widespread attention and actor Hugh Jackman recently joined the organization as its Head of Impact.

Additionally, a core part of Humanitix’ s differentiation is its accessibility-first design philosophy. The platform incorporates screen-reader compatibility, customizable accessibility fields for attendees, and accessible event check-in tools that help organizers better support participants with disabilities. These features reflect a broader commitment to ensuring that attending and organizing events is inclusive by default, not by exception.

Humanitix was founded in Australia and within two years it was the fastest growing ticketing platform in Australia and New Zealand. Today, they sell more than 50,000 tickets daily and those numbers are quickly growing. Given this success, McCurdie and Ross expanded into the US and the UK. But they weren’t done. They contacted the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation with an eye towards expanding their work in Canada and the EU.

Given the unique nature of Humanitix’s business model, they required support from attorneys who could understand the organization’s work and advise on how it fit within existing legal structures. Several Lex Mundi member firms across Europe quickly jumped in to help. Firms including Morais Leitão (Portugal), Houthoff (Netherlands), Penkov, Markov & Partners (Bulgaria), and Arthur Cox (Ireland) provided assessments on whether the Humanitix model could operate within local nonprofit frameworks.

Celyna Yu and Leilani Kagan, attorneys at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman (Canada, Manitoba), took the lead in Canada. They incorporated a Manitoba corporation. They then prepared and submitted a charitable registration application to the Canada Revenue Agency with Kagan serving as the initial Canadian director.

Yu noted “Our team was honoured to support Humanitix’s expansion into Canada. Learning about Humanitix’s accessibility innovations like searchable accessibility fields, accessible check in tools, and rigorous adherence to web accessibility standards has been inspiring, and we look forward to seeing their accessibility-first ticketing model transform the ticketing industry, and the charity landscape, in Canada.”

Reflecting on the broader collaboration with Lex Mundi member firms, co-founder Joshua Ross shared:

“Working with Lex Mundi member firms has been a meaningful part of our journey expanding Humanitix globally. They’ve helped us navigate complex regulatory environments across new countries, while sharing our belief that business can and should create positive social impact at scale.”

Humanitix’s growth highlights both the scalability of for-purpose business models and the critical role of cross-border legal expertise in enabling social enterprises to expand into new markets. We want to express our sincere thanks to the Lex Mundi attorneys whose pro bono support is helping Humanitix reach more people globally.

Sowing Change in Caribbean Farming Communities

Across the Eastern Caribbean, women farmers are not just cultivating crops. They’re building lasting economic power and supporting climate resilience. Helen’s Daughters, a Saint Lucian nonprofit, is spearheading this movement by providing capacity-development training, mentorship, micro-investment, access to high-value markets and a structured care system for rural women farmers.

At the core of Helen’s Daughter’s work is a commitment to removing barriers that have historically limited women’s participation in agriculture and supporting their transition towards more sustainable farming systems. A key initiative is Ag-Cademy, a free ten-week program that equips women to build and manage sustainable agricultural enterprises. Recognized as equivalent to Saint Lucia’s national “Good Agricultural Practices” (GAP) certification, the Ag-Cademy Certificate enables participants to obtain an official Farmer’s License, unlocking access to government concessions and expanded market opportunities with major retailers.

In 2022, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation connected Helen’s Daughters with Floissac, Du Boulay & Thomas (St. Lucia) for pro bono legal support. The relationship has continued since then, with the firm advising Helen’s Daughters across a range of issues including contractual guidance and HR-related matters. However, one of the most impactful areas of support involved their intellectual property.

As Helen’s Daughters has grown, it has placed greater emphasis on protecting the language and programming that have become closely associated with the organization’s identity and work. Helen’s Daughter’s Founder and Executive Director Keithlin Caroo-Afrifa explained:

“As an organization, we have come to recognize that many of the words, phrases, and concepts we have developed over time have become deeply synonymous with Helen’s Daughters. Through this partnership, we’ve been able to take a more intentional and structured approach to protecting that intellectual property – something that, in our experience, many nonprofits often overlook. This has not only strengthened our organization but has also influenced how we think about knowledge-sharing, including integrating intellectual property awareness into our Ag-Cademy program curriculum.”

She also emphasized the value of working with a Saint Lucian firm that understands the regional context in which Helen’s Daughters operates. The partnership highlights the importance of sustained pro bono legal support in strengthening grassroots organizations. We are grateful to the many attorneys at Floissac, Du Boulay & Thomas who volunteered their time and expertise to ensure that Helen’s Daughters can deliver impact while building a foundation for long-term growth.