CINCINNATI, OH — O’Connor, Acciani & Levy has launched an Employee-Directed Charitable Contribution Plan that gives every member of its staff the power to nominate where the firm sends its charitable donations. 

The program’s first contribution goes to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati, nominated by Maya Gabay, a paralegal in the firm’s personal injury department.

The plan operates on a rotating basis. Each cycle, a team member nominates a local organization they believe addresses a pressing need in the Cincinnati tri-state community. The firm then directs its contribution to the selected organization. 

Rather than having leadership choose recipients from the top down, the program places that decision with the employees who live and work in the neighborhoods the firm serves.

Why Ronald McDonald House

Gabay selected Ronald McDonald House because of the organization’s direct role in supporting families with critically ill children who travel to Cincinnati for medical care. 

Located steps from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center on Erkenbrecher Avenue, the House provides private bedrooms, home-cooked meals, play areas, and laundry facilities for up to 177 families every night. Many of these families arrive from outside the region, often facing significant financial strain on top of the stress of a child’s serious illness.

The donation marks the first time an O’Connor, Acciani & Levy employee has directed the firm’s charitable giving to a specific organization. The firm plans to continue the rotation, giving additional team members the opportunity to nominate organizations in future cycles.

What Makes the Program Different

Employee-directed giving programs remain uncommon in the legal industry, where charitable contributions are typically determined by firm leadership or marketing departments. 

O’Connor, Acciani & Levy’s model inverts that structure by treating frontline staff, including paralegals, legal assistants, and support personnel, as the people best positioned to identify where community support is needed most. 

The program has no restriction on the type of organization employees may nominate, as long as it serves the greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, or Columbus communities where the firm operates.

About Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati, now part of Ronald McDonald House Southwest Ohio following a merger with the Dayton chapter earlier this year, provides families with critically ill children a place to stay near the hospitals where their children receive treatment. 

The combined organization ranks among the largest Ronald McDonald House chapters globally for nights of care provided and serves families from across Ohio, the United States, and around the world.