Culture & Engagement Director | Paul, Weiss
Rob Powell is Culture & Engagement Director – Europe, at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Throughout his eighteen years in law, Rob has spearheaded pro bono and social impact initiatives that have delivered 110,000 pro bono legal hours, 16,000 volunteering hours and directly supported 5,000 young people and jobseekers though employability and outreach programmes while raising £1.5 million for charities. Rob is a frequent speaker on the social sustainability circuit and regularly contributes to industry reports and thought leadership articles. Rob is Chair of Trustees for Workwhile and has been a board member for Special Olympics GB, Heart of the City, and Innocence Project London.
Rob’s work in supporting young people has been acknowledged and profiled in various ways, including winning Legal500 Social Mobility Champion of the Year (2024), being interviewed by Amol Rajan for the BBC documentary ‘How to Crack the Class Ceiling?’ (2022) and more recently, being named a Social Mobility Mover & Shaker by Making the Leap in their annual Social Mobility List (2026).
Rob is also the Chair of the Trailblazer Group for the Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Apprenticeship – creating the UK’s first apprenticeship qualification for sustainability.
