Odyssey Group has a long history of giving back to the communities in which its employees live and work. Established in 2007, the Odyssey Group Foundation (Foundation) supports charitable organizations focused on healthcare, food and shelter, community and human services, education, the environment, disaster relief and cancer research. To date, the Foundation and its business affiliates have pledged $85 million to more than 550 charities around the world.

In 2023, charitable distributions totaled $9.6 million, which included a $3.9 million contribution to Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) for its philanthropic endeavors, and $2.7 million that was directed to 150 organizations around the world as part of Odyssey’s biennial Employee Nomination Campaign. The recipients of this campaign are listed below.

In addition to supporting long-term grant commitments, two new grants were issued in 2023:

• A pledge of $1.5 million over the next three years to the University of Washington Foundation to support the continuation of the Kelsey Dickson Team Science Courage Research Award. This award was established in 2015 when Odyssey Group and Fairfax issued a $1 million grant to the Prostate Cancer Foundation to support ongoing research into the causes of, and treatment for, Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC). At that time, only 5% of patients with metastatic MCC survived for five years or more; today, over 50% of patients survive advanced MCC for multiple years, which is a remarkable achievement that we are very proud to support.
• An award of $100,000 to the American Friends of The Ocean Cleanup, which works closely with Stichting The Ocean Cleanup, a foundation based in The Netherlands that develops and scales technologies with the aim of removing 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040.