Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual is leveraging the community impact of some of its most philanthropic financial representatives through a grant program that has awarded selected representatives funds to allocate to their cause of choice.
The $285,000 grant program, facilitated by Northwestern Mutual Foundation, is distributing grants in $15,000, $20,000, and $25,000 increments to financial representatives who have proven to take active roles in their communities.
Those selected are also each receiving the firm’s 2015 Community Service Award. While the firm has selected three winners in each of the four regions it serves, it has also named an additional winner in each region “most exceptional.” Top honorees have been granted $25,000 to pass on to their chosen charity.
“Each year, I’m overwhelmed by the outstanding work our financial representatives are doing in their communities, and their strong spirit of giving is echoed across our company each day,” John Kordsmeier, president of the foundation, said in a press release. “The impact of these individuals extends our business and reaches the heart of what we do every day by putting others first.”
According to Northwestern Mutual, the firm has distributed more than $4.6 million to nonprofits through its financial representatives throughout the past 20 years.
2015 “exceptional” Community Service Award winners are:
*Steven Braun (of Chicago, Ill.), who is supporting Cures Within Reach
*Gay Davis (of Portland, Ore.), who is supporting Children’s Cancer Association
*Aaron Miller (of Woburn, Mass.), who is supporting Horizons for Homeless Children
*Robert Perry (of Birmingham, Ala.), who is supporting Open Hands Overflowing Hearts
Additional award winners are:
*Kevin Bontrager (of Fort Wayne, Ind.), who is supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana
*Thomas Canale (of Chicago, Ill.), who is supporting Envision Unlimited
*J. Michael Carroll (of Colorado Springs, Colo.), who is supporting Fostering Hope Foundation
*Kaitlin Drennan (of Lee’s Summit, Miss.), who is supporting Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
*Don Henderson (of Fort Worth, Texas), who is supporting Arlington Urban Ministries
*Amy Jamrog (of Northampton, Mass.), who is supporting The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts
*Shawn Kelley (of Cincinnati, Ohio), who is supporting Andy and Jordan Dalton Foundation
*David Lively (of Kingsport, Tenn.), who is supporting Tennessee Donor Services
*Mercer Caroline Smith (of Seattle, Wash.), who is supporting The Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment – Swedish Medical Center Foundation
*Timothy Szlosek (of Melville, N.Y.), who is supporting Spectrum of Dreams
