The Janus Foundation has revealed the winners of its J Tank competition, which will channel $215,000 to non-profit organizations nominated by Janus Capital Group Inc. employees.
The second annual J Tank challenge allows the Janus Foundation, which has distributed more than $39 million to non-profits since its inception in 1994, to directly benefit causes that matter personally to its employee community. Employees submitted 28 proposals considered for the finalist round, where seven finalists made their case to a panel of judges why their non-profit should win the top $75,000 prize.
The winning non-profit, Camp Boggy Creek, will receive a $75,000 donation from the Janus Foundation. The first and second runners-up, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver and Operation Underground Railroad, will receive $40,000 and $25,000, respectively. All finalists will be awarded a $5,000 donation for their charity, and Operation Underground Railroad will receive an additional $10,000 for winning the employee vote.
The winners included:
Camp Boggy Creek, $75,000 Grand Prize Winner – Sponsored by INTECH employee Patricia Flynn, Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer of INTECH;
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, $40,000 1st Runner Up – Sponsored by Janus employee Wendy Schorsch, BMP Business Analyst at Janus Capital;
Operation Underground Railroad, $25,000 2nd Runner Up and $10,000 Employee Choice – Sponsored by Janus employee Riley Horlacher, Director of Advisor Solutions at Janus Capital.
In addition, judges awarded $5,000 to their favorite employee-nominated non-profit. Winners included:
Seeing is Believing, sponsored by Janus employee Richard Martin, Sr. Fund Tax Accountant, and picked by David Edinger and Jessica Oh;
Operation Underground Railroad, sponsored by Janus employee Riley Horlacher, Director of Advisory Solutions at Janus, and picked by Amelia Earhart;
Pat Tillman Foundation, sponsored by Janus employee Justin Steele, Director of Advisor Solutions at Janus Capital Group, and picked by Reggie Rivers and Bruce DeBoskey;
Light the Night, sponsored by Janus employee Zach Forster, Internal Sales Consultant, and picked by Tiphani Krueger.
In addition, Sunrise Cambodia, sponsored by Janus employee Gwen Colin, Director of Strategic Initiatives, was named a finalist.
“It’s heartwarming to see so many employees bringing causes that they care passionately about to the Janus Foundation for consideration,” said Tiphani Krueger, President of the Janus Foundation and Executive Vice President, Human Resources, at Janus Capital Group. “The second annual edition of J Tank far exceeded our expectations, and we are proud to have built upon the success of last year’s inaugural event. This year, we received 28 applications from our employees, and more than 450 employees voted in the competition.”
The winning submissions were judged by Krueger and her fellow judges — former Denver Broncos player and President of Corporate Kickoff Reggie Rivers; Jessica Oh, Anchor at Denver’s NBC affiliate 9 News; Amelia Earhart, Reporter at Denver’s NBC affiliate 9 News; David Edinger, City and County of Denver and philanthropic strategist Bruce DeBoskey, owner of The DeBoskey Group.
