DENVER, April 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Janus Foundation this week revealed the winners of its J Tank competition, which will channel $215,000 to non-profit organizations nominated by Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE:JNS) 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.
About the J Tank Winners
Camp Boggy Creek
Camp Boggy Creek was founded in 1996 by Paul Newman and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, with one simple premise in mind, that every child, no matter their illness, could experience the transformational spirit and friendships that go hand in hand with camp. http://www.boggycreek.org/
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization that builds strength, stability and self-reliance in partnership with people and families in need of a decent and affordable home. https://www.habitat.org/
Operation Underground Railroad
Since being founded in 2013 Operation Underground Railroad has gathered the world's experts in extraction operations and in anti-child trafficking efforts to bring an end to child slavery. https://ourrescue.org/
Seeing is Believing
Seeing is Believing is Standard Chartered Bank’s global community investment program to tackle avoidable blindness in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. http://seeingisbelieving.org/
Pat Tillman Foundation
The Pat Tillman Foundation invests in military veterans and their spouses through academic scholarships – building a diverse community of leaders committed to service to others. http://pattillmanfoundation.org/
Light the Night
Light the Night is a series of fundraising campaigns benefiting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) funding of research to find blood cancer cures. http://www.lightthenight.org/#
Sunrise Cambodia
Sunrise Cambodia is a world-class charity working on the ground in Cambodia to give much-needed help to at-risk kids, struggling families and poor communities in some of the most poverty-stricken provinces of the country. http://sunrisecambodia.org.au/
About Janus Capital Group Inc.
Janus Capital Group Inc. (JCG) is a global investment firm dedicated to delivering better outcomes for clients through a broad range of investment solutions, including fixed income, equity, alternative and multi-asset class strategies. It does so through a number of distinct asset management platforms, including investment teams within Janus Capital Management LLC (Janus), INTECH Investment Management LLC (INTECH), Perkins Investment Management LLC (Perkins) and Kapstream Capital Pty Limited (Kapstream), in addition to a suite of exchange-traded products. Each team brings distinct asset class expertise, perspective, style-specific experience and a disciplined approach to risk. Investment strategies are offered through open-end funds domiciled in both the U.S. and offshore, as well as through separately managed accounts, collective investment trusts and exchange-traded products. Based in Denver, JCG has offices located in 12 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The firm had complex-wide assets under management and ETN assets totaling $204.7 billion as of March 31, 2017.