Carl Ralston
The Janus Henderson Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Janus Henderson Investors, recently awarded the winners of its eighth annual Janus Henderson Investors Charity Challenge. The annual event broadens the scope of the Foundation’s impact by enabling employees to influence where donations go.
The Charity Challenge is a competition where Janus Henderson employees pitch nonprofit organisations to their colleagues and a panel of judges to win donations from the Foundation. The annual event has become a favourite tradition among employees because it enables them to steer a portion of the donations made by the Janus Henderson Foundation. It is one of the Foundation’s largest employee-led giving initiatives.
Donations of more than US$210,000 were awarded to charities in the U.S., UK, Australia and Europe. The first-place prize of $75,000 was awarded to Remember Nhu, a charity committed to ending child sex slavery through prevention.
Tiphani Krueger, President of the Janus Henderson Foundation and Global Head of Human Resources for Janus Henderson Investors, said:
“The annual Charity Challenge continues to create such an exciting spirit of giving and friendly competition within our organisation year after year. It’s become something employees look forward to every spring and when we look back at all the charities we’ve been able to support through this event, the impact is inspiring. Congratulations to this year’s winning organisation, Remember Nhu, and Nicholas van der Meer, the Janus Henderson team member who pitched a compelling message on the charity’s behalf.”
The top prize winner, Remember Nhu, is a non-profit based in the U.S. and committed to ending child sex slavery through prevention. It identifies children who are at risk of falling prey to the sex trade and provides them with a home in which their physical, educational, emotional and spiritual needs are met.
Carl Ralston, President and Founder at Remember Nhu, said: “Our utmost gratitude to the Janus Henderson Foundation for awarding Remember Nhu this amazing grant which will be so impactful to at-risk children for decades to come! With the grant we are building a brand-new home for children in Thailand who would otherwise have been trafficked in sex slavery. Now, they will have a loving home, be able to go to school, and pursue their dreams.”
Runners-up include second place Anthony Nolan and third place Resource Centre Bees for Development, both based in the UK. The organisations received $50,000 and $25,000, respectively.
Eight charities made it to the final round and each received a donation of $5,000 for being a finalist. The three charities with the most votes in each of Janus Henderson Investors’ operating regions received $10,000 prizes.
Prize winners include:
- Remember Nhu, $75,000 Grand Prize Winner
- Anthony Nolan, $50,000 1st Runner Up and APAC Regional Winner
- Resource Centre Bees for Development, $25,000 2nd Runner Up
- Parkinson’s Foundation, $10,000 North America Regional Winner
- The Childhood Trust, $10,000 EMEA Regional Winner
- Children’s Hospital Colorado’s KidStreet, $5,000 Finalist
- Lives not Knives, $5,000 Finalist
- The Morgan Adams Foundation, $5,000 Finalist
This year’s judges were:
- Bruce DeBoskey, Founder and President of the DeBoskey Group
- Tiphani Krueger, Janus Henderson Foundation President and Global Head of Human Resources for Janus Henderson Investors
- Eugenie Harvey, Chief Executive Officer at the Funding Network
- Reggie Rivers, Former Denver Bronco, Media Personality, Benefit Auctioneer, Motivational Speaker, Master of Ceremonies and Author
This year’s contest included 38 charity nominations and more than 2,500 employee votes. Each of the nominated organisations automatically received a $100 donation. Since launching the annual challenge, the Janus Henderson Foundation has donated a total