Committed to Making an Impact
At Braun & Associates, we’re passionate about serving charitable organizations and maintaining an active presence in our community. We know that time and resources are the most valuable when you give them away, which is why we continually look for opportunities to help others, learn, and grow along the way. Here are some of the organizations we are proud to support and have supported over the years:
Cures Within Reach raises funds to support medical research that finds new uses for FDA-approved drugs and devices. Repurposing existing drugs and devices is the fastest, safest, and most affordable way to help children with rare, deadly diseases receive better treatments.
Steve Braun has been a donor and volunteer leader at Cures Within Reach for more than a decade and has served on the Executive Board. He has been a great supporter of the Cures Within Reach Rediscovery Research™ model, connecting the organization to thought leaders inside and outside of medicine, matching donors to Rediscovery Research projects they can support, and providing business and marketing guidance.
Steve has also been recognized as a 2022 Community Service Award winner for his involvement with Cures Within Reach. He previously received the award from Northwestern Mutual in 2011, 2015, and 2019.
Steve Braun Community Service Award recognition for involvement with Cures Within Reach:
Pediatric cancer research and support services are vastly and consistently underfunded, yet cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children and adolescents in the United States. That’s why we’re passionate about partnering with the Northwestern Mutual Foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation to raise critical dollars for research. We’ve supported their efforts in the Chicago area in many different ways.
Northwestern Mutual’s National Impact
Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual, as a whole, has raised over $35 million. This amounts to over 445,000 hours of research to support the mission of ALSF.
NM-Chicago’s Local Impact
Northwestern Mutual Chicago officially joined the fight in 2014, raising over $700,000 for ALSF. That has funded 9,500 hours of research! We are proud to announce that we received the Childhood Cancer impact award 2022!
Please click here to learn more about our involvement with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
The Northwestern Mutual Foundation mission is to improve the lives of children and families in need through financial support, volunteerism and collaboration with community partners to build stronger communities. Since 2012, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation has been committed to accelerating the search for better treatments and cures for childhood cancer while supporting families undergoing treatment and survivors struggling with late effects of treatment. Additionally, this foundation strongly supports the local Northwestern Mutual community committed to improving education, revitalizing neighborhoods and supporting prominent local destinations.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my current career is the chance to give back to my industry. In March 2023, I attended the FINSECA meeting in Washington DC, an association of advisors who support the insurance and investment industry. At the meeting, I advocated that the current taxation system for life insurance is appropriate and emphasized that we have the ability to serve our investment clients on both a commission and fiduciary basis, enabling us to tailor our services to meet our client’s needs.
The highlight of the meeting was when we visited Capitol Hill, where I had the opportunity to have personal conversations with local senators and house representatives, including Ron Johnson from WI, Sean Casten from IL, and Bill Foster from IL.
Click here if you would like to learn more about FINSECA.
Northwestern Mutual Sustainability Report:
I am pleased to share with you Northwestern Mutual's inaugural sustainability report. The report is the first to holistically bring together information about the company's commitments to its clients, social impact, corporate governance, responsible investing and the environment, as well as its people.
The report is organized around five key areas:
Our culture is a unique driver of Northwestern Mutual’s long-term success. We’re committed to ensuring our corporate offices and network of field offices across the country are places where each member of our workforce can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and be valued contributors to the company’s and their own success. We act on this commitment every day—creating community through inclusion, building a diverse talent pipeline, and empowering our people to develop their full potential.
Through the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, we invest in the future—allocating $23.5 million in 2023 to drive transformational and sustainable community outcomes. Our support includes not only financial contributions but also community partnerships, advocacy and volunteerism in the areas where our employees, financial advisors and representatives, and policyowners live and work. As a company, we’re committed to accelerating the search for better treatments and cures for childhood cancer. We work nationally to fund clinical research and support families during and after treatment, helping advance better quality-of-life outcomes.
Driven by our mission to improve lives through financial security, we’ve helped millions of Americans reduce financial vulnerability and plan and manage for a lifetime of financial needs and goals. We know that financial security is often hindered in underserved communities, which is why we’re taking bold steps to increase financial knowledge, improve access to capital for small businesses and advance the ability to build generational wealth. We believe accelerating economic empowerment delivers the growth and returns our stakeholders expect.
We manage our day-to-day facility operations to reduce our climate impact through energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management and a continued focus on our carbon footprint. We also recognize the importance of the relationship between spaces and the people who will use them, from our corporate employees and financial advisors and representatives to members of the public enjoying our campus. Our environmental sustainability commitment carries through to our investment strategy and to the investment products we offer consumers.
Trust is Northwestern Mutual’s most valued currency. Our governance and accountability policies and procedures are designed to maintain that trust, furthering the reputation we’ve built since 1857. We make it a top priority to demonstrate the most principled professional and ethical behaviors, complying with all applicable regulations and company policies. Our corporate offices and financial advisors and representatives partner closely to ensure that we act in the best interests of our clients. We continue to invest in technology that helps maintain trust, with systems that can review transactions, analyze patterns of activity to identify risk, and help us manage data privacy and security and consumer rights.
We know this is just the beginning of sharing our ESG story in a report of this nature, and we look forward to sharing our progress over the years to come.
As with any investment, you could lose money and investing in an ESG fund should fit within your overall investment goals. ESG funds often take more work for fund managers to construct and portfolio manager’s ESG practices may significantly influence performance.