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:
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.
Other Organizations
In addition to the work Steve regularly does for Cures Within Reach and Alex’s Lemonade Stand, he has also supported many other great organizations over the years, including:
