News Category: Chartwell Culture

Amid a busy unwinding of another extraordinary year, Chartwell is reminded of our common charge to help each other freely. We closed 2023 with several notable initiatives aimed at building connections, strengthening community, highlighting interdependence, and – in keeping with our charitable mission – helping to make the world a better place to live.

Expanding Access to the Benefits of Employee Ownership

Chartwell celebrated Employee Ownership Month this October by staying active to raise funds for the Employee Ownership Foundation. Nearly 40 individuals participated by walking, running, and biking. Chartwell pledged money for every mile logged, with bonus money applied to those joining in on 5K races held in cities with Chartwell offices. All told, Team Chartwell logged nearly 2,000 total miles and raised over $6,500 to support employee ownership.

Fighting an “Unsettling” Drop in Life Expectancy for Men

Following a recent decline in life expectancy for men that The New York Times calls “unsettling,” the life expectancy gap between men and women reached its widest in nearly three decades, driven mainly by more men dying of Covid and drug overdoses. In support of the fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, partners, families, and friends in our lives, Chartwell teamed up with the Movember Foundation to raise money for, and awareness of, a number of different men’s health issues. Team Chartwell’s moustache and beard competitors, along with those who opted to “Move for Mental Health” by taking steps for the cause, raised more than $6,000 in 2023 alone. In our six years of support for the Movember Foundation, Chartwell has raised nearly $30,000 to help tackle some of the most significant health issues faced by men.

Spreading a Little Joy

Once again this year, our “Sponsor a Family” initiative was an important part of Chartwell’s Giving Back Campaign. Focused on contributing to the overall well-being of our greater communities, each of our office locations selected an organization to partner with and collectively committed nearly $7,600 to our sponsored families.

Through Youthprise, a nonprofit with a mission to increase equity with and for disadvantaged youth, Chartwell Minneapolis connected with two families facing financial hardship and purchased gifts along with basic necessities. Chartwell Chicago supported Project 180, which offers occupational therapy, financial assistance, psychological counseling, and recreational therapy in group residential homes to individuals with little to no resources. Chartwell Dallas shopped for Soldiers’ Angels to help send holiday cheer to military families.

On the West Coast, Chartwell Portland purchased gifts for a local family through the Christmas Family Adoption Foundation, a nonprofit focused on making the holiday season a time for joy and celebration for families in need. Meanwhile, Chartwell Orange County donated gifts through the Orange County Family Justice Center, which provides assistance, empowerment, and prevention resources to victims and families whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence and abuse.

Finally, on the East Coast, Chartwell Raleigh donated funds to The Bair Foundation, a nonprofit that supports children and families throughout the foster care and adoption processes. Chartwell Philadelphia supported HopePHL, an organization with the mission to inspire children, youth, families, and communities to thrive by providing housing, advocacy, and trauma-responsive social services designed to promote equity, resilience, autonomy, and well-being.

Positive Impact Spinning

In December, some select energetic teammates participated in a Chartwell-organized Spinathon to raise funds for the JP4 Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to enrich the lives of youth in underserved communities through healthy activity, healthy meals, and healthy relationships. Chartwell pledged $5 per mile over the course of an hour, and in a showcase of endurance, commitment, and generosity, we raised $1,000 for this great cause.

Pickleball for a Purpose

Chartwell’s pickleball tournament also saw enthusiastic participation! In addition to the fun, the lively competition, and the displays of some serious game, the day of pickleball served to encourage individual giving and to support causes personally meaningful to our colleagues. A Chartwell pickleball champion was crowned, and $1,750 was donated to various charities nominated by our teammates, including Coco’s Dog Heart Rescue, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities.

Feeding Starving Children

To close out Chartwell’s Giving Back Campaign, we spent an afternoon at Feed My Starving Children for a meal-packing event. The volunteer room during this holiday season was jam-packed with familiar faces as well as new ones in the community, where the entire group beat FMSC’s standing record of most boxes packed in a single session – 251 boxes! That comes out to enough boxes of soy-veggie meals to feed 149 children across the globe for an entire year.

Chartwell’s Giving Back Campaign this year results in nearly $23,000 donated!

As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value. In addition to our corporate charity events, every Chartwell professional is encouraged to support causes and dedicate time to the charitable organizations they are passionate about.

This holiday season, Chartwell continues to uphold its charitable mission to help make the world a better place to live. Our annual December “Giving Back” campaign kicked off by bringing joy to local families across the country through the Adopt-A-Family program. Additionally, the Chartwell team gathered in Minneapolis to create blankets for kids at Children’s Minnesota hospital, pack food for neighbors through Second Harvest Heartland, and raise money for patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by cycling in a spinathon!

Each of Chartwell’s office locations have come together to support the Adopt-A-Family program, which positively impacts the communities around us and enriches the lives of our neighbors. Our team is grateful to be able to help these families during this joyous time of year and is excited to share our resources in a personal way.

On Friday, December 9 the full team gathered in Minneapolis for our annual holiday celebration. As Chartwell continues to grow, we broadened our charitable efforts and offered three activities for team members to participate in to help support wonderful organizations.

One group spent the morning matching, cutting, tying, folding, and wrapping fleece blankets for patients at Children’s Minnesota hospital. Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest freestanding pediatric health systems in the country and Chartwell is a proud annual supporter of this organization.

The next group pulled up their sleeves and spent two hours at the Second Harvest Heartland packing and distribution center. During this volunteer session, the Chartwell group helped pack 521 boxes of oranges weighing a total of 21,660 pounds of food, which equates to 18,050 total meals for local families. Second Harvest Heartland works to end hunger through community partnerships and leverages its unique position in the emergency food chain to make an impact throughout the upper Midwest.

The final group got their cycling on and participated in a spinathon for St. Jude. In just 45-minutes, this group completed a total of 350 miles, raising $3,500 together for an incredible cause. The mission of St. Jude is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.

As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value. In addition to our corporate charity events, every Chartwell professional is encouraged to support causes and dedicate time to the charitable organizations they are passionate about.

Chartwell focused on supporting the Employee Ownership Foundation’s ESOPathon and the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer during the month of October. These annual campaigns raise awareness for causes that impact millions of lives and our team put our movement and charitable commitment to the test. The results are in and Chartwell is thrilled to share that we raised $8,200 combined for these charities!

ESOPathon is an activity-based fundraising event that allows the employee ownership community to participate in teams while celebrating Employee Ownership Month. Throughout the 31 days of October, Team Chartwell tracked distances spent walking, running, or biking and completed a total of 1,280 miles for employee ownership! The firm’s wellness committee committed various dollar amounts to activities completed towards the campaign, equaling a team fundraising total of over $4,700 and putting Team Chartwell in the top half of the 2022 leaderboard!

Meanwhile, Chartwell’s Women in Leadership Development group was determined to raise breast cancer awareness and spent time internally educating team members about a range of women’s health topics and statistics. Chartwell’s charity committee sweetened the pot and double-matched all employee donations towards the cause, closing out the fundraiser with over $3,500 raised for the American Cancer Society! Making Strides Against Breast Cancer unites communities, companies, and individuals with a collective goal to end breast cancer as we know it. Over the past two decades, Making Strides has collectively grown into the nation’s largest and most impactful breast cancer movement providing a supportive community for courageous breast cancer survivors and thrivers, including caregivers and families.

The Chartwell team gathered in Minneapolis for our annual summer charity day, an initiative organized by the firm’s charity committee. Our 2022 “Chartwell Cares” campaign was spent at Feed My Starving Children for a meal-packing event. In just a few hours, Chartwell assembled enough boxes of soy-veggie meals to feed 101 children for a year! Chartwell also matched the cost of these meals, helping feed 101 more across the globe.

Chartwell’s charitable mission is to help make the world a better place to live, and we are certain that our recent efforts have done just that. We believe serving others extends beyond our professional lives. Chartwell serves and supports charitable organizations that positively impact the communities around us and enrich the lives of our neighbors.

Over the past several years, the Chartwell charity committee and Chartwell leadership have been working to develop a long-term mission and strategy for philanthropic efforts. This has culminated in an expanded annual charity budget, paid volunteer time off for employees, and a tagline of “Chartwell Charity for Kids.” We as an organization are advocates of sustainability and believe that investing in the next generation will help improve the communities we live in and enrich the lives of our neighbors.

As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value. In addition to our corporate charity events, every Chartwell professional is encouraged to support causes and dedicate time to the charitable organizations they are passionate about.

Last week, Chartwell’s Minneapolis team participated in the Greater Twin Cities United Way Action Day, an initiative to provide backpacks full of school supplies for 50,000 local students. Greater Twin Cities United Way (GTCUW) partners with nonprofits and school districts to distribute these backpacks to ensure kids have the school supplies they need to be ready to learn in the fall. Hosted by the Minnesota Vikings, GTCUW’s Action Day 2022 presented volunteer opportunities to pack backpacks full of school supplies on the field of U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Chartwell group successfully packed over 400 backpacks in just a few hours. What a great way to bring back-to-school cheer!

As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value. In addition to our corporate charity events, every Chartwell professional is encouraged to support causes and dedicate time to the charitable organizations they are passionate about.

Communicate. Be Empowered. Make a Difference. These were top-of-mind mantras for Chartwell’s female professionals as they recently gathered for a leadership workshop in Minneapolis. The group dedicated two half-day sessions to discussing communication practices – talking styles, listening skills, conversation rituals, conveying confidence, and more. Chartwell thanks Dr. Amelia Reigstad for using her professional coaching and consulting experience to lead the workshop.

In the past year, Chartwell launched a Women in Leadership Development (WILD) committee, with a focus on attracting, developing, retaining, and rewarding more female employees, leaders, and professionals. This workshop was the first marquee event for the group, and it will not be the last. “I’ve been passionate about leadership and mentoring for a long time and now I’m happy to help grow something great like this at Chartwell,” says Rachel Flaskey, co-chair of the WILD committee.

The core of Chartwell’s success has always been and continues to be our dedicated and hard-working people. By conducting every detail of our business honestly and ethically, Chartwell emanates respect, integrity, and professional courtesy. These traits lay the strongest possible foundation for developing our team members, building enduring relationships, and cultivating meaningful careers.

Last week, Chartwell participated in a firm-wide charity activity in support of Feeding America. Our Dallas team spent an afternoon volunteering at the North Texas Food Bank, while our Portland office collected food donations for the Sunshine Division, and our Minneapolis team packed food for Second Harvest Heartland. The purpose of these volunteer events was two-fold: to support Chartwell’s charitable mission to help make the world a better place to live and also to honor the legacy of Mark Gehrig, who passed away earlier this year and was a true friend of the firm.

“Mark was a man of integrity and character. He always did what was right and he did it in a respectful and courteous manner,” said Paul Halverson, CEO. “Spending this day supporting an organization that Mark and his family have believed in for a long time was exactly what we all needed to come together as a team.”

Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs. Together, they provide food and support to over 40 million people annually. Feeding America has a vision of an America where no one is hungry.

Second Harvest Heartland works to end hunger through community partnerships and leverages its unique position in the emergency food chain to make an impact throughout the upper Midwest. This year, Second Harvest Heartland is celebrating its 45th year in the fight against hunger.

The North Texas Food Bank distributes donated and purchased foods through a network of more than 200 partner agencies in 13 counties. The NTFB is committed to providing “Food for Today and Hope for Tomorrow” as it continues to work toward a vision of creating a hunger-free and healthy North Texas.

The Sunshine Division provides food and clothing relief to Portland families and individuals in need. It offers food assistance six days a week at its two locations, as well as 24/7 through its partnership with the Portland Police Bureau, which stores food boxes at each police precinct to be dispatched to people in need at any time. Since 1923, Sunshine Division has served 15,600+ households a year with “shopping” experiences. Sunshine Division also makes bulk donations of food to 15+ other food-relief agencies in five counties, extending its reach beyond the City of Portland.

As we wind down an unbelievable year, Chartwell continues to uphold its charitable mission to help make the world a better place to live. Our December “Giving Back” campaign kicked off with our team members creating blankets for kids at Children’s Minnesota hospital who could use some extra comfort and warmth this winter season. As we approach the holidays, each of our Chartwell offices are excited to participate in an Adopt-A-Family program to help bring joy to families in need.

On Friday, December 10 the Chartwell team gathered in Minneapolis for our annual holiday celebration. We kicked the day off by matching, cutting, tying, folding, and wrapping fleece blankets for patients at Children’s Minnesota hospital. Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest freestanding pediatric health systems in the country. “All the hard work we do makes it possible to provide some support to the kids and their families who need special care at Children’s,” says Managing Director Tim Cleary. Chartwell is a proud supporter of Children’s Minnesota and continues to annually sponsor its “Art for Kids” program – as proudly displayed on the walls as soon as you enter our Minneapolis office!

Additionally, each of Chartwell’s eight locations have come together to organize an Adopt-A-Family program that will positively impact the communities around us and enrich the lives of our neighbors. Our team is grateful to be able to support these families during this joyous time of year and is excited to share our resources in a personal way.

As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value. In addition to our corporate charity events, every Chartwell professional is encouraged to support causes and dedicate time to the charitable organizations they are passionate about.

Chartwell’s charity committee is excited to announce our return to Movember! The Movember Foundation is the leading organization changing the face of men’s health by raising money and awareness for a number of different men’s health issues. This years’ beard and moustache competitors were fierce, leading to a total of $5,000 raised by Team Chartwell! A special thank you also goes out to our move competitors who were committed to staying active all month long to help raise funds.

2021 marks the fifth year of Chartwell’s participation in Movember. To date, we have raised over $20,000 for this facial hair challenge and couldn’t do it without the dedication of our wonderful team!

Chartwell’s corporate charity program aims to deliver on our company-wide mission to make the world a little better place to live. As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value.

The entire Chartwell team gathered in Minneapolis for our annual summer charity day, an initiative put together by the firm’s charity committee. Our 2021 “Chartwell Cares” campaign was spent at Feed My Starving Children for a meal packing event. In just two hours, Chartwell assembled and hand packed 165 boxes of rice meals, equating to 35,640 meals for kids in El Salvador.

Chartwell’s charitable mission is to help make the world a better place to live and we are certain that our recent efforts have done just that. We believe serving others extends beyond our professional lives. Chartwell serves and supports charitable organizations that positively impact the communities around us and enrich the lives of our neighbors.

Over the past several years, the Chartwell charity committee and Chartwell leadership have been working to develop a long-term mission and strategy for philanthropic efforts. This has culminated in an expanded annual charity budget, paid volunteer time off for employees, and a tagline of “Chartwell Charity for Kids.” We as an organization are advocates of sustainability and believe that investing in the next generation will help improve the communities we live in and enrich the lives of our neighbors.

As a relationship-based firm focused on the long-term success of our clients, Chartwell recognizes the importance of giving back to our communities. Our entire team is dedicated to upholding this value. In addition to our corporate charity events, every Chartwell professional is encouraged to support causes and dedicate time to the charitable organizations they are passionate about.