Fifteen advisers, six firms named finalists by charitable foundation

Fifteen advisers and six companies have been named as finalists for this year’s Invest in Others Awards.

The awards, presented annually for the past 10 years by The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation to acknowledge outstanding volunteer work by financial advisers and members of the financial advice business, will be presented at a dinner in New York in September. Winners and finalists will be awarded monetary gifts for their charities.

The work of this year’s finalists encompasses efforts in the areas of hunger prevention, youth development, financial literacy and medical research and support, among others. The finalists spent an average of 37 hours per month volunteering and collectively have raised $80 million over the past three years for their favorite charities, which serve more than 1 million people in need each year.

This year’s finalists, by category, are:

For the Catalyst Award: Jody C. D’Agostini of the Falcon Financial Group, AXA Advisors in Morristown, New Jersey, for founding Community in Crisis, which works to combat the opiate epidemic; Derek Fiorenza of Summit Group Retirement Planners, LPL Financial, Exton, Pennsylvania, for his work with Fiorenza’s Food for Friends, which helps alleviate food insecurity; and Paul Housey of ISTO Advisors, TD Ameritrade Institutional, Troy, Michigan, for helping underprivileged children through the Building Bridges nonprofit he created.

For the Community Service Award: Jim Geraghty of Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in Boston, for his work with the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps to help underprivileged children; Jonna D. Keller of First Security Investments, Advisor Group – SagePoint Financial, Sarasota, Florida, for her work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County; and Thomas E. Reilly, Jr. of Birch Hill Investment Advisors, Charles Schwab & Fidelity, Boston, for his efforts with Crossroads, a youth development program.

For the Global Community Impact Award: Michael Altman of Ameriprise Financial, Sandy Springs, Georgia, for his work on medical missions in the Third World through Flying Doctors of America; Paul R. Martel of YHB Investment Advisors, Pershing & Charles Schwab, West Hartford, Connecticut, for his efforts in health care in Ecuador through his Fundacion Internacional Buen Samaritano Paul Martel; and Michael Thaler of Equity Concepts, Cambridge Investment Research, Henrico, Virginia, for his work in Niger through the Effective Ministries organization he founded.

For Volunteer of the Year Award: Jonathan E. Baker of Jon Baker Financial Group, Advisor Group, Woodbury Financial Services, Atlanta, for his work with the Georgia Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Mary Brooks of Integre Wealth Management, Raymond James, Walnut Creek, California, for her work in alleviating hunger in her area through White Pony Express; and Bill Sparks of Merrill Lynch, Encinitas, California for helping low-income children through Los Angelitos de Encinitas.

For Lifetime Achievement Award: Mark Anselmo of Anselmo Investment Management, Cambridge Investment Research, Temecula, California, for his efforts in the area of autism through his Our Nicholas Foundation; Gerald H. Denney Jr. of Piedmont Wealth Management, LPL Financial, Charlottesville, Virginia, for his work with Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry; and Ben Sax of Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group, New York, for his work with the Anti-Defamation League.

For Corporate Philanthropy, Advisory Firms: Arnerich Massena in Portland, Oregon; Greenspring inTowson, Maryland; and Sentinel Benefits & Financial Group in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

For Corporate Philanthropy, Financial Institutions: Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts; Eaton Vance Investment Managers in Boston; and MassMutual in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation was founded in 2006 by Mark Casady, chairman and CEO of LPL Financial, who was moved to establish a public charity devoted to recognizing the valuable volunteer work performed by financial advisers, employees and their firms.