Financial advisors who make a difference in their communities by donating their time and talent to nonprofit organizations will be honored at the 2025 Invest in Others Awards Gala, Sept. 25 in Boston.
The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to celebrate, inspire and honor charitable work by the financial services community, has announced 15 finalists for the awards.
“Each year, the Invest in Others Awards recognize financial advisors who are making a significant difference through their charitable work,” the organization’s president and CEO, Barkley Payne, said in a news release. “This year’s finalists demonstrate the power of leadership, compassion, and volunteerism in driving community impact through their favorite charities. We are proud to celebrate their efforts and support the nonprofits they serve through national recognition and direct funding.”
The Invest in Others Awards program, which started 19 years ago, has five award categories – Catalyst, Community Service, Emerging Impact, Volunteer of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement. Each honors advisors who have “contributed to their charitable causes in significant and lasting ways,” according to the release.
A panel of judges selected the finalists based on five factors: leadership, dedication, contribution, inspiration and impact on their designated charities and the communities they serve.
Invest in Others selected the 15 from a pool of 90 financial advisors. One recipient will be chosen for each award. The judges have conferred Honorable Mentions to 75 financial advisors.
Invest in Others will provide $25,000 grants to the designated charities of each finalist.
Winners in four categories — Catalyst, Community Service, Emerging Impact, and Volunteer of the Year award — will see their charities receive $60,000 grants.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient’s charity will get a $100,000 grant.
The charities of Honorable Mention recipients will receive $2,000.
Award recipients will be announced at the Invest in Others Awards Gala on Sept. 25 at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport.
The 2025 Invest in Others Awards finalists, listed by awards category, are:
Catalyst
Gregory Poleon of Poleon Comprehensive Wealth Management, Osaic in Tonawanda, N.Y., for charity LE3 INC.
William Sherlach of Raymond James in Fairfield, Conn., for charity Sandy Hook Promise.
Thomas Whitehurst of Whitehurst Advisory Group, Raymond James in Coral Gables, Fla., for charity Casa Familia, Inc.
Community Service
Thomas McCarthy of KAF Wealth Management, Lincoln Investment in Braintree, Mass., for charity South Shore Health.
Robb Pantano of Renaissance Financial, Cetera Networks in New York, N.Y., for charity Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF).
Nadia Shokohi of Shokohi Wealth Management Group, LPL Financial in Parker, Colo., for charity DBA Wings.
Emerging Impact
Justin Elder of Cetera Financial Specialists in Naperville, Ill., for charity Moose & Me Baking Company.
Ana Munro of Morgan Stanley in Naples, Fla., for charity Women Enabled Enterprises.
Whit Newton of Luca Partners, Northwestern Mutual in Raleigh, N.C., for charity Frankie Lemmon School and Foundation.
Lifetime Achievement
Christine Painley Gustafson of Ameriprise in Dallas, for charity American Heart Association.
Scott Stackman of UBS Financial Services in San Diego, for charity Challenged Athletes Foundation.
Barbara Treadwell of Barbara Treadwell, LLC, Osaic in Gloversville, N.Y., for charity The Arc Lexington.
Volunteer of the Year
Paige Henry of Riegel Financial, Raymond James in Columbus, Ohio, for charity Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals (SICSA).
Jeff Moorhouse of Moorhouse Financial Wealth Management Group, Raymond James in Santa Monica, Calif., for charity Angel Flight West.
John Lyons of J Lyons Fund Management, Inc., Interactive Brokers in Deerfield, Ill., for charity Hope for the Silent Voices.
For more on the finalists go to the 2025 Awards page here.
Since 2006, Invest in Others, a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation, has given almost $8 million in support of a variety of causes, including health and wellness, education and youth programs, arts and culture, hunger and poverty prevention, and military and veterans, and has partnered with over 725 charitable organizations.
Leading sponsors of the 2025 Invest in Others Awards include Cambridge, Cetera Financial Group, Commonwealth Financial Network, Fidelity Investments, MFS, Natixis Investment Managers, Osaic and Private Advisor Group.
