Mark Anselmo, President of Anselmo Investment Management in Temecula has been announced as one of three national finalists for the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the eleventh annual ‘Invest in Others’ Awards. Anselmo is being honored for his work with Our Nicholas Foundation, which will receive a $5,000 donation from the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation. If Anselmo wins his category, the donation will increase to $25,000.
The ‘Invest in Others Awards’ program recognizes the charitable work of financial advisors and financial services firms in communities across the country and around the world. Advisors are nominated by their peers for actively giving back to non-profits to improve their communities and make a difference in the lives of others. There are five award categories for advisors and two for financial services companies.
Invest in Others received hundreds of nominations this year and finalists were selected based on their leadership, dedication, contribution, inspiration, and impact on a non-profit and the community it serves. Nominations were blindly reviewed by a diverse panel of judges representing industry associations and national media outlets.
In 2003, Mark Anselmo’s son, Nicholas, was diagnosed with a disorder that wasn’t very prevalent at the time – autism.
Mark and his wife felt isolated and, after searching for support without much success, decided to create a non-profit organization to promote acceptance, build awareness, and develop understanding and opportunity for the autistic community. Initially, Our Nicholas Foundation focused on providing specialized supplies and tools to special needs classrooms. Over the past twelve years, the organization’s reach has expanded to include resource fairs, parent and family support groups, sensory friendly movie nights and after school programming.
Anselmo’s connection to the organization is deep and his commitment to supporting autistic children and their families in the community is unwavering. He manages all operations of the Our Nicholas Foundation, which has allowed the group to function with few overhead expenses for the past fourteen years. Anselmo builds ties to local government and acts as a liaison with school districts, promoting autism awareness and education wherever he goes. Autism can be very expensive for families to cope with; the Our Nicholas Foundation does not charge families for programming and even seeks ways to offset expenses for therapies, technology assistive devices and other supplies. The group recently opened the doors on its Autism Resource and Event Center, and Anselmo continues to look forward with plans to offer a tech center for the autistic community in the coming years.
Awards will be presented at the eleventh annual Invest in Others Awards Gala, a premier event attended by nearly 600 financial advisors and financial services executives, on September 28, 2017 in New York City.
About the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation – The inspiration for the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation came directly from the financial advisors who invest in others by giving back to their communities with overwhelming generosity and dedication. Since its founding in 2006, Invest in Others has amplified these efforts by providing a platform for advisors to increase awareness, visibility, and funding to their favorite non-profits. For more information, visit www.investinothers.org.