2018 Community Impact Awards: Business of the Year (Small Company)

CORPORATE COMPASSION. Brighton Jones CEO Jon Jones focuses on enriching the lives of others.

This article appears in print in the November 2018 issue. See more about the winners of the 2018 Community Impact Awards here. Click here for a free subscription.

GOLD AWARD: Brighton Jones
Employees: 150
Jon Jones, cofounder/CEO
brightonjones.com

A registered investment adviser based in Seattle, Brighton Jones provides wealth management for individuals and families, as well as retirement-plan services for organizations. The company has two initiatives that promote opportunities for giving back and volunteering: 1% for Compassion and Compassion in Action.

Through 1% for Compassion, 1 percent of the companys annual revenues are allocated for philanthropy, social impact and community investment. Compassion in Action supports employees in their efforts to make a difference by offering unlimited time off for volunteering and matching dollars for volunteer time ($25/hour up to 40 hours per year). The company also has a generous employee-match program of $1,000 per year, and each employee is a member of a Compassion Pod a small group that is given $500 to donate to an organization of their choice.

Our mission statement is to help our clients live a richer life, says CEO Jon Jones. And living a richer life, in our mind, is much more about well-being or happiness than it is [about] financial well-being. … People who have a higher emotional intelligence tend to be happier people.

To further its initiatives, Brighton Jones has a full-time director of compassion and a full-time philanthropic adviser. The company estimates its employees volunteered 4,600 hours at more than 75 different organizations in 2017. Projects included a day of work at Elk Run Farm and monthly volunteering at New Horizons youth homeless shelter and FareStart.