Northwestern Mutual, through its Foundation, is dedicating its support to causes that are meaningful to the company’s employees with grants totaling $225,000. Twenty-five local nonprofits will receive $1,000 to $10,000 on behalf of Northwestern Mutual employees through the company’s Days of Sharing program, now in its 10th year.

Milwaukee residents Lynnette Harris, Janet Wright, Sean Flanagan, Laura Simmons-Larsen, Sunil Pradhan, Tiffany Dillon, Oscar Castaneda, Kyle Bigelow, Jeremy Mick and Monica Murphy were chosen to receive grant funds in their names for Cynthia’s Breast Cancer Giving Circle, Secure Futures, Downtown Montessori Academy, Second Hand Purrs, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee, Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin, Latino Veterans Legacy of Valor Foundation, Lad Lake, AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin and Feeding America.

“We continually strive to cultivate a culture focused on giving back, and our employees are a key part of this,” said Eric Christophersen, president, Northwestern Mutual Foundation. “Our Days of Sharing program provides an opportunity to celebrate the season of giving while honoring the volunteer service and community support given by dedicated employees.”

Beginning in October, employees nominated their nonprofits of choice. From that group, 25 organizations were chosen at random. Northwestern Mutual also encouraged employees to vote for pre-selected nonprofits to receive grants totaling $125,000. This year, the top five chosen from this list are Alzheimer’s Association of Wisconsin, Girls Who Code, Fisher House Wisconsin, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Milwaukee and Latino Veterans Legacy of Valor Foundation.

This year’s program invited the company’s New York and Arizona offices to nominate nonprofits in their communities alongside the Milwaukee-area campuses. Since 2007, the company has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants on behalf of its employees through Days of Sharing.