The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has been a supporter of Kids’ Chance for a long time. In fact, it was NCCI who created the iconic Kids’ Chance logo many years ago.

NCCI continues to support Kids’ Chance at both the state and national levels. The company’s Chief Customer Operations Officer, Mark Mileusnic, first got involved with Kids' Chance through the golf tournament that NCCI hosts as part of their larger Annual Issues Symposium. The AIS event is a huge draw for workers' compensation professionals and Kids’ Chance is a regular attendee as part of their outreach to the industry.

“We recognized the potential synergy and the benefit of giving Kids’ Chance more visibility at the event,” said Mark. “We turned our annual golf tournament into a charitable giving opportunity for Kids’ Chance and it was through this event that I began engaging with Vicki and the national organization in a more direct way.”

Serving Across Kids’ Chance Organizations

Vicki Burkhart is the Executive Director for Kids’ Chance of America. “Mark has helped us to maintain strong relationships with NCCI as well as strong relationships with the insurance community,” she said. “NCCI brings leadership within the Kids’ Chance community that predates my involvement and has been a unique opportunity for this organization’s growth.”

NCCI has had a presence within the Kids’ Chance community since 2004.

Today, NCCI is a Kids’ Chance of America national partner. Mark sits on the Kids’ Chance of America advisory board and Megan Grant, Associate Managing Attorney at NCCI, sits on the Kids’ Chance of America board. Kelly Cavaleri, Community & Charitable Relations Manager, has been instrumental in stewarding the relationship, as has the larger communications team.

At the state level, Bill Donnell, NCCI’s CEO, was a founding board member of Kids’ Chance of Florida, and today, Kimberly Helwig, Strategic Planning Manager at NCCI, is also a member of the Kids’ Chance of Florida Board. Suzanne Peterson, Sr. Research Analyst with NCCI, has been a member of the Kids’ Chance of Arkansas Board for 8 years.

“We have a great team of people with a high level of interest in Kids’ Chance,” said Mark. “Everybody enjoys contributing from their own area of expertise. But support can start with just one or two folks that recognize the benefit of supporting Kids’ Chance.”

NCCI also makes a donation to the Kids’ Chance organization in each of the 36 states in which they have a presence. Historically, they have done so in conjunction with their State Advisory Forums.

Bringing Kids’ Chance Into the Company Culture

NCCI’s support goes beyond direct participation within a Kids’ Chance organization; they also engage their employees around the Kids’ Chance mission.

For example, this past year, they put together holiday care packages for Kids’ Chance of Florida’s scholarship recipients. “It was a great opportunity for the whole company to get involved. The care packages were ‘finals’ themed so that it would get the kids through the final exams before they had their winter break,” said Mark.

Another example manifested itself through one of NCCI’s executive leadership development programs. As part of this program, executives from NCCI undertook various community service projects, and one of the teams decided to dedicate their efforts to work with Kids’ Chance. Their project aimed to make recommendations on how to increase the pipelines of eligible candidates for Kids’ Chance scholarships.

Partnership Makes a Difference

NCCI doesn’t see their support changing any time soon.

“At NCCI, we have a mission to help foster a healthy workers’ compensation system and when we look at Kids’ Chance, we see the charity that’s probably the most aligned with the workers’ compensation industry,” said Mark. “It’s a natural fit for us and frankly, for any company in our industry. Supporting the educational aspirations of the sons and daughters of injured workers can make such a difference in their lives, and in our communities.”

“We’re really proud of our involvement and we would encourage everyone to take the opportunity to grow their engagement with Kids’ Chance.”

Helping Injured Workers

For many members of the workers’ compensation industry, Kids’ Chance is a natural extension of the work they do every day.

Mark is one of the standout leaders in our community, but we are fortunate to have so many volunteers and supporters across the country committed to our goal of #MoreMoneyforMoreKids.

With 48 state organizations, we’re always looking for more. Reach out to Kids’ Chance of America if you’d like to get involved at the national level, or get in touch with the organization in your state today.

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