Naveen Jain: a Steward of the Community
What makes an accomplished man is not only his track record in business and keen ability to produce profits, but also a strong sense of community stewardship. Naveen Jain, founder and CEO of Intelius, an online information company, is one such man.
Since Intelius was founded in 2003, Naveen Jain has cultivated a kind of entrepreneurship that is tied closely to community stewardship. He promotes the spirit of philanthropy not only by making personal donations to various causes, but also engaging the entire company to do philanthropic work. He sees the need for and the value of volunteering energy, time, and resources in helping organizations accomplish their goals. Through Naveen Jain’s direction, the company developed programs that encourage and support philanthropy among its employees through its Employee Volunteer Program and Employee Giving Program. Through these programs, employees who volunteer to charitable organizations are given 12 hours of paid time off each year and matches employee cash contributions to eligible organizations.
Naveen Jain has personally donated around $480,000 to several charitable organizations advocating causes on youth and family issues, education, and healthcare. In 2008, his company set a new in-house record in corporate giving, having contributed almost $210,000 in cash to more than a dozen local and national nonprofit organizations. In recognition of their philanthropic efforts, Puget Sound Business Journal has listed Naveen Jain and his company among its “top 15 Corporate Philanthropists.”
Not forgetting his roots, Naveen Jain has also contributed especially generously to causes related to his East Asian heritage. The entrepreneur and his company donated $250,000 to the recently reconstructed Vedic Cultural Center in Sammamish, making them the largest donors, according to Naresh Bhatt, the Center’s executive director.
Naveen Jain’s charitable work has not gone unnoticed. Overlake Service League, a Bellevue-based not-for-profit organization, picked the Jains to be “honorary chairs” of its annual March luncheon. In the words of Overlake’s fundraising director, Naveen Jain has been there “in every conceivable way” and has “done not only that, but encouraged employees to do the same.”
