Press Release

Haas Team Beats Out Five Finalist Teams to Win $25,000 for Lenders for Community Development

NEW YORK, DECEMBER 14, 2006 – JPMorgan today announced the graduate winner of their Good Venture Competition. Good Venture is a socially responsible case competition for undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S. that was launched this fall. The winning team from Haas, consisting of Shaolee Sen, Julia Gilfillan, Ellie Kelly and Rob Kaplan, beat out 65 teams from 41 schools who submitted funding proposals.  As the winner of the graduate competition, the Haas chosen nonprofit, Lenders for Community Development, will receive a $25,000 donation from JPMorgan. The organization helps low income citizens of the Bay Area break the vicious cycle of generational poverty.

“Lenders for Community Development is thrilled to have been represented by such an outstanding team and is very proud to accept the JPMorgan Good Venture Award. This award means a lot to us, because it recognizes the impact of our work and will support our clients as they gain financial management skills, build assets, and create long-term financial independence.” said, Eric Weaver, Executive Director of Lenders for Community Development.

Six finalist teams met at JPMorgan’s New York headquarters on November 30th and December 1st, where they presented their cases in front of a panel of judges. The teams championed programs ranging from a community microfinance initiative in California to funding rural schoolhouses in India.  Students attended a dinner and an awards ceremony with members of the JPMorgan investment banking team. The judges included David Topper, co-head of Equity Capital Markets; Ben Thompson, MD - Leveraged Finance; Winthrop Watson, MD - Financial Institutions Group; Cary Joshi, VP of Teach for America; and Gayle Jennings O’Byrne, VP of the firm’s Community Relations Group.

At the event, Gayle Jennings O’Byrne, Vice President of the Community Relations Group at JPMorgan said, “Our future employees are looking to work with companies that are good corporate citizens, and we want them to know that JPMorgan leads that charge.” According to Thomas Davenport, one of the finalists from the University of Chicago team that pitched for Little Black Pearl, an arts center in downtown Chicago, when looking at different employers, the Good Venture competition and the commitment of JPMorgan to the communities “is a point of differentiation.” Alison Keehn who represented, Adopt-A-Minefield commented, “To see a company the size of JPMorgan to take on an issue like this and to not only pay attention to it but to give dollars to it is really moving things forward.”

JPMorgan congratulates all teams for an outstanding performance and eagerly anticipate next year’s competitions. The undergraduate leg of the competition is currently in deliberations, with over 80 teams submitting proposals it will be a tough selection. Six finalist teams will be chosen to present their cases to JPMorgan in an event similar to the graduate event on January 18th and 19th, 2007. Photos of the event are available on goodventure.org.

Finalists for the 2006-07 JPMorgan Good Venture Competition