John Hancock - Achievement in Management - Financial Services

Company: John Hancock, Boston, MA
Company Division/Group:Porter Novelli
Company Description: John Hancock is the U.S. division of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. John Hancock provides financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. John Hancock is one of the largest life insurers in the United States.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Management - Financial Services

Nomination Title: John Hancock's Tom Crohan

Having spent close to a decade in the Corporate Citizenship space as a practitioner – along with an additional five in the nonprofit space – Tom Crohan, VP and Counsel, Corporate Responsibility and Government Relations at John Hancock, pursues his work centered in what is right. If you hear the story of his upbringing you will understand how it has shaped the way he not only sees the world, but more so our role in helping shape it for the better. The work he leads his team to do each day is not only possible, it is necessary, strategic and a shared responsibility. His ability to thoughtfully integrate empathy, integrity and purpose into John Hancock’s corporate strategy and leverage resources for a greater societal good is proven.

Most recently, Tom’s achievements at John Hancock have made him a change agent in a complex context. Tom has reshaped the way his team works and has pushed the business to better define and apply shared value. Over the past two years, Tom has led John Hancock’s work to build healthier, more equitable communities. This effort is not one that is easily understood or fought for amongst peers, as it invites the exploration of other issues like inequality and systemic gaps in access to resources. Yet Tom is consistently that voice in the room, on the phone or in an email making meaningful progress toward solving this societal issue – along the way empowering his colleagues to do the same. The work he has catalyzed around equity, access and empowerment for individuals and families across our communities, ensuring they have improved physical and financial wellness outcomes, is quickly becoming a new model for innovation.

Tom also continues to expand the impact and purpose of John Hancock’s jeweled programs both internally and externally. The company’s MLK Scholars program offers meaningful summer work experience and personal development opportunities to over 650 Boston teens at nearly 60 local nonprofit organizations. The program, founded in 2002, is the largest, most comprehensive summer jobs program of its kind in the country. Tom has made decisions that put the students first – such as offering to expand the financial literacy component beyond the group of MLK Scholars to all 10,000 youths employed across Boston.

John Hancock’s Non-Profit Program provides non-profit organizations with guaranteed entries into the Boston Marathon that are then given to individuals to fundraise for their respective non-profit. Despite the in-person race being cancelled this year, the B.A.A. Official Charity Program andJohn Hancock'sNon-Profit Program surpassed their$400 millionfundraising milestone. This past April, Tom was integral in launching John Hancock’s “You Are Essential. We Are Grateful.” campaign to show gratitude for frontline workers during the pandemic. The company partnered with the B.A.A., Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Martin J. Walsh to call on the community to light their buildings blue in support of essential workers across the Commonwealth – from the Zakim Bridge to Gillette Stadium. Tom has been instrumental in evolving John Hancock’s longstanding Marathon sponsorship to drive meaningful social impact and help make our city and region a healthier, more equitable place.

For Tom, people and partnerships are a personal matter – and they’re drivers of change. He compassionately pursues success for all people in our community. Tom enters meetings inviting candor around what may not be working well, as he is a believer in solving problems rather than simply funding programs. Tom generously makes deeper connections within John Hancock’s business and across communities of practice, and he welcomes conversations around inequities and intractable issues that the greater financial services industry has the responsibility to address. What truly distinguishes Tom is not only what he has accomplished, but how he drives progress within the company and the community.

-Virtually implemented John Hancock’s MLK Scholars program, which provides over 650 Boston teens with summer jobs, career readiness and financial literacy training each year.

-Helped coordinate John Hancock’s $1 million donation to the Boston Resiliency Fund and partnership with local nonprofit Off Their Plate to donate more than 8,500 healthy meals to frontline workers at Boston-based hospitals fighting the pandemic.

-Discussed the importance of private-public partnership with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh during the 2019 U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Conference.

-Hired the company’s first U.S. Director of Sustainability to lead the organization’s efforts toward key social and environmental issues including the company’s global approach to climate change.

-Shared insights as a speaker at Sustainable Brands Integrate 2020, the annual BARI conference and the 2019 Boston CollegeCenter forCorporate Citizenship Conference.

-Supported John Hancock as a signatory for a white paper published by Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy on strengthening federal nutrition research and coordination.

-As President of Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund, oversaw the 2020 Memorial Day flag planting on Boston Common in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions