West Monroe Partners has increased its J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge participation from 123 team members in 2017 to 164 this year.
When Kate Kiyosaki was growing up in the Chicagoland area, one of her Memorial Day traditions would be to attend the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge with family and friends.
Now, a Manager in the Healthcare and Life Sciences practice at West Monroe Partners, she’s taken that experience into a role as the firm’s Corporate Challenge team captain.
“At West Monroe, we have a long-running internal program called the Chiefs Program where any employee can become a ‘Chief’ of something he or she is enthusiastic about,” Kiyosaki said. “As our Chief Running and Fitness Officer, I am extremely passionate about the Corporate Challenge. When I started at the company in 2013, I re-introduced West Monroe’s involvement and grew the event from under 10 people to the size it is today.”
Kiyosaki’s efforts have been phenomenal. West Monroe, a national business and technology consulting firm with approximately 950 employees, has entered 164 runners and walkers for this year’s J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, scheduled for Thursday, May 24 with a 7 p.m. race start at Grant Park. This is also up from 123 registered in 2017.
West Monroe’s growth is consistent with Chicago as a whole. This year’s event will have more than 27,000 total entrants from over 700 companies. That is the largest single-night Corporate Challenge in the United States. Captains like Kiyosaki deserve the credit for such success.
“West Monroe continues to participate in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge because this a fun and active event for our team to come together and socialize,” Kiyosaki explained. “As a consulting firm, our employees are on the road Monday through Thursday, so this is a great opportunity for everyone to build camaraderie in a heart healthy way. We have all levels and all ages of employees join us to walk, run, or hang out in the tent while the team is working out! We then celebrate together with a BBQ buffet, music and drinks.”
The Corporate Challenge celebrates inclusion with the event, encouraging walkers to join in with the five-minute milers. Men and women of all ages and job level participate, and this is true also at West Monroe.
“Our senior executives usually are outrun by the younger consultants, but they’re good sports and enjoy the friendly banter,” Kiyosaki said. “We also have four runners participating this year as a men’s team who are marathoners. Keep your eye out for them, because we’re hoping that they take home a win!”
Kiyosaki noted West Monroe’s leadership and Chief’s program generously supports event participation, sponsoring team t-shirts, the entry fee, and a post-race hospitality spread in Grant Park. The return on investment is apparent.
“The intangible benefit is exercise!” Kiyosaki said. “The Chief Running & Fitness program aims to promote a healthy workplace, and sometimes that’s hard to do as a consulting firm who has teams constantly on the road. When everyone gets together for this race, we all spend quality time together, complete a workout, and enjoy the outdoors. It supports our corporate goal of work/life balance.”
For all companies registered for the May 24 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge at Grant Park, please visit our Event Details page to become familiarized with race packet pick-up, the starting corrals and race course, hospitality area, post-race scoring and more.
