Set to celebrate its 33^rd running in Rochester, the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge has become a rite of spring, one of the most coveted afterwork events on the city’s business calendar.

And this year – for the first time – the 3.5-mile team road race will benefit a not-for-profit organization that will benefit thousands of Rochester schoolchildren.

Event owner and operator JPMorganChase has announced that the May 22 Corporate Challenge in Downtown Rochester will benefit Education Success Foundation, which serves 2,400 students from every Rochester school, neighborhood, and zip code, helping them break through barriers, chart paths to futures of their choice, and become the graduates, professionals, and leaders of tomorrow.

JPMorganChase will donate in celebration of every Corporate Challenge participant to Education Success Foundation, with the donation ultimately expanding year-round, whole-child academic services (afterschool, summer learning, and college & career readiness), wraparound and family-based Navigation, and workforce development activities.

“JPMorganChase is honored to support the Education Success Foundation as the beneficiary of the 2025 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge,” said Casey Fitzgerald, Executive Director and Western New York Market Executive, Commercial Banking, for Corporate Challenge event owner and operator JPMorganChase. “For over 25 years, the Education Success Foundation has been transforming lives by providing life-changing experiences to over 2,400 children and their families in our community. We are thrilled about this partnership and eager to support the future leaders of the Rochester community.”

This will mark the seventh year the Corporate Challenge will be held in Downtown Rochester, after lengthy stints at Highland Park (1991-2003) and Rochester Institute of Technology (2004-16). A total of 4,085 entrants from 197 companies took part in 2024, and the 7:15 p.m. race start on May 22 outside of Innovative Field should exceed that number.

“Education Success Foundation is honored to be selected as the beneficiary of the 2025 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge,” said Joseph Martino, the not-for-profit organization’s President & CEO. “This support, matched by the Sands Family Foundation, will directly power our work forging paths to academic success with children and their families.”

The cradle-to-career pathway of Education Success Foundation meets students where they are and provides personalized support to propel them to where they are going. From kindergarten through graduation, the not-for-profit layers whole-child, whole-family academic, wraparound, college and career readiness, and workforce development opportunities, to accelerate achievement and enhance economic mobility.

“As the 2025 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge beneficiary, Education Success Foundation is excited to invite our community’s companies, business leaders, and employees to join us in running for Rochester students’ success,” noted Rebecca Ferri, Chief Development & Communications Officer, Education Success Foundation. “Together, we are not just advancing educational outcomes; we are igniting transformational change for generations to come.”

Making the participation of Corporate Challenge even more meaningful, as part of Education Success Foundation’s Generation A+ Campaign, the JPMorgan Chase donation will be matched at 150% by the Sands Family Foundation. 

Rochester is one of 16 locations in the 2024 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge Series, an all-inclusive event, with multinational companies registering employees at races around the world, to local manufacturing and entrepreneurial outfits registering with pride in one market. Participants have the option to have their time logged on the Series Leaderboard by in the male, female and non-binary categories, in addition to athletes with disabilities.

Registration for the Rochester event is open now, with an entry fee of $43 per individual and companies having the ability to register teams as small as four employees to their entire workforce. The largest teams in 2024 were L3Harris (224 participants), Paychex (188), CooperVision (150), University of Rochester (88), St. John Fisher University (84), and the City of Rochester (78). The fastest were IDEX Health & Science (male team), L3Harris (female team), and University of Rochester (mixed team).