Skokie's O'Connor Secures Grant for Big Shoulders Fund

The Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Foundation has awarded Big Shoulders Fund a $2,000 grant through their Worldwide Grant Program, which was endorsed by MDRT member and Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisor Fred J. O’Connor, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU® and CLTC. O’Connor, a Skokie resident, is affiliated with The McTigue Financial Group in Northbrook.

“We commend Fred for his advocacy and service for the Big Shoulder’s Fund mission of providing children living in poverty in Chicago with a high-quality education,” said Scott R. Evans, Managing Director of Northwestern Mutual’s McTigue Financial Group in Northbrook.

For decades, Northwestern Mutual’s McTigue Financial Group in Northbrook has been committed to improving quality of life by concentrating their financial and volunteer support in the areas of youth and families, medical research, education, hunger, health and wellness.

O’Connor, who is Co-Chairman of the Big Shoulder’s Chairmen’s Advisory Council, has also served on several Catholic school boards, teaches a stock market class to 8th graders at Our Lady of Grace, organizes community service days for The McTigue Financial Group Internship program and the Holy Cross alumni group, and coordinates networking opportunities to increase awareness of Big Shoulders’ mission among working professionals.

Big Shoulders Fund will use the grant to support the Chairmen’s Emergency Scholarship, which provides tuition support to families in Big Shoulders Fund schools that are encountering a crisis. This scholarship allows students to maintain stability in the safe and welcoming environment of a high quality school amidst the chaos of a tumultuous life experience. These families face the loss of housing or employment, are the victims of crime or abuse or have emergency medical situations. Rather than displace children from their schools during these periods of struggle, the Chairmen’s Emergency Scholarship offers students a stable, supportive school setting to help them cope.

About Big Shoulders Fund
The Big Shoulders Fund is a not-for-profit organization that was founded by a group of business and civic leaders in 1986 to sustain the inner-city Chicago Catholic school system. The mission of the Big Shoulders Fund is to provide support to the Catholic schools that serve the poor and disadvantaged in the most challenged areas of inner-city Chicago. As the largest private school system in the United States, city leaders and educators acknowledge that the Archdiocese of Chicago’s school system is a central component of the city’s educational network. Even though more than half of our students come from families who operate at or below the poverty level, they test well above national norms. Big Shoulders invests its resources in four strategic areas to help generate thoughtful and hard-working graduates: scholarships, academic programming, operational improvements, and leadership development. For more information, visit bigshouldersfund.org.

About the MDRT Foundation
The MDRT Foundation was created in 1959 to provide MDRT members with a means to give back to their communities. Since its inception, the Foundation has donated more than $29 million in more than 70 countries throughout the world and in all 50 U.S. states. These funds were raised by MDRT members and industry partners. For more information, visit mdrtfoundation.org.

About MDRTMDRT is an international, independent association of nearly 42,000 of the world’s best life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 80 countries and territories. MDRT members demonstrate exceptional product knowledge, strict ethical conduct and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognized internationally as the standard of sales excellence in the life insurance and financial services business. For more information, visit mdrt.org.

About The McTigue Financial Group

A network office of Northwestern Mutual, The McTigue Financial Group is a financial planning firm providing expert guidance to help clients manage financial risk and achieve financial security. The Northbrook District office is located at 650 Dundee in Northbrook. For more information, visit evansgroup.nmfn.com.

About Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual has been helping families and businesses achieve financial security for nearly 160 years. Our financial representatives build relationships with clients through a distinctive planning approach that integrates risk management with wealth accumulation, preservation and distribution. With more than $217 billion in assets, $26 billion in revenues and more than $1.5 trillion worth of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual delivers financial security to more than 4.2 million people who rely on us for insurance and investment solutions, including life, disability and long-term care insurance; annuities; trust services; mutual funds; and investment advisory products and services.