John Watts Shares Why Paradigm Continues to Support the Kids’ Chance Mission
John Watts Shares Why Paradigm Continues to Support the Kids’ Chance Mission
Paradigm is one of Kids’ Chance of America’s first national partners. Since teaming up with Kids’ Chance, Paradigm has donated more than $1.2M to the organization—and, in the process, has developed a long-standing relationship that transcends an ordinary sponsorship.
Paradigm CEO John Watts, Jr. eagerly threw his support to the Kids’ Chance mission when taking the reins at Paradigm a few years ago. “When I joined Paradigm, Jim Hudak (former Paradigm CEO) moved into the executive chairman role. His passion and dedication to Kids’ Chance was long-lasting. He evangelized me pretty quickly; thankfully and rightfully so,” said John.
As part of Jim’s legacy, he created the Kids’ Chance of America Endowment Fund to further help children impacted by a workplace-related catastrophic injury or death. In addition to Jim, another Paradigm notable is Kevin Turner, Paradigm’s Chief Clinical Solutions Officer and Kids’ Chance Board of Director and former President from 2018 to 2020.
“Paradigm is a special partnership,” said Kids’ Chance of America Executive Director Vicki Burkhart. “Their ongoing generosity and commitment to our kids are truly exemplary.”
Paradigm solves catastrophic and complex health care challenges to improve the lives of injured workers and their families. This mission aligns perfectly with Kids’ Chance’s mission to provide scholarships to children of workers who have been seriously or fatally injured on the job. John credits this alignment of missions with making the partnership so strong.
“The players in the workers’ compensation landscape are uniquely focused on helping injured workers,” he explained. “We get out of bed every day to help people that have been injured and often have no idea how they might be able to regain any kind of normal life. We’re heavily mission focused, and Kids’ Chance is all about helping the kids of the same injured workers we serve, day in and day out.”
Many companies have corporate giving programs, but at Paradigm things are a little different. “Kids’ Chance and Paradigm have become ‘married,’ basically, in a way that’s much different than any other organization I’ve worked at,” noted John.
He continued, “I’m proud that Paradigm’s mission authentically aligns so strongly with the mission of Kids’ Chance. We promote Kids’ Chance internally on a regular basis because it’s important to continue to drive awareness for this wonderful cause."
Further, each time Paradigm experiences a merger or acquisition, they quickly introduce the new company to Kids’ Chance, which is a standard part of the integration process. “It’s on the strategic list to educate our new employees about the mission of Kids’ Chance and our involvement,” said John.
It isn’t just the C-suite at Paradigm that’s dedicated to supporting Kids’ Chance. The employees have formed an official internal community: The Paradigm Kids’ Chance Community. The team is made up of 19 employees across different areas within the organization. They are in leadership roles with Kids’ Chance on the state and national levels, including serving as ambassadors and board members.
“We really live and breathe the support,” said Ronda Clement, Vice President of Marketing and a member of the community who is active both in the national organization and with Kids’ Chance of Florida. “It resonates deep into the organization, as well as across the country. We have representation in 13 state chapters and are always looking for more people to get involved. We have a lot of support and passion.”
Due to the nature of their work, Paradigm employees are in a good position to make referrals to Kids’ Chance. The national Planning for the Future initiative allows them to put prospective families in touch with Kids’ Chance long before it’s time for college. “I encourage everyone in the industry to help identify potential scholarship applicants,” said John. “When an injured worker is considering their children’s future, learning about Kids’ Chance can bring a great deal of hope.”
The Kids’ Chance partnership brings meaning to Paradigm employees. “Our experience with Kids’ Chance is a more direct way to connect the work most of us do in workers’ comp,” said John. “At Paradigm, we've highlighted the opportunity to encourage our people to get involved in various ways. It really is a value creator for our business.”
For Paradigm, it’s part of the fabric of the company. “Kids’ Chance fits so nicely into the commitment we already have to impact people’s lives,” said John. “It’s part of our internal mission.”
John is one of the standout leaders in our community, but we are fortunate to have so many volunteers and supporters across the country committed to our goal of #MoreMoneyforMoreKids.
With 48 state organizations, we’re always looking for more. Reach out to Kids’ Chance of America if you’d like to get involved at the national level, or get in touch with the organization in your state today.
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