Senior Managing Director, Community Relations and Urban Marketing
V.P. Aetna Foundation
Aetna Inc.
Christopher A. Montross, Senior Managing Director, head of corporate community investment & employee programs, Community Relations and Urban Marketing at Aetna.
Mr. Montross manages numerous philanthropic programs and financial, operational and technological aspects of Aetna’s Community Relations & Urban Marketing organization.
- He is responsible for Aetna’s regional community investment programs active in locations across the country. Through this $5 million program Aetna is helping create healthier communities through a wide range of community partners and programs
- Chris manages Aetna Connecticut/Headquarters community oriented programs. Creating partnerships with an incredible variety of non-profit partners, Chris works to maximize the societal impact these programs through a commitment to create as many connections as possible between Aetna and its partners.
- He oversees Aetna Employee program including giving/matching (Approximately $17 million in community contributions, employee and company, through this program in 2016) and volunteering programs highlighted by Aetna Employees Reaching Out (AERO); comprised of 70 volunteer councils across the country. Under his leadership, the AERO employee volunteer program was honored in 2005 with the Award for Excellence in Workplace Volunteer Programs conferred by the Points of Light Foundation. Aetna employees have logged approximately 400,000 hours per year for the past 12 years totaling over 5 million hours.
ACCP Meets Christopher Montross
I was new to the field in 2000 and heard about the organization, which was really just starting up at the time. I went to a Forum in San Antonio and liked the approach the organization was taking and have been involved ever since.
I was a CPA, Internal Audit and Financial Reporting prior to joining the CSR field; it was the relationships I established working as a volunteer in the community that helped me get my first job in the Aetna Foundation (initially the budget and operations). It’s since morphed into so much more.
The real business impacts for companies; its market value, sales and HR. Too many think that this is soooo soft and without real ROI.
I’m rereading On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
