VALUES ALIGNMENT:
HOW TOCQUEVILLE SOCIETY SUPPORTS PERSONAL PHILANTHROPIC MISSIONS
Kevin Miller and Matt Reitler.
Kevin Miller, managing partner at Northwestern Mutual, has been a Tocqueville Society member since 2002. Kevin met Matt Reitler in 2020, when Matt was a Slippery Rock University student interning with the company. Northwestern Mutual has a culture of mentorship and philanthropy, and Kevin immediately recognized Matt as a kindred soul. Matt is now a financial advisor with the firm. Both were taught by their parents to give back and are as committed to philanthropy as they are to their work. Kevin referred Matt to United Way’s Tocqueville Society in 2023 and he is now one of the Society’s youngest members. We talked with Kevin and Matt about their giving and their values. Here are highlights of that conversation.
Kevin, what were your first impressions of Matt?
Matt interned with us his senior year. It was evident right away that that he was going to do big things. He comes from a strong foundation from both his father and his mother’s legacy.
Roger &Peggy Reitler with Matt. April 2006
Matt, how did you land at Northwestern Mutual?
I connected with the company initially at a career fair and then did a lot of research around value alignment. My personal mission is to honor God and continue my mother’s legacy of kindness. My mom passed unexpectedly when I was 12. She was remarkably kind and compassionate. She worked in the financial services industry for most her life. I saw the impact she made personally and professionally through her sincere approach to relationship building. This career allows me to continue her legacy by helping others plan for the future and sow into things that are important to them.
Kevin, you have a family history with United Way, correct?
Vincent Miller and Mary Patricia Miller. 2022.
Without question, anything I have done philanthropically is rooted in how I was raised by my mother and father. Both of them were very philanthropic and involved in our parish and several charities. My connection to United Way goes back almost 50 years, when my father was the workplace campaign manager for ALCOSAN. It was impressed upon my brother and me to give back and put dollars aside on a regular basis for people who need help.
I also got my start with The Northwestern Mutual as in intern back in the 1990s. I saw Northwestern Mutual getting involved with United Way campaigns. I started contributing more as my career progressed. By the late 90s I was involved in United Way’s young leadership board. When I moved to Northwestern Mutual’s headquarters in Milwaukee, I was already a Tocqueville Society Member and was asked by United Way there to coach their Development team to ask local business owners to get involved. I returned to Pittsburgh in 2007 and have been working to grow our campaign ever since.
What made you think of inviting Matt to join the Tocqueville Society?
Every year we review a list of our new advisors to identify those we think will benefit and step up at a higher level with our United Way campaign. Matt was on the top of that list because of who he is and what he values.
Kevin, can you say more about how Tocqueville Society membership relates to your workplace goals? It’s definitely a values consideration. Our mission at Northwestern Mutual is to guide, impact and transform the communities we serve. The work that United Way does as at the forefront of this because they understand the needs of our communities. That critical vetting makes the partnership and alliance all that much more worthwhile.
Matt, how does being a Tocqueville Society member align with your personal mission?
United Way allows me to strategically express generosity and diversify my impact. I believe that life, nature, and time will destroy all material things, but my legacy will live on through the places I invest my time, talent and treasure. United Way gives me an avenue to do all of that.
What’s that like for you to be among our youngest Tocqueville Society members?
Age is such a funny thing to me. Our culture places so much emphasis on what people are allowed and not allowed to do based on age. We even subconsciously limit our own potential sometimes based off of our age. I don’t ever let anyone look down on me because I am young. Therefore, it is exciting to think that I am a part of leading the charge for my generation to think deeper about long-term legacy and maximizing our impact.
I have 24 hours in my day like everyone else. To reach more people and touch more lives, we need to team up. I am an advocate for United Way because I appreciate its mission and infrastructure. They offer convenient and unique avenues for my wife and I to express generosity and devotion to the things that are important to us.
