Wintrust Commercial Real Estate (WCRE) announced today it has entered a three-year partnership sponsoring the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation (HEEF), an organization committed to funding breakthrough gastrointestinal (GI) research, as well as promoting the career paths of aspiring real estate students at the high school and college levels by providing applicable, real-world opportunities in education, including scholarships, mentorships, and much more.

For the next three years, WCRE will be the Presenting Sponsor of HEEF’s Level program, which, in partnership with experiential learning organization Embarc, provides educational and mentorship opportunities in the commercial real estate industry to students from historically underrepresented communities. WCRE will support the Level program’s four annual events as well as host the popular Eisenopoly event, which draws over 600 young professionals to a unique fundraiser at Wintrust’s Grand Banking Hall in February.

“We are excited to partner with Wintrust Commercial Real Estate to elevate our Level program by adding valuable industry expertise that will benefit our students for years to come,” said Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation Executive Director Kristen Young. “Together, we will open doors to hundreds of students in the Chicagoland area, exposing them to the variety of careers possible within commercial real estate.”

“We are honored to support the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation and its mission of advancing cancer research and the careers of young real estate professionals,” said Wintrust Commercial Real Estate President and Market Head Bart Johnson. “We are proud to play a role in helping them provide real-world education and training to students so that all will have an equal opportunity to succeed.”

HEEF was created in memory of Chicago commercial real estate leader Harold Eisenberg in 1999 and, in addition to the educational opportunities provided to thousands of students, has funded more than $4 million for GI cancer research during that time. HEEF is a partner organization to the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

About Wintrust
Wintrust is a financial holding company with more than $55 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Built on the “HAVE IT ALL” model, Wintrust offers the sophisticated technology and resources of a large bank while focusing on providing service-based community banking to each and every customer. Wintrust operates 15 community bank subsidiaries, with more than 170 banking locations in the greater Chicago and southern Wisconsin markets. Additionally, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, including business units that provide commercial and life insurance premium financing in the United States, a premium finance company operating in Canada, a company providing short-term accounts receivable financing and value-added out-sourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, a business unit engaging primarily in the origination and purchase of residential mortgages for sale into the secondary market throughout the United States, and companies providing wealth management services and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges.

For more information, contact:
Bart Johnson
President & CRE Market Head
Wintrust Bank, N.A.
312-291-2932
bjohnson@wintrust.com