CJS-YES is a non-profit organization that was founded to honor the memory and goals of Carson J. Spencer. Carson was an inspirational entrepreneur, business professional and friend. One of his goals was to establish a program to help young entrepreneurial students pay for college. CJS-YES was established to bring that goal to fruition.
Carson began his entrepreneurial career selling encyclopedias door-to-door while he was in college. He quickly became one of the company’s top sales people and opened his own office employing several employees, including some of his classmates.
After graduating from Bowdoin College, Carson moved to Atlanta, GA to begin his professional career in the insurance business selling employee benefits for Sun Life of Canada. Carson won many sales awards during his years at Sun Life, including Rookie of the Year and Sales Representative of the Year. He relocated to Denver, CO to open and manage a new office for the company, becoming the youngest employee to do so at that time.
Carson’s entrepreneurial spirit and ambition drove him to launch his own company. In 1999 Carson co-founded Beacon Risk Strategies, an MGU focused on underwriting and selling medical stop loss insurance to employers. Beacon grew to become a very successful enterprise and continues to thrive today.
Carson was a very unique person. He made a positive and lasting impression on everyone he met. He was smart, creative, competitive, had a great sense of humor and he had a passion to help others succeed.
Our goal, as board members of CJS-YES, is to carry on Carson’s passion and desire by helping young entrepreneurs pay for college to provide the fundamentals needed to achieve their goals and become a success in both business and in life.