Intelius CEO and Founder, Naveen Jain's Commitment to Education, Continued at 2011 Adventures of the Mind Summit at the University of Montana

MISSOULA, Mont., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Technology pioneer, philanthropist and visionary Naveen Jain, CEO of Intelius, continued his commitment to education by selecting five high school student winners of the Intelius Essay Contest. The winners were surprised last Friday night when Naveen Jain awarded them $1,000 scholarships at the Adventures of the Mind Mentoring Summit.  Student essay winners won in the categories of Science, Education, Space, and Social Media. Jain stated: "After reviewing so many forward-thinking essays, these exemplary students stood out.  They represent the core ideals of Intelius, that, through education and technology, we can solve many of the global problems we face today."

The winners were:

Brianna Burgess: Social Media
Shepherd HS
Shepherd, MT

Angela Chen: Education
The Hotchkiss School
Vestal, NY

Stephanie KIm: Science
South HS
Bakersfield, CA

Joseph Min: Science
Lakeside School
Seattle, WA

Lucas Potter: Space
James Madison HS
Vienna, VA

The five selected students joined 175 others from 43 states who were paired with 75 famous leaders whom included artists, athletes, inventors, Nobel Laureates, novelists, scientists and thought leaders.  Some of the mentors included Naveen Jain (CEO of Intelius), Peter Norvig (Director of Research at Google), Bonnie Dunbar (an astronaut who logged 50 days in space), Roz Chast (the renowned New Yorker cartoonist), UM President Royce C. Engstrom, former NCAA Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker and hosts Phyllis and Dennis Washington.  The theme of the thought-provoking Adventures of the Mind Summit was aptly named "Under The Big Sky" which is appropriate for big-time thinkers and tomorrow's achievers all getting together to share ideas at the UM Campus in the great state of Montana.

Event host Phyllis J. Washington remarked:  "This event allowed some amazing students to interact with some very bright and accomplished people. This was an opportunity to open their minds and set goals for their paths in life. We were excited to help bring such a fantastic event to Montana."

The Adventures of the Mind Summit searches beyond traditional achievement benchmarks such as grades and test scores, recruits runners-up in national competitions such as the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program and the Intel Science Talent Search, and selects attendees based on nominations from educators who know students with exceptional potential, despite having obstacles such as learning disabilities and socioeconomic status.

In 2009, notable attendees to the fourth biennial Adventures of the Mind Summit at Princeton University included environmental artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, dance legend Jacques d'Amboise, artist Dale Chihuly, novelist Amy Tan, activist and singer Naomi Judd, and the largest collection of Nobel Laureates outside of Stockholm, Sweden.

The 5th Biennial Adventures of the Mind conference (which began in 2003), was generously supported and hosted by Dennis and Phyllis J. Washington in Missoula at The UM Campus in the Phyllis J. Washington Education Center, June 23rd – 26th.

A full list of Mentors, Summit Schedule, and complete program information, complete agenda, and additional details are available online at:

http://issuu.com/umontana/docs/adventures

http://www.adventuresofthemind.org

About Naveen Jain:

Born in India in 1959 and educated in India, Naveen has been honored repeatedly for his entrepreneurial successes and leadership skills.  He is not only Founder of Intelius but Founder and Chairman of Moon Express, a privately funded lunar transportation and data services company.

Jain is Co-Chairman of Education and Global Development at the X Prize Foundation where he is focused on finding entrepreneurial solution to address the global challenges in education, poverty, agriculture, health and clean water.  He is also on the Board of Trustees for Singularity University, an interdisciplinary university whose mission is to educate and inspire leaders to address humanity's grand challenges through innovative technologies . In addition he is  Director on the Boards of Coastal Aviation Software and Flow Mobile, a company dedicated to bringing innovative, mobile, broadband service to underserved and underserved rural towns across the United States. Naveen contributes to the Huffington Post, Forbes Women, the Economist and BNET, where he discusses a myriad of subjects from entrepreneurship to education

Awards and honors for his entrepreneurial successes and leadership skills include "Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year", "Albert Einstein Technology Medal" for pioneers in technology, "Top 20 Entrepreneurs" by Red Herring, "Six People Who Will Change the Internet" by Information Week and the prestigious Light of India Business Leadership Award from the Times Group.  His success with Intelius has earned such accolades as "Best New Company" by the American Business Awards, Puget Sound Business Journal's "One of Washington's Top Three Best Workplaces", "Rising Star" in Deloitte & Touche's Technology Fast 500 Program, "America's Top 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies" by Inc. Magazine and has been listed amongst the top 15 Corporate Philanthropists in the community.

Naveen and his family are actively engaged in many philanthropic activities and have generously contributed to an assortment of organizations dedicated to innovation, entrepreneurship, and education through their www.NaveenandAnuJainFamilyFoundation.org . Many organizations have benefited from their charitable activities including; The X-Prize Foundation, The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, The Intrepid Museum, United Way, Children's Hospital, HopeLink, Overlake Service League, Tree House, Boys and Girls Club, America India Foundation, Vedic Cultural Center, Seattle Art Museum, Performing Arts Center, Children Rights & You and the University of Washington.

He earned his engineering undergraduate degree from Indian Institute of technology (IIT) and went on to earn his MBA from Xavier Institute of Management. He lives in Medina, Washington (a suburb of Seattle) with his wife and three children.

About Intelius:

Intelius is a leading information commerce company providing businesses and consumers with information to empower the decision-making process for peace of mind and security. To date, Intelius has gained more than 12 million unique customers who use Intelius' information to reconnect and protect their loved ones, businesses and assets. Intelius has 30 million unique users visiting its sites each month. Intelius' services include background checks, people search services, comprehensive employment screening services and an award-winning identity theft prevention product, IDProtect™.  Intelius is one of the top 100 most trafficked sites on the Internet, according to comScore/Media Metrix. For more about Intelius' business, news and policies, visit http://www.intelius.com/corp

About Adventures Of The Mind:

Adventures of the Mind builds upon the "Big Sky" tradition of individual achievement when it welcomed a new Corps of Discovery: 175 of the nation's top students and 75 adult doers and dreamers. These accomplished mentors: artists, astronauts, athletes, cancer warriors, climate change experts, dinosaur wranglers, entrepreneurs, inventors, Nobel laureates, playwrights, poets, poker players, programmers, public servants, Pulitzer prize winners, scholars, and writers shared their life stories with the Junior Achievers inducted into the Adventures class of 2011. They learned first-hand that excellence is not only possible, the path to it lies right in front of them. Victoria Gray, Adventures of the Mind Founder, can be reached at 202-437-3155, or at [email protected]. More information can be found at:  http://www.adventuresofthemind.org

Contact:
Michele "Mikey" Kelly
Kelly-Fogelman Group
415-388-8009 o  415-328-3969 m
[email protected]

SOURCE Intelius