2015 National Conference on Philanthropic Planning
 
     
"GREAT speakers, thank you!"

2015 Conference Faculty
 
Elizabeth Ayers
Director of Gift Planning
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Elizabeth Ayers is Director of Gift Planning at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She currently serves on the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning National Board and the Board of the North Carolina Planned Giving Council. Prior to joining UNC in 2008 she worked at The Ohio State University, where she served as Director of Planned Giving for the Medical Center and Associate Director of Planned Giving for the University. She has worked for the Columbus Foundation, served on non-profit boards and committees and was president of Central Ohio Planned Giving Council in 2007. Ayers has presented on various charitable topics at local and national conferences including AAMC, NCPG (now PPP) and Wealth Counsel. In 2014, she presented at the North Carolina Community College Fundraisers’ state conference and AFP North Carolina state conference. She has practiced law in the areas of estate planning and civil litigation. She holds a JD from Capital University, M. M. from Ohio University, and a B. M. from Wittenberg University.
 
Gregory W. Baker
Executive Vice President
Renaissance Administration

Gregory W. Baker, J.D., ChFC®, CFP®, CAP, is Executive Vice President of Renaissance Administration LLC, the nation’s leading third-party administrator of charitable gifts. For the past 25 years, he has provided trust, tax and philanthropic financial planning advice to over 4,000 attorneys and 8,000 development officers and financial planners in all 50 states regarding more than 18,000 charitable remainder trusts, more than 800 charitable lead trusts, and numerous foundations, charitable gift annuities and donor-advised funds. His advice has helped donors contribute over $6 billion to charitable gift plans. Mr. Baker is a past President and current Board Member of the Planned Giving Group of Indiana, an Advisory Board Member of the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation at the American College, member of the Financial Planning Association, Partnership for Philanthropic Planning and the Indiana Bar. Mr. Baker was previously VP, Charitable Fiduciary Risk Manager for the Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Management in Princeton, NJ. Mr. Baker speaks at national and local conferences for professional advisors, high net worth clients and charities regarding charitable gift planning, asset-allocation, investment modeling and tax issues.
 
Tim Belber
Founder & Principal
The Alchemia Group

Tim Belber followed a challenging path to his unique view of family wealth. His business degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania prepared him for a career on Wall Street, but he knew intuitively that the market wouldn’t satisfy his curiosity or make use of his natural people skills. In 1978 he began working with self-made families, offering them a different, more expansive way of thinking about wealth. This experience stimulated his desire to counsel people it also led him to earn a law degree from Seton Hall University—attending classes at night while working full-time. Tim’s holistic approach to wealth and money is built on the notion that each client possesses four kinds of capital: Human, Intellectual, Social and Financial. He is a sought-after speaker and advocate for incorporating ethics and values into long-term financial and estate plans. He has authored several articles on these topics and has been quoted in periodicals including the Wall Street Journal. He is a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, the Legacy Wealth Coach Network, and a founding member of the Copper Beech Tree Society, a think tank, and the Collaboration for Family Flourishing. Above all, he is dedicated to exploring possibilities.
 
Bruce Bigelow
Founding Partner
Charitable Development Consulting

Bruce Bigleow has been a leader in the gift planning profession for 30+ years. He was a co-founder and president of the Chesapeake Planned Giving Council. He has served as NCPG (now PPP) conference chair and chair of the NCPG Research Committee. He has supervised two national gift planning research efforts. Bigelow was chair and chief author NCPG Guidelines for Counting Gifts
 
Michael Bourland
Founding Shareholder
Bourland, Wall & Wenzel, P.C.

Michael V. Bourland is the founding shareholder of Bourland, Wall & Wenzel, P.C., a Fort Worth law firm which represents individuals, closely held and family businesses, professional practices and charitable organizations within its areas of legal practice. Mike’s practice is directed to business, tax, estate planning, probate, charitable entity and charitable giving law. He has been a guest lecturer in Estate Planning at Baylor University School of Law, Baylor University School of Business, Southern Methodist University School of Law, University of Texas School of Law, and The Center for American and International Law. He speaks regularly throughout the United States on subjects within his practice areas at seminars conducted by, among others, American Bar Association, American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, Texas Society of CPAs and Notre Dame, Duke and Tulane Universities. Mike is co-author of Keeping Your Church Out of Court, and speaks regulary to church leaders on the creation of church foundations. He also Contributes on subjects within his practice areas to publications including the New York Times, Nation’s Business, Business Week and Money magazine.

 
Alexandra Pia Brovey
Senior Director, Gift Planning
North Shore-LIJ Health System Foundation

Alexandra Pia Brovey is the Senior Director of Gift Planning at the North Shore-LIJ Health System Foundation in Great Neck, New York. After practicing law as an estate planning attorney for 6 years, Alex has focused on gift planning for the past 16 years at three institutions (The Pennsylvania State University, Pace University and Stony Brook University) before joining North Shore-LIJ in 2008. Alex is currently Treasurer of PPP and is a member of the Leadership Institute. She is a President Emeritus of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York, as well as a member of the Charitable Estate Planning Council and the Estate Planning Council of Nassau County (NY). Alex was formerly a member of the Pittsburgh (PA) Planned Giving Council, and a founding member and Vice President of the Central Pennsylvania Planned Giving Council. She has spoken at the national, regional and local levels for a variety of non-profit organizations and councils during the past two decades. Alex earned a B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University, Phi Beta Kappa, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and an LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami.
 
Ron Brown
Senior Philanthropic Advisor for Gift Planning
Columbia University

Ron Brown has served as Director of Gift Planning at Princeton University, the National Wildlife Federation, United Way of America and Fordham University. He is currently a Board member and chair of the Research Committee for the American Council on Gift Annuities, a Board member of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York, and a member of the Advisory Council for bequest research with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Previously Ron served as a board member of the National Committee on Planned Giving; President of the Gift Planning Council of New Jersey; founding chair of LEAVE A LEGACY® New Jersey; and board member of the ALS Association of SE Pennsylvania. Ron is the founder and writer of Gift Planning History.org. While serving as a Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he was awarded two Navy Commendation Medals for historical research and writing. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton and completed three years of course work towards a Ph.D. in English and the history of ideas at the University of Chicago. He wrote a chapter on family philanthropy for a 2013 publication by CASE and has published numerous articles on gift planning.
 
Ashley A Buderus
Philanthropy Director, Gift Planning
Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation

Ashley Buderus serves as the Philanthropy Director for Gift Planning for Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation, one of the nation's top children's hospitals. Previously, she served as director of gift planning for the University of Denver (DU), and she has been a frontline fundraiser for more than 10 years. Her forte in raising several million dollars annually in outright and deferred gifts has been in building upon her major gift fundraising background by integrating "blended gift" solicitations with a more diverse major and deferred gift prospect pool. In addition, she shares the critical responsibility for training and mentoring development staff in prospect identification and development for blended gift planning techniques and strategies. She has served in a variety of fundraising roles, including as a central major gift officer and a unit-based development director. Previously, Ashley had the unique opportunity to serve on one of Colorado's leading foundations, the El Pomar Foundation, as the Fellowship Alumni Trustee, after being invited through a highly competitive process to serve as an El Pomar Fellow. In that role she participated in a variety of outreach training programs for local charities, analyzed grant proposals and directed nonprofit leadership training sessions across the state. She also worked with the United Nations World Food Program Headquarters in Rome, Italy, where she assisted with fundraising initiatives. She is active in several local community fundraising initiatives, and is a regular conference speaker on planned giving topics for both regional and national groups, including the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable, CASE and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. Ashley graduated with honors from DU with a bachelor's degree in international business, and earned her master's degree in nonprofit management from Regis University.
 
Joseph O. Bull
Executive Director of Gift Planning
Carnegie Mellon University

Joseph O. Bull
is the Executive Director of Gift Planning at Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to this appointment, he served as Senior Vice President for Community Engagement at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, leading the Zoo’s philanthropy, strategic partnerships, marketing, communications, government relations, membership, and group sales functions. Previously, he was affiliated with the Worldwide Office of The Nature Conservancy as Interim Director of Philanthropy for Strategic Gifts and as Senior Philanthropy Officer for Global Priorities. Bull also provided 16 years of service to his alma mater, The Ohio State University. For 13 of those years, he served as the university’s Director of Planned Giving. With 30 years of experience in the philanthropic arena, he began his career as Assistant Director of Planned Giving at Duke University and as Director of Gift Planning and Assistant University Counsel at North Carolina State University. He was the 2005 Chair of the Board of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (a 10,000 member professional association, formerly named the National Committee on Planned Giving) and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council on Gift Annuities. Additionally, he was a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the national newsletter Planned Giving Today for 15 years as well as a member of the Editorial Board of the web-based Planned Giving Design Center. Bull has served as a faculty member for both the College of William and Mary’s National Planned Giving Institute and the Academy of Gift Planning. He is past President of the Central Ohio and North Carolina Planned Giving Councils and was co-chair of COPGC’s Leave a Legacy initiative, which became the model for the Partnership’s national initiative of the same name. He is admitted to the Ohio and North Carolina bars.
 
Judi Taylor Cantor
Director of Planned Giving
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Judi Taylor Cantor has specialized in gift planning for more than 15 years and has a track record of closing 6, 7, and 8-figure gifts. She is the first director of planned giving at Harvard's Chan School of Public Health, she has been the director or executive director of gift planning for the American Museum of Natural History (NYC), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA), and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
 
Bryan K. Clontz
President
Charitable Solutions, LLC

Bryan Clontz is the founder and President of Charitable Solutions, LLC, specializing in non-cash asset receipt and liquidation, gift annuity reinsurance brokerage, gift annuity risk management consulting, emergency assistance funds and life insurance appraisals/audits. He also serves as a Senior Gift Planning Consultant to the National Philanthropic Trust’s Charitable Asset Trust and a Senior Consultant to Ekstrom & Associates – a community foundation consulting firm in New Haven, CT. In the decade prior to founding Charitable Solutions, LLC in 2003, he served as the director of planned giving for the United Way of Metropolitan Atanta, national director of planned giving for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and then as vice president of advancement at The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. He received a bachelor’s of science in business administration from the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC; a master’s degree in risk management and insurance from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA; and a master’s degree in financial services from the American College in Bryn Mawr, PA. From 2000-2005, he served as a graduate adjunct professor for both personal financial planning and life insurance in the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at Georgia State University. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Planned Giving Design Center (2000-current), the Advisory Board for the American College’s Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation (2001-current), the American Council on Gift Annuities’ Rate Recommendation and Research Committee (2003-2010) and the National Committee on Planned Giving National Board for 2007-2009.
 
Jeff Comfort
Vice President, Principal Gifts & Gift Planning
Oregon State University Foundation

Jeff Comfort is vice president of principal gifts and gift planning at the Oregon State University Foundation. Previously, he served 18 years at Georgetown University, where he oversaw university-wide gift planning efforts resulting in approximately $500 million of gift commitments and receipts in his tenure. Before arriving at Georgetown in 1995, he spent 11 years in Denver directing the planned giving program for the National Jewish Medical and Research Center. Comfort is active both nationally and locally in planned giving professional associations. As a volunteer leader of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, he served as president in 2000, chair of the 10th National Conference on Planned Giving in New Orleans and was a member of the then NCPG board of directors for five years. Additionally, he was a member of the ethics committee and chaired the task force on gift valuation. On the local level, he is a past president and board member of the National Capital Gift Planning Council of Greater Washington and a founding board member of the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable. Comfort serves on the editorial board of Planned Giving Today and for the past 6 years has co-chaired a CASE annual planned giving conference.
 
Meryl Cosentino
Senior Director of Gift Planning
Stony Brook University

With more than 25 years of legal and gift planning experience, Meryl Cosentino is the Senior Director of Gift Planning at Stony Brook University. Meryl joins the SBU Advancement team after spending the past five years as the Director of Planned Giving for St. Francis Hospital. Prior to joining St. Francis, Meryl honed her philanthropic skills at The Nature Conservancy on Long Island. As a practicing attorney, Meryl specialized in representing parents of children with disabilities and it was this work (tailoring estate plans to meet the specialized needs of her clients) that sparked Meryl’s interest in pursuing a career in planned giving. Meryl received her B.A. from Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!) and her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, where she was an editor of the Brooklyn Law Review. Meryl is a member of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning and was a faculty lecturer at PPP’s 2011 National Conference. Meryl is the President Elect for PPGGNY and has also served as the Programs Chair from 2011- 2014 and as the Co-Chair of Planned Giving Day 2014 and 2015
 
Phil Cubeta
The Wallace Chair in Philanthropy
The American College

Phil Cubeta is the Sallie B. and William B. Wallace Chair in Philanthropy at the American College of Financial Services. In that role, he develops curricula for the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP® ) designation. Prior to joining the American College, Phil was Chief of Staff for The Nautilus Group, a service of New York Life, located in Dallas, Texas, providing estate, business, and philanthropic strategies to affluent clients through 200 of the company’s top agents. Phil’s original training was in English Literature, Williams College, BA; Philosophy and Psychology, Oxford University, MA; and English Language and Literature, Yale, MA, M.Phil. Phil’s essays on philanthropy have appeared in Tracy Gary’s Inspired Legacies (Wiley and Sons: 2008); H. Peter Karoff, The World We Want (Altimira Press: 2007); Amy Kass, Doing Well Doing Good: Readings for Thoughtful Philanthropists (Indiana University Press: 2008), and in Nonprofit Quarterly, Summer, 2013. Phil serves on the Board of Interfaith Worker Justice and on the Planned Giving Advisory Board of The Carter Center. He is a Past-President of the Dallas Council of Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. In 2012 he was awarded The Power of the Purse (Advisor) for Dallas Women’s Foundation. In 2012 he shared the Advisors in Philanthropy Fithian Leadership Award with Charles Collier, Senior Philanthropic Consultant at Harvard.

 
Pamela J. Davidson
Consultant & Charitable Gift Planner
Davidson Gift Design

Pamela Jones Davidson, J.D., has been a nationally recognized speaker in charitable gift planning for over 29 years. She is President of Davidson Gift Design, in Bloomington, Indiana, a consulting firm specializing in gift planning, planned giving program design and implementation, and motivational training. She is also a Senior Vice President for Thompson & Associates, offering estate planning services to nonprofits. From 1985 through 1996, she was with Indiana University Foundation, leaving as its Executive Director of Planned Giving and Associate Counsel. Pam received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University in 1975, and graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis in 1979. She has been an examiner in the Estate and Gift Tax Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and practiced law with an Indianapolis law firm before joining the nonprofit sector in 1985. Ms. Davidson was the 1999 President (now, Chair) of the National Committee on Planned Giving (now, Partnership for Philanthropic Planning) after serving on its board in various capacities for six years, including past member and chair of its Ethics Committee. She is privileged to have been a past PPP national conference speaker. Pam is a past board member and treasurer of the Indiana Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives (now, Association of Fundraising Professionals, “AFP”), and a past board member and president of the Planned Giving Group of Indiana. She serves on many local boards in her community.
 
Claudine A. Donikian
President and CEO
Pentera, Inc.

Claudine A. Donikian, JD, MBA, is the president, CEO, and chief marketing officer of Pentera, Inc., and is regarded as one of the foremost experts in planned giving marketing. She is a frequent speaker on the national planned giving and AFP circuits, and writes and conducts training modules for Pentera training seminars. As Pentera's chief marketing officer, she is the editor-in-chief for Pentera's corporate marketing content as well as client marketing content, and personally consults with a select group of Pentera's clients on their marketing strategy and execution. Claudine's professional area of interest is women in philanthropy, and she serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the prestigious Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Claudine oversees all aspects of Pentera's business and marketing strategies, as well as new-product development, with an emphasis on digital marketing. She recently served on the Direct Marketing Association's Digital Innovation Committee. Under her leadership, the interactive department and client base has increased by 500 percent. Claudine graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with highest distinction from Indiana University, received an MA in French from New York University, and holds a JD and an MBA from Boston College. She serves on the board of directors of the Planned Philanthropy Group of Greater New York in Manhattan (PPGGNY), the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund (a child abuse prevention agency), and the Brookview House (which provides housing for homeless women and children). She is an active member of PPP, PGGNE, and PPGGNY.
 
Robert Egger
Founder & President
L.A. Kitchen

Robert Egger describes himself as a social entrepreneur, determined to promote the power of consumers to use market forces to drive social change. In 1989, he opened DC Central Kitchen to transform leftover, unwanted foods into nutritious and healthy meals ready for distribution. Today, it employs 144 people—many formerly incarcerated or recovering from addiction—and prepares 10,000 meals per day. In 2012, $1.2 million in food waste was prevented by turning leftovers into 2 million balanced meals. As part of its work against food waste and hunger, the Kitchen supports local farmers, investing more than $150,000 a year so that distributed meals are made from nutritious ingredients. During his time in Washington, Robert also served as interim head of the United Way of the National Capital for eight months in 2002, helping the organization rebound after the previous CEO was charged with financial mismanagement.

Robert’s 2004 book on the non-profit sector, Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient and Rewarding For All, received the 2005 McAdam Book Award for “Best Nonprofit Management Book” by the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. Robert was included in the Non Profit Times list of the “50 Most Powerful and Influential” nonprofit leaders from 2006-2009. He was the recipient of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s 2007 “Lifetime Achievement” award and the 2004 James Beard Foundation “Humanitarian of the Year” award. He has been named an Oprah Angel, a Washingtonian of the Year, a Point of Light and one of the Ten Most Caring People in America, by the Caring Institute. He is also a 15-gallon blood donor to the American Red Cross.

Now Robert is doing it all over again—just differently and even better—in Los Angeles, where he aims to “reclaim healthy, local food that would otherwise go to waste, and use it to empower, nourish, and engage the community.” With services similar to those of DC Central Kitchen, L.A. Kitchen will focus on four programs: Empower L.A., Nourish L.A., Engage L.A. and Strong Food. L.A. Robert says, “Our job shouldn’t be just to feed the poor, but to get Americans to think about the way we feed the poor, and to open a very different dialogue about how we approach hunger in America.”
 
Roger Ellison
Philanthropic Consultant
Roger Ellison Consulting

Roger Ellison brings forty-seven years of practical experience with three not-for-profit organizations to his work as a planned giving consultant and philanthropic advisor. When he is not building fine furniture or writing, his consultancy focuses on helping small and mid-sized charities build planned giving programs. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Planned Giving Today and is the chair of PPP’s Leadership Institute.
 
Kate Frew
Director of Planned Giving
American Friends Service Committee

Kate Frew has over 20 years' experience in development, including as director of development and director of planned giving for education, human service, and arts organizations. She has built many planned giving programs for organizations whose focus was solely on bequests, helping them expand donor support without impacting annual giving. After two completed capital campaigns of $60M and $40M, respectively, she served as a consultant to over 40 nonprofit organizations, and specialized in helping them advance their major and planned giving. She has an M.B.A. from the University of Washington and an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College.
 
Johni R. Hays
Senior Vice President
Thompson & Associates

Johni Hays, Senior Vice President with Thompson & Associates, is the co-author of the book, The Tools and Techniques of Charitable Planning. Johni serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the books Tax Facts on Investments and Tax Facts on Insurance and Employee Benefits. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and has published charitable planning articles in Estate Planning Magazine, Planned Giving Today, Fundraising Success, and other national magazines. Prior to joining Thompson & Associates, Johni served as the Senior Gift Planning Consultant for The Stelter Company and as the Executive Director of the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation Planned Giving Institute. She graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1993. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Drake University and graduated magna cum laude in 1988. Johni serves as the president of the Charitable Estate Planning Institute, serves on the national board of PPP and on the Technical Advisory Board for the Stelter Company. She is a member of PPP’s Leadership Institute and a member of the Mid-Iowa Planned Giving Council and the Mid-Iowa Estate and Financial Planners Council (president 2007-2008). Johni has been a member of both the Iowa Bar and the Florida Bar since 1993.


 
Jon Heintzelman
Chairman
Ter Molen, Watkins & Brandt

Jon Heintzelman is currently Chairman of the fund raising consulting firm of Ter Molen, Watkins & Brandt with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. Jon served as Vice President for Advancement for Loyola University Chicago from 2003 through 2013, overseeing all areas of development and alumni relations. During Jon’s tenure at Loyola, the University embarked on its first comprehensive campaign in over a decade. With a campaign goal of $500 million, the campaign’s goal was five times the previous campaign goal. In 2011 Loyola successfully completed this campaign two years ahead of schedule achieving a record $535 million, including six principal gifts of $10 million or more. In 2012 Jon secured a gift of $40 million to name the Loyola’s school of business the Michael R. Quinlan School of business, the largest gift by an alumnus in the history of the university. Prior to Loyola, Jon served the development office of Northwestern University from 1980 through 2002, beginning in planned giving and eventually as Associate Vice President overseeing planned and major gifts, corporate relations, foundation relations, communications and stewardship and athletic development. The units led by Jon accounted for over half of the gifts to Northwestern’s highly successful $1.55 billion campaign and irrevocable gifts under Northwestern management during Jon’s tenure at the university rose from $10 million to over $230 million. Jon has a BA in economics from North Park University and a JD from Northwestern Law School where he was a member of the Northwestern Law Review. He has served on the Board of Trustees of North Park University, the American Council on Gift Annuities, the Journal of Gift Planning and a mentor for the United Negro College Fund. A founding member and first chairman of the Chicago Council on Planned Giving, he was honored in 2010 when CCPG named its lifetime service award the Jonathan R. Heintzelman Lifetime Service Award, naming Jon the first awardee. In 1993 Jon was named the National Planned Giving Professional of the Year by Planned Giving Today and in 2004 he was awarded the AFP Chicago Chapter’s Benjamin Franklin Award.
 
Shira Hudson
Manager, Planned Giving & Endowments
UJA-Federation of NY

As the Manager of the Planned Giving & Endowments department at UJA-Federation, Shira Hudson enjoys working with donors to ensure that the mission of UJA will endure. During the past two years, Shira has implemented and managed the Doctoroff Family Legacy Challenge Fund, which has incentivized donors to create legacy gifts which will ultimately provide $30 million in future gifts to the organization. Prior to joining UJA-Federation, Shira had the opportunity to direct the annual campaign at a Jewish day school in Atlanta. Shira also worked for two fundraising consulting firms, where she assisted in providing fundraising counsel through a variety of services to social service organizations, independent schools, colleges and universities and museums and religious organizations. Shira received a B.A. in Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and a B.A. in Jewish History from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
 
Lynn Malzone Ierardi
Director of Gift Planning
The University of Pennsylvania

Lynn Malzone Ierardi, J.D. has been in the estate and gift planning field for more than 25 years. She has served as Director of Gift Planning for the University of Pennsylvania (PENN) since 2005 and on a limited basis as an independent gift planning consultant (www.GiftPlanningAdvisor.com, founded in 2002). Prior to joining Penn, she held gift planning positions in health and higher education, served as Vice President with the Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy and practiced estate planning and real estate law. Lynn has been a member of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (PPP) since 1993 and is a past board member, conference chair, and President of the Gift Planning Council of New Jersey (GPCNJ). She is currently a board member and program co-chair for the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Greater Philadelphia (PPPGP), a member of the PPP Leadership Institute and a regular faculty member for the Planned Giving Course offered by PPPGP. As a dynamic and highly rated speaker, Lynn has presented at conferences and meetings throughout the country on a variety of gift planning topics. Lynn is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law.
 
Russell N. James
Associate Professor-Charitable Planning
Texas Tech University

Russell James, J.D., Ph.D., CFP® is an associate professor and the director of the online graduate program in Charitable Financial Planning at Texas Tech University. He graduated, cum laude, from the University of Missouri School of Law where he was a member of the Missouri Law Review. While in law school he received the United Missouri Bank Award for Most Outstanding Work in Gift and Estate Taxation and Planning. He holds a Ph.D. in consumer economics from the University of Missouri, where his dissertation was on the topic of charitable giving. He worked as the Director of Planned Giving for Central Christian College, Moberly, Missouri for six years and later served as president of the college for more than five years, where he had direct and supervisory responsibility for all fundraising. During his presidency the college successfully completed two major capital campaigns, built several new debt-free buildings, and operated in the black every year after having operated in the red for 10 of the 11 previous years. Dr. James has over 100 publications in academic journals, conference proceedings, professional periodicals, and books. He has been quoted in a variety of news sources including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, ABC News, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, the Associated Press, Bloomberg News and the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
 
Emanuel J Kallina
Managing Member
Kallina & Associates LLC

Emanuel (“Emil”) J. Kallina, II is the managing member of Kallina & Associates, LLC, and focuses his practice on estate and charitable planning for high net worth individuals and representing charitable organizations in complex gifts.  Emil works extensively with charitable lead and remainder trusts, supporting organizations, private foundations, and over the years has practiced in the related fields of business law, corporate tax law, partnerships, and real estate.Emil is the founder of CharitablePlanning.com, a website dedicated to professionals who need the tools to complete planned and major gifts. He is also a co-founder of the Planned Giving Design Center (www.pgdc.com), a former member of the Board of Directors of PPP (formerly NPCG), former Chairman (5 years) of the Government Relations Committee of the NCPG, a co-founder of the Chesapeake Planned Giving Council, Chairman of the Board and President of The James Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of Search Ministries, Inc., and a present and former member of numerous other boards.  Mr. Kallina has testified frequently before the IRS, is a nationally recognized speaker on estate planning and charitable giving, and is a frequent author on these topics. 

 
Chris Kelly
Vice President
PNC Institutional Asset Management

Chris Kelly is vice president and Planned Giving Product Specialist with PNC Institutional Asset Management.  In this capacity, Chris works with various nonprofit organizations nationally, focusing on the benefits of the planned giving infrastructure in meeting donor expectations. Prior to joining PNC, Chris was the Senior Philanthropic Advisor with Comerica Charitable Services Group.  Chris served as a vice president and senior philanthropic consultant with Merrill Lynch Trust Company and the Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy.  During his tenure, Chris also managed the original Merrill Lynch Community Foundation Alliance. Prior to his work in philanthropic planning, Chris was a professional opera singer and has sung with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and in Europe. He has served on the Board of the Planned Giving Roundtable of Southeast Michigan since 2001 and has served as council president, and national delegate.  He currently chairs the Mentoring Program.
 
Don Kent
Principal
Bernstein Private Wealth Management

Don Kent brings twenty years of experience designing complex financial plans for high net worth families to his current role at Bernstein Global Wealth Management.For the past seven years, he and histeam have worked closely with clients' and other professional advisors to craft comprehensive strategies that address all aspects of their clients' wealth management needs.Don also works closely with a select group of charitable institutions in building their endowment programs and managing their assets. Prior to Bernstein, Don was a Vice President at United Jewish Communities (formerly CJF) and devoted 13 years to building Federations' planned giving and endowment programs. He was responsible for upgrading the investment/spending policies and implementing new development/marketing strategies for dozens of charities.He lectures widely on charitable gift planning and financial planning topics.He has taught a planned giving course at NYU and served on the national board of the National Committee on Planned Giving and the local Planned Giving Group of Greater New York.
 
Michael King
VP Gift Planning Services
The National Christian Foundation

Michael King serves as a charitable gift and estate planning attorney with the National Christian Foundation (NCF). He works closely with generous families sharing concepts and strategies that allow them to leverage the impact of their giving by minimizing their income and estate tax liabilities. In his role with NCF, Michael’s primary focus and expertise is facilitating charitable gifts of “unusual” assets including closely-held businesses, real estate, intellectual property, oil and gas interests, collectibles, precious metals, etc. He also helps families plan their estates in a manner that dramatically increases their charitable giving, and in most cases avoids estate tax completely—regardless of the size of their estates. Prior to joining NCF in 2006, Michael spent over ten years with an international tax and accounting firm, and a wealth management firm/multi-family office. In these roles he counseled affluent families on a broad range of wealth management issues including both financial and non-financial aspects of wealth. Michael received his undergraduate degree in finance from Penn State University, and his law degree from the U.C.L.A. School of Law.
 
Carol Kolmerten
Founding Partner
Charitable Development Consulting

Carol Kolmerten, a founding partner of Charitable Development Consulting, is also a Professor of English at Hood College, where she has taught for 37 years. She has given invited keynote speeches across the United States and in Great Britain, France, Italy, and Brazil and has received grants from NEH, ACLS, American Philosophical Society, and the Fulbright Scholar Program. As a consultant, she has advised presidents, CEOs, and boards of trustees from a variety of nonprofit groups along with writing grants, conducting feasibility studies, and serving as campaign counsel. She has also written five well reviewed books and over fifty essays/book chapters both in juried scholarly journals in history and literature as well as articles for Planned Giving Today and for the Journal of Gift Planning. Carol received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in American Studies.
 
Katy Herbert Kotlarczyk
Director, Gift Planning and Leadership Giving
University of Colorado

Katy Herbert Kotlarczyk currently serves as the gift planning liaison to the approximately 75 development professionals working for the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior development experience includes serving as a front-line major gifts officer, managing volunteer fundraisers, and serving as a nonprofit fundraising and strategy consultant. Katy is currently a board member for the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable and the Rocky Mountain Stanford Association. She completed the Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management at Georgetown University and her MBA at the Kellstadt School of Business at DePaul University. She holds an undergraduate and Master’s degree from Stanford University.
 
Matt Lawson
Vice President, Philanthropic Services, Specialized Wealth Services
Wells Fargo, Wealth Management

Matt Lawson serves as a Philanthropic Specialist for the Southeast region of Wells Fargo Private Bank. In this role Matt helps individuals and families achieve their charitable goals through the establishment and management of private foundations, charitable trusts, donor advised funds and other charitable vehicles. He also works with foundations and nonprofits to assist them with charitable best practices, planned giving techniques and endowments. Prior to joining Wells Fargo Matt worked for 18 years in the financial and philanthropic advising sectors. He spent the first 9 years of his career at the Milner Group as a life insurance agent and advisor to other financial professionals. His primary role was to analyze and recommend the most advantageous solution to professionals and demonstrate how the insurance component contributed to the client's overall strategy. He spent the next 9 years working at the National Christian Foundation where he oversaw the operational interaction between the community foundations and the national office. Matt also directed the asset based giving program where his team handled the intake, management and sale of non-cash assets ranging from residential and commercial real estate, to coin collections, yachts, life insurance, art work and all types of business interests.
 
Scott Lumpkin
Principal
Scott R. Lumpkin & Associates LLC

Scott Lumpkin consults with nonprofit organizations and individuals on transformational philanthropic strategies. Prior to launching his consulting firm in 2015, Scott had a 32-year development career at the University of Denver working with high-net-worth donors, capped by serving five years as Vice Chancellor of University Advancement.Under Scott’s leadership the University of Denver successfully completed its $488 million ASCEND Campaign in 2014, coinciding with DU’s 150thanniversary. He was also instrumental in DU’s previous $273 million campaign that transformed the campus in the 1990s. During his career at DU, Scott played a significant role in securing many of the University’s largest gifts, reflecting his recognized expertise in charitable gift planning and ability to build strong relationships with alumni and friends.Scott is a past board member of the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG), now the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, as well as a foundingmember and Past President of the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable. He has directed national research projects on the motivation and characteristics of gift planning donors, and helped developed national guidelines for counting and recognizing planned gifts.Scott speaks regularly to boards and staff of nonprofits on philanthropy, charitable planning and the integration of planned and major gift fundraising efforts. He is a dual-degree University of Denver alum and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Masters in Business Administration from DU.

 
Jeffrey Lydenberg
VP Consulting
PG Calc

Jeff Lydenberg is a planned giving consultant to non-profits large and small in a variety of industries. Jeff has advised planned giving programs on development of policies and procedures, trained boards and planned giving staff on planned gift design, and created planned giving marketing plans and materials for planned giving programs. Jeff is a frequent presenter for PG Calc’s popular Webinar series. He plays a critical role in supporting PG Calc’s clients in their use of Planned Giving Manager as the lead trainer on use of the bestselling gift proposal software. Jeff was recently chair of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, and is widely recognized as an industry leader. Jeff practiced law for 6 years with the Cleveland-based law firm of Thompson, Hine and Flory in its Cincinnati office. His planned giving career began in 1995, when he started as Assistant Director of Planned Giving at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. He served in a similar capacity at the Cleveland Foundation. Jeff is a sought-after speaker for national, regional and local planned giving groups, presenting on a wide variety of estate planning and gift planning topics. Jeff is the former programming chair for the Planned Giving Group of New England and is a member of the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council. Jeff has a BA in American Studies from Kent State University and a JD from Case Western Reserve School of Law.
 
Anne T. Melvin
Director of Training and Education
Harvard University

Anne Melvin has worked as both a volunteer and a professional in the field of development for the past two decades. She currently directs the Education and Training Department at Harvard's Alumni Affairs and Development (AA&D) office, responsible for fundraiser education, general training for all staff, on-boarding new AA&D staff, and managing AA&D's intranet. Prior to that, Anne was a front-line fundraiser for 18 years, specializing in gift planning for 14 years, and negotiating and closing gifts for various Harvard schools. She served as Deputy Director of Gift Planning at Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences working with donors nationwide to make gifts. During that period, she directed the FAS's gift planning marketing program for over a decade, expanding its reach three-fold. Anne speaks regularly about development and planned giving around the country to development professionals, specializing in marketing, development techniques, cultivation, solicitation, fundraiser training and negotiation. She is a member of PPP’s Leadership Institute. Prior to joining Harvard, Anne practiced real estate law in the Boston area. She is a cum laude graduate of Williams College and holds a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law.
 
Steven Meyers
Vice President, Center for Personalized Philanthropy
American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science

Steven L. Meyers, Ph.D., is Vice President of the Center for Personalized Philanthropy at the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science. Steve is a primary developer of personalized philanthropy, based on the mantra of “the right gift, for the right purpose, for the right donor.” Steve’s innovative donor-focused gift designs, especially a series of arrangements he calls “killer apps,” combine the full spectrum of current and future gifts so that donors can create a lasting legacy where impact and recognition are able to start up right away. Steve joined the American Committee of the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1995 and now serves as Vice President of its Center of Personalized Philanthropy, as well as a member of its management team and total financial resource development strategy group. He holds a Masters Degree in Organization and Management from Antioch University and a Ph.D. from the University of Buffalo. Steve is a contributing author for the Planned Giving Design Center, CEG International Elite Advisor Reports and The Journal of Gift Planning and speaks frequently at national and regional conferences. He is the author of the book, Personalized Philanthropy: Crash the Fundraising Matrix, and its companion monograph for donors, Personalized Philanthropy and the Four Donors: Parables for Radically Rethinking Your Philanthropy: A New Conversation for donors, gift officers, and advisors.
 
Justin Miller
National Wealth Strategist
BNY Mellon

As a national wealth strategist at BNY Mellon, Justin Miller works collaboratively with other advisors to provide comprehensive wealth and philanthropic planning advice to clients and their families. He also is an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law, an executive committee member of the State Bar of California Taxation Section, and the editor-in-chief of the California Tax Lawyer. Mr. Miller has published numerous articles, is a sought-after speaker on estate and philanthropic planning topics at major conferences throughout the country, and has been quoted as an industry expert in a variety of publications. He received a master of laws in taxation and a juris doctor from New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree, with honors, from the University of California at Berkeley.
 
Una Osili
Director of Research, Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies
Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

Dr. Una Osili is the Director of Research at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She is also a Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies at the Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis. Her research expertise is in private transfer decisions and financial behavior. Dr. Osili serves on the Board of Directors of several nonprofit organizations, and has gained experience in planned giving through these various roles.
 
Jane Peebles
Partner
Karlin & Peebles, LLP

Jane Peebles is a partner in the Los Angeles firm of Karlin & Peebles, LLC. She has a diverse practice representing domestic and multinational high net worth individuals and their families with respect to all aspects of gift, estate and generation-skipping wealth transfer tax planning, trust and estate administration, and charitable planning. She establishes and represents private foundations, public charities and other types of tax-exempt organizations and is known internationally for her expertise in cross-border philanthropy. Jane works closely with clients to meet their personal estate planning goals, foster family harmony and minimize the impact of various taxes.  She advises clients on the full array of estate planning issues. She also advises trustees and executors on all aspects of probate and trust administrations. Jane writes and speaks on a variety of sophisticated domestic and international estate and charitable planning issues and has been featured at the Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, University of Southern California Tax Institute and several other leading professional conferences. Jane is admitted to practice in California, and certified by the California State Bar Association as a specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law. She is an ACTEC Fellow, a California Super Lawyer and has been ranked one of the "Best Lawyers in America" in the specialty of Trusts and Estates for every year since 2007. Jane is a past chair of the National Conference on Planned Giving and a former member of the NCPG national board of directors. She is a member of PPP of Greater Los Angeles.
 
Laura Peebles
Consultant
Charitable Solutions LLC

Laura Peebles is a senior fellow at Bloomberg|BNA in Arlington, Virginia, and consultant with Charitable Solutions, LLC.  She recently retired from Deloitte's national tax office after 35+ years  of experience working with high net worth families to achieve their wealth planning and philanthropic goals. Peebles is the author of two BNA Portfolios.  She is a frequent writer and speaker on technical and practical estate and trust planning and charitable subjects.
 
Richard Perry
Founding Partner
Veritus Group

Richard Perry believes that successful major gift fundraising is not fundamentally about securing revenue for good causes. Instead it is about helping the donor express who they are through their giving. Richard has more than 30 years of nonprofit leadership and fundraising experience. He is currently leading The Veritus Group where he and his business partner, Jeff Schreifels, have developed an innovative and effective approach to turn around the loss of major gift revenue which, for many charities, is in the 40-60% range per year. In addition to his management and leadership responsibilities, Richard specializes in organization development, strategic planning, positioning, branding, new ventures, and diversification. Richard has a long history of working with non-profit organizations as a Director of Development and consultant. For eight years he served as Director of Development for a U.S-based relief and development organization where he and his team increased the donor list from 16,000 to 350,000 people and annual income grew dramatically in just four years. He also served for five years as VP of Distribution and Development for a leading publishing company, where he helped triple the company’s sales from $25 million to $75 million through acquisitions and new product development. Richard was also a co-founder of The Domain Group which he and his business partner sold in 2005. Domain was one of the largest advertising agencies serving non-profits in the United States. He and his partner started the agency in 1990 and from its Seattle base expanded its services into Europe with offices in London and Paris.  
 
Timothy J. Prosser
Relationship Manager
Kaspick & Company

Timothy Prosser joined Kaspick & Company in 2009 with nearly 20 years’ experience in legal practice and financial services. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF Trust Company in 2000, Tim practiced law in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, charitable giving, and business succession planning with the firms of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal and Armstrong Teasdale Schlafly & Davis in St. Louis, MO. Tim has served on the board of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning and as Chair of its National Conference. He is a board member and past president of the Saint Louis Planned Giving Council and is a recipient of the Council’s “Founders Award.” Tim is a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences on charitable and tax planning topics. He received his JD degree and MA degree in Public Administration from St. Louis University in December 1990 and his BA in Russian Area Studies in 1987 from Loyola University, New Orleans.
 
Philip M. Purcell
Vice President for Planned Giving & Endowment Stewardship
Ball State University Foundation

Phil Purcell currently serves as Vice-President for Planned Giving at the Ball State University Foundation. He has over twenty years of gift planning experience. He teaches courses on Law and Philanthropy, Nonprofit Organization Law and Planned Giving as adjunct faculty for the Indiana University School of Law (Bloomington) and Indiana University Center on Philanthropy and Fundraising School (Indianapolis). Phil serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for Planned Giving Today and as Senior Consultant for the Heaton Smith Group. Phil also serves as a member of the Tax Exempt Advisory Council for the Internal Revenue Service (Great Lakes states) and has served on the board of directors for the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, Planned Giving Group of Indiana (past president) and Association of Fundraising Professionals – Indiana chapter (past president). He is an attorney and member of the American and Indiana State Bar Associations. Phil received his B.A. degree from Wabash College (magna cum laude) and his J.D. and M.P.A. degrees (with honors) from Indiana University.
 
William D Samers
Vice President, Planned Giving & Endowments
UJA-Federation of NY

William D. Samers is Vice President of Planned Giving and Endowments at UJA-Federation of New York, the largest local not-for-profit in the country, where he leads a 17 person gift planning department. Before UJA-Federation, he worked for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS) most recently as the Vice President of Gift Planning and Compliance. He is a past president of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York and served on the Executive Committee of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning as Secretary and Chair of the Investment Committee. Bill has presented at the AFP International Conference; the National Conference on Planned Giving; the Planned Giving Councils of New York, New England, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Palm Beach, Houston, and San Francisco as well as to the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He has been published in the Journal of Gift Planning (2004) and the Conference Proceedings for the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning National Conference (2008). Bill has been quoted in many publications including the New York Times, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the Non Profit Times. Bill graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received his J.D. from Boston University Law School.
 
Ramsay Slugg
Managing Director
U.S. Trust

Ramsay Slugg is a Managing Director and member of the National Wealth Planning Strategies Group at US Trust. In that role, he works with High Net Worth individuals to complete tax and financial planning. He was previously the National Practice Manager of Bank of America's Philanthropic Management Group. He is a frequent author and speaker on tax and charitable planning topics.
 
Ben Stahmann
Assistant Manager, Gift Planning Services
LDS Philanthropies

Ben Stahmann has served as assistant manager and senior gift planning specialist for LDS Philanthropies. Previously, he served as senior director of gift planning at Oklahoma State University Foundation and national endowment counsel and director of gift planning for Boy Scouts of America. Prior to his nonproft work, Stahmann was in private practice as an estate planning attorney.
 
Jay Steenhuysen
Steenhuysen Associates
Jay Steenhuysen is the founder of Steenhuysen Associates and co-founder of Covenant Calls, which have assisted numerous charitable organizations in soliciting hundreds of thousands of donors for bequest commitments. He has consulted with a variety of national charitable organizations, including The Nature Conservancy and the American Cancer Society, refining and refocusing their gift planning, major gift and marketing programs to meet the needs of donors at all wealth levels. Jay developed Brown University’s philanthropic planning program within the principal gifts department. He served World Vision as private giving counsel, facilitating the philanthropic planning needs of its most significant donors. Prior to that role, he directed World Vision’s Gift Planning Program, including all aspects of marketing and solicitation of planned gifts. He also served as director of philanthropic services for myCFO, a wealth management firm. Jay holds a BA from Seattle Pacific University, an MA in theological studies from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and an MBA from Pepperdine.
 
Cheryl Sturm
Director of Marketing
The Stelter Company
With over 30 years of global communications and marketing experience, Cheryl Sturm is responsible for the overall market positioning of the Stelter brand. With strong expertise in strategic planning, market research and results measurement, she is well suited to helping nonprofits develop and execute segmented programs designed to maximize results. Cheryl graduated from Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education with an emphasis on economics. Before joining The Stelter Company in 2013, Cheryl worked for 10 years in the biotech industry and with Young & Rubicam Advertising’s Midwest office as Senior Vice President, Account Group Director.
 
Mike Wahlin
Assistant Vice President and Controller
Iowa State University Foundation

Michael Wahlin has served as the Assistant Vice President and Controller of the Iowa State University (ISU) Foundation since 2004. The ISU Foundation is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to securing and stewarding private gifts for the benefit of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Mike is responsible for oversight of the accounting and investment areas of the organization. In his role, he is the main liaison to the financial committees (audit, finance, and investment) that provide governance to the organization. Mike is a 1982 graduate of St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, with a degree in accounting. Prior to joining the ISU Foundation, he worked in public accounting (international public accounting firm of Grant Thornton LLP) and private industry for over twenty years.

 
0Perry Wasserman
501(c) Strategies
 











Craig Wruck
Vice President, University Advancement
Humboldt State University

Craig Wruck's experience in charitable giving spans more than 30 years in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. He is Vice President for University Advancement at Humboldt State University in California and has served as Director of Gift Planning for the University of Minnesota and Vice President of Development for The Saint Paul Community Foundation. In addition he has worked as Vice President at U.S. Trust Company, National Manager of Charitable and Nonprofit Services for US Bank, and Director of Client Development for Kaspick & Company a provider of planned giving services to charitable organizations nationwide. He is past president of the National Committee on Planned Giving (now the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning) and has served as a member of its board of directors and as chair of its government relations committee. He was chair of the Sixth National Conference on Planned Giving. A founding member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the newsletter Planned Giving Today, he has also served on the Editorial Review Committee of The Journal of Gift Planning.