Philanthropic Advisor
I have worked in the charitable sector for nearly 30 years. Early in my career, I worked as a trust officer in a major bank, administering endowment funds and specially structured gifts for not-for-profit organizations. Our clients ranged from small grassroots community organizations (think foodbanks, community centers, and retirement centers) to large, complex organizations like hospitals, universities, and multi-faceted faith-based organizations. I loved the diversity and was able to put my finance background to work to impact something beyond a bottom line.
After nine years with the bank, during which I completed an MBA, I transitioned to working directly in the nonprofit sector, beginning with Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. I learned a lot there about communal fundraising through organized, passionate volunteer networks. I next moved to a senior management position with an organization founded in 1849 as an orphanage that now provides a variety of child-focused family services. It was rewarding to be part of an institution that had evolved over more than a century to remain relevant to current generations of children and families.
Throughout these early years, I developed an expertise in charitable gift planning, which allowed me to merge technical financial and tax knowledge with deep listening, problem solving, and relationship management skills. I spent the second half of my career with major universities helping generous donors fund groundbreaking research, provide life-changing educational experiences, and develop the next generation of business and civic leaders.
Now, as a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®, I help individuals and families make a meaningful difference in the world.
Service to my profession and community is important to me. I am a past-chair of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, where I served twice on the board of trustees. I am also a past-president of the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council and now an active member of the Chicago Council on Planned Giving, as well as The International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy and their Chicago Midwest Chapter. I have taught extensively, presenting at various national and local planned giving conferences and at conferences of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. I have mentored first-generation students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and currently volunteer with League of Women Voters and Sinai Temple in Champaign. In my spare time, I enjoy reading good books, writing for pleasure and publication, attending performing arts, traveling, and spending time with my kind and patient husband and fantastic friends.