Crystal Alford-Cooper, CFP®, CDFA™, CRC®, currently serves on the board of directors for the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®), the leading membership organization for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals and those engaged in the financial planning process.

Always interested as a child in saving and investments, Alford-Cooper recently rejoined Law & Associates Wealth Management and Planning as Director of Financial Planning after previously being with the firm for almost 20 years. She loves talking to everyone and likes to say that she has “no sense of stranger danger.” Her appreciation for others, blended with her lifelong passion for financial wellness, has made helping others forge a path to a sound financial future a way of life for Alford-Cooper.

Alford-Cooper has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner since 1996; having graduated from the College of Financial Planning’s CFP® program.  She is also a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) and a Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC®).  She is a registered representative with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. and holds the designation of Investment Management Consultant from Raymond James’ Institute of Investment Management Consulting (IIMC). She holds a Maryland license for life, health and variable life insurance.  She also has held an adjunct faculty position at Howard Community College.

Alford-Cooper has served in several key leadership roles.  Her previous board volunteer involvement includes the CFP Board Council on Education (Committee Member), Financial Planning Association of Maryland (Chair 2018), Association of African American Financial Advisors (Past President) and Howard County Police Foundation (Director). Alford-Cooper is also a graduate of Leadership Howard County’s Leadership Premier program and a women’s ministry team leader for her church in Columbia.

Raised by a phenomenal single Mom, Alford-Cooper remains inspired and proudly carries on her Mom’s legacy – her love for family. She loves spending time with her husband and best friend, Dennis.  Both are proud parents to a son serving in the United States Navy. 

Amy Mullen, CFP® is President of Money Quotient, Inc., an organization founded in 2001 that teaches financial professionals how to bring science to the art of relationship. In this role, Amy conducts training, provides individualized consulting, and frequently presents at national financial industry conferences on the benefits and effectiveness of a values-based approach to financial planning, understanding clients' financial motivations and how to guide them through change, and creating long-lasting client-planner relationships. All programs and consulting provide a multi-disciplinary, evidence-based approach to financial planning that take into consideration both the practical and emotional aspects that promote financial well-being and life-satisfaction. Outside of the office, Amy enjoys hikes, photography, live music, and cooking.

Dr. Charles Chaffin writes, consults, coaches, and teaches in FinancialPsychology, Goal-setting, and Organizational Learning.Dr. Chaffin identifiesthe factors that impact a client’s decision making as well as all factors thatimpact the client-advisor relationship. In one year, over 5,000 advisors and2,500 students from over 100 colleges and universities in 15 countries haveadopted the Psychology of Financial Planning Specialist™ program.  As a coach, Dr. Chaffin coaches financialadvisors and executives to help them develop better strategies to engage humanbiases, behaviors, and perceptions. He is Professor of Practice at Iowa State University.

Liz specializes in in financial solutions for families with special needs dependent children of all ages.  She has ample experience in special needs planning and was a live-in care giver in the past. 

Ric Edelman founded the nation’s largest financial planning firm, which manages $300 billion for 1.4 million families across the U.S. He was ranked three times as the nation’s #1 Independent Financial Advisor by Barron’s, is in two industry Halls of Fame and received the IARFC’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds two patents for financial product innovation, appeared on Oprah five times and was once the answer to 21 Across in a New York Times crossword puzzle. 

Edelman is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 13 books on personal finance, with more than 1.2 million copies sold in eight languages worldwide. Ric’s radio show aired for 32 years with more than one million weekly listeners. His daily podcast was ranked in the top 1%, and Rowan University’s Ric Edelman College of Communication, Humanities and Social Sciences is named in his honor. 

Ric and his wife Jean and their dogs spend most of their time in Virginia, Arizona and New York.

Gretchen Halpin is a strategic visionary with over 25 years of leadership and marketing experience. In her work with financial professionals and teams, Gretchen's primary focus is to accelerate and guide organizational growth in a positive, sustainable way. From successful entrepreneur to jack-of-all-trades strategic consultant, Gretchen's career path and journey to success have been guided by one true passion: to help people create the life and business they want, even when that means challenging the status quo.

Gretchen specializes in pioneering strategy and growth initiatives that drive success across every aspect of a business — from vision and objectives, to marketing and business development, to the overall client experience. Her top priority is to ensure that all decisions and initiatives are aligned with the mission and values of the firms in which she works. Gretchen has helped firms achieve success by elevating their brand identity and story to internal and external audiences, seizing new business opportunities, driving organizational change and translating strategy into action across all levels of the business.

But her ability to morph big-picture ideas into action and results goes beyond her current focus; it derives from her experience as the driving force behind several successful business ventures, including Soothe Your Senses, an organic aromatherapy product line she launched in 2001. What started as a passion for health and wellness expanded into an international spa brand — with retail distribution in 30 U.S. states and five countries — that grew 250-percent annually for eight years. 

As a co-founder of Beyond AUM, Gretchen and her team created and implemented a growth, marketing and technology plan that led an RIA firm to grow from $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) to more than $5 billion in AUM in five years. Under her leadership, Beyond AUM continues to assist firms, big and small, to reach their goals. Gretchen believes in working directly with advisors and their teams in order to cultivate a deep understanding of the importance and impact of their service and help support their client relationships. These experiences drive Beyond AUM's passion to see the RIA industry continue to thrive into the future. 

Under the direction of Gretchen and her fellow co-founder, Beyond AUM's marketing strategy was recognized by My Perfect Client and Masters in Accounting, and the team led the development of a personal finance blog that was named a Top 50 Financial Advisor Blog by Michael Kitces in 2014 and 2015. Gretchen has been a featured speaker at numerous industry events and conferences, hosted by leading organizations such as eMoney, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and Financial Advisor Magazine.

With more than 25 years in the financial services industry, Walsh has broad experience with investment and insurance products, financial planning platforms and business development. He helps financial professional model annuity solutions within financial planning platforms with the goal of increasing probabilities of success within clients’ plans. 

A Certified Fund-Raising Executive, Rick has more than forty years professional experience in fund development (fund raising) and public relations.  He has served as Chief Development Officer for a health care system and a college, and as Assistant Director of Development for another College. For several years, Rick served as Vice President of a national consulting firm, establishing his own firm approximately twenty-five years ago.

 Richard R. Blain & Associates provides fund development/fund raising counsel to various types of not-for-profit institutions and organizations in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast. In doing so, Rick assists clients in approaching donors and potential donors for charitable support, as well as approaching financial planners, estate planners, accountants and related professionals.

Theresa B. Ramos is a partner at Tracey, Roman & Ramos, PC where she concentrates her practice in all matters of domestic relations. Prior to joining Tracey, Roman & Ramos, PC, Ms. Ramos was a partner at Goldstein, Egloff, Ramos & Wood, LLP where she focused primarily on domestic relations. She served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court (2001-2002). She is a past Co-chair of the Boston Bar Association's Family Law Steering Committee, a past co-chair of the BBA's Family Law Section Communications Sub-committee and a past member of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Family Law Section Council. Ms. Ramos is a member of the Boston Bar Association, Greater Boston Family Law Inn of Court and presenter at the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education programs. She has received the honor of Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2020-present) and Massachusetts Rising Star, in Family Law (2009 – 2012).

Rachel Meagher is a Principal in Choate, Hall & Stewart's Wealth Management Group, where she advises high net worth families and individuals on all aspects of their estate plans, including both tax and non-tax considerations, and on the administration of trusts and estates.  Her practice focuses on inter-generational planning and sophisticated wealth transfer techniques.  Rachel enjoys working closely with her clients to ascertain their individual goals and concerns and brings her years of experience in trusts and estates to identify and implement practical, tax-efficient solutions.  Prior to joining Choate, Rachel worked at several large and international law firms and spent nearly a decade practicing trusts and estates in New York.