Kirsten Meder, CAIA, CMT, Director, is an ESG/SRI Investment Strategist at Aperio by BlackRock. Kirsten joined BlackRock in 2020, including her prior years with Aperio, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock in 2021. In this role, Ms. Meder works closely with clients to align their equity portfolios with their values. She works closely with the ESG and Portfolio Management teams in the evaluation of ESG data sets and the creation of new strategies and works with Aperio's Research Team on projects related to ESG issues.

Ms. Meder brings with her over 15 years of investment industry experience. Prior to joining Aperio, she was a Portfolio Manager at Lattice Strategies (acquired by Hartford Funds), where she was responsible for managing strategic and tactical multi-asset SMA portfolios for high-net-worth clients and for allocating to liquid alternative investments. Additionally, Ms. Meder spent several years working for Bank of America/Merrill Lynch as a Research Analyst, where she was a generalist on their fund of hedge funds team. She also served as a Staff Scientist at Columbia University, studying infrared galaxy spectra from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Ms. Meder holds a MA degree in Social Entrepreneurship and Change from Pepperdine University, and a BA degree in Astrophysics and Physics from the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds CAIA and CMT professional certifications and can be found hiking around the Bay Area with her pack of golden retrievers when she's not baking, gardening, gaming, or hanging with her husband and kids.

Tori Ferguson is a Client Relationship Manager for Aperio. Aperio's Business Development team focuses on client service and partnering with advisors to build hyper-customized, cost- and tax-efficient portfolios that meet their clients' unique needs

Prior to joining the Aperio Business Development team, Tori spent 5 years at Morgan Stanley in Private Wealth Management as a Client Service Associate. In that role, she was responsible for servicing her team's ultra-high net worth clients as well as focusing on prospecting and business development efforts.

Craig Lemoine is the Director of the Financial Planning Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He serves as an Associate Clinical Professor, teaching courses in risk management, retirement and financial planning. Craig earned his PhD from Texas Tech University in 2013 and currently holds the Certified Financial Planner ™ and Master Registered Financial Consultant™ designations.

Craig currently serves as the Executive Director of the Academy for Home Equity in Financial Planning, vice-chairman of the Master Registered Financial Consultant Board and is working with his team to develop specialized content in the area of agriculture-focused financial planning. Previously, Craig served on and chaired the CFP® Council of Examination (2009-2014) and was the Executive Director of the Northwestern Mutual Granum Center for Financial at The American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, PA.

Steve Resch, CLTC,  is Vice President of Retirement Strategies for Finance of America Reverse, where he leads education and training programs for financial professionals. Steve is also an investment advisor, partner in a wealth management firm, and designer of ""The Reverse Illustrator,"" a proprietary program that graphically displays the flexibility and options that a reverse mortgage can bring to a financial plan. Steve is a subject expert source and frequent speaker at both national and regional professional conferences and has been interviewed by various media outlets including Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq Trade Talks, MarketWatch, Barron's and more.

Claire Thornton is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER TM professional based in Huntington Beach, California. Claire works for Inspired Financial, a planning firm focused on helping women navigate the major life transitions that come with widowhood or divorce. Claire’s work at Inspired Financial is primarily focused on tax and estate planning and she is currently pursuing a Masters in Advance Financial Planning with a concentration in Taxation through Golden Gate University. Through the Tax and Estate Knowledge circle, Claire enjoys the opportunity to connect with other professionals in discussing the ever-evolving space of tax and estate planning.

Scott co-founded Presidio Wealth Partners in 2023. He has worked in the financial services industry since 1995. Throughout his career, Scott has focused on customizing the financial planning process to identify specific estate, business succession, investment and retirement strategies for individual clients and their businesses. Presidio’s team utilizes a very comprehensive and customized approach that helps to ensure that our clients’ planning and investment opportunities are identified and correctly focused on now and into the future.

Scott graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and received his Master of Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas. Currently, Scott is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner(CFP®) and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Over the years, Scott has conducted Continuing Education courses for Certified Public Accountants. In addition, Scott has both authored and has been interviewed for numerous articles in financial related publications and websites such as the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, CNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, USA Today, Money Magazine, Investopedia.com, Investment News, Kiplinger, WealthManagement.com, Financial Planning Magazine, The AICPA Tax Section, BankRate.com, the Houston Business Journal and the CPA Forum. For his writings and contributions, Scott was named in 2019 as a Top 100 Financial Advisor in America by Investopedia. Related to his retirement planning experience, Scott is also a member of Ed Slott’s Master Elite IRA Advisor Group SM.

Scott is also an Advisory Board Member and is a guest lecturer for the University of Texas McCombs School of Business Wealth Management Center. He has been active as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) where he holds the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) accreditation. Locally, Scott has been on the Board of Directors of the Houston CPA Society and has been Chairman of the Personal Financial Planning Committee. As a thought leader in Financial Planning, Scott chairs the national Tax and Estate Planning Knowledge Circle for the Financial Planning Association (an association of CFP® certificants).

Scott has been married for over 30 years to his wife Geri and they have two adult sons.

Mr. Pon is a Certified Financial Planner, Certified Public Accountant, Personal Financial Specialist, and Accredited Estate Planner in Redwood Shores, CA.   

Mr. Pon has been practicing since 1986.  He provides the latest advanced tax and financial planning strategies to financial planners so they can be knowledgeable with their clients.

Mr. Pon received his BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and MS in Taxation from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Mr. Pon is a long time member of the Financial Planning Association and speaks frequently to the San Francisco and Silicon Valley Chapters.

Gordon is an international keynote speaker, blogger and author of Cashflow Cookbook - a different kind of personal finance book that includes financial "recipes" that show readers how to free up more than $13,000 monthly. He speaks to clients of financial advisors to help them release incremental cashflow to invest, adding value to the advisor/client relationship and accelerating their wealth building.

Using the concepts from Gordon's talks, a typical investor can add more than $1 million to their portfolio at retirement , with minimal effort, minimal sacrifice and no incremental risk.

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.

Jay Weisman is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® and founder of Legacy Philanthropy Group. His 3D Relationships programs help advisors deliver value and build stronger relationships by engaging their clients in broader, deeper, multi-generational conversations centered on giving back and building family traditions.

Jay is an International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy board member and chairs the webinar committee. He collaborated with Stanford PACS to develop and deliver AiP’s Introduction to Effective Philanthropy workshop. His teaching experience includes the University of Wisconsin School of Business, the Farleigh Dickenson University Center for Nonprofit Excellence, and the Foundation Center in New York.

Charlie spent many years selling institutional money management to foundations, endowments, corporations, and governmental entities before transitioning those sales skills to the nonprofit sector.   

 
For the past fifteen years Charlie has focused on major gift and planned gift fundraising both as a frontline fundraiser and as a leader of fundraising teams.  Charlie finds the ability to help clients and donors achieve their personal financial, tax and philanthropic goals to be the most rewarding aspect of his work.  

Maria Castillo Dominguez is a Financial Planner and the latest addition to our team. She is originally from Spain and moved to the United States in 2010 after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Sevilla. Maria is currently enrolled in the Certified Financial Planner™ education program through UCI.

Maria has over ten years’ experience in operations, compliance, personal banking and personal finance. She became interested in personal finance after she moved to the United States and realized the potential for helping others improve their lives. Maria most recently worked as a Financial Consultant with TD Ameritrade before transitioning to our firm.

Maria enjoys her free time hiking with her dog, Lola, travelling and exploring new places, and spending as much time as she can at the beach.

Maria is an active member of the community, providing pro bono financial planning and financial education to underserved communities, members of non-profit organizations and educational institutions. She currently serves as Chair for the Board of Directors of the Financial Planning Association in Miami.

Joshua founded Financial-360, ten years ago and provides financial services to his clients primarily in the Washington, D.C., area, and several other states across the country. Joshua helps both individuals and couples keep their financial lives in order by providing them with the necessary financial tools and education needed to handle long-term decisions and avoid unexpected financial outcomes. He and his team have extensive experience in investment planning, asset preservation and estate provisions, retirement planning, property ownership and special considerations concerning sudden illness or the death of a family member.

Joshua has committed to ongoing professional education in his field, earning important credentials that help enrich his clients’ customized plans.  “I’ve got 27 letters after my name,” Joshua said, referring to his eight designations – CFP^®, ChFC^®, CLU^®, ADPA^®, CEP^®, CLTC, WMS and AIF^®. “That was just me going out and trying to learn all these different silos of investment, estate and education planning so I could figure out how to get the protections and guidance that the LGBT+ community wasn’t getting.”

Joshua has been quoted, featured, or interviewed by most of the major investment planning media – Investment Advisor magazine, CFP Board Report, Reuters, NPR, Journal of Financial Planning, Wall Street Journal, SmartMoney.com, Investment News, RIABiz, RIA Central Digest and On Wall Street magazine. He is an in-demand speaker on the national level as an ambassador for the CFP® Board of Standards. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association at both the local and national levels. Joshua is also on the Advisory Council for the Pride Financial Advisors Network.

Joshua is registered with Raymond James as a General Securities Registered Representative (Series 7). He also holds Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law exam), Series 65 (Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam) registrations for Investment Advisor Representatives and is a Registered Principal (Series 24).

Otto Rivera is a Financial Planner with White Lighthouse Investment Management. He works with US and foreign citizens living in the US and abroad.  Previously he was a Senior Institutional Representative with Charles Schwab & Co.  where he provided service to a wide spectrum of  Registered Investment Advisor Firms and specialized in International Accounts.  He was born and raised in the Island of Puerto Rico and is a native Spanish speaker. He currently resides in Orlando, Florida with his wife and daughter.