SEMINARS : Examples of Speakers Past and Present
A Matter of Trusts: Empowering our Next Generation to Thrive (2014)
Jim Aresty’s father was the youngest of 9 children. The family emigrated from Yugoslavia a few members at a time. Each brother worked to get himself through college and then help the next brother to do the same. The family of six brothers and three sisters was incredibly close. Jim’s dad and two of his brothers built a very successful woman’s apparel business. Each of the three brothers brought in one son, including Jim, so there were six family members all working together. Jim took over the reigns of the production department just as the computer became a viable business tool. He oversaw the development of very sophisticated software, which enabled him to accurately run huge production with very few employees. In the mid1980s Middle America realized it could no longer make it on one salary. The Arestys’ company was in the right place, at the right time, as women began entering the workforce in mass. They became one of the largest sportswear manufacturers in the country.
While Jim did earn a significant amount of wealth from working 20 years in the family business, the meteor that landed in his lap five years ago upon the death of his father, involved the management, investment, and all legal aspects of estate planning for the family wealth. The landing of this meteor crystallized for him the realization that he, his sister, exwife, and consequently his sons all have differing relationships with money.
It is Jim’s intention to have all the finances and paperwork seamlessly organized so that his kids inherit a functioning system, as opposed to the confusion that he inherited. Jim hopes to convey to his children his own values around investing, with the understanding that the world will change. He has begun having family meetings to prepare his two sons for the meteor coming their way. Jim hopes to pass on the core value of freedom to explore and nurture their true self, which will allow them to find their own spark and creativity. It is imperative to Jim that his sons learn to think and react to the changing world on their own two feet. To always consider the passed down family values, but to have the freedom to make their own decisions.
Jim has found that as the wealthy get wealthier, everything we experience drives us towards secrecy. The wealthier we are, the more we hide. His father taught him never to talk to anyone about the wealth, nor to trust anyone. Jim has had to learn to let go of his father’s fears and be okay with making his own mistakes. Because it is incredibly challenging for a parent to let their children make mistakes, it is important to teach kids that not only is it okay, but that they should make mistakes. In fact, if they don’t make mistakes, then they’re not developing and growing as they should.
Engaging the Next Generation (2012)
Chela Blitt is a video maker, donor activist, and a Board member of the Blitt Family Foundation. She has been a supporter of the Urgent Action Fund since its inception, and a member of its Board for many years. She believes in supporting projects that help build a world that is safer and more just.
Partner: Reese Henry & Company, Inc.
A Matter of Trusts: Empowering our Next Generation to Thrive (2014)
Kelly holds degrees in Business Administration and Accounting from Drury University. He is a shareholder and partner at Reese Henry & Company, Inc., Aspen’s oldest and largest accounting and consulting firm. Before joining Reese Henry & Company, Inc. Kelly worked for Deloitte, a Big Four international accounting firm.
For nearly 20 years, Kelly has focused on providing accounting and tax services to privately-held businesses, investment funds and affluent families. He has extensive experience in business advisory, transactional services, business taxation, individual taxation, estate and gift tax planning, personal CFO and family office services.
The Next Generation: Engaged and Giving Back (2016)
Driven by the notion that government and the private sector must work together to create opportunity and solve problems, Gordon Bronson founded GoodAgency, focused on working with industry leaders and policy makers to find uncommon solutions to big challenges. He works on policy and programs aimed to support economic growth through technology and entrepreneurship. In 2015, he worked with Speaker Pro Tem Dan Pabon to pass legislation allowing equity crowdfunding in Colorado. Gordon began his political career on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. He then served in President Obama’s administration under Sec. Ken Salazar at the Department of the Interior and later at the White House.
The Next Generation: Engaged and Giving Back (2016)
Kimbo is a South African graduate of the University of Cape Town who has called the Aspen area home for the better part of a decade. She is a board member of the Aspen Community Foundation, the former chair of SpringBoard Aspen, cofounder of the Aspen Professional Mentor and Networking Program, founding member of the Aspen City Council’s Next Generation Advisory Commission, and cofounder of CollegeTrek. CollegeTrek aims to support the college application process in high schools in the Roaring Fork Valley by harnessing the skills of the local young professional population. During the day, Kimbo is a client service associate at Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel, an investment advisory firm with offices in Aspen and Denver, CO.
Engaging the Next Generation (2012)
Chelsea Congdon Brundige is a native of Colorado. She grew into a deep appreciation for philanthropy and volunteerism, nurtured by the vision and conviction of her parents who achieve a great deal of love and mutual respect through their own philanthropy. Chelsea is on the Board of Directors of the Congdon Family Fund, a donor advised fund of the Denver Foundation.
Conversation with Jim Calaway (2015)
James C. Calaway is a philanthropist-businessman who resides in Carbondale, Colorado. He served as the Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows before he became a trustee in 1997. In 2000, he was selected to be Chair of the Lifetime Trustees.
Mr. Calaway was in the oil and gas exploration business for over 40 years and retired as Chairman of Edge Petroleum in the late 1980s. He now partners with his son (John) in building wind farms in several states to generate renewable energy, and his son (James) in producing lithium at Orocobre, and DataCert, a global provider of enterprise legal management solutions. Mr. Calaway received two presidential appointments during the Carter administration to the National Petroleum Council and as Commissioner of Presidential Scholars.
Since his retirement, Mr. Calaway has set his sights on philanthropy and fundraising for civic groups and nonprofit organizations, having served as a regent of the University of Texas at Corpus Christi, a trustee of Antioch College, board member of the Colorado Mountain College Foundation, and founder and Chairman of the Board of Overseers for Colorado Mountain College. He served as Treasurer for the American Civil Liberties Union on the national level and is a lifetime member of the NAACP. Moreover, he cofounded the Colorado Animal Rescue Shelter (CARE) that has taken in, cared for and adopted out over 11,000 homeless dogs and cats. From his support of Colorado Mountain College, Valley View Hospital and its CalawayYoung Cancer Center, Thunder River Theatre, CLEER, Third Street Center, Kipp Schools, the Aspen Institute, to the Isaacson School for New Media, Jim has become known as one of the Roaring Fork Valley’s leading philanthropists.
The Spirit of the Gift (2013)
Isa Catto is an environmentalist and an artist whose work has been widely exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. She has spent the last fifteen years working in watercolor and mixed media, as well as teaching workshops at art centers worldwide.
Isa received her Masters in Fine & Decorative Arts through Christy’s Education, BA from Williams College and studied fine art at University of Colorado in Boulder and Parsons School of Design in New York. She teaches at Colorado Mountain College in Aspen, CO; Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO; and the Wyly Arts Center in Basalt, CO. She has also taught at the Michael Kohler Arts Center, San Antonio Center for Arts and Crafts, and the Austin Museum of Art.
Isa’s father (Henry E. Catto, Jr.) was an ambassador to the Court of St. James’s in the United Kingdom under President George Bush, and White House Chief of Protocol, director of the U.S. Information Agency, and assistant Secretary of Defense. Isa’s mother, Jessica Hobby Catto, was a wellknown conservationist and journalist. She was a member of the Chairman’s Council of Conservation International and the boards of directors of the National Parks Conservation Association, World Resources Institute, the Conservation Fund and the Environmental Defense Fund. Jessica also published the Washington Journalism Review (now the American Journalism Review) and remained a contributing editor there for the rest of her life.
Isa is on the Board of the Catto Charitable Trust, Madroño Ranch, and Anna Deavere Smith Works (a place for artistic excellence and social change).
Isa lives in Woody Creek, CO with her husband and two children. She is an avid gardener at 8,000 feet, loves to travel and hike with her family, and never gets enough time to read for pleasure.
The Next Generation: Engaged and Giving Back (2016)
A transplanted New Englander, Duncan followed his passion for skiing from the slopes of Vermont to the mountains of Colorado. After graduating from the University of Colorado in 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature, Duncan moved to Aspen with a business plan in hand to pursue his dream of opening Aspen’s only craft brewery, Aspen Brewing Company. Now celebrating 8 years in business, Aspen Brewing Company continues to grow internationally as an Aspen and Colorado premier craft beer brand while supporting countless community and nonprofit organizations. Duncan’s entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to Aspen’s sustainable future has inspired him to collaborate on the Aspen Power Plant, a new vision chosen by Aspen City Council for the Old Power House building located adjacent to the Roaring Fork River on North Mill Street; the future home of ‘The Generator’ – a collaborative work space, The Aspen Biergarten and Aspen 82’s live television studio, coming spring of 2017.
Law Office of Jeanne C. Doremus
A Matter of Trusts: Empowering our Next Generation to Thrive (2014)
Women Wisdom Wealth…And a Little Wine (2014)
Jeanne C. Doremus, Esq. specializes in trusts, estates, corporate and business entities. She also donates her time and participates in local nonprofit organizations such as Alpine Legal Services, Inc. where she is currently the President, Room to Read, Aspen High School Booster Club, and 100+Women.
Women Wisdom Wealth…And a Little Wine (2014)
Gayle Embrey is a filmmaker, artist and a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Colorado who recently retired from private practice. Gayle is CEO of Embrey Interests, a commercial real estate company in Dallas, Texas. She served as President of the Board of the Embrey Family Foundation from late 2005 to 2008.
Kathryn hails from a family who has put an emphasis on philanthropy including her Father’s parents who were involved with National Jewish Hospital, Technion University and the National Mustang Association. She and the Fleck Family Foundation were the first donors and advisors to Jazz Aspen Snowmass and she continues to sit on the JAS Board of Directors.
Ginni Galicinao has been working with high net worth individuals and families for over two decades, with a goal of helping families flourish in all areas of their lives. From the first conversations around the meaning of and impact of wealth, to engaging the next generation, to helping couples work through the pre-prenuptial process, and designing programs that take the onboarding process beyond a discussion of trusts and legal documents, her work creates a solid foundation for life long learning within the family.
With a strong background in facilitation and mediation, several families in the process of transferring leadership of their small family business and/or family foundation to the rising generation, have sought Ms. Galicinao’s guidance in strategic planning. She is astute at facilitating and mediating discussions around confusing; interlocking roles and systems, and helping them create strategies that enable the family to make their way through the unique dynamics of a family business.
Jay Hughes likened her role to that of a Chief Learning Officer for families of wealth. For many, their introduction to Ms. Galicinao is often the first time they’ve given serious attention to these issues as a family, or attempted to implement the information they have acquired from prior wealth seminars. The work she does is at the root of enabling families and their rising generations to make good and thoughtful decisions.
Ms. Galicinao brings a variety of tools to the table in designing Family Gatherings and strategies that match the specific needs of each family. She has been coaching, mediating, facilitation and consulting since 2004. Her background includes extensive experience, training, degrees and certifications in Organization and Family Relationship Systems, Executive Coaching, Compassionate Communication, Crucial Conversations, Professional Mediation, and a B.S. in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco. She is a member of the Purposeful Planning Institute, Council on Foundations, National Center on Family Philanthropy, International Coach Federation, and others.
What’s Your Legacy? (2011)
Executive Director and CEO of the Urgent Action Fund (UAF). The UAF is a global women’s fund that exists to protect, strengthen and sustain women human rights defenders and their organizations at critical moments in time. Ms. Greenblatt is a recipient of Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year, Colombe D’oro Per La Pace, and Dialogue on Diversity Liberty awards, and is one of the 1000 Women for Peace nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She speaks nationally and internationally on the responsibility of women as agents of both social and political change.
The Spirit of the Gift (2013)
Glenda Greenwald, President of the Aspen Brain Forum Foundation, recently organized the first Aspen Brain Forum, an annual meeting of top-level international Brain researchers. Partnering with the New York Academy of Sciences, the first meeting in 2010, focused on Neuro-technology: Building Better Brains. Aspen Brain Forum’s newest event is AspenBrainLab, sponsored by the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Brain Forum, and the Aspen Strategy Center on August 10, 2013. The seminar will feature Brain Talks by 15 experts, all about Your Creative Brain, Your Impaired Brain, Your Healthy Brain and Your Future Brain.
Greenwald was Founder and Chair Emeritus of the Aspen Center for Integral Health (ACIH), a national nonprofit education institute addressing integrative, preventive, and environmental medicine and health, from 20002010. Prior to ACIH, Greenwald was Founder and Chair of the WISH List (Women in the Senate and House) a national organization supporting prochoice Republican women candidates for Congress, Senate, and Governorships. In 1970 she founded the Human Intelligence International Newsletter distributed to educators, psychologists, curriculum specialists and neuroscientists in 26 countries.
Her academic career includes Smith College, Wayne State University and PHD studies at the University of Sorbonne (Paris). She has served on various Boards, including her own “I Have a Dream” Program (St. Louis and Chicago) and the Hastings Center for Biomedical Ethics (N.Y.) and the New York Academy of Sciences President’s Circle.
Greenwald’s husband Jerry is former vice president of Chrysler Corporation and former chairman of United Airlines. They have four children and have lived in nine countries.
A Matter of Trusts: Empowering our Next Generation to Thrive (2014)
In the 24 years of living in Aspen, Melinda has owned a lodge as well as a few retail businesses. Throughout her years here, she has also bought, remodeled, built and sold residences. The outdoor lifestyle and the connection to the community, however, is what has kept her here.
Committing both time and financial support to a number of local organizations, she is continuing her father’s legacy of Jewish Philanthropy. As an 87 year old Holocaust survivor, her father established a family foundation with a commitment to Holocaust and Jewish education into the future. Currently with her father and sister’s family, the Foundation is supporting the Holocaust Museum they built in Los Angeles and additions to a number of educational institutions in Israel, where her father fled to and remained during WWII. She has now expanded the concept of Jewish education to include Jewish summer camping and service programs for young adults. Her belief is that the legacy of philanthropy needs to be shared with future generations, especially youth and young adults.
Although she saw through example what the power of philanthropy can do, she wishes that more direct conversation and education about its importance and HOW to steward the family’s financial legacy would have occurred. Melinda believes that the the passing of knowledge and intent is just as important to the philanthropic future as the passing of the funding.
- What’s Your Legacy? (2011)
- The Spirit of the Gift (2013)
- Cycle of the Gift (2013)
Mr. Hughes is the author of Family Wealth: Keeping It in the Family; Family — The Compact Among Generations; coauthor of The Cycle of the Gift: Family Wealth and Wisdom; and, author of many articles on family governance and wealth preservation. He has spoken at numerous international and domestic symposia on the avoidance of the shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves proverb and the growth of families’ human, intellectual, social and financial capitals.
He is an emeritus member of the Board of the Philanthropic Initiative, Councilor to the Family Office Exchange, emeritus faculty member of the Institute for Private Investors, retired member of the Board of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, and emeritus board member of New Ventures in Philanthropy.
Women Wisdom Wealth…And a Little Wine (2014)
Sallie has over 25 years experience in the investment business and has worked on the broker/dealer side, with a Registered Investment Advisor, and in a Family Office. Her experience is primarily in client services and operations trading for high net worth individuals, all while overseeing compliance regulation.
Sallie began her career by obtaining her Series 7 and 63 licenses and working with high net worth clients for Kidder Peabody in Denver, Colorado. In 1998, Sallie moved to Aspen, Colorado to work with the CFO of a private family office. There she prepared overall performance and asset allocation of the family’s assets based on entities and sectors. Additionally, she researched and analyzed potential equity purchases and prospective private equity investments.
Sallie moved back to Denver in 2000 where two principals of a small investment practice hired her to open and run their office under the Wheat Financial platform. At this time she obtained her compliance licenses. After this venture she was recruited by JP Morgan Private banking to trade on the self directed desk where the minimum net worth of a client was $25MM. She not only traded IPOs, restricted stock, and large block trades but also handled private investments and derivative strategies.
In late 2004, Sallie returned to Aspen to marry. For four years she worked at Obermeyer Asset Management Company where she was the Accounts and Compliance Manager for the Registered Investment Advisor. After leaving there in late 2009, she started AFS to help wealthy individuals, families and businesses manage their financial affairs.
A Family Affair: Conversations with the Next Generation (2016)
A Matter of Trusts: Empowering Our Next Generation to Thrive (2014)
Bryan’s grandfather, Fritz Knoebel, founded Mercantile Co., a bakery distributor, in 1929, which eventually became the largest privatelyowned food service distribution company (Nobel Food Services) in the country. Fritz was able to secure a successful exit from the business when his company was acquired by Sysco Foods.
As a 3rd generation member of a successful Denver family, Bryan’s path towards connecting with his family’s wealth has taken many twists and turns. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Colorado, he decided to put his professional career on hold to pursue his passion for music. His band toured all over North America earning notoriety and accolades along the way. As his music career began to slow, curiosity pushed him into the financial services industry where he spent 9 years.
Bryan is currently working to launch his startup, MoneyCarta, a mobile app that allows users to holistically improve their financial health. Now as an entrepreneur, Bryan draws on the unexpected lessons he has learned along the way guide his decisions and move towards a deeper connection with his family’s legacy.
What’s Your Legacy? (2011)
Cofounder with Susie Krabacher of the Mercy and Sharing Foundation, which cares for over 3,000 children at three schools, two feeding programs, and three orphanages in Haiti. The Foundation has been operating in Haiti for over 16 years. Their mission is to provide hope and opportunity to the abused, abandoned and disabled children of Haiti. Through their orphanages, proper nutrition, education and medical programs, Mercy & Sharing has saved and enhanced the lives of thousands of Haiti’s children and elderly.
Adam J. Lewis of the LEWI Foundation is a philanthropist, film producer, and businessman. He was among the first philanthropists to promote highperformance and green buildings more than two decades ago. He has been behind the efforts to stop the destruction of the Appalachian Mountains through the practice of mountaintop removal and supports organizations that are central to building a new economy that reclaim the ancient promise of Appalachia. He has also engaged in projects to launch efforts to stop climate change by supporting an action plan for the 2009 Administration, including a new energy policy in the US, building on efficiency, technological prowess, and renewable sources of energy. He has been honored for his work in the environment by many organizations, including Rocky Mountain Institute.
Founding Chapter Leader of the Tokyo and Aspen Chapters of Room to Read, an organization dedicated to transforming the lives of children through literacy and gender equality educational programs. Room to Read has impacted 5.1 million children in Asia and Africa with a goal of reaching 10 million children by 2015. They have built 1,442 schools, 11,246 libraries, distributed 9.4 million children’s books and provided 10,590 girls’ scholarships. They have been honored with The Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Award, Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and others.
Scott Luhnau is a Senior Wealth Planning Strategist for the Mountain Northwest region of Wells Fargo Private Bank. As part of wealth planning, Mr. Luhnau works with clients to help develop customized wealth plans and implement solutions based on a thorough understanding of their personal values, asset growth and wealth transfer goals, and vision for their legacy.
Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Mr. Luhnau was a Senior Vice President with Merrill Lynch in Houston, Texas for thirteen years, where he specialized in fiduciary services including trust and estate administration, wealth strategies, and he managed a team of trust officers. He has been in the financial services industry for the past nineteen years.
Mr. Luhnau earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Houston Baptist University, with a double major in PreMed and English. Thereafter, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from South Texas College of Law. He is also a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor.
Exploring the Impact of Your Investments: Do they Align with Your Values? (2016)
Wally serves as the firm’s cochairman and president, overseeing our operations, managing client relationships, and spearheading strategic initiatives.
Wally founded Obermeyer Asset Management in 1997 after serving as regional vice president of Heritage Trust and Asset Management from 1994 to 1997. He has a broad range of business and financial experience including managing his family’s ski apparel business and founding a hydroelectric generation company. Wally earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA, cum laude, from Harvard College. He also serves as a trustee of the Gates Family Foundation, and as a board member of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Foundation and the Aspen Center for Environment Studies. Wally has been recognized by Barron’s as a Top 100 Independent Financial Advisor eight times since the ranking’s inception, most recently in 2015. He was also included in Barron’s 2014, 2015, and 2016 lists of America’s Top Financial Advisors.
Engaging the Next Generation (2012)
Women Wisdom Wealth…And a Little Wine (2014)
Ali Flynn Phillips, Senior Vice President/Investments and Client Advisory for Obermeyer Asset Management, advises on overall investment strategy and asset allocation, and oversees the firm’s strategy and marketing initiatives.
Both excited and scared, Kelley mustered her courage and asked her father for a $1 million gift to the endowment campaign for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Kelley has enjoyed learning about people, community, and the impact she and her family can have on the world through philanthropy – her second career.
Engaging the Next Generation (2012)
Lani Shaw is the Executive Director of General Service Foundation, a family foundation committed to bringing about a more just and sustainable world. She has worked with next generation family members for nearly 20 years, including partnering with key fourth generation leaders to lead and design the Foundation’s 50th and 60th Anniversary Celebrations.
With long time ties to Aspen, Karim moved to Aspen full time in 2012 to cofound Ajax Holdings, a family investment office focusing on the real estate and energy industries. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Denver. Karim is on the Board of Directors of AVSC and sits on the Advisory Board of the Aspen Institute’s Vanguard Chapter of the Society of Fellows.
The Spirit of the Gift (2013)
George is the grandson of an automotive era icon, Frank Stranahan, who with George’s great uncle founded the Champion Spark Plug Co. in 1908. It was the sole supplier of spark plugs to the Ford Auto Co. until 1961. George— physicist, educator, activist, microbrewer, photographer, rancher, philanthropist, father, and so much more. George, who denies he’s a businessman, notes, “I’ve ended up doing a lot of businesses, but it was sort of incidental to some sort of social or political purpose.” He doesn’t want to lose money. But his mantra might make some capitalists cringe, “Do good. If you make money, God bless! That’s more fun even.”
- A Family Affair: Conversations with the Next Generation (2016)
- Exploring the Impact of Your Investments: Do they Align with Your Values? (2016)
- The Spirit of the Gift (2013)
- Women & Wealth: What’s the Money For? (2012)
Molly, who spent summers growing up in Woody Creek, is a fourth generation heir of the Champion Spark Plug family. Molly believes her good fortune comes with the responsibility to use the gifts and resources she has been blessed with in this lifetime to leave the world a better place, with less suffering and more love and happiness.
Molly spent the first decade of her adult life as a trust officer and business consultant, and the second decade getting a doctorate in psychology from Rutgers University. In 2002 she created the Path to Happiness through which she shares with others what psychology knows about the choices we can make to live happier, healthier, more fulfilled lives. She currently works with individuals and teaches a class on The Path to Peace about Money at Miraval Spa in Tucson, Arizona. For the last 15 years she has been a leader and presenter at the Summer Institute, a volunteer-run annual four-day personal growth retreat for inheritors of financial wealth and their partners.
Molly has come to accept the label of philanthropist, interpreting it to mean one who loves humanity. Besides her personal giving, which includes contributing money and time through the Solidaire Network, Threshold Foundation and a donor advised fund, she has been involved in family foundations since she was 21, starting with the Needmor Fund and in the last decade or so, the Stranahan Foundation.
Molly believes in making choices in alignment with her values, which include being compassionate, loving, generous, nonjudgmental and responsible for the consequences of her actions. She attempts to invest her financial resources in companies that help create the kind of world she wants to live in. Molly questions the assumptions of our current investment markets and monetary system, and is highly distressed by the harm being done to people and the planet by the belief that making money is the primary goal of business and life. She believes that in our extractive economy, capital has been overly rewarded (much to her benefit). Members of her family and the Needmor Fund started investing in alignment with their values in the 1980s, experimenting with socially responsible investment managers, direct private equity and loans, and community investing. She is curious about how we can use our resources more responsibly to create a more just and sustainable human presence on the planet.
The Next Generation: Engaged and Giving Back (2016)
Chloe has gained a deep appreciation for both sides of the philanthropic “aisle” through serving on the Board of the Wilson Foundation out of Rochester, NY on the grant-making side and through her work in Development at the Aspen Institute over the last four years on the grant-receiving side. Realizing the power of both philanthropy and traditional investment, as well as the impact the two can have together to catalyze change, Chloe seeks both professionally and personally to engage the next generation in a sustainable and mutually beneficial way.
Engaging the Next Generation (2012)
Peter Van Domelen is the managing partner at Reese Henry & Company, Inc. in Aspen, CO. He has over 30 years of experience in tax, estate, retirement, and family wealth planning. Peter focuses on identifying his clients’ personal goals and designing action plans to help them meet these goals. Peter is a founding member of both the Aspen Education Foundation and the Aspen School District Financial Advisory Board. He is also a Board member of the Wilderness Workshop, an organization dedicated to preserving wilderness in the White River National Forest.
Exploring the Impact of Your Investments: Do they Align with Your Values? (2016)
Casey Verbeck is Director, Business Development. He leads strategy and business development for Veris Wealth Partners. Casey is very skilled in helping families, individuals and foundations align their wealth with their values. He is a member of the firm’s Marketing and Business Development team with a national purview on marketing.
Casey is a proven entrepreneur and executive who is knowledgeable and passionate about impact investing. Over the past 16 years Casey built and managed two firms focused on strategic advisory and business management. He worked with leading artists, nonprofits and Fortune 500 corporations around the globe to accelerate their growth through program design and overall strategy. Some of his most rewarding engagements included The Nature Conservancy, Feeding America, the UN Foundation and National Geographic. He also created and launched the [i4c] campaign and venture fund in partnership with Sarah McLachlan and ABC television to support the growth of impact entrepreneurs in the U.S. Casey serves on the Board of Directors at the University of Colorado Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, [i4c] LLC, Colorado B Lab Impact Committee and on the advisory board of Accion.
He enjoys flyfishing, snowboarding, cycling and is still trying to master the art of surfing. He lives with his wife Lisa and two kids, Miles and Avery in Boulder, CO.
A Matter of Trusts: Empowering our Next Generation to Thrive (2014)
Born and raised in New York City, Jay Webster is the great grandson of William Rockefeller, the brother of John D. Rockefeller. Jay’s father, Jerome P. Webster, was world famous as a pioneer of American plastic surgery. In addition to many of his accomplishments, he taught surgery in Peking, China and at Columbia University.
Jay graduated from Princeton University and the American University School of International Studies. Between graduate and undergraduate school he served as a naval officer on a destroyer in the Mediterranean Sea during the Berlin Wall crisis and at Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile crisis.
From 1966 – 1981, he worked in the Princeton University Administration where he served in the development and career guidance offices. The last ten years at Princeton he was the Director of the International Studies Programs. He was President of JAYWEB, Co., a private investment firm from 19801996. In 1986 he moved from Princeton to Aspen to “pursue the good life.”
Jay’s mother, Geraldine R. McAlpin Webster, died subsequent to the birth of Jay and his twin brother, Hartley. The twins and their older sister were raised by a series of governesses and other household servants.
Finances and money in general, were very little discussed in the Webster household. Upon approaching maturity (late teens), financial education was relegated to bankers, lawyers and financial advisors. “To whom much is given, shall much be required” became a major theme in Jay’s life. In his youth, Jay was reluctant to acknowledge that he was a Rockefeller heir. He felt embarrassed about coming from wealth, and did not like being thought of as a rich kid. While Jay was not adequately prepared by his father for inheriting wealth, he regrets that he, too, did little to prepare his own children for the challenges of receiving wealth.
Engaging the Next Generation (2012)
Kelly Wyly O’Donovan is a professional artist whose artwork resides in collections throughout the globe in private and corporate collections. She lives in Woody Creek, Colorado with her family and works out of a studio in her home.
Born to Rosemary Acton and Sam Wyly, Kelly Wyly O’Donovan was raised in Dallas, Texas. Kelly’s mother, Rosemary Acton, was an artist as well, and encouraged her daughter to begin painting when she was a young child. She has been painting ever since she could hold a paintbrush in her hand.
Kelly studied fine art at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon and Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She studied under the tutelage of master ceramicists Francis Milici and Dominique Sassi for two years. Kelly is co-owner of Finbarr’s Irish Pub & Kitchen in Aspen, Colorado with her husband, Denis Finbarr O’Donovan. She is also co-owner of Elliott Yeary Gallery located in Aspen, Colorado where her ceramics and paintings are on permanent exhibit. Kelly’s ceramics are also on exhibit at Galerie SassiMilici in Vallauris, France.
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IMPACT OF WEALTH PODCAST
