Brian M. Sagrestano, JD, CFRE

Brian M. Sagrestano, JD, CFRE, received an A.B. cum laude from Cornell University and a J.D. cum laude from Notre Dame Law School. The son of a sole-practitioner CPA, his interest in the complexities of the tax code was “encouraged” at a very young age. Brian worked for the family business throughout his formative years and then “as-needed” until it was sold in 2001. His service as a law clerk in the Hunterdon County Superior Court and Surrogate Court cemented his interest in estate planning and probate. He spent several years practicing law with two New Jersey law firms, with an emphasis on tax and estate planning. Brian’s client-centered philosophy ultimately drew him into gift planning full-time, where he led the gift planning efforts for the University of Pennsylvania, Middlebury College and Meridian Health Affiliated Foundations, following major gift and gift planning positions at Clarkson University and Hamilton College. After many years of providing pro-bono gift planning consulting services, Brian and his wife Christine formed Gift Planning Development in 2007.

A dynamic and engaging teacher, Brian has served as a guest lecturer in Philanthropy & Fundraising Tools for Managers of Nonprofit Organizations at the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2008 he developed and taught the gift planning marketing curriculum as part of the Planned Giving Course, offered by the Planned Giving Council of Greater Philadelphia. He has presented at conferences around the country for organizations such as the National Committee on Planned Giving, the Council on the Advancement and Support of Education, and the Associate of Fund Raising Professionals. Over the last ten years, he has spoken to over 150 groups and developed philanthropy training programs for several nonprofits. He has taught thousands of fundraisers, professional advisors and philanthropists how to integrate philanthropic goals with tax, estate and financial planning. A recent attendee to one of his sessions wrote in her evaluation, “I wanted to take a moment to let you know how informative I found Mr. Sagrestano to be. This was one of the best workshops I have attended regarding Planned Giving. I look forward to the next one. The prospect of starting a formalized planned giving program can seem daunting but Mr. Sagrestano’s presentation brought a fresh approach that allows any organization to start the program without high priced staffing. I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and will incorporate many of his modules when presenting our program to our Board.” An evaluation from another training workshop stated: “I was struck by his breadth of knowledge, professional expertise and at the same time his ability to convey abstract concepts in easy to understand lay terms. Brian is warm, funny and very generous with information. Once you have met him, he is a friend and the "go-to" person for advice.”

In 2008 Brian co-founded the Legacy Giving Building Blocks Certificate Program with Caleb Rick, JD of North Common Associates. Instead of training fundraisers about gift planning tools, this unique six month program helps small and midsized non-profits create the infrastructure necessary to pursue long-term support through legacy gifts. Charities participating in the six half day, interactive sessions develop each of the building blocks so that at the end of the program, they have a fully functioning, legacy giving effort.

Brian is active with the National Committee on Planned Giving, the Gift Planning Council of New Jersey and the Planned Giving Council of Greater Philadelphia. He also serves on the editorial boards of both Planned Giving Mentor, a newsletter for those new to charitable gift planning, and the Journal of Gift Planning, the flagship gift planning magazine published by the National Committee on Planned Giving. He has been cited in numerous publications, including CASE Currents and the Chronicle of Philanthropy, among others. A strategic thinker, he specializes in helping charities develop integrated, donor-centered gift planning programs, either from the ground up or enhancing existing programs, and then assisting in implementation of the needed elements. His work with the University of Pennsylvania has received national attention for its innovative and collaborative approach with other areas of development.

When not working, Brian enjoys spending time with his wife and three daughters. He has also been seen singing in a barbershop chorus, refinishing furniture, swinging a golf club or tennis racquet and watching the occasional baseball game.

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Andrew A. Strauss, JD

Andrew A. Strauss, a certified specialist in Estate Planning and Probate Law from the North Carolina State Board of Legal Specialization, is founder and managing shareholder of Strauss & Associates, an estate planning, probate and estate administration firm with offices in Asheville and Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Mr. Strauss is a frequent lecturer at educational seminars and symposia for attorneys. He presented at the annual Estate Planning Conference of North Carolina Bar Association on Family Limited Partnerships and Discount Entities. He is also a former Adjunct Professor, Business Law, at the University of North Carolina Asheville, NC.

Mr. Strauss has published several works, including Estate Planning with Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts, 1996; Estate Planning with Family Limited Partnerships, 1998; Charitable Planning with Real Property, N.C. Bar Association, 2002; LEGACY: Plan, Protect and Preserve Your Estate, The Esperti Peterson Institute, Denver, 1996; and GENERATIONS, Planning Your Legacy, The Esperti Peterson Institute, Denver, 1999.

Andy is a member of Who’s Who in American Law and a member of the North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Florida State Bar Associations. He is a Fellow of the National Estate Planning Study Group and a 2008 member of the North Carolina Super Lawyers. He has received a rating of “AV”, the highest ranking given by the national ranking firm of Martindale-Hubbell.

Andy is a 1975 cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Economics. He received his MA from the University of Pennsylvania and his J. D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978.

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Randy Boone

Randy Boone is a native of Texas. He holds degrees from Abilene Christian University and Vanderbilt (M.Div., M.A., and Ph.D.), where he received graduate training as a historian of religion. A minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA) since 1980, he served as pastor to Presbyterian congregations in the South and Midwest for twenty years. In part because his fundraising career began in the context of pastoral ministry, he believes that estate planning decisions are among the most important spiritual crossroads a person ever faces. A pastoral vocation continues to inform his donor-centered approaches to institutional advancement. Before coming to Kanuga Conferences, Inc. as Director of Development in the spring of 2007, Randy was a development officer for the Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC and The Hill School in Middleburg, Virginia. His daughter Kathlene Eleanor Elisabeth Boone is a theater and English literature double major at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. He resides in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

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Bryan K. Clontz, CFP®, CLU, ChFC, CAP, AEP

Bryan is president and co-founder of Charitable Solutions, LLC, specializing in non-cash asset receipt and liquidation, gift annuity reinsurance brokerage, gift annuity risk management consulting, life insurance appraisals and CRT/CGA investment management. He also serves as a Senior Consultant for Ekstrom & Associates – a Connecticut-based community foundation consulting firm.

From 1993-2003, he served as the vice president of advancement at The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the national director of planned giving for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. 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.

At 24, Bryan became the youngest South Carolinian to ever earn the certified financial planner designation (CFP®), and subsequently earned the chartered life underwriter (CLU), chartered financial consultant (ChFC), accredited estate planner (AEP) and chartered advisor in philanthropy (CAP) designations. For six years, he served as a graduate adjunct professor of 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, the Advisory Board for the American College’s Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation, the American Council on Gift Annuities’ Rate Recommendation Committee and the National Committee on Planned Giving Board for 2007-2010. Bryan has also owned a NAPFA fee-only financial planning firm since 1996 focusing on middle-market clientele.

He has given more than 400 presentations on financial planning and planned giving topics; been published in an international insurance textbook; and written more than a dozen articles in financial services and planned giving journals, including a planned giving manual entitled Just Add Water, which has sold more than 2,000 copies. Bryan chaired the inaugural statewide Leave a Legacy Georgia! campaign. He has also served as an expert witness on charitable gift annuity default and reinsurance and is the principal inventor of a patent-pending CGA risk management process (LIRMAS- Life Income Risk Management Analytic Suite).

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Linda Natiello Friedland

Linda Natiello Friedland has been the Director of Planned Giving for the University of Tennessee System since 2003. The University of Tennessee is the state’s land-grant, higher education institution and flagship public university. It is comprised of campuses at Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Martin, the Health Science Center at Memphis, the Space Institute at Tullahoma, and the statewide Institute of Agriculture and Institute for Public Service. Linda works with the Development staffs of all the campuses and Institutes in their efforts to raise planned gifts. The University is currently in a $1 Billion dollar comprehensive campaign.

Before assuming her responsibilities at the University of Tennessee Linda was the Director of Charitable Gift Planning at Carson-Newman College. In 1991 she started her own financial planning practice in Columbia, SC. For almost 20 years prior to moving to Columbia she worked in senior executive positions in higher education in the field of Student Affairs.

Linda received her B.S. degree from Carson-Newman College and her M.S degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has served on several non-profit boards in Tennessee and South Carolina and is an active member of the Smoky Mountain Planned Giving Council. Linda has made numerous presentations teaching planned giving and charitable giving techniques to development professionals, planned giving councils, professional financial advisors, prospects and donors. Linda works with individuals and business owners helping them leave legacies, turning their success into significance.

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B. Thomas Lawson, Jr.

Tom Lawson is an institutional sales representative with Bank of America Philanthropic Management. Mr. Lawson is responsible for new business development and developing new client relationships with regard to the firm’s endowment, foundation and individual philanthropic solutions. He has over six years experience marketing investment management services to institutions and high net worth individuals and over 26 years experience serving non profit organizations. Previously, Mr. Lawson served as Senior Vice President for Donor Services for the Winston-Salem Foundation, Associate Vice Chancellor for Development for Appalachian State University and Director of Development, School of Design, North Carolina State University. Mr. Lawson currently serves on the boards of the North Carolina Planned Giving Council and South Carolina Planned Giving Council. He also serves on the Board of Visitors of Appalachian State University and the Capital Campaign Boards for Ronald McDonald House and Central YMCA. Mr. Lawson earned his bachelors and masters degrees from Appalachian State University.

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Jean Craig Long

Jean Craig Long is a nonprofit development consultant who specializes in helping nonprofits build solid business, administrative, and funding infrastructures for long-term adaptability and sustainability. She creates self-sustaining donor/funding networks by integrating sound, gift-planning strategies into development practices and cultivating strong donor relationships that turn annual and major givers into stakeholders.

She was awarded the Women of Achievement Award in recognition for Leadership in Public Service to the state of North Carolina by the Integral Science Institute.

Jean’s 30 years in the non-profit field include successful, real-life experiences in capital, comprehensive, and endowment campaigns for organizations such as Davidson College, UNC Charlotte, the Mint Museum of Art and Roanoke College. As the first Gift Planning Officer at UNC Charlotte, she established a sustainable planned giving program that grew to over $22 million in its first five years. She conceptualized and launched The Bonnie Cone Society, UNC Charlotte’s legacy society. She also designed and implemented the Mint Museum’s first planned giving program, launched its legacy society, and secured over $3 million in deferred gifts in the first 2 years.

She is a past President of the North Carolina Planned Giving Council. She graduated from the College of William & Mary National Planned Giving Institute and also the R&R Newkirk Comprehensive Planned Giving Seminar. She has presented at regional and statewide conferences for the North Carolina Planned Giving Council, the Association for Fund Raising Professionals (AFP), the NC Center for Non-Profits, the NC Land Trust Assembly, Faith In Action, and the Blanche & Julian Robertson Family Foundation.

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