In recent years, professional advisors across the Community Foundation’s service area have been flooded with activity as thousands of families have moved into the area. In response to that explosive growth, and to continue to provide value to Philanthropic Advisory Council (PAC) members, this fall the foundation unveiled a new regional approach for the council.
The regional strategy brings council meetings to Martin County in the north region, the Boca Raton/Delray Beach area in the south, and West Palm Beach in the central region. The PAC’s mission remains the same, providing the Foundation with strategic guidance and leadership, but in three regions.
“At the suggestion of some of our long-serving advisors, we’re doing this to meet the demand, to meet the moment in such a large service area, said Mary Katherine Morales, vice president for philanthropic services at the Community Foundation. “As a result, we’re attracting top-level advisors because they don’t have to get in a car and fight traffic for an hour, each way.”
The move provides added benefit for council members by creating a cohesive networking circle in their local communities, by developing a customized plan that reflects the needs of nonprofit organizations closer to their clients’ neighborhoods, and by bringing real-time case studies of how the foundation adds value to them and their clients in their communities.
This fall, the foundation introduced its new strategy to PAC members with meetings in Stuart, West Palm Beach, and Boca Raton.
Tandy Robinson, a private wealth advisor at Goldman Sachs in West Palm Beach who this year began her tenure as chair of the council, welcomed new and existing members, and introduced the regional leaders.
Stacey Hallberg, who serves as president of the East Florida Region at Northern Trust, and April Hicks, a partner at Carr, Riggs & Ingram Advisors LLC, were named PAC co-chairs to lead their respective regions — Hicks in the north and Hallberg in the south.
“We’re doing things a little differently this year,” Robinson said at this year’s PAC kickoff meeting in West Palm Beach. “We’re still one PAC, one mission, but we’re in three regions.”
Robinson told PAC members that they are welcome to attend any of the regional meetings, which will be similar but have different speakers.
Hicks led a meeting of PAC members at Seacoast Bank in Stuart, and Hallberg led the meeting at Northern Trust in Boca Raton.
In West Palm Beach, Robinson explained the council’s benefits for members and the foundation.
“We’re here to network and build relationships with one another because that will help us grow our business,” she said. “We’re also here to support the growth of the Community Foundation.”
PAC members can do that in several ways. They can partner with the Community Foundation to bring its philanthropic expertise to advise their clients on charitable endeavors.
They can introduce other professional advisors who may be interested in joining the PAC, thus growing the council.
Morales also suggested members host a gathering at their office where she could introduce the foundation and its work. Members can also lend their expertise through interviews that lead to articles that appear in the media or Community Foundation publications.
Morales explained the impact that PAC membership brings to advisors, their clients and the communities.
“No. 1, it’s great networking,” she said. “No. 2, it provides relevant technical intelligence that leads to the third point: PAC members return to their offices that day with information that’s useful to their practice.”
It also allows them to make a difference in the lives of children and families and nonprofit organizations in their areas, she said.
Trust and estate attorneys, CPAs, investment advisors, and other professional advisors interested in joining the PAC can contact Morales at 561-951-3450 or mkmorales@cfpbmc.org.
Â
Â
