Our Professional Advisors Council includes individuals from a variety of disciplines, including law, accounting, financial planning, insurance and investment, and wealth management. Members are invited to serve two-year terms of service, and they share our commitment to building a better Bay Area, an interest in our programmatic work and to the power of charitable giving. Meetings are held exclusively for members of the council four times per year and provide a forum to discuss new initiatives at the foundation and gift planning strategies.
We are grateful for the involvement of these professionals in our work, as members provide the foundation with critical feedback and guidance.
Francesca Boyd | Director, Fennemore Wendel
Sachiko Danish, CPA, CFP | Partner, BPM Partners
Lauren Disston | Attorney at Law, Conradi Disston, LLP
Lauren Disston is a partner at the law firm of Conradi Disston, LLP, a boutique estate planning firm in Orinda, California. Lauren received her B.A. from Stanford University, her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law, and her LL.M. from Golden Gate University. Fun fact: Lauren was a prosecutor in Alameda County (Oakland) before transitioning to estate planning.
Mitchell Edwards | Senior Vice President, Jordan Park
Mitch Edwards is a Senior Vice President Family Office Solutions/Wealth Strategist, Jordan Park. Mitch is a member of the San Francisco Estate Planning Council and the Trusts and Estates Section of the State Bar of California. Mitch received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Fun fact: Mitch and his partner, Erica, own two French bulldogs named Willie Nelson and Dollie Parton.
Michael Firestone | Managing Partner, Fire Capital Management
Michael Firestone is the Managing Partner at Fire Capital Management, LLC (“FCM”). FCM is a boutique investment management company that provides HNW private wealth management, UHNW multi-family office advisory, and private foundation investment & impact OCIO services. Prior to founding FCM, he served as Portfolio Manager and Managing Director at Fiduciary Trust International, a HNW wealth management and trust company. While managing client portfolios he also maintained various equity strategy and research roles across multiple industries and sectors. Michael holds a B.S. in Finance & Real Estate from Florida State University, a M.S. in Finance from Florida State University, and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. He is also a CFA charterholder. Fun Fact: Michael is secretly training his baby girl to be a professional golfer, X Games pro snowboarder, and computer scientist.
Melissa Hung, J.D., L.U. | Counsel, Shartsis Friese LLP
Melissa advises families and individuals by developing and implementing estate planning strategies to transfer assets in a thoughtful and tax-efficient manner. Her experience includes customizing revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and other vehicles to promote her clients’ goals. She also advises fiduciaries regarding trust and estate administrations. She enjoys collaborating with other lawyers and advisors to design practical and integrated solutions to her clients’ legal needs. She is a certified Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law.
Christopher Hurtado | Senior Vice President, Seven Post Investment Office LP
Chris Hurtado is a Senior Vice President at Seven Post Investment Office LP and a member of the Board of Directors of Seven Post Trust Company. Chris previously practiced law at firms in San Francisco and New York, where he focused his practice on tax, estate planning, and philanthropic matters. Prior to law practice, Chris was a consultant at The Bridgespan Group, a social impact consulting firm. Chris is licensed to practice law in California and New York. He received a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.B.A. from Yale School of Management, and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Fun Fact: In a prior life, Chris was an avid rock climber, with climbs throughout North America. Today, his weekends are more “grounded,” involving trips to the local playground with his wife and son.
Lani Kapur, CFP® | Partner, Aspiriant
Lani Kapur joined Aspiriant in 2007 as a portfolio administrator in investment operations and transitioned to the wealth management team in 2010. She has over 15 years of experience serving high net worth individuals and families. In addition to her client service responsibilities, Lani is co-chair of Aspiriant’s Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee. Lani earned her CFP® certification in 2015. She attended Santa Clara University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Fun Fact: Lani enjoys car camping with her family. Their favorite place to camp is Yosemite.
Micah Miller, J.D., LL.M (Tax), TEP, AEP | Managing Director, Cresset Capital Management, LLC
Micah Miller serves as a Managing Director, Wealth Strategist in Cresset’s San Francisco office. In this role, he educates individuals and families on the tax and estate planning complexities they face and designs and implements comprehensive wealth transfer strategies to help achieve their personal, financial, business, and charitable goals. Prior to joining Cresset in 2023, Micah served as Managing Director and Advanced Planner on the national team at First Republic Bank. Micah graduated with distinction to receive his LL.M degree in Taxation and with honors and received his Estate Planning Certificate from Georgetown University Law Center. He earned his JD degree from Santa Clara University School of Law and his Bachelor of Art degree in political science from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. Fun fact: Micah plays the drums.
Chris Nason | Partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Chris Nason focuses his practice on private client matters. He is the managing editor of International Estate Planning, a multi-volume guide to US estate and income taxation of foreign nationals published annually by LexisNexis/Matthew Bender Elite.
Chris teaches classes on Trusts and Estate Planning at Stanford Law School. While in law school, Chris served as an editor for the Yale Journal of International Law and was a fellow at the China Law Center and was also a co-president of the Law and Africa Society. Prior to law school, he attended Peking University as a CSC Scholar, where he studied Chinese language and law.
Gigi Orta | Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Gigi Orta is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Private Bank covering San Francisco and Palo Alto clients. As an estate planning attorney, Gigi provides comprehensive, personalized estate planning and wealth-transfer counseling to couples, families and individuals. Gigi received a B.S. from Syracuse University, a J.D. from the University of San Francisco and an L.LM. in Taxation from Golden Gate University. Fun fact: Gigi was a radio DJ in college.
Laura Pantaleo | Wealth Manager, Laird Norton Wetherby
Laura Pantaleo joined Laird Norton Wetherby in 2017 and has relished working with individuals and often multiple generations, using a combination of sharp analysis and personal connection to help clients manage major life transitions and fulfill their financial goals. Her prior experience includes being a partner and financial analyst at Seneca Capital Management and a financial analyst at Jurika & Voyles. Laura holds a BA from Bishop’s University in Quebec and an MBA from University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Fun Fact: Laura grew up in Canada and spent most of her time in the pool as a competitive swimmer.
Casey Peacock, CPA | Vice President, Goldman Sachs
Casey Peacock is a Vice President within the Goldman Sachs Family Office Wealth Strategy team in Private Wealth Management. Prior to joining the firm, she worked in the Deloitte Private Wealth group in Chicago. At Deloitte, her work focused on ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices and charitable and estate planning. Casey is a Certified Public Accountant and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Fun fact: Casey grew up living in the same house and at the same location, but she technically lived in two different states. When Casey was a child, the county rezoned the county line, and her home address changed from Illinois to Wisconsin.
Lan Shaw, CFP® | Founder, Vision Private Wealth
Lan Shaw is the Founder of Vision Private Wealth, where she helps individuals, couples, independent women and families pursue their dreams and make meaningful financial decisions that are true to their values. Lan received her B.S. in Systems Engineering from Tianjin University in China and her MBA from Lancaster University Management School in the UK. Fun fact: Lan bungy jumped 141 feet off the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand, where the world’s first bungy jump took place.
Leigh Shimamoto, JD, CFP® | Senior Wealth Advisor, Mercer Advisors
Leigh Shimamoto is an advisor at Mercer Advisors, helping clients find a meaningful connection between their wealth and life goals. She has over 20 years of experience in financial services, working with affluent individuals and their families. She has extensive expertise working with corporate executives of companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs and professionals. Leigh graduated with a B.A. from University of California, San Diego and J.D. from Santa Clara University, School of Law. She also attended Oxford University and received an International Law Certificate in Comparative Law. Leigh currently leads the Financial Services Alliance, which focuses on the continuing education of wealth advisory professionals. Fun Fact: Leigh started riding century bike rides when she was in middle school, but now you can find her riding her e-bike 1 mile to pick her son up from school.
Philip Sousa | Partner, Jorgenson, Seigel, McClure & Flegel LLP
Philip Sousa is a Partner at Jorgenson, Siegel, McClure & Flegel LLP and is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as a specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law. Philip’s practice covers all areas of estate planning and estate and trust administration, including, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax planning; family succession planning; living trust formation and administration; irrevocable trust planning; charitable planning; life insurance planning; intra-family transactions; wills; powers of attorney; beneficiary designations; and court proceedings for issues relating to trusts and estates. Fun fact: Philip roasts his own coffee beans.
Alison Sundberg Telleen | Partner, Loeb & Loeb LLP
Alison Sundberg Telleen focuses on trusts and estate planning, with a particular emphasis on domestic tax law. Her background includes estate and gift taxation and non-tax aspects of estate planning, structuring wealth transfers to charitable and non-charitable recipients, and planning for incapacity. She also handles matters involving the formation of family limited partnerships, limited liability companies and tax-exempt organizations. Fun fact: Alison swam competitively through college and is now loving teaching her two little girls to swim.
Antonio Tellez, CPA | Partner, Fontanello, Duffield & Otake, LLP
Antonio Tellez is a partner at Fontanello, Duffield, & Otake, LLP, an accounting firm specializing in nonprofit clients. Antonio has more than a decade of experience working on a wide range of tax and accounting issues, including Form 990 and Form 990-PF reporting, unrelated business income tax, tax exemption, and private foundation excise taxes. Antonio received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from San Francisco State University and his master’s degree in taxation from Golden Gate University. Antonio is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Flavia Araujo Trento, CFA, CPWA | Managing Director, First Citizens Wealth (formerly SVB Private)
Flavia Trento is a Managing Director in the San Francisco office of First Citizens Wealth (formerly SVB Private). She develops comprehensive, customized wealth management strategies for high net worth individuals, families, foundations and trusts. She has extensive experience working with participants in the innovation economy and advising them through their financial journeys. Flavia received her BA in Political Economy of Industrial Societies from UC Berkeley and her MBA from UCLA. Fun fact: Flavia was born in Brazil and emigrated to the US with her family at the age of 10
Edith Tse, CFP® | Director, Evercore Wealth Management, LLC
Edith Tse is a Director and Wealth & Fiduciary Advisor at Evercore Wealth Management and Evercore Trust Company, N.A. She has more than 20 years of experience providing comprehensive wealth planning services to individuals, families, foundations, and endowments. She earned a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds the Certified Financial Planner™ designation.
Tamara Wallenstein | Senior Vice President/Senior Philanthropic Specialist, Wells Fargo Private Bank
Kirsten Wolff | Partner, Sideman & Bancroft Law Offices
Kirsten Wolff represents individual clients in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, estate and gift taxation, charitable gift planning, and probate. Kirsten also assists clients with their philanthropic planning, including by establishing and obtaining tax exemption for new foundations and other non-profit organizations, and providing advice regarding ongoing tax and administration issues. Kirsten served as a law clerk to the Honorable James V. Selna in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Fun fact: Kirsten lived in Germany for a year as a foreign exchange student in high school.
