Celebrate Growth and Success of Women in Financial Advice

Kate Healy is a financial services industry executive and NextGen advocate, purposefully building brands. She is CEO and Founder of AdvoKate IQ, LLC, a consultancy firm designed to help wealth management create growth strategies to take advantage of demographic changes affecting workforce and client acquisition.   

Healy is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the next generation of financial planners, for women advisors and for the financial planning profession. Wealthmanagement.com named her to the 2018 “Ten to Watch” list. In 2016, Investment Advisor magazine named Healy as one of the industry’s 25 most influential people. Healy was named to InvestmentNews’ inaugural “Women to Watch” in 2015. Additionally, she was TD Ameritrade’s 2014 Impact Award winner for Leadership in Diversity and Inclusiveness.  

She is past board chair of the Foundation for Financial Planning and clerk of the Invest in Others board. Kate supported the CFP Board’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) Council, the Center for Financial Planning’s Advisory Council, and the Center’s Diversity Advisory Board. She was formerly managing director for TD Ameritrade Institutional, leading marketing and Generation Next.  

Success in one field doesn’t necessarily translate to another area. In the case of former Canadian Women’s hockey player, Cheryl Pounder, who has made the transition from ice to stage, the move has been a triumph. 

In the sports world where accomplishments are measured by medals and titles, there aren’t many who can claim a list of achievements as glowing as Cheryl’s. Her run of success began early in the 1990s when her ice hockey team won the Under-18 Canadian National championship. In 1994, she won Gold for the first time at the 1994 IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship, and during her illustrious career with the National Women’s team, Cheryl won two Olympic Gold medals (2002 and 2006) and was crowned IIHF World Champion six times.  

The shining on-ice achievements aside, it’s been Cheryl’s varied experiences on international stages that have made her an in-demand speaker, with keynote clients such as Tim Hortons, Maple Leaf Foods, CIBC, TD Bank, Manulife, Women in Leadership Groups, Girl Guides of Canada, Western-Ivey-Executive MBA and the City of Toronto, to name a few. 

Cheryl’s varied background and knowledge were major factors for TSN & CBC choosing her as a colour commentator for the coverage of the women’s hockey tournament at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. In her sporting life and in her life off the ice, Cheryl continues to motivate with a passion that comes across in all her worlds. 

A native of Mississauga, Cheryl, was born on June 21, 1976 in Montreal, Quebec. She attended high school at St. Martin Secondary School in Mississauga and was the captain of the ice hockey team at Wilfrid Laurier University. She graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology and physical education and was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. 

Mohini McCormick, CFP®, is a partner and senior wealth manager with Curi RMB Capital. She leads a team of six in the firm’s office in the western suburbs of Chicago. With over 30 years of experience, Mohini works with individuals and their families to simplify their financial complexities through a comprehensive and holistic approach to Wealth Management driven by investment advisory, wealth planning, and risk management. She holds a BS in finance from Purdue University and an MBA in finance from the Charles H. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University.  

Lindsey Lewis, MBA, ChFC®, CFP® champions diverse women in the financial services industry in her role as Director and Chair of the American College Center for Women in Financial Services. She also co-chairs the American College Next Gen Advisory Task Force, an organization dedicated to attracting new talent to the financial services industry. In addition to her full-time role, she hosts The College’s Women Working in Wealth Podcast, was named to InvestmentNews’ 40 Under 40 list, was the recipient of the 2022 Excell Represents Rising Star Woman in Wealth Management award, volunteers with Savvy Ladies (a pro-bono financial planning non-profit) and holds two degrees from Utah Valley University: Personal Financial Planning and an MBA. Before joining The College, Lewis started her career as a financial advisor at one of the largest RIAs in Utah and later changed roles and served as a senior financial advisor at a large broker-dealer. When she is not working, she is spending all her time with her two children. 

Oscarlyn co-leads the Investment Advisory Group, which is responsible for allocating investment capital to help meet clients’ financial goals, as well as addressing how emerging investment innovations should be reflected for clients. Her team sources solutions and strategies (long only, private capital, and hedge funds) for the benefit of Truist clients, enables diverse asset manager solutions, and drives engagement with advisors and clients.   

She is the host of Truist Wealth’s podcast, “I’ve Been Meaning To Do That” www.truist.com/dothat.  

Oscarlyn’s career has focused exclusively within financial services, with an intense focus in investment and wealth management for over 20 years.  

Diane Compardo, CPA, CFP®, PFS, AWMA®, is the founding Partner of Moneta’s largest female-led team with over 25 years of experience in financial planning and family office services nationwide. Her team of 37 professionals meticulously serves senior corporate executives, entrepreneurs, athletes, and multi-generational families, earning her recognition from Forbes, Barron’s, and The Financial Times as one of America’s Top 100 Advisors. Her insights into sustainable business practices and talent development have been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and by industry expert Michael Kitces. Diane’s mentorship fosters growth among her team members, ensuring exceptional client care for generations.  

Beyond her professional achievements, she actively contributes to her community by serving on various boards, including the Southern Illinois University Foundation, where she champions women’s leadership initiatives. In her personal life, she finds joy in spending time with her husband and three children, and she also likes to unwind with hobbies such as reading, golfing, and running. 

Sheila Foley is a Director, Business Management Consultant for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Ms. Foley works collaboratively with relationship managers across the country to share practice management guidance with investment advisors. Prior to joining the business consulting team, Ms. Foley was a relationship manager in the New England region of Schwab Advisor Services. She brings over 20 years of financial services industry experience, having worked previously at a boutique investment banking firm and an independent broker dealer. She earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and French from University of Virginia. 

Jodi is founder and CEO of Riverstone Wealth Partners. 

She began her investment career upon graduation from the University of Notre Dame and proceeded with training on Wall Street before eventually starting her own independent financial practice. She is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary holding her Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 and recently added the title of grandmother to her list of credentials.  

Raising four children, where three found their way into wealth management and one serving as a special needs educator, left her time to build her vision of transforming the practice into a firm that would serve future generations. She now leads a team of eighteen dedicated financial professionals making a difference in over 2200 households. 

Christa Madison, CFP®, is a V.P. and senior wealth advisor at Curi RMB Capital. Christa has 20 years of experience in wealth management and financial planning. Her strategic insight and personalized approach allow her to deliver a high standard of advice to simultaneously preserve and capitalize on accumulated wealth. Christa’s practice is highly based on her four pillars of true wealth management: investment management, financial planning, behavioral debiasing, and professional introductions. She holds a B.S. in finance and economics from Illinois State University and was named as one of the Most Influential Women in Business by the Daily Herald in 2022.  

Rebecca Albers, CFP®, CMT® is a Partner and award-winning Wealth Advisor for Carson Wealth in West Des Moines. The core of her practice has always been in helping clients explore the questions that start with the words, “Can we…?” She’s one of few Chartered Market Technicians in the State of Iowa, a designation only awarded to advisors who demonstrate knowledge mastery of investment risk in portfolio management settings. Her list of designations is only rivaled by her list of national awards and accolades. 

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Jenna Biancavilla is a trailblazing multi-preneur on a mission to empower people to take charge of their financial future.  In 2016 Jenna founded Pearl Capital Management, an all-female fiduciary financial planning RIA firm advising on over $180 Million in assets under management.  Alongside her sister, she co-founded Svvy, a disruptive technology venture revolutionizing the financial services industry by empowering female investors and providing them with vetted advisor connections they can trust. Jenna also launched the masterclass “Elevate Your Wealth”, with the mission to make advanced financial concepts more accessible. 

Beyond her professional achievements, Jenna is deeply committed to giving back to her community. She actively volunteers with several charities, notably as a mentor to foster children through Court Appointed Special Advocates and as a foster mom to a rotating cast of shelter dogs.  

Kate Hennessy is a Partner and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™  at AssetGrade Registered Investment Advisors.  Kate focuses on helping families and individuals achieve their financial goals. Kate enjoys consulting with her clients to find solutions that will have a positive impact on their lives.  Before joining AssetGrade in 2016, she was with Fidelity Investments for 15 years and The Northern Trust Company for 4 years.  Kate frequently speaks as a guest financial advisor about life transitions, college planning, and retirement options for businesses and individuals. Her clients appreciate her experience in the field, honesty, and ability to provide solutions.  Kate is a former Director on the Board of Oak Bank and Trustee to ISBI (Illinois State Board of Investment). Kate received her B.A. from St. Mary’s College of Notre Dame. 

AssetGrade is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about AssetGrade’s investment advisory services can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. A Certified Financial Planner (CFP) is a financial planner that has met rigorous education, training, and ethical standards. The CFP certification is granted by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board). CFP Board owns the mark CFP® in the U.S.  

Tracy Shaw is Head of Client Engagement Strategy at Equitable, where she oversees the development of insight-driven enterprise content and programs. Throughout her career as a business development strategist, her work has influenced industries from financial services to employee benefit planning to health care; with focus on enriching the customer’s experience, streamlining processes, innovating products and their delivery, while enhancing RoI.  

Beyond Shaw’s work life, she serves as Chair for the non-profit boards of SCORE and the Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF). With Maddie’s Herd, a grassroots patient advocacy organization founded by her daughter at the age of 13, she is a solo mom dedicated to amplifying the voice of the rare disease community, especially primary immunodeficiencies.  

Most recently, Shaw has earned her PhD in Organizational Leadership with research focused on the role of social capital in the sustainable growth trajectory of diverse supplier small businesses. Additionally, Shaw is member of CHIEF and has spent time as a youth soccer coach while holding a patent for the retirement safety net strategy, 401kSecure, and (very) briefly, a world record.  

Andrea transitioned from Corporate America to Higher Education leadership before becoming a Financial Advisor in 2004. Over two decades, she’s built a thriving practice, serving 500 clients with $50,000,000 in assets. Andrea’s passion lies in guiding clients and their adult children through their financial journeys, specializing in couples aged 35-45 and individuals aged 55-65 planning for retirement.

Cris Caruso - BFA™, CRPC® founded Savoire Financial in 2022 with the mission of serving women and LGBTQ+ people through thoughtful financial planning and investing.  Cris has been working in financial services since 2004 and an advisor since 2012.  She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Maine in Sociology and an associate’s degree from Bay Path University in hospitality management. She has worked in the fields of education, hospitality, and technology and uses the skills she’s learned to deliver a compassionate and delightful experience for her clients.   

Cris and her spouse Tina live in the DC metro area with their senior rescue dog Daisy and love to spend time in their community garden plot, seeking out delicious plant-based food and chasing the ocean.  

Tracy has been working with executives, small business owners, retirees, and families since 2004 delivering full-service wealth management solutions and customized comprehensive family office services. 

As the Senior Consultant Wealth Manager and Head of Family Office services, she works closely with business owners, entrepreneurs and families providing vast resources and customized solutions to help meet client needs, including wealth structuring investment management, financial and succession planning, philanthropic planning, specialty asset management, family office services, financial administration, and family trust stewardship.  

Prior to joining Metropolitan Capital, her career in wealth management has taken her to renowned institutions like J.P. Morgan Chase Private Client Services, PNC Bank and Associated Bank. Tracy has served on a variety of Nonprofit Boards for financial literacy, is a Certified Wealth Strategist and earned her degree in Business from Marquette University. 

After dedicating 14 years to health and wellness coaching, Kelly made a leap of faith in 2020 to pursue financial planning. Education was foundational to building her confidence as an advisor. Kelly completed her ChFC® in 2022 and sat for the CFP® exam in 2023. She’s collaborated with her fellow advisor, Matt Rupert, to create a podcast series, “Navigating Your Financial Journey,” dedicated to helping anyone understand their finances. When she’s not creating unique financial plans, her family creates memories by road-tripping. Over the last eight years, they have explored 21 national parks!

Kate Healy is a financial services industry executive and NextGen advocate, purposefully building brands. She is CEO and Founder of AdvoKate IQ, LLC, a consultancy firm designed to help wealth management create growth strategies to take advantage of demographic changes affecting workforce and client acquisition.   

Healy is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the next generation of financial planners, for women advisors and for the financial planning profession. Wealthmanagement.com named her to the 2018 “Ten to Watch” list. In 2016, Investment Advisor magazine named Healy as one of the industry’s 25 most influential people. Healy was named to InvestmentNews’ inaugural “Women to Watch” in 2015. Additionally, she was TD Ameritrade’s 2014 Impact Award winner for Leadership in Diversity and Inclusiveness.  

She is past board chair of the Foundation for Financial Planning and clerk of the Invest in Others board. Kate supported the CFP Board’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) Council, the Center for Financial Planning’s Advisory Council, and the Center’s Diversity Advisory Board. She was formerly managing director for TD Ameritrade Institutional, leading marketing and Generation Next.  

Tarah, President & COO, has over 26 years of experience in the financial services industry. Her ability to understand the big picture, coupled with a keen eye for detail, consistently allows her to focus on providing a gold-standard client experience in everything that she takes on. 

A leader with broad experience and expertise, Tarah plays a strong role in shaping the strategic mission of Prospera while also focusing on the fine details of day-to-day operations. 

Throughout her time in the industry, she has served on many conference panels and conducted numerous seminars in her fields of expertise, which include recruiting, client experience, risk management, and marketing for the broker-dealer marketplace. Being an avid writer, she has also published numerous white papers and articles on industry-specific topics. 

Michelle’s career started over 19 years ago at a nationally-recognized firm and is now a partner in the firm she launched with her husband, in 2017.  She has served in a wide variety of roles such as client service, financial advisor, and business development.  

Michelle graduated with her undergraduate degree in Financial Planning from Kansas State University and has experienced the journey from graduate to CEO, firsthand. 

She has a passion for helping others develop a path to success, whether that’s professionally or financially.  

During her journey Michelle has served on various nonprofit and financial service industry boards. She’s been a mentor to other women during her career and she was named a member of the 2016 InvestmentNews class of 40 under 40.  

Jaclyn Garcia is a Principal Advisor at JMG Financial Group and has been with the firm since 2007.  She has extensive knowledge in income tax planning, retirement planning, social security planning strategies, and working with corporate executives. She has more than 16 years of experience working with clients to achieve their financial goals and manage their wealth by providing objective, transparent, and customized solutions.  In addition to working with clients, she heads the Women’s Initiative where she spearheads a mentorship program and charitable outreach to the community.  She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Psychology.    

Julie Ragatz is the head of the Next Gen program at Carson Group, which develops young financial advisors to amplify and accelerate their success as they enter the financial services industry. She also creates thought leadership content to support the success of financial advisors at every stage of their careers. 

Julie is a nationally recognized speaker and author on ethical issues within the financial services industry, creating strong organizational cultures and values-based leadership. She has been featured in numerous national media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and MarketWatch.  She authored a regular column, “Ask Julie” in Barron’s which responded to ethical issues encountered by advisors.  

Prior to coming to Carson Group, Julie held roles at The American College of Financial Services where she was the Charles Lamont Post Chair of Ethics and the Professions and the Director of the Center for Ethics in Financial Services.  She instituted and led several mixed methods research projects on diversity and inclusion in financial services and building and maintaining client trust.  At Nationwide Financial, Julie was the executive leader of the Learning and Development team and held roles at the Nationwide Retirement Institute. Julie taught at the University of Saint Thomas (St. Paul, MN), Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) and Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ). She was an adjunct professor at the Villanova University School of Business for over a decade. 

Julie earned her Bachelors of Arts from the University of Saint Thomas in Political Science and Philosophy, her Master of Arts in Social and Applied Philosophy from Marquette University and her PhD in Philosophy from Temple University.  She lives with her husband, Mike, and their four children Katharine, Isabella, Annabelle and Hannah-Claire. 

Ellen Rogin, CPA, CFP® is the co-author of NY Times best-seller, Picture Your Prosperity: Smart Money Moves to Turn Your Vision into Reality and the Amazon Bestseller Messages from Money: How to Stress Less, Prosper More, and Reshape Your Relationship with Money. Ellen has presented on the TEDx stage. As a former top producing financial advisor and founder of a wealth management firm which she successfully sold, Ellen knows how to build a successful, profitable practice. She speaks internationally, consults to the financial services industry, and trains and coaches advisors to increase their influence, intuition, impact, and income.  

Kate Healy is a financial services industry executive and NextGen advocate, purposefully building brands. She is CEO and Founder of AdvoKate IQ, LLC, a consultancy firm designed to help wealth management create growth strategies to take advantage of demographic changes affecting workforce and client acquisition.   

Healy is widely recognized as a leading advocate for the next generation of financial planners, for women advisors and for the financial planning profession. Wealthmanagement.com named her to the 2018 “Ten to Watch” list. In 2016, Investment Advisor magazine named Healy as one of the industry’s 25 most influential people. Healy was named to InvestmentNews’ inaugural “Women to Watch” in 2015. Additionally, she was TD Ameritrade’s 2014 Impact Award winner for Leadership in Diversity and Inclusiveness.  

She is past board chair of the Foundation for Financial Planning and clerk of the Invest in Others board. Kate supported the CFP Board’s Women’s Initiative (WIN) Council, the Center for Financial Planning’s Advisory Council, and the Center’s Diversity Advisory Board. She was formerly managing director for TD Ameritrade Institutional, leading marketing and Generation Next.