November 2025 Education Meeting & Social
We’ll gather first at the offices of the Cleveland Foundation to hear from Katie Collin and Ginger Mlakar and then we’ll head across the street to the MidTown Collaboration Center for social time to enjoy food from Pearl Flower Kitchen and drinks from Black Frog Brewery!
“Giving Forward: Cleveland Foundation Insights for Financial Professionals”
About the Program…
As we wrap up 2025, join Ginger Mlakar and Katie Collin for a dynamic briefing on what’s new at the Cleveland Foundation and what’s shaping the charitable giving landscape. From year-end strategies to emerging legislative shifts, this session will equip financial professionals with the insights they need to guide clients and organizations into 2026 and beyond.
About the Speakers…
Katie E. Collin returned to the Cleveland Foundation at the end of July 2024 as the Director, Philanthropic Strategy. In this role she guides the team that introduces donors, families and organizations to the multitude of philanthropic tools the Foundation has to offer, and partners with the team that works with donors and organizational fund partners to help them achieve their philanthropic objectives. She first served with the Cleveland Foundation from 2016 – 2019 as a Gift Planning Advisor.
Since graduating from law school, Katie has gained extensive experience at the intersection of the legal, financial and charitable sectors through gift planning, non-cash assets, alternative investments and estate planning roles at Ren, American Endowment Foundation, Schneider Smeltz Spieth Bell, LLP, and The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She is frequently requested as a speaker and can be found as a recurring guest on Season 2 of Ren’s Philanthropic Insights podcast.
Katie is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, the Northern Ohio Charitable Gift Planners, and the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland, where she serves on the membership committee. She is a dedicated community member, currently serving her second term on the board of the Cleveland Public Library Foundation, co-chairing the development committee, and as a member of LakewoodAlive’s development committee in her hometown of Lakewood.
Katie earned her Bachelor of Arts in art history, with minors in economics and Italian language & literature from Smith College, and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron School of Law. She completed training through the 21/64 Program to provide multigenerational advising, facilitation and engagement, so that multiple generations can work, give and serve together more effectively. Katie received her Certificate for the Fundamentals of Alternative Investments from CAIA in 2023.
Ginger F. Mlakar serves as in-house legal counsel and manages the Foundation’s legal affairs. Additionally, she oversees the gift planning team and works with charitably minded individuals and their professional advisors on achieving their charitable goals through simple to complex philanthropic strategies as the Senior Vice President, Philanthropic Strategy. At the same time, Ginger connects non-profits to partnership opportunities with the Foundation. She came to the Cleveland Foundation in July 2009 after 16 years practicing law in the area of estate and charitable gift planning and administration. Her previous positions include partner in the personal succession and planning practice group at Thompson Hine LLP and of counsel in the estate planning and probate practice group at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP. She is also a certified public accountant.
Ginger has served on the boards of several area organizations, including the Girl Scouts of Lake Erie Council, the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland, the Bay Village Education Foundation, the Bay Village Foundation, the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland Leadership Center, and as treasurer for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation, and Bay Soccer Club. She was the president for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation. She is currently on the board for the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils and is an AEP® Accredited Estate Planner. She has been a member of advisory groups for University Hospitals, the Cleveland Orchestra, and Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, she is an active fellow of the American College of Estate and Trust Council, and an Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Council member for the Ohio State Bar Association. Ginger is a frequent speaker on legal and tax issues surrounding charitable giving.
Ginger has been named among the Best Lawyers in America and the Top 50 Female Ohio Super Lawyers List by Law and Politics magazine. She was a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2014. Ginger has received the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s Women in Law Making a Difference and President’s Awards, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Leadership Award, and the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland’s 2019 Distinguished Estate Planner Award. She graduated summa cum laude from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and earned her juris doctorate from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Continuing Education: FPA NEO will request credit for the first program, which will total one hour of CE from the CFP® Board of Standards for CFP® designation holders. A general certificate of completion and one for CPA designees who feel the program satisfies their continuing education requirements will also be available.
Reservation Policy: All attendees are encouraged to register in advance before noon 11/19/25 and walk-in reservations will be accepted on a space-available basis only. In person meeting cost is free for FPA members and $65 for non-members. If you reserve and are unable to attend, please call the office or email admin@fpa-neo.org to cancel by noon 11/19/25 to avoid a no-show reservation billing of $10.00.
About the presentation: Retirement planning often uses generic lifespan estimates, creating suboptimal decisions. This study shows that personalized longevity projections based on demographics and health attributes and derived from Cox proportional hazards models improve Social Security claiming strategies. Personalized longevity estimates applied to respondents of the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study increased the average value of lifetime benefits by $9,000 (women) and $12,000 (men) relative to other approaches. Optimized claiming based on individual health/demographics attributes outperformed both standard actuarial assumptions and common recommended ages. The results demonstrate how personalized longevity assessments can enhance retirement income planning, financial security, and client-advisor alignment.
About the presentation: The sudden arrival of significant wealth may seem like an entirely positive event, but in reality, the swiftness and magnitude of the shift represent an emotional challenge for anyone receiving the newfound prosperity. In this program, we focus on the psychological and emotional dynamics associated with the ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) client’s financial journey and explore how it is significantly different than the journey of the mass-affluent client or the high-net-worth client. We then consider the emotional impact of that journey on the client, how the implications of wealth seriously impact the individual’s capacity to make high-quality decisions, and the impairments that grow out of significant wealth events. The ultimate goal is to explain how the UHNW client’s emotional journey creates five specific opportunities for a financial professional to reach out, make meaningful contact and potentially forge new working relationships with these clients. We close by offering guidance on the types of messaging that work best in each circumstance.
About the presentation: As clients move through life’s stages, their property and casualty insurance needs shift in ways that can have major financial implications. This session will explore how evolving family dynamics — from teenage drivers and college-bound children to divorces, second homes, and retirement transitions — impact coverage requirements and risk exposure. We’ll discuss practical strategies for advisors to proactively identify gaps, adjust liability limits, and coordinate umbrella and specialty policies as family circumstances change. Attendees will gain insights into best practices for communicating these changes with clients and collaborating effectively with P&C professionals. With households becoming more complex and risks more interconnected, understanding the insurance lifecycle has never been more timely or essential for fiduciary advisors seeking to provide comprehensive planning guidance.
About the presentation: Trusted advisors engaging with their clients in advance can unlock significant value and reduce transaction and relationship risks.
Mac joined Wellspring in 2017 and currently serves as a Senior Wealth Advisor. He is responsible for providing financial, estate, tax, and investment planning for ultra-high-net-worth clients and families in addition to overseeing his client service team.
Elizabeth Scheiderer, CFP®
