Shane Ocasal is a dedicated professional at Aon, I specialize in M&A Due Diligent, Private Equity, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) safeguarding businesses through innovative insurance solutions and strategies. With a deep understanding of the complexities involved in mergers and acquisitions, I help clients navigate these critical transitions while ensuring they are protected against potential risks.

My expertise allows me to guide organizations in implementing effective Insurance strategies that enhance engagement and drive long-term success. Additionally, my teams experience in private equity enables me to provide insights that are crucial for investors and portfolio companies seeking to maximize value and mitigate risk.

At Aon, I leverage our comprehensive resources and global reach to deliver tailored insurance solutions that meet the unique needs of each business, empowering them to thrive in a competitive landscape.

Driven by a passion for making a positive impact, I am dedicated to providing actionable insights that empower clients to make informed decisions and achieve their business objectives.

A New York native and a devoted NY Rangers fan, I actively engage with my community as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels and Camp Venture. I am also proud to be a member of the ESOP Association and the founder of both ESOP Alliance and Dive & Thrive.

Serena Amlie is an ESOP Client Advisor at Spinnaker Trust, which provides independent trustee services to ESOPs in the New England and Northeast regions. She lives in Saratoga Springs, NY. In her role at Spinnaker, Serena is heavily involved in the annual valuation process and the negotiation of ESOP transactions. Prior to joining Spinnaker, Serena was a manager at a national valuation firm, where she performed business valuations for ESOP-owned companies. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst® and holds the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designation with the American Society of Appraisers. She is also Treasurer of the Board of Directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region.

As a member of PCE’s ESOP practice, Adam is involved with sell-side and buy-side engagements, recapitalizations, and general corporate advisory. With a background in leveraged finance, he plays an important role in providing financial analysis, modeling transaction alternatives, and optimizing companies’ capital structures to help clients reach their goals.

Most recently, Adam was an assistant vice president of business development at a U.K. financial services firm, where he was responsible for boosting the company’s U.S. presence. Adam gained extensive experience assisting corporate and private equity clients on M&A, LBO, refinancing, and dividend recapitalization transactions at both a U.S. bulge bracket investment bank and a Japanese multinational investment bank in the firm’s leveraged capital markets groups.

Ashley Kirchner is a Vice President with BMO’s Corporate Advisory practice. She advises privately held businesses on a broad range of corporate finance topics including ESOPs, recapitalizations, mergers & acquisitions, and ownership transitions.

Ashley’s commercial banking experience spans over a decade, primarily focused on providing financing solutions to support ownership transitions, particularly through the use of ESOPs. Most recently, Ashley worked at a regional financial institution, where she was a founding member of the bank’s ESOP Finance Group. She previously held roles focused on ESOP advisory, relationship management, credit risk assessment, and underwriting. 

Ashley earned her bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is an active member of the National Center for Employee Ownership and The ESOP Association, where she currently serves on the Ownership Culture Advisory Committee.

Ashleigh advises privately held companies with a special focus on ESOP-owned businesses. Ashleigh brings significant experience in executive incentive design, ESOP repurchase obligation planning, and financial modeling and analysis. She enjoys helping a diverse range of clients develop successful compensation and ownership strategies tailored to their unique philosophies and objectives. Ashleigh is an active member of The ESOP Association, where she currently serves on the Administration Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) and the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA).

Rebecca has spent her 20 year career in financial services advising business owners, wealthy families and ESOP-owned companies. She draws upon her extensive experience in the areas of trust and estate strategies, financial and insurance planning, institutional asset management, and institutional fixed income sales to build tailored solutions for her clients and their diverse needs. 

Today, as a partner of the ESOP Group, she works closely with business owners and their families on business transition and more specifically employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Rebecca is a frequent speaker on business owner liquidity options, ESOPs, and the Section 1042 tax deferral. For The ESOP Association, she is the chairman of the fundraising committee as well as a chapter officer for the Southeast Chapter. 

 Education 
• Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in economics 
• Passed the Series 7 and 66 securities exams 
• Insurance licenses: life, health, variable annuity, variable life and long-term care 

Credentials 
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certificate 
• Certified Exit Planning Advisor 

Industry recognition: 
• Barron’s Top 1,200 Financial Advisors, 2022, 2023 
• Barron’s Top 100 Women Advisors, 2023 
• Forbes America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors, 2021–2023 
• Forbes Best-in-State Women Wealth Advisors, 2021–2023 
• Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors, 2022, 2023 
• Working Mother Magazine/SHOOK Top Wealth Advisor Moms, 2021 

Team recognition: 
• Barron’s Top 100 Private Wealth Management Teams in 2021 and 2023 
• Forbes America’s Top Wealth Management Teams in 2022 
• Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Management Teams in 2023 

Ben joined Devine, Millimet & Branch, Professional Association in June 2022 as a Corporate Associate. In that time, he has worked on a wide range of ESOP-related matters, ESOP-transactions, business succession planning, mergers & acquisitions, and a variety of other corporate matters.

Ben received his J.D. from the UNH School of Law, where he served as a Managing Editor on the UNH Law Review and as a Legal Writing Teaching Assistant. Ben also interned at another prominent small law firm in New Hampshire as well as serving as a judicial intern for the Honorable John T. Pendleton of the Circuit Court of New Hampshire during his law school tenure.

Christel Jimenez is a Vice President of ESOP Consulting at Principal. She has over 15 years of experience working with ESOPs, both from within the retirement industry and as an officer of an ESOP-owned company. She has extensive knowledge and experience in recordkeeping, ERISA plan compliance, and complex ESOP issues.

Christel engages with business owners and companies to define their objectives and design, implement, and communicate ESOPs. She takes a focused approach to partnering with ESOP companies to identify areas of opportunity in plan operation, repurchase liability, and employee communication, all with the goal of assisting companies in meeting their corporate objectives and maximizing their ESOP.

She is an active member of Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (ESCA), The ESOP Association (TEA) and the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO).

Christel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from The Pennsylvania State University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Central Michigan University.

Christel lives in North Carolina with her husband and their three children. She enjoys running, cycling, and attending their sporting events.

Cole joined Acclaro in October 2020 as an Analyst and was promoted to Associate in July 2022. His responsibilities include company, industry, and economic research and the development of client valuation models and reports. Before joining Acclaro, he was an Intern at D.A. Davidson & Co.

Cole is an active member of The ESOP Association.

As a former HR professional, Courtney works to get to know her client’s business just as well as they do. She knows the importance of having the right tools, technology and support to effectively manage day to day tasks and the downfalls that can happen if/when you don’t. Through a thorough discovery meeting, she walks through a “day in the life” with the client to understand processes from recruiting and onboarding, to compliance, tax, payroll and reporting… and everything in between. With her Paycor expertise and knowledge, she then aligns the solution to the needs of the client, all while ensuring both time and cost ROI. While some say “payroll is payroll“ Courtney thrives on the opportunity to strategically and creatively solve challenges… and make payroll…fun!

David is a Principal at Doeren Mayhew, a top 60 CPA firm nationwide. David is the national practice leader of Doeren Mayhew’s Employee Benefit Plan Group. He provides annual ESOP, defined contribution (401k), defined benefit, and cash balance plan audits, as well as other employee benefit plan consulting engagements. He is the liaison for all firmwide Employee Benefit Plan training and technical pronouncement developments, is a member of Doeren Mayhew’s Quality Control Group and represents the firm at various industry conferences annually. With a deep understanding of the constantly changing regulations surrounding employee benefit plans (including ESOPs), clients count on David’s expertise to ensure their fiduciary responsibilities are met, all while ensuring compliance. He also takes the helm in supervising all phases of annual audit, review and compilation engagements for ESOP companies, exemplifying his meticulous approach to planning, fieldwork and reporting. David’s deep understanding of the dynamic workings of ESOPs allows him to help clients navigate the complex plan structures, as well as applicable accounting, tax and financial reporting requirements. David is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and earned both a BBA-Accounting and Master of Science-Accounting (MSA) from the University of Michigan.

For over 10 years, Hannah has been a noteworthy leader in helping companies increase revenue. You know her as an Executive Financial Analyst at Mobilia Consulting in Austin, Texas; however Hannah can also be credited for being enthusiastic, motivated and outgoing.

She quickly learned that ‘seeing’ what you want and pursuing it is a worthy endeavor. Being self-motivated at an early age has led Hannah to many accomplishments, including being bilingual, finishing the Austin Marathon 3 times, living abroad after graduation and being the youngest National Director at her previous company. Hannah’s skills and love for people help her to lead and inspire others. If there is something you want to improve about your business or your life, spend some time with her, and you will likely feel energized into action. Hannah’s intentions for herself are crystal clear:  To live a life of purpose and fulfillment while helping others to enjoy the same benefits.

Haydee is dedicated to building enterprise value at employee-owned businesses through effective management and leadership strategies. At Project Ownership, she provides companies with fractional CFO / COO services focused on implementing strategic plans that bolster revenue growth, profitability, and employee owner engagement.

As COO of a 100% employee-owned company, Haydee oversaw the implementation of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP"), annual audits, valuations, ESOP administration, and employee engagement. She also played a pivotal role in establishing the employee engagement committee and creating a board of directors, providing invaluable guidance on fiduciary matters and strategic planning. This company earned the prestigious Inc 5000 ranking as one of America's fastest-growing companies from 2018 to 2020.

Haydee founded her first company at 30, which was later sold to a $5B+ AUM financial services firm in 2017. At Dignitas, she advised a portfolio of over 100 business owners on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, governance, and succession planning. She has advised executives of closely held enterprises ranging from startups to companies with over $150 million in revenue.

Haydee holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. She served as a Trustee for the Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago ($5B in AUM), in this role she served as a fiduciary and voted on fund allocations, investment manager selection, and the organization’s budget. She currently sits on the boards of the National Center for Employee Ownership and the Illinois Employee Ownership Center. Haydee has lived in Spain and Argentina, speaks fluent Spanish, and has traveled to over 20 countries.

Holly E. Jones is an attorney with Maselan & Jones, P.C. She counsels clients on business succession planning, ESOPs and ESOP transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and a broad range of employee benefits issues, including issues involving qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, executive compensation plans, ERISA fiduciary duties and prohibited transactions, and health and welfare plans. She is a member of The ESOP Association, the National Center for Employee Ownership, the Valuation Advisory Committee of The ESOP Association, and the Membership Committee of the Mid Atlantic and Carolinas Chapter of The ESOP Association.

Holly received her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. Previously, Holly was a Director of Litigation and Disputes for a large management consulting firm in DC. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College, where she was a member of the varsity rowing team, a student athlete advisory committee representative, and a coach for the dorm and class crew intermural programs. 

Jake Helwick is a Director at Adamy Valuation. He specializes in valuation and financial advisory services relating to equity incentive plans, including employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs); transaction opinions; tax reporting; financial reporting; economic damages; business interruption; succession planning; corporate strategic planning; and other unnoted litigious matters across a multitude of industries.

His background stems from several former roles at Adamy, and having worked in commercial credit at a large, Michigan-based bank. In his banking days, Jake participated in a multi-year leadership development program and was tasked with assessing credit risk and underwriting loans for real estate, commercial, and industrial purposes.

Jake is an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Business Valuation and a graduate of Grand Valley State University (GVSU) where he dual majored in accounting and finance. He has served as a mentor to students in the Seidman College of Business at GVSU, and currently holds voluntary positions as a board member and the ACG Cup Committee Chair of the Association for Corporate Growth – Western Michigan Chapter. Jake is also an active member of The ESOP Association (TEA) and the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO).

Jennie Msall is a Director at Ventura Trust company, where she provides trustee services to ESOP companies. Jennie has 12 years of experience as a consultant working with employee-owned companies, and she has assisted in the implementation and growth of dozens of employee-owned firms. 

Prior to joining Ventura, Jennie worked as a Consultant at Praxis Consulting Group, where she provided ESOP communications, financial literacy training, strategic planning, and other organization development services to employee-owned companies. Jennie previously served as a Program Director at the nonprofit organization the ICA Group, where she directed the organization’s employee ownership transition program. 

Bio Coming Soon

Kaitlin Wilusz is a director at Value Management Inc. As a director, she is responsible for oversight of the financial analyst staff, providing research and performing financial and economic analyses for the valuation of closely held enterprises, professional practices and publicly traded securities. Ms. Wilusz specializes in closely held business valuations, specifically related to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). She has worked on dozens of ESOP transactions. Kaitlin holds ASA (American Society of Appraisers) and CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) accreditations.

Ms. Wilusz is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), Beta Gamma Sigma, the American Society of Appraisers, the CFA Society of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Alumni Board of Fairfield University. She is a director on the board of Liguori Academy and serves as chair of the Finance Committee.

Lee Palmer is a Vice President with the Wells Fargo ESOP Advisory Group. He is responsible for providing strategic and technical expertise regarding ESOPs to Wells Fargo’s local banking offices and to their clients. Lee advises business owners and companies on the benefits of an ESOP and helps them understand ESOP-related issues throughout their lifecycle. Lee is based on Boston, MA and covers the Eastern United States for the Wells Fargo ESOP Advisory Group. 

Wells Fargo has been providing commercial banking services to ESOP companies since the advent of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Wells Fargo is a leading lender to ESOP Companies with over 500 existing banking relationships. Wells Fargo also offers a complete platform of traditional bank products and non-lending products for Company owners selling stock to ESOPs, including 1042 tax deferral strategies, liquidity and asset management, ESOP trust cash management, and insurance services.

Lindsay Shafer, MA is a consultant at Praxis Consulting Group. She currently provides ESOP communication; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); strategic planning; facilitation and other organization development services to employee-owned companies and non-profits. Lindsay has over 15 years of experience as a facilitator and trainer and project manager, and has worked with for-profit, nonprofit, government, and education clients. She believes leadership development is essential to leverage the powerful benefits that shared ownership can have for organizations and workers.

Lindsay plays an active role in the employee ownership community, speaking frequently about employee ownership and culture. Lindsay also serves on The ESOP Association’s Ownership Culture Committee and is the Vice President of Programming for The ESOP Association’s Pennsylvania/Delaware Chapter.

Prior to joining Praxis, Lindsay worked in the nonprofit sector where she focused on project management, content development, program evaluation, and conference planning. She has worked with dozens of clients to evaluate programmatic needs and design and implement customized programming.

Lindsay holds a BA and MA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Eisenberg serves as a Client Service Officer on the GreatBanc Client Services team, focused on managing client relationships and ESOP transactions. He has spent his entire career in the retirement plan and ESOP industry, giving him nearly a decade of expertise in employee ownership.

Before joining GreatBanc Trust Company in 2018, Mr. Eisenberg specialized in the administration and operations of employee benefit plans, particularly ESOPs. This hands-on experience makes him a highly effective consultant across a wide variety of ESOP fiduciary topics.

“Strong communication is crucial to ESOP transactions and ongoing fiduciary work that we specialize in here at GreatBanc. I always strive to be proactive when communicating with my clients. In many cases, it allows us to preemptively identify potential issues and tackle them before they materialize.”

Outside the office, you’ll likely find Mason out on the lake enjoying the outdoors with his family. If the weather isn’t cooperating, there’s a good chance he’s at home binge watching the latest trending TV show.

Mr. Eisenberg is an active member of The ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Business Administration degree from Quincy University.‍

Matt graduated from the University of North Dakota where he earned degrees in Biology and Chemistry. Upon graduation, he joined First International Insurance as an insurance agent where he worked for nearly 3 years before transitioning into his specialist role with First International Bank & Trust. His favorite part of his role is building strong relationships and helping our Enterprise Retirement Solutions clients succeed with their retirement plan goals. He enjoys working together with the team to provide excellent services and products to our clients.

FIBT works with over 100 qualified plans throughout the Midwest, including ESOP’s, 401(k) plans, and 403(b) plans.

Matt enjoys spending his summertime at the lake with family and friends and is an avid traveler. He loves to play and watch all kinds of sports and can be seen coaching or volunteering at events throughout his community.

Melanie O’Toole is a senior manager in the Audit department at Eide Bailly LLP. Melanie focuses on providing audit and attest services to clients across the United States of America. She specializes in corporate and benefit plan audits of employee owned companies. Melanie is a Certified Public Accountant. She has just over 8 years of experience in public accounting. Melanie is based out of Fargo, North Dakota and services clients across the United States of America. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Accounting and Masters of Accountancy from North Dakota State University.  Melanie is a member of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO).

Michael is a Director of Acuity Advisors, where he is principally responsible for providing project leadership and execution on mergers & acquisitions, employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transactions, and other investment banking and valuation advisory services. In this capacity, he is responsible for corporate development, engagement management, developing valuation conclusions, and leading transaction engagements to successful conclusions.

Active in the valuation of closely held securities since 2014, Michael has prepared financial opinions addressing the value of common and preferred stock, various debt securities, intangible assets of all types, the fairness of certain transactions, and value of a wide variety of non-traditional types of assets.

Michael is an accredited senior appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers, holds Series 63 and Series 79 securities licenses, and is a member of the ESOP Association and National Center for Employee Ownership.

Paul joined Boulay in 2017 and was promoted to Partner in 2023. He is a valuation expert and also has broad experience evaluating complex financial matters and providing sophisticated advice regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A), Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP), and corporate finance matters. Paul guides his clients through complex transactions and has performed hundreds of valuation, consulting, and advisory engagements to assist his clients with M&A, business/ownership succession, and financial management and planning. With a deep academic background in finance and accounting, he understands the complexity of corporate finance and valuation and is eager to assist companies with navigating these matters. Prior to joining Boulay, Paul began his career in RSM’s Valuation Services practice.

“Robert Powell is an M&A Manager at Lutz. He began his career as a staff auditor at Lutz & Company, P.C. He then spent several years as an analyst and an associate for multiple private business valuation firms before rejoining Lutz in 2023. He is responsible for providing merger and acquisition and business valuation services for management planning purposes, litigation support, marital dissolution matters, employee stock ownership plan consulting, and estate and gift taxes. In addition, he analyzes and interprets financial statements, builds financial models, conducts market research, and develops transaction materials to successfully market Lutz M&A clients.

Mr. Powell has earned the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designation from the American Society of Appraisers in 2021. He earned the Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) designation from the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts in 2017. Mr. Powell attended the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and received a BSBA with a major in finance and accounting. He also attended the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University and received a Master of Science Accountancy (MSA).”

Mr. Goetzinger joined NCP as an analyst in October 2015.  He assists the firm's Corporate Finance and Investment Banking / Mergers & Acquisitions divisions. Prior to joining NCP, he worked as an analyst for a regional commercial bank. Mr. Goetzinger is a Cum Laude graduate of Central College with majors in Business Management and Accounting. Mr. Goetzinger was awarded a CFA Charter from the CFA Institute in the Spring of 2017 and is a member of the CFA Society Iowa. He is an active board member with Junior Achievement of Central Iowa and Community Youth Concepts.

Ryan Sperling is a manager in the ESOP Advisory group at Eide Bailly LLP. He focuses on providing sell-side advisory services to clients looking to sell to employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Ryan advises clients through ESOP feasibility and executing the transaction. Ryan is a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) from the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts. He has over a decade of experience providing valuations for a variety of purposes including gift and estate tax, management planning, and litigation support. Ryan is based out of Minneapolis, MN, and serves clients nationally. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Minnesota State University. Ryan is a member of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO).

Sean advises companies, business owners, boards of directors and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) trustees on transactional, corporate governance and formation matters related to the design and implementation of ESOPs. Sean’s work includes drafting and negotiating agreements and other documents for stock purchases, leveraged buyouts, mergers, reorganizations and corporate governance and formation matters.

Sean began his career as a corporate transactional lawyer, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, private equity, fund services, venture financing and marketplace/P2P lending. His experience also includes advising nonprofit, charitable and other tax-exempt organizations and social enterprises.

Sean serves on the Advisory Board of Talley Management Group, a ESOP-owned company based in Mt. Royal, NJ. In addition to his professional work, Sean serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Independence Mission Schools, a network of 15 independent Catholic schools providing a transformative education to children of all faiths across Philadelphia, and Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, an organization dedicated to alleviating food insecurity in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Education

• Temple University Beasley School of Law, J.D., 2013
• University of Pennsylvania, B.A., Political Science, 2008

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey

Tom Murphy is an attorney and experienced ESOP Trustee. Prior to joining Prudent Fiduciary Services, Mr. Murphy spent 3 and half years as an Institutional ESOP Trustee with Bremer Bank, headquartered in St. Paul, MN.

Prior to coming to the ESOP space, Mr. Murphy spent 7 years in the document and contract review field. Mr. Murphy spent time reviewing contracts for the Minnesota Department of Natural resources, approving hundreds of contracts, grants, and research agreements with various private entities, public and private institutions, and other government agencies.

Mr. Murphy brings ERISA fiduciary knowledge and experience to the firm, particularly with respect to plan administration, plan mechanics, and relationship management. Mr. Murphy also brings third party administration expertise and experience from his time at Bremer.

Mr. Murphy graduated from the University of Saint Thomas in St. Paul, MN with a B.A. in political science and received his J.D. also from St. Thomas. Mr. Murphy is a member of the State Bar of Minnesota.

Trevor Kauk joined Bankers Trust in May 2019. He first held a position in the commercial credit department covering the underwriting for various loan officers spanning C&I, CRE, and FI loan portfolios. He joined the specialty finance team as a relationship manager in June 2022 focusing on ESOP lending and currently manages a loan portfolio of $100 million. Before joining Bankers Trust, he held a credit analyst position at Plains Commerce Bank out of South Dakota for two years.

Trevor earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Dordt University, majoring in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. He also completed the Iowa School of Banking program through the Iowa Bankers Association and the Bankers Trust Leadership Academy in 2023. He is currently an associate member of the finance committee for The ESOP Association.

Alex Kuzmik’s practice focuses on implementing estate planning techniques for transferring business ownership, asset protection, and succession planning strategies to minimize tax. He advises small business owners on sale, redemption, and liquidation planning, specializing in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).

Tyler Kempton is a Regional Sales Director at ESOP One, where he responsible for building and managing relationships with employee-owned companies in the Midwest and Southeast regions. Tyler works to promote the value of employee-stock ownership plans by education, communication, and engagement via Esop One's tech based solutions.

Growing up in Buffalo, New York, Tyler is an avid Bills and Sabers supporter and enjoys playing golf on the weekends. He currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina.