Impact Stories

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia convened hundreds of leaders, community members, and changemakers for its annual Shape of the Region conference, an essential gathering focused on the pressing challenges and opportunities shaping the region’s future. This year’s event focused on the urgent challenges facing Northern Virginia’s youth—including bullying, school safety, substance use, and mental health access—while also highlighting solutions that can create lasting impact.

At the heart of the conference was the launch of the Insight Region^® Data Report: A Portrait of Northern Virginia's Youth 2025, a groundbreaking research initiative from the Community Foundation. This report delivers critical data on the state of youth well-being in our region, equipping policymakers, educators, and community organizations with the insights needed to drive meaningful change. Expert panelists explored the report’s key findings and discussed actionable strategies to improve youth mental health services, expand access to resources, and strengthen community resilience.

by Ann Summerson, Director and CFP^®, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange / SIPC

Until recently, an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor’s relationship with many client couples has tended to focus on the male partner. Driving this dynamic is that male advisors historically have been the norm; according to at least one study, only 15% of advisors are women. This has been the case even though women make up almost 51% of the U.S. population. 

But the environment is changing, especially where charitable giving is concerned. 

by Regan Lonchena, Director of Advanced Planning and Trust Legal Counsel, United Bank Wealth Management

Now that you’ve emerged from the hectic tax-planning whirlwind that often characterizes the last few weeks of the year, you may be turning your attention to the commentary in the media about how the new administration might impact legislative priorities and tax law changes. 

by Emily M. Harper, CFP®, Vice President & Partner, Monument Wealth Management

Don’t overlook the power of Qualified Charitable Distributions, or “QCDs” for charitably-inclined clients over 70 ½. A QCD allows IRA money to be donated directly from the IRA to charitable organizations. In 2024, each client can donate up to $105,000 through a QCD (or $210,000 for married couples filing jointly), and that limit will be indexed for inflation going forward.

by Mary Beth Cosentino, FPQP^®, Director, Wealth Advisor at Dakota Wealth Management

As a widow without children, I often reflect on my legacy. Have I made a meaningful difference in the world? Will my encouragement or guidance leave a lasting impact on others after I’m gone? For the past twenty years, I’ve been dedicated to helping clients thoughtfully plan how to pass on their assets to the next generation. But what about those without children or family? Have we considered how to create a legacy for them?

by Jason Howell, CFP^®, CPWA^®, CSRIC^® , President and Family Wealth Adviser at Jason Howell Company

As hard as it is to believe, the end of 2024 is fast approaching! After Labor Day, time moves quickly. It can be hard to juggle calendars to accommodate busy clients who need assistance with year-end tax and estate planning matters. 

The Community Foundation helps you and your clients stay on track by sharing important reminders for year-end charitable planning, including these need-to-know items:

by Lisa A.K. Kirchenbauer, CFP^®, CPWA^®, RLP^®, CeFT^®, Founding Partner and Senior Advisor at Omega Wealth Management

Often overlooked, most people focus on the technical documents of legacy planning: will, trust, powers of attorney, etc.… What those documents don’t provide is the “why” or context of wealth and values which can be critical for heirs to have. Over the years, having worked with a number of beneficiaries, without any context or direction, heirs can often go one of two ways... 

by Rich Harpe, Principal CPA at Matthews, Carter & Boyce, P.C.

In the digital age, clients often ignore—or even resent—forms and paperwork that aren’t yet online. But don’t let your clients fall into the trap of omitting critical assets from their estate and financial plans. Indeed, clients may forget to mention or outright neglect beneficiary designations on life insurance policies and retirement plan documents.

By Johnny Garstka, Financial Advisor with The Harvey Group and a native of Springfield, Virginia. 

If you’re interested in presenting or writing on an applicable or innovative topic to be featured to our network, please fill out the form here. 

More and more often, philanthropic families are working together across generations to build lasting legacies to support the causes they care about. At the same time, the common communications challenges between parents and their adult children don’t magically go away, and sometimes advisor relationships get damaged in the crosshairs.

Advisors are often acutely aware of this dynamic; studies consistently show that the majority of heirs fire their parents’ advisors. Fortunately, many advisors discover that philanthropy is an excellent tool for preventing this from happening. That is because philanthropy planning is an effective way for an advisor to engage a client’s children and grandchildren in conversations and begin to build relationships that can survive well into the future.

by Lauren A. Jenkins, Partner at Offit Kurman, P.A.

The pandemic era is sometimes referred to as “The Great Resignation” because of the large number of people who have exited the workforce in the last couple of years. Some are referring to this period as the Great Retirement, considering that, as Goldman Sachs estimated, more than half of the people leaving the workforce were over the age of 55.

While certainly the shrinking workforce can present unique challenges for the economy, there may be a silver lining for charitable giving. More retirement means more money in motion, from 401(k)s rolling over into IRAs, to retirees being motivated to ensure that their financial and estate plans are in good shape. In any case, there’s opportunity and the ability to fund a client’s charitable priorities.

What does this mean for your work with your clients? It means your clients are walking into your office with "doing good" on their minds. You can build an immediate connection with your clients when you start a conversation about the ways they--and you--are getting involved in the community. Here are three tips for starting that conversation.