General Meeting Speaker Information

Elizabeth A. Bawden is a tax lawyer at Larson & Bawden LLP and specializes in estate planning, planned giving and tax exempt organizations. She is certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization as a legal specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law. She enjoys working with individual clients to plan their estates and orchestrate charitable gifts and also advising tax exempt organizations directly in connection with planned gifts and other organizational and operational issues. She has been named multiple times as a "Southern California Rising Star" by Super Lawyers Magazine. Ms. Bawden is adjunct faculty at the UCLA School of Law and University of Alabama School of Law teaching Estate and Gift Tax and has taught planned giving at the UCLA Extension. She is invested in her local community and is involved with Los Angeles Social Venture Partners and Pacific Crossroads Church.

Phyllis Freedman is President of SmartGiving, a consultancy providing planned giving marketing advice and counsel to organizations such as City of Hope, Special Olympics, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice and Easter Seals.  Previously, Phyllis was Managing Director of Epsilon’s nonprofit group. She also served as Associate Executive Director of Paralyzed Veterans of America and as Vice President, Marketing & Development for Special Olympics International.   Phyllis is on the Board of the National Capitol Gift Planning Council and chairs its Mentorship Committee.  She is a frequent speaker on planned giving and stewardship.  Phyllis is “The Planned Giving Blogger.”  You can read or sign up for her posts at www.plannedgivingblogger.net.

Don Gottesman, Senior Development Officer, with California Community Foundation, brings 15 years of experience in charitable giving and tax law. He most recently served as the Senior Consultant, Gift Planning and Tax, at Kaspick & Company, LLC, which manages approximately $4 billion of planned gift assets for pre-eminent nonprofit institutions. Don practiced law for more than 10 years, specializing in estate planning and business law.

Richard Morley has spent the last 12 years in philanthropy after successful careers in education and as a business entrepreneur.  He has served on several large nonprofit boards in leadership positions. His philanthropy work includes Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning in Chicago; Director of Development for Community Care Health Centers, the largest nonprofit primary health care provider in Orange County, California; Executive Director of the Mt. San Antonio College Foundation; and numerous other development and fund raising consultancies. He has provided strategic planning, fund raising and gift planning consulting services for several LGBT organizations in Southern California. Richard holds two of the highest earned distinctions in advancement, Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and Certified Specialist in Planned Giving (CSPG). He has significant experience in nonprofit legal issues and in major gifts. Richard serves on the statewide Board of Directors for the Network for California Community College Foundations and he is currently the Executive Director of the Irvine Valley College Foundation in Irvine, CA.