Carmen Bianchi has been a Family Business Consultant since 1991. She was the founder and director of the EMC Business Forum at San Diego State University, servicing the growth needs of family and closely held businesses. She was the founder of the University of Texas at El Paso Family Business Forum and was the executive director of the Forum. Ms. Bianchi has relocated to the San Diego area and is the founder and a principal of Carmen Bianchi & Associates, a consulting firm in Family Business. She currently teaches in the College of Business at SDSU to graduating seniors, a class on Family Business Management. As a family business consultant, Ms. Bianchi has served as a facilitator for family business retreats, facilitator for conflict resolution and an advisor on a variety of strategic business issues. Ms. Bianchi is also an expert in family systems and the relationship between family, business ownership and the professional roles within a family firm.

Ms. Bianchi received national recognition and was elected to be the President 2007-2009 of the Family Firm Institute, the premier organization in the U.S. for professionals specializing in family business and wealth management. The Family Firm Institute in recognition of her outstanding achievements and contributions to the field of family business advising awarded her fellowship status. She was the Conference Chair for the FFI Global Summit 2013 held in San Diego. Carmen is the recipient of the Barbara Hollander Award, which exemplifies Barbara Hollander’s love of education and learning, life-long commitment to social causes, dedication to civic responsibility, belief in the human capacity to change for the better, and belief in giving to others generously.

In September 1998, Ms. Bianchi was invited to start a family business forum at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland where she worked with MBA students on family business issues. At the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference in February 2000, Carmen Bianchi & Associates was awarded the “Best Workshop Award in Family Business”. In January 2004, Ms. Bianchi has been invited by numerous national and international organizations to speak on family business issues. She has taught and put on a number of workshops on family business; June 2008 in Santiago Chile, March 2007 in India at the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad and the Graduate School of Management in Coimbatore, India, the American University of Beirut where she did a 2 day seminar on family business issues and case studies in May 2006 and in October 2006 she presented a 2 day seminar at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In December 2010 Carmen ran a 3-day education program for bankers and other financial service providers in Hong Kong for FFI’s Certificate Program in Family Business. Carmen was invited to South Africa to speak to family businesses involved in agriculture. She worked with numerous South African families on spouse and family issues. She has been a speaker/presenter at many seminar conferences. In 2014 she presented at The Exit Planning Institute Annual Conference, The Subway Global Convention, Selzer,Caplan Law Firm, UCLA Anderson School of Business, and at the University of Monterrey, Mexico. In 2015 Carmen presented at the FFI Conference in London as well as to IWDC convention in Sarasota, Florida.

Ms. Bianchi was born in South Africa where she was brought up in her family’s businesses, Bianchi Hotels, Inc. and Bianchi Investment Corp. She was a financial comptroller of South African Breweries Hotel Division. She speaks six languages, having completed her high school in Florence, Italy and attending the Sorbonne University in Paris. She received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Texas, El Paso. When not consulting to family business, Carmen spends as much time as she can with her family especially her 8 grandchildren. Or she can be found playing tennis, bridge, hiking, bicycling, skiing, and visiting art galleries, Opera and theatre. She serves on several charitable boards in her community.

He is the co-author of five books: “Twenty-First Century Wealth”; “Family Wealth Counseling – Getting to the Heart of the Matter”; “Love, Money, Control”; Retire Abundantly”; and “15 Biggest Tax Mistakes”. He is also a nationally acclaimed lecturer, giving numerous presentations each year.

Stuffy’s company, the Advisor Consulting Group, specializes in providing financial and estate planning assistance to clients of CPA firms and law firms. These firms specialize in executive/owner compensation and zero estate tax planning for wealthy individuals and closely-held businesses.

He is a member of several prestigious financial organizations: The International Association for Financial Planning, The Advisors in Philanthropy, and AALU. He is also a former Board Member and past President and CEO of the Forum 400, the preeminent association of financial service professionals. In 2017, Simon was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year honors presented by the Forum 400.

Ms. Amrine is a member of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), and serves on the board of the Southern California chapter of NAELA. She is accredited by the Veteran’s Administration to represent clients before the VA Regional Office or the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. She currently serves as a board member at large for the San Diego Planned Giving Partnership and volunteers at the San Diego Legal Aid Society’s Conservatorship Clinic. She is regularly asked to speak on topics relating to Estate Planning, Special Needs Trusts, and Long Term Care.

As the trustee for her mother since 2001, she gained invaluable empathy for families dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease and finding the resources for proper care and support. Her personal experience allows her to identify with and best provide for her client’s needs. She is married to Dan Outcalt and has three children and one grandchild. She loves music, golf, cycling, travel, and coming home to San Diego where being outdoors with her husband, family and friends is a favorite pastime.