DonorFirst™ is trademark of Crown Philanthropic Solutions.
Copyright © 2011 Crown Philanthropic Solutions.
D. Patrick Curran, Chairman
Mr. Curran has been an active and successful private equity investor since 1979 and was a founder and Principal of C3 Holdings, (www.c3holdings.com) which invested over $60 million in ten businesses. Prior to this, he served as CEO of Cook Composites & Polymers, a $1 billion chemicals business that he helped create through a joint venture between Cook Paint and Total Chimie of France. He spent nearly 20 years at Cook Paint, working his way up to CEO, and performed one of the first leveraged buyouts on this company in 1979. He has served on the board of numerous highly successful Midwestern companies, including Applebee’s International, Gold Banc, Lockton Companies, Unitog, Sealright, JPS Packaging, and American Safety Razor.
Ephy Torenberg, CEO
From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Torenberg (Ephy) was President of MicroEdge, Inc., (www.microedge.com) a division of Advent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVS). He began his tenure at MicroEdge in 1998 as the Chief Operating Officer. Ephy developed MicroEdge, restructuring it to respond to high growth needs, sustaining organic growth, and integrating various acquisitions. Under his leadership MicroEdge acquired NPO Solutions, which serves the community foundation market’s technology needs. During his tenure as MicroEdge/NPO President, the company expanded its client base to 2300 foundations and charities and brought to market a first of its kind donor advised fund program in partnership with Merrill Lynch & Co. and a consortium of community foundations.
From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Torenberg was the Chief Operating Officer of Pando Networks, Inc., (www.pando.com) a web 2.0 internet technology company. At Pando, Ephy led all aspects of the technology development and scaling/evolving its internet infrastructure. Within a year Pando’s technology grew to serve and deliver successfully tenfold users and content with great performance and economics.
Ephy holds a Computer Science degree from the Bar-Ilan University (Israel) and the equivalent to an MBA degree with multiple studies and credits. Ephy is also a graduate of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Flight Academy and served many years as an active air crew. Today, Ephy brings to Crown advanced technology and business leadership needed for continued growth and momentum.
Amit Guz, Chief Technology Officer
Mr. Guz has a strong background in leading development projects along with his experience in creating technical infrastructures for numerous organizations prior to joining the staff of Crown. Of particular note is his background in developing solutions for Homeland Security applications and the associated experience at product and network security.
Most recently he has served as the Software Development Manager for 4D Security Inc. where he managed teams of software engineers and served in a key management role for the organization.
Prior to 4D Mr. Guz served as V.P. of Research and Development at My6Sense and Internet startup specializing in information retrieval. He was integral to their development efforts in Web 2.0 and mobile applications.
Amit brings to Crown Philanthropic Solutions hands-on technology leadership, mature experience on multiple development platforms including web 2.0 and mobile applications.
William H. Hewitt, National Marketing Director
Mr. Hewitt has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, and was most recently with the Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, Kintera, as national sales manager and senior sales executive for their GivingFund™ donor advised fund platform. During his time with Kintera, Mr. Hewitt was instrumental in enhancing client development efforts and introducing a support program focused on field level education efforts and tighter integration with charitable organizations supporting the financial services programs. He has broad experience in the design and delivery of client-focused solutions to the financial services industry. Mr. Hewitt will spearhead the delivery of Crown’s private-labeled donor advised fund programs within the financial services markets.
Terry McAloon, Professional Services
Ms. McAloon was most recently the Donor Advised Fund Operations Manager at MicroEdge/NPO Solutions(www.microedge.com), where her responsibilities included managing the Charitable Service Bureau that provided back-office administrative and accounting services for the Merrill Lynch Community Charitable Fund. During her eight years tenure with MicroEdge/NPO Solutions she was a member of the support team, and in 2001 she was promoted to manage the company Professional Services team. Terry was responsible for implementing and supporting hundreds of FIMS Community Foundation clients. She was actively involved in promoting and implementing the online DonorCentral and SuggestionCentral modules which are the web extensions serving thousands of Donors and Financial Advisors. As Crown’s Director of Professional Services, Terry will manage Crown’s Service Team and be responsible for the implementation, deployment and back-office administration of the DonorFirst™ platform for existing and new clients. Terry brings to Crown more than ten years experience in financial management within the environment of philanthropic solutions, she holds a BA degree in psychology and an MBA from the University of New Hampshire.
Rob Reuss, Architect and Technology Advisor
Rob Reuss was Crown’s Chief Technology Officer from 2008 for over three years, he lead, architected and designed the DonorFirst platform (Crown’s flagship web product) and later on moved to support the product as an advisor. Before joining Crown, Mr. Reuss was Chief Technology Officer of MicroEdge, Inc., from 2002 through 2005, and led the development of a suite of Web-based products. Prior to joining MicroEdge, he was an independent consultant and educator, teaching technology and cultural studies at a wide variety of institutions, including Columbia University, The New School for Social Research, SUNY New Paltz, Queens College, and John Jay College. With over 20 years of experience in designing and developing information technology solutions, Rob Reuss is responsible for Crown’s technology vision and strategy, as well as the principal architect for new technology products.
Russell M. Rush, Founder
Mr. Rush began his career in financial services with the New York Life Insurance company. In 1992, he developed a software cash flow approach to retirement and estate planning. His financial planning software system (InsGift) was published in January of 1994 and thousands of financial professionals have utilized his system. In 1994, Mr. Rush co-founded a financial planning company, Crown Financial Group Inc. to work on a national level with high net worth private clients. Mr. Rush has spoken to numerous financial planning, legal and accounting groups across the country. He has also published articles on financial and charitable planning issues in many journals including Planned Giving Today, National Underwriter, Broker World, and Estate Planning Quarterly.
In 2001, he became engaged in the development of a new operational process for charitable organizations and since then has been refining the process of Open Architecture™. In connection with the development of this operational process, Mr. Rush has given a series of speeches across the country to many of the nation’s top universities, colleges, and other philanthropies, explaining the benefits of donor advised fund programs. He currently publishes a periodical newsletter that is read by many of the nation’s leading charities. Most recently, through the founding of Crown Philanthropic Solutions, LLC, Mr. Rush has completed the process for philanthropies to install and market a successful donor advised fund program and integrate the new program into current administration and marketing systems.
John C. Otterman, Managing Director
From 1969 through 2005, Mr. Otterman has had an extensive career in banking as an executive officer responsible for a broad range of activities, which include investments, funding, balance sheet management, and trust services.
Since 2003, Mr. Otterman has collaborated with Russell M. Rush in the development of a donor advised program. In connection with the development of this operational process, Mr. Otterman has met with a number of charitable organizations, explaining the benefits of installing a donor advised fund program. Their efforts led to the founding of Crown Philanthropic Solutions, LLC.