For more than 60 years, the Sharpe Group team have been recognized as the foremost experts in planned giving consulting, training and marketing. Our consultants each have more than 25 years of experience in advising and implementing effective planned giving programs. Additional members of our team are specialists in the fields that drive successful programs—attorneys, writers, graphic designers, print and digital marketing experts and management consultants.
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Leadership
Jim Ross, CPT, CGMA, MBA Executive Chairman Jim Ross has more than four decades of business experience, with 20 years of that leading the Sharpe team. His business leadership background includes experience with an international public accounting firm, as CFO of a publicly traded health-related entity and resident of a large financial institution. Jim served on the Memphis Symphony board, as chairman of the board for Memphis Junior Achievement and as a member of the Junior Achievement regional and national boards. Jim received his MBA from the Vanderbilt Owen School of Business. He specializes in assisting with donor data updates, including identifying deceased donors.
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Barlow Mann, JD General Counsel As one of the foremost authorities in planned giving, Barlow serves as general counsel for Sharpe Group. Before joining Sharpe four decades ago, he was director of deferred giving and estate planning services for The University of Memphis and then became the director of development at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he was responsible for current, deferred and capital giving for the colleges of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing and allied health.
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Planned Giving Consultants
Joe Chickey, MBA, CFP® Senior Vice President & Senior Consultant Joe brings more than 30 years of experience in the charitable arena, with a focus on gift planning. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance from Rhodes College and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Illinois. He has spoken to many regional planned giving groups and at national conferences across the country. Additionally, Joe works with several higher education clients training their planned giving staff.
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Kristin Croone, JD Senior Consultant Kristin is a Sharpe Group senior consultant with expertise in tax law. She has worked as an associate in tax and estate planning in Cleveland, Ohio, and as director of planned giving and legal counsel for the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.
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Julie Schuldner, MBA, CFRE® Senior Consultant Julie has always had a passion for the nonprofit community, involving herself in volunteering, teaching and community outreach for nonprofits throughout her career. Before joining Sharpe Group, she served as the executive director of the Fellowship Foundation, where she helped to build and sustain an industry-standard life plan community (LPC)-based fundraising program as a senior leadership team member.
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Additional Consulting Resources
Bob Mims, CPA, CGMA CFO Bob is a CPA with over 30 years of expertise in finance and nonprofit management and is a senior consultant and CFO at Sharpe Group. Previously, Bob was the CFO of Wetlands America Trust and served as controller, director of investments and strategic planning liaison for Ducks Unlimited. He has made significant contributions to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) through his terms on the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory and Not-for-Profit Advisory Councils.
As a sought-after author and speaker, he regularly presents at Sharpe training seminars, AICPA events and state society conferences. His expertise earned him the distinguished title of “National Instructor of the Year” three times from KPMG. In his work with Sharpe clients, he focuses on identifying training and recruiting needs while advising boards on philanthropic strategies that drive long-term financial sustainability and mission success.
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Christopher P. Woehrle, JD, LLM Technical Consultant A magna cum laude graduate of Cornell University, Chris earned his JD and LLM (Taxation) from the Widger School of Law at Villanova University, where he also is a member of the Graduate Tax Program Advisory Board. Chris is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and teaches charitable gift planning and principles of wealth management in the LLM taxation program at the Widger School of Law.
In addition, Chris is a corporate trainer for Clarity2Prosperity, where he co-created a tax-planning training course for financial advisors serving the mass affluent. He recently retired as a professor from the College for Financial Planning (CFFP).
Chris brings to both his teaching and writing his experiences as a private investor with a privately held, employee-owned trust company and advisory firm in suburban Philadelphia. He has published extensively on the coordination of charitable gift planning with retirement planning. In 2017, he received a Distinguished Author Award by vote of the readers of Trusts & Estates, a pre-eminent wealth management journal.
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Marketing & Communications
Teri Sullivan Vice President of Marketing Teri is a cum laude graduate of Rhodes College with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She has dedicated her 30-plus-year career to helping nonprofit organizations. At Sharpe Group, she leads efforts to market the company’s planned giving services, enhance the recognition of the company’s brand and generate business leads. Additionally, she creates business proposals and contracts and contributes to the Sharpe Group blog.
Before coming to Sharpe Group, she led communications at a local public broadcasting station (TV and radio) and chaired the board of a literacy organization, for which she was honored as “Board Member of the Year” at Volunteer Mid-South’s Spirit of Giving Awards. In 2004, she was named in the Memphis Business Journal’s “Top 40 Under 40” annual list.
In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, traveling, reading and being loved by her furry children—a dog and a cat.
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Creative Team
Will Dixon Graphic Designer Will creates custom graphic designs for planned giving newsletters, brochures, booklets and other marketing pieces for Sharpe Group and partners.
He is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration. Before joining Sharpe Group in 2012, Will wrote and illustrated the Soul of a Samurai comic series for Image Comics and taught Illustration and Graphic Design at Fournier Learning Strategies.
Will practices Filipino Martial Arts and has taught in the Mid-South for more than 20 years.
Debbie Graham Vice President of Production Debbie manages all printed communications and is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Joining Sharpe in 2018, she previously owned Graham Packaging & Design, working with a variety of clients, including many of Schering-Plough’s subsidiaries such as Maybelline, Dr. Scholl’s and Coppertone Water Babies. For 10 years, Debbie was the production director for Signature Advertising in Memphis.
Debbie loves working with a wide range of charities who “serve society.”
Brenda Gunner Stock Editor Brenda is responsible for proofreading content and maintaining the style and branding of all print and digital materials. In addition, Brenda works with clients to create personalized planned giving publications through Sharpe’s ecommerce platform.
Brenda holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas and previously worked as a production manager with advertising agencies in Little Rock, Dallas and Memphis.
She is married and has two adult children and three crazy dogs. When she’s not researching AP Style, Brenda loves to cook, read and monogram just about anything.
Allan Hill Senior Developer of Web Technologies As webmaster, Allan supports more than 50 planned giving client websites and provides development and support for the company WordPress website from his Memphis, Tennessee office.
He is a graduate of the University of Memphis with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. Prior to joining Sharpe Group in 2014, Allan provided technical and web expertise as manager of programming and web applications at Pinnacle Airlines in Memphis.
Aside from his passion for web development, Allan enjoys playing with his Yorkie, cooking, working out and riding the waves on his boogie board at the beach.
Ashley McHugh Content Director Based in Greenville, South Carolina, Ashley oversees the creation and review of all planned giving print and digital content for Sharpe Group clients and is actively involved in developing company marketing and communications materials.
Since joining Sharpe in 1997, Ashley has had various roles, most recently as senior editor. She continues in this capacity, creating custom publications and writing donor stories for long-term clients. A graduate of The University of Memphis with a degree in English, Ashley is the managing editor of Sharpe Insights and regularly writes Sharpe Group blogs.
When she’s not wielding her red pen, Ashley can be found running, hiking, cooking or reading.
Grant Miller Editor Grant works with clients to create custom planned giving printed and digital communications. He has authored Sharpe Group blogs and is a contributor to Sharpe Insights .
An award-winning writer with more than 15 years of editing and teaching experience, Grant holds a Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College and a Master of Fine Arts from The University of Alabama.
Outside of the office, Grant enjoys photography, cooking and spending time with his wife and son.
Jenni Proctor Editor Jenni Proctor is a Sharpe Group senior editor who has worked with clients to create customized print and digital communications pieces for almost 20 years.
Jenni earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Judson University. She loves reading, traveling and spending time with her family outdoors.
She has always enjoyed writing and recently ventured into a new genre for her—poetry. She submitted her first poem in a local contest and was selected as a finalist. Her winning poem
Administration Shellie Barnes Office Manager/HR Director From her mountain home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Shellie maintains Sharpe Group’s accounting and bookkeeping records, as well as helps her Sharpe teammates manage their benefits.
When she’s not running the numbers, Shellie enjoys photography and spending time with her granddaughter and is preparing to welcome a new grandchild.
Cindy Hatler Consultant Advisor Cindy has served as the Sharpe team’s “den mother” for more than 20 years. She coordinates arrangements for seminar locations and arranges accommodations for team travel. She also files state registrations for the company and assists with accounting. She initiates team celebrations and keeps everyone in line!
Cindy enjoys spending time with her fur baby and traveling to visit her grandchildren all over the country.
