Sales

As Senior Managing Director, Justin Murphy fosters relationships with philanthropists, their families and teams to help them achieve their charitable goals.

Current Responsibilities:

• Partners with private wealth managers, financial advisors, attorneys, and directly with donors regarding the benefits of a private foundation.
• Brings philanthropic expertise to foundations, individuals, financial advisors, attorneys, accountants, and family offices

Past Experience:

•  Legal and Technology Consultant with Lexis/Nexis-Reed Elsevier
• Counsel for The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board
• Legal Information Advisor with Thomson Reuters West
• Attorney at Marshall Dennehey

Education:

• Juris Doctor from the Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law
• Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia University with Honors

Philanthropic Cause:

• Charities that support the elderly on the local level

Fun Facts:

• My favorite quote/book is…To Kill A Mockingbird
• My favorite sports team is… The Pittsburgh Steelers
• Hobbies I enjoy: my daughter’s softball games, music and movies

Mark Sitzman is the market leader for the firm in Illinois and Missouri, operating out of his office in Chicago. He advocates for families and foundations directly and in partnership with private wealth advisors, family offices, attorneys, and CPAs to cultivate comprehensive operational solutions for private foundation clients.

Current Responsibilities:

• Discover family and foundation philanthropic objectives and identify operational needs
• Marshal appropriate tax, legal, and philanthropic expertise to inform the process
• Develop and price foundation management solutions that meet client needs

Past Experience:

• Corporate and distribution strategy in the financial services industry as a management consultant and in related roles at Morgan Stanley, Invesco, and Aon Securities
• Non-profit advisor, Board member, and mentor to next generation philanthropists and non-profit leaders

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Iowa

Philanthropic Causes:

• Promotion of inclusion and development of community, social, and professional infrastructures to improve the quality of life for people with special needs
• Community stewardship toward sustainability and well-being of all youth, our environment, and our future leaders
• Inspiration and education of future philanthropists to instill in them a life-long interest in community philanthropy and charitable involvement

As Director of Business Development, Erik Larsen works with philanthropists, wealth advisors, attorneys, CPAs, and family offices. Erik helps with existing foundations and in establishing new foundations by offering services that make owning and operating a private foundation easy for families or corporations—regardless of size or complexity.

Current Responsibilities:

• Provide guidance in helping philanthropists and their advisors identify and utilize the most appropriate charitable vehicle(s) to achieve their philanthropic goals
• Build relationships with wealth advisors, attorneys, CPAs, family offices and foundation staff
• Manage these relationships to provide valuable resources for themselves and their philanthropic clients
• Customize foundation management and technology solutions for new and existing foundations based on the client’s needs

Past Experience:

• Regional Sales Consultant at Prudential Annuities
• Financial Advisor at Barnum Financial Group, MetLife

Education:

• Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Albertus Magnus College
• Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) through The American College of Financial Services

Philanthropic Causes:

• Some of my favorites: wildlife and environmental, women and girls, education, and humanitarian

Fun Facts:

• Favorite book: The Last Lecture
• Hobbies: Mountain biking, road biking, motocross, snowboarding, hiking, tennis, golf (past hobby; road racing motorcycles)

• Favorite quote: “The time is always right to do what is right.”

As the Director of Foundation Engagement, Joseph Fraites promotes the discovery, cultivation and growth of relationships within the private foundation space utilizing Foundation Source’s guidance, education, and service resources.

Current Responsibilities:

• Serves as the primary contact for existing foundation prospects to qualify and nurture the relationship
• Build and enhance Foundation Source’s public profile with private foundations
• Help secure new business from existing foundations across the country, working in collaboration with the national sales team

Past Experience:

• Director Annual Fund – Forman School
• Founder, President – Quasar Group, LLC
• VP Investments – Prudential Securities, Inc.
• Nonprofit Boards and Committees

Education:

• Pace University
• Ithaca College

Philanthropic Cause:

• Dyslexia

Fun Facts:

• My favorite book is “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho
• My favorite movie is “Casablanca”
• I have cheered for the home team in 17 of the 30 Major League Baseball Stadiums

As a business development representative at Foundation Source, Richard Prackup leverages his seasoned marketing and sales skillset to effectively develop long-standing client relationships with financial advisors and professionals across the Midcentral region. He finds great reward in his experience of establishing Foundation Source as the philanthropic partner for financial institutions and their charitable clients.

Current Responsibilities:

• Managing inbound and outbound outreach to advisors in the financial sector with clients inquiring on private foundations
• Providing high-level detail on services and technology that Foundation Source has to offer
• Qualifying viable business connections for field sales to carry forward relationships

Past Experience:

• Sales Executive and Customer Success Specialist at Reed Exhibitions
• Intern at Univision Communications Inc.
• Emma Bowen Foundation Scholar Alumni
• University of Connecticut Alumni

Education:

• Bachelors in Marketing with concentration in Digital Marketing and Analytics – University of Connecticut
• Certification in Digital Marketing – Mediamath

Philanthropic Cause:

• Cancer Research

Fun Facts:

• My role model is… My father
• The app I can’t live without is… Snapchat
• Hobbies – Weightlifting, video gaming, Saltwater fishing

As a Director of Business Development, Alison Morus partners with financial advisors to provide expertise on the benefits of a private foundation and Foundation Source’s support services. She also works directly with high-net-worth individuals to determine their needs for a charitable vehicle and to help guide them to achieve their philanthropic missions through a private foundation.

Current Responsibilities: 

• Provide guidance in helping philanthropists and their advisors identify and utilize the most appropriate charitable vehicle(s) to achieve their philanthropic goals
• Build relationships with wealth advisors, attorneys, CPAs, family offices and foundation staff
• Manage these relationships to provide valuable resources for themselves and their philanthropic clients
• Customize foundation management and technology solutions for new and existing foundations based on the client’s needs

Past Experience:

• Spent 25 years in New York City’s textile industry
• Worked with key accounts to build successful sales plans and cultivated new relationships through consistent communication

Education:

• Regis University, Denver, Co.  Bachelor of Arts in Communication Science and English

Philanthropic Causes:

When Alison is not in between swim meets and lacrosse games with her two girls, she enjoys any opportunity to help the animals in their local shelters through participating in bake sales or winter craft events or simply volunteering to walk the dogs. (But she’s not adding another one to her family as ‘Moose’ (pit/shar-pei mix) is the ruler of the Morus house!

Fun Facts:

Although my favorite hobby is to be the biggest cheerleader at my kids’ games and meets, I try to carve out some time in the summer to do triathlons. And when it’s time to unwind from the crazy summer of club sports, I look forward to a glass of wine and a great hockey game. Go Bruins!!!

As a Business Development Representative, Heather Rodriguez engages with prospects to understand their challenges and needs, identify potential solutions, and be highly knowledgeable about Foundation Source products and services.

Current Responsibilities:

• Identify, prospect, and qualify leads based on ideal customer profile or pre-defined criteria
• Understand customer need and speak to value propositions for all offerings
• Review and actively work previously sourced leads in Salesforce to ensure leads are optimized for sales
• Expertly qualify and seamlessly hand-off leads to Managing Directors

Past Experience:

• Business Development Representative
• New York/Connecticut Real Estate Salesperson

Education:

• Southeastern University/University of Connecticut – Bachelor of Science: Business Marketing

Philanthropic cause close to your heart:

• The Light of Aubrien Foundation

Fun Facts:

• The app I can’t live without is… Amazon
• My Family/Pets are… Willow (cat), Macie (cat), & 10 chickens -too many to name!
• Hobby… Interior Design

As an Account Executive for Foundation Source’s Impactfully platform, Michael Ryzak collaborates with private foundations, corporate giving programs, and other entities seeking a technology-based solution to enhance, simplify, and consolidate program initiatives. Mike’s primary objective is to design technology solutions that facilitate philanthropic impact, streamline workflows irrespective of an organization’s mission or program complexity.

By leveraging technology, leaders & teams can concentrate on maximizing the social-good impact of their programs or their family’s philanthropic endeavors.

Current Responsibilities:

• Building relationships with foundation members & teams supporting mission execution.
• Collaborate with giving professionals to align services and solutions with client need.
• Partner with product team to help inform customer journey, client pains and future roadmap
• Educating teams on software use cases and propositioning

Past Experience:

• Blackbaud & Benevity; SaaS solutions manager New England & NY markets
• VP of Business Development American Endowment Foundation
• National Director of Sales Foundation Group

Education:

• Study Sociology at Western New England & Sacred Heart University
• FINRA Series 7, 6, 63
• Salesforce Certified Administration & App Builder

Philanthropic Cause:

• Supporting early exposure to music in childhood development & climate change initiatives are cause I and my family actively support.

Fun Facts:

• Favorite book is the Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Favorite movie is It’s a Wonderful Life, no need to wait until the holidays to enjoy this classic
• When not working you may find me getting my hands dirty in the garden landscaping or tackling some new home renovation project. My latest passion is to visit many the local vinyl record shops for the rare jazz pressing.