Edelman CFO, COO joins other industry veterans at Foundation Source

A senior executive from Edelman Financial Engines is to give the benefit of her experience to a firm that is all about the benefits of giving.

Suzanne van Staveren, the mega RIA’s executive vice president, CFO and COO, has joined the board of directors of Foundation Source, the charitable giving platform that last year acquired Charityvest fintech Vennfi and PG Calc.

With more than two decades of leadership experience and deep knowledge of growth strategies, she will be a valuable addition to the firm as it continues to grow. Currently it supports more than 4,000 charitable organizations, administers more than $26 billion in foundation assets, and facilitates more than 160,000 grants and planned gifts annually.

"It's an honor to work with a company that is dedicated to advancing the wealth management space with accessible and effective philanthropic solutions that integrate charitable giving into the financial planning conversation," said van Staveren.

The Edelman executive was previously with Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments, and AXA in various roles.

Also joining Foundation Source’s board is Mark Casady, the founder of Vestigo Ventures (which invested in Foundation Source when it acquired PG Calc)  and the former chairman and CEO of LPL Financial, a position he held for 15 years from 2002-2017, during which the firm grew to its become the largest independent broker-dealer in the US and gained a $3 billion market cap for its IPO in 2010.

Casady and van Staveren join Pam Norley, former president of Fidelity Charitable, and Charles (Chip) Roame, founder and managing partner of Tiburon Strategic Advisors and Tiburon CEO Summits, on Foundation Source’s board of directors.

Last year, the firm polled around 1000 Gen Zs and Millennials about their charitable giving and found that most had made a financial donation in the past year. This includes 87% of Millennials (average income $98K) and 71% of Gen Zs (average income $59K).