Where There's A Will, There's A Way | Student Education Series
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Join the WDCEPC for a discussion on closing the racial wealth gap through a career in estate planning. Learn about the estate planning profession, pathways to entry and success, and the need for diverse lawyers in the field. A career in estate planning can promote social justice by building, keeping and leveraging wealth for families and communities of color.
Pizza will be available in the Student Lounge on the ground floor of Houston Hall starting at 12:00pm, courtesy of ACTEC.
About the Speakers:
Molefi McIntosh, JD, LLM, is an associate at Lowenstein Sandler in the Washington, D.C. office. He counsels businesses and high-net-worth individuals on the tax impacts of a range of estate planning and transactional scenarios, including those implicating cross-border concerns. Molefi’s prior experience includes managing international tax and transaction services at Ernst & Young, where he advised multinational clients in the chemicals, life sciences, entertainment, and other industries on the tax aspects of domestic and cross-border transactions. He has interned with both the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s Investment Management Division and the IRS. As adjunct professor and supervising attorney for Howard University School of Law, Molefi co-developed and teaches the Estate Planning and Heirs’ Property Clinic, which addresses the racial estate planning gap and combats problems associated with heirs’ property by assisting low-income and BIPOC clients who historically have not had access to or information about estate planning services. Molefi is a graduate of Howard University School of Law (JD, 2016) and Georgetown University Law Center (LLM 2017).
Shakisha Morgan, Esq., is a learner, strategist, and connector with over a decade of legal experience. An educator at heart, Shakisha is affectionately known as The Legacy Counselor™, and she is the Principal Attorney of The Morgan Firm, LLC. Since graduating from Stanford University & Georgetown Law, Shakisha has devoted herself to increasing access to Black generational wealth through her work conducting community & corporate workshops, delivering guest lectures and keynotes, and providing transformative advice to her clients. She is a published author on topics related to estate planning, multigenerational wealth building, Black wealth, and servant leadership. Shakisha is a philanthropist and enjoys serving as a mentor and a board member of the Young, Black & Giving Back Institute, Inc.
Tiffanie Purvis, JD, MPM, joined the Greater Washington Community Foundation in January 2023 as its General Counsel and Senior Philanthropic Advisor. In this role, she handles general legal matters for The Community Foundation and works with professional advisors and donors to craft and achieve philanthropic solutions and strategies. Before joining The Community Foundation, Tiffanie held positions as Planned Giving Officer for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Assistant Director of Gift Planning, and Director of Gift Planning at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to her career in fundraising, Tiffanie was a solo practitioner in the field of Estate Planning and Landlord-Tenant law in Georgia. She received her bachelor's degree from North Carolina A&T State University and her Law Degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University. In May 2023, she received a Master’s Degree in Public Management from the University of Maryland College Park.
About the Moderator:
Sarah Moore Johnson, Esq., is a founding partner of the estate planning law firm Birchstone Moore, LLC. She is a respected leader in the Washington, DC estate planning community who concentrates on estate planning, trust and estate administration, business succession planning, asset protection, and charitable giving while minimizing income, estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and as a Top Attorney in the Washingtonian magazine, Sarah focuses on planning for family offices, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, and art collectors. She particularly relishes streamlining and improving existing estate plans for her high net worth clients. Prior to attaining her law degree, Sarah was a senior financial analyst in the Valuation Services Group of Arthur Andersen LLP in Atlanta, and in that capacity gained considerable knowledge in valuing assets and using discounts in estate planning. Sarah also clerked for American Cancer Society's Office of Corporation Counsel, where she became familiar with the tax laws applicable to charitable organizations. Prior to co-founding Birchstone Moore, Sarah was a partner at Venable LLP. She received her J.D. magna cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law and her B.S. in Business, magna cum laude, from Wake Forest University. She is admitted to the Bar in the District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia.
