Stephanie J. Derks
Associate, Foley & Lardner 

Stephanie Derks concentrates her practice on estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, family business succession planning, family office formation, trust and estate administration, tax compliance, and other wealth planning matters. Stephanie understands the unique dynamics involved when working with families and individuals. She strives to provide creative and comprehensive solutions to achieve clients’ estate, business, and tax planning goals. She is a member of the firm’s Estates and Trusts Practice.
 

Stuart DeVault
Bush Family Member

Stuart DeVault is a 5th generation family business shareholder of Bush Brothers and Company.  Stuart has a deep-seated appreciation for family values and a strong sense of tradition. He currently serves as the Chair for the family Education Team that was created just over a year ago, demonstrating his commitment to continuous learning and development. Stuart previously served on the Bush Family Senate for 4 years.  Living in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina with his wife and 2 kids, Stuart is actively involved in the local community and is recognized for integrity and professionalism in his real estate career, which spans over a decade.  Stuart has earned accolades over the years including, Realtor of Distinction - Director's Circle, East Cooper Top Producer and numerous years in the Circle of Excellence with Carolina One Real Estate.  Stuart also graduated from the College of Charleston with a business degree in 2002. 
 

Hamilton Hilsman
Director of the Private Family Office, Synovus

The Private Family Office represents the founding family of The Family Office at Synovus. Hamilton is the Director of the Private Family Office for this seventh generation family, which has more than 165 members, including the owners of a 136-year-old family business. The Private Office team provides this family with financial and estate planning, investment strategies, family governance, and charitable giving support.

Hamilton joined The Family Office at Synovus as a Relationship Manager for the Private Family Office in 2004. He was named Director in 2007. Today, Hamilton has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, including serving as Vice President, Commercial Lender for Synovus Financial Corp., and Vice President, Relationship Manager for SunTrust Private Client Group.

Hamilton earned his M.B.A. and a B.A. in History from the University of Georgia.

Hamilton is a recipient of the Synovus James Yancey Customer Covenant Award. His community involvement includes Finance/Executive Committee member and past Board Member at the Country Club of Columbus, Capital Campaign Co-chair and past Board Chair for Young Life of Columbus, Board Chair of Piedmont Columbus Regional Foundation, past Board Member and Treasurer for Peach Little League, past Board Member for the UGA Terry College of Business and House of Heroes.
 

Bryan Howard 
Partner, Holland & Knight

Bryan Howard is a tax attorney in Holland & Knight's Nashville office, where he works with ultra-high-net-worth families regarding their estate planning, closely held businesses, tax planning, philanthropy and asset protection matters. Mr. Howard assists clients to ensure an orderly and tax-efficient transmission of their wealth from one generation to the next.

Mr. Howard advises the owners of closely held businesses with respect to entity structure, federal and state income tax minimization, succession planning, as well as an exit from the business. He helps philanthropic clients to determine the appropriate vehicle for accomplishing their charitable objectives while obtaining income tax benefits. Mr. Howard was the principal drafter of the Tennessee Investment Services Trust Act that has enabled many Tennesseans to protect their assets from future creditors.

Many of Mr. Howard's clients have worked with him for a number of years. He often represents two or three generations of a family and/or siblings and cousins of his clients. Mr. Howard regularly works with formal and informal family offices, including their various advisors. These deep and long-term relationships have given him the opportunity to provide advice regarding numerous events that happen in the life cycle of a wealthy family.
 

James (Jay) E. Hughes Jr.
Author of Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family, and of Family - The Compact Among Generations

Mr. Hughes, a resident of Aspen, Colorado, is the author of Family Wealth: Keeping It in the Family, and of Family – The Compact Among Generations, both published by Bloomberg Press, and is the co-author with Susan Massenzio and Keith Whitaker of The Cycle of the Gift: Family Wealth and Wisdom, The Voice of the Rising Generation, and Complete Family Wealth, all published by John Wiley & Sons and is a co- author with Hartley Goldstone and Keith Whitaker of Family Trusts: A Guide to Trustees, Beneficiaries, Advisors and Protectors. In addition, he has written numerous articles on family governance and wealth preservation and a series of Reflections which can be found on his website jamesehughes.com.
 

Kim Kamin
Partner, Chief Wealth Strategist, Gresham Partners LLC

Kim Kamin is a partner and the Chief Wealth Strategist at Gresham Partners LLC, an independent wealth management firm currently serving about 120 families nationally as a multi-family office. At Gresham, Kim leads the development and implementation of estate, wealth transfer, philanthropic, educational, and fiduciary planning activities. Previously she was a partner at what is now ArentFox Schiff.

Kim is an adjunct professor at the Northwestern University Law School and on faculty for the University of Chicago Business School Executive Education. She is on the UHNW Families & Family Offices Committee of the Trusts & Estates Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, has published on a wide variety of topics and is also a frequent lecturer in a variety of venues across the country. She is co-executive editor and co-author for the Leimberg Library Tools & Techniques book, Estate Planning for Modern Families (4th Ed. forthcoming 2024), and has been a contributing author in books, including the recent Wealth of Wisdom: Top Practices for Wealthy Families and Their Advisors.

Kim is an ACTEC Regent, Past President of the Chicago Estate Planning Council, Planning Chair for ALI-CLE Large Estates, and Estate Planning & Legal Issues Domain Chair for the UHNW Institute.  She serves on the Founders' Committee for The University of Chicago Center of Law and Finance and on advisory boards for multiple local philanthropic organizations.

Kim received her B.A., with distinction and departmental honors in Psychology, from Stanford University and her J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School. She is an AEP^® (Distinguished) and a 21/64 Certified Advisor.
 

Jason J. Kohout
Partner, Foley & Lardner 

Jason Kohout is a partner practicing with Foley & Lardner LLP. He is the chair of the firm’s Family Offices Team and assists families and business owners in tax planning, business succession, and philanthropy. In addition, he works extensively with nonprofit organizations in the areas of governance, fundraising and tax exemption matters. Jason’s broad experience, in conjunction with his in-depth knowledge of tax, corporate and trust law, allows him to provide creative and practical solutions for his clients, especially for clients that own businesses or have philanthropic interests or nonprofit organizations focused on governance or fundraising.
 

Shelbi Ruffino
Trust Administrator & Financial Planner, Shoebox Private Trust Company

Shelbi Ruffino graduated from the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business with a degree in finance. After working with Boeing Defense in St. Louis, Shelbi returned home to Knoxville, Tennessee to pursue a career in financial planning. She earned the Certified Financial Planner designation and aligned herself with firms that also viewed financial planning as a discipline beyond investing. After working in retail financial planning, Shelbi began to specialize in the family office space. Shelbi now works for Shoebox Private Trust Company where serves as a trust administrator, financial planner, and member of the Education Team for the Bush Family. Although financial planning is the center of her work, she truly enjoys the “lightbulb moment” family members experience when learning and discovering new ideas around financial planning. 
 

Keith Whitaker
Founder, Wise Counsel Research, and Private Trustee

Keith is an educator who consults with leaders and rising generation members of families with significant wealth. Family Wealth Report named Keith the 2015 “outstanding contributor to wealth management thought-leadership.” In addition to serving as Wise Counsel’s Managing Director, Keith also serves select families as a trustee, trust protector, or director of family private trust companies. Keith’s writings and commentary have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Financial Times. He is the co-author of Wealth and the Will of God, The Cycle of the Gift, The Voice of the Rising Generation, Family Trusts, Complete Family Wealth, Wealth of Wisdom: the Top 50 Questions Wealthy Families Ask, and Wealth of Wisdom: the Top Practices of Wealthy Families and their Advisors. Keith has served as a Managing Director at Wells Fargo Family Wealth, an adjunct professor of management at Vanderbilt University, and an adjunct assistant professor of philosophy at Boston College. Keith holds a Ph.D. in Social Thought from the University of Chicago, a BA and MA in Classics and Philosophy from Boston University, and is a graduate of the ABA’s National Trust School.