Eric Friedman, CFA
Investment Consulting Firm
Eric Friedman is an individual donor and author of the book Reinventing Philanthropy: A Framework for More Effective Giving. Eric is also an advisor for GivingAlpha.
Professionally, Eric is an actuary and investment consultant. He holds the designations of Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), Enrolled Actuary (EA), and Charter Financial Analyst (CFA). He graduated from Stanford University with majors in mathematics and economics.
Bjorn Amundson, CFP, AIF
First Vice President - Financial Advisor
Portfolio Manager - Portfolio Focus Group
Bjorn Amundson is a Financial Advisor with RBC Wealth Management specializing in financial planning and evidence based investing. He resides in the Merriam Park neighborhood of St. Paul with his wife, and three children. In addition to his work as a financial advisor, he is an instructor for other advisors studying for the CFP® exam. He and his wife are committed to giving 10% of their income.
Brent Lemieux, CFA, CPA
Risk Analyst, Western Union
Brent has been a supporter of local charities for a long time. After learning about the most effective ways to improve the world, Brent committed to supporting global health initiatives and extreme poverty interventions. He believes that alleviating global poverty is an urgent cause worth addressing given the incredibly large number of preventable deaths.
Brent is motivated by knowing that a relatively small amount of money can go so far towards alleviating global poverty and believes that some other big problems we face as a species will be easier to solve if global health and extreme poverty are taken care of.
Brent is a CFA Charterholder and currently works at Western Union doing risk modeling and statistical analysis. Prior to joining Western Union Brent was an investment analyst at a wealth management firm.
Dan Szymkowiak
Managing Director at Jefferies
Dan has been interested in making the most impact possible since reading Doing Good Better in 2015. He is passionate about improving animal welfare and supports Animal Charity Evaluators and their recommended charities.
"Highly effective charities can accomplish a tremendous amount, particularly in overlooked cause areas"
Dan is focused on earning to give and is currently a Managing Director at Jefferies.
Harley Monk, CFA
Wealth Management Firm
After learning about how much impact he could have by making minor changes to his lifestyle, Harley was inspired to commit to donating at least 10% of his income to the organizations he believes will most positively impact the world around him.
Harley finds the act of giving to be extremely gratifying and is driven by both the size of the opportunity and the ease of which he's able to help others.
"If you were to run into a burning building and save a child's life, would you consider your life a success? Imagine running into a burning building, year after year, and saving multiple children each time - now that's a success. The amazing thing is, everyone of us can have that amount of impact and save dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of lives"
Harley started GivingAlpha in 2018 to create a community of like-minded finance professionals that share a common commitment to making our world a better place. He was also featured in Facebook's Donate Your Birthday campaign here.