National Planned Giving Council

Planned Giving Office Team

Ron Black, Manager, Planned Giving Office, is a Certified Financial Planner, Certified Fund Raising Executive, and a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving. He has over thirty years of experience in financial, estate, and gift planning. He has served as a vice-president of Clark Securities Network, a national financial planning broker dealer with clients in thirty-eight states. He has also served as the president of Parr Securities Network, as well as president of Sundahl Black and Associates. He has served on the boards of three financial planning broker dealers.

John M. Barger, Planning Services (Senior Advisor), received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the State of New York in 1981, with a major in English Literature. He earned a Master of Education degree with a major in Guidance and Counseling from Montana State University in 1985. Following his retirement from the U.S. Air Force, he worked as a financial planner before joining Davidson Trust Co. in Great Falls, Montana as Vice President and Trust Officer. He later served as Vice President, Senior Trust Administrator with Wells Fargo Private Client Services in Salt Lake City, and as Senior Vice President and Senior Trust Officer with Davidson Trust Co.  He is a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor and previously served on the boards of Davidson Investment Advisors, the Golden Triangle Mental Health Center Foundation, and the Montana Community Foundation Advisory Council. He joined LDS Philanthropies in 2007 following his service as President of the Kenya Nairobi Mission.

David J. Bonner, Planning Services, Professional Relations Coordinator, received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in 1984, with majors in Political Science and Sociology. He also served an internship with the Hinckley Institute of Politics. David earned his Juris Doctor degree from Brigham Young University in 1987. Following law school, he served a judicial clerkship and then worked in the land department of Shell Oil Company. David experienced a winter semester with Russian law students when invited to serve as a visiting lecturer at Moscow State University. Prior to coming to LDS Philanthropies in 2000, David was the Endowment Director for the Montana Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a member of the Utah Bar Association and President Elect of the Southern Utah Estate Planning Council. David is also a member and former officer with the Utah Valley Estate Planning Council.

Spencer Ellis, Finance, Professional Relations, received his degree from Brigham Young University in accounting. He has worked for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over five years as the Finance Manager for LDS Philanthropies. Before working for the Church he spent three years working at Maddox, Thomson and Associates specializing in small business, partnership, and trust tax returns. Prior to that he spent three years working for KPMG in the Budapest, Hungary, and Houston, Texas, offices as a financial auditor. Spencer is a licensed CPA and is a member of the AICPA and Utah Valley Estate Planning Council.

Richard E. Fitt, Planning Services, Wills and Trusts Officer, earned his bachelors degree in 1972 and a masters degree in 1975 at Brigham Young University. Richard joined LDS Philanthropies in 1985 and has had 22 years of development experience including 15 years as a major gift development officer and 7 years in the Planned Giving Office of LDS Philanthropies. Currently his responsibilities include focusing on donor stewardships and records for revocable gifts and self-administered charitable remainder trusts benefiting the Church and its sponsored institutions. He is a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving and a Certified Fund Raising Executive. Richard currently serves as president of the Board of the Utah Valley Estate Planning Council. 

Julie I. Geilman, Program Coordinator, graduated from Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) with an associates degree in Humanities in 2000, and Brigham Young University with a bachelors degree in English with a Humanities minor in 2002. Julie has worked as an editorial assistant with BYU Studies, a non-profit scholarly journal, and she currently works as a freelance editor in addition to her work at LDS Philanthropies. She has experience with editing, document design, technical writing, event planning, and donor recognition societies. Julie has been with LDS Philanthropies since 2002.

M. Wesley Mashburn, Planning Services, Training Services, graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1992 and received his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from the Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1995, where he was Executive Editor of the Journal of Public Law and earned membership in the prestigious Order of the Coif. Wes served as a law clerk for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and then for a Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court; he later became a staff attorney for the Nevada Supreme Court. He was an associate at the law firm of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews, and Ingersoll in Salt Lake City before joining the LDS Philanthropies Planned Giving Office in 2001. Wes is a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving. He has also been a member of the National Committee on Planned Giving and the Utah Planned Giving Roundtable. He is a former officer and current member of the Utah Valley Estate Planning Council.

Carl A. McLelland, Planning Services, Support Services, graduated from the University of Utah in 1977 with a degree in Political Science. He earned his Juris Doctor from Brigham Young University in 1980. He is a member of the Utah Bar Association, the National Council on Planned Giving, and the Utah Planned Giving Round Table. He is a Certified Specialist in Planned Giving. Prior to coming to LDS Philanthropies, he served as the vice-president of Finance and Operations at the Children’s Miracle Network. He has been with LDS Philanthropies since 1991.

Jerry L. Reynolds, Technical Review and Compliance, earned his Baccalaureate degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University in 1977. He also earned his Juris Doctor from Brigham Young University’s Law School in 1980. He is a member of the Utah State Bar Association. Prior to joining LDS Philanthropies, Jerry practiced law in Provo, Utah with an emphasis in real estate law, banking law, commercial law, and wills, trusts, and estates. He has been with LDS Philanthropies since 1999.

Karen I. Taylor, Senior Legal Assistant, joined the Planned Giving Team of LDS Philanthropies in 2006 to provide legal assistance and administrative support. Karen has several years of experience as the business manager of a small estate planning law firm, managing all aspects of the office from accounts payable/receivable to human resources. Prior to her experience as business manager, Karen managed multiple estate settlement cases through the probate or trust settlement process providing direct support as a legal secretary. She brings to LDS Philanthropies her knowledge in estate planning document drafting programs and document assembly.

Henry L. Whiffen, Church Service Missionary, brings over 40 years of experience to the Planned Giving Office. His career has been focused on helping high net worth families and their advisors nationwide with advanced estate planning. In this capacity, he has helped personal clients reduce their tax liability and redirect to charities over $2 billion that would have otherwise gone to pay taxes. He has worked with the Planned Giving Office since 2004 in this capacity, providing LDS Philanthropies staff and donors with creativity, knowledge, and energy to assist donors and their advisors in achieving the donors' philanthropic goals.