Board of Directors

As a non-profit, the ACP Board of Directors is comprised of eight rotating ACP members to serve its fellow ACP community in the best interests of its membership. In addition to providing board opportunities for its members, ACP provides its members with leadership opportunities such as serving on one of several committees.

Josh Cutler,
CFP®, EA
President


Josh is a partner and lead advisor at Bluestem Financial Advisors in Champaign, IL. He joined Bluestem in 2014 after working for a regional investment brokerage firm, where prior to joining Bluestem, he realized that his passion was in helping people, not selling them products. Josh’s active involvement volunteering for ACP supplements his serving on the boards of other local organizations, including the Eastern Illinois Estate Planning Council, his local Toastmasters group, and the regional board for American Cancer Society.

At home, Josh loves enjoying time with his wife, daughter, and English Bulldog above all else.  Living in the Champaign area, which is home to the University of Illinois, means Josh is surrounded by sports and a culture of always learning. He is also an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Bears and enjoys playing the guitar, golfing, exercising, and trying new craft beers.

Sophie Kaluziak, CFP®, CPA
Secretary / Treasurer

I have a sole proprietorship in Oak Park, IL.  After getting my B.S. in Accounting and my CPA, I worked as a sales tax auditor for the Florida and Massachusetts Departments of Revenue, eventually training new auditors and then moving into management for the final twelve years of my time there.

It was a great run, but after 21 years in state tax auditing, I was ready for a career change.  Working with a career counselor, I narrowed my interests down to being an electrician or a financial planner.  I chose the latter.  My first professional conference was in Reno where I met Joanne Paynter.  My conversations with her, and all that I subsequently learned about ACP (FKA Cambridge Advisors), convinced me that this was the system that I wanted to use for my financial planning practice. I began Vista Financial planning in 2003 and received my CFP in 2006.

Sheila Padden,
CFP®, CPA/PFS, CPA

Immediate Past President

After completing Northwestern University's Certified Financial Planning Program and passing the rigorous 10 hour CFP Exam, Sheila knew that she would re-focus her career on Personal Financial Planning. At the NAPFA conference in Chicago, Sheila learned about fee-only practice models, met amazing fee-only advisors, and felt relieved that she could continue working as a trusted advisor and not sell commission-laded products.

Sheila graduated with Honors from the University of Notre Dame and holds a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Accountancy. As a licensed CPA in Illinois, Sheila completes at least 120 hours every three years of continuing education. Sheila is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and its Personal Financial Planning Section.

Sheila is actively involved in Notre Dame Women Connect where she is national chair, and in the Center for Economic Progress where she is a tax preparer for low-income families.

Her favorite activities include: tennis, golf, reading and spending time with family and friends. Sheila has been married to Mike for over 25 years and they have 4 children, 3 sons and a daughter. The youngest son and daughter are twins.


Cole McClarren,
CFP®, EA

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Cole is a Certified Financial Planner™, Investment Advisor Representative, and is enrolled to practice before the IRS. Cole is a graduate of Susquehanna University, where he earned degrees in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Finance, as well as Economics. Cole is also an active member of Mensa.

Cole joined Cambridge Financial Group in 2013. He specializes in Stock Option planning, investments, goal setting, and cash flow management.

Outside of work, Cole enjoys spending time with friends, cooking, watching television, and figuring out ways to optimize his life, and performance. He is currently learning how to code Java, and attempting to be handy around the house.

Cordi Powell,
CFP®, EA

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Cordi founded Favored Financial Planning to serve people from all walks of life. She believes that once you understand how to integrate the pieces that comprise your financial life, you can reach your goals. Cordi’s team is comprised of financial advisors from the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. These organizations are invaluable for remaining up to date on the latest changes in the financial world and ensuring she has the resources to help her clients make the best financial decisions possible.

Prior to Favored Financial Planning she received a Doctor of Medicine and completed a medical residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Brody School of Medicine in Greenville, N.C. There are a lot of similarities between achieving physical fitness and being fiscally fit. You identify goals for yourself, develop a plan to reach those goals and live intentionally toward achieving your goals.

Cordi has worked with individuals, through a program at her church called Financial Freedom, since 2007 helping them to identify and achieve their financial goals.
Nathan Snow, 
CFP®, EA

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Nathan graduated with a B.S. in Religion and M.A. in Philosophy. He spent a few years working at the university with prospective students and teaching philosophy and religion before making the decision to transition into financial planning.


After starting out with an advisory firm in Virginia, Nathan joined Accruent Wealth Advisors in early 2017. Nathan is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, IRS Enrolled Agent and NAPFA Registered Financial Advisor.
Nathan and his wife Kayla live in North Carolina with their two children, 14 chickens, and goldendoodle. Outside of the office he enjoys weightlifting, running, reading, drinking excellent coffee, and is passionate about all things Duke basketball.

ncial Freedom, since 2007 helping them to identify and achieve their financial goals.
Mike Stanton, CFP®
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In 2015, after over 30 years providing wealth management services to business
owners, individuals, and families through a major bank in Chicago, I left banking
and decided to start my own financial planning practice. Luckily, I found ACP (with a little help from Sheila Padden) – and I was provided the tools, experience, process - and most importantly, the people - that gave me the confidence I needed to start what has become, for me, a very successful solo practice.

In addition to my business, I believe in the importance of being involved in my
community. I currently volunteer as Board member and Finance Committee Chair of a local not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement facility with two campuses in the Chicagoland area. In addition, I also serve on the Finance Committee of my local parish. In the recent past, I co-chaired a successful fundraising event, which reduced my community’s Art Center’s debt from $4.3 million to $1.0 million and have served as President and Development Committee chair of the local community development group.

I have also been involved in supporting ACP, volunteering as a member of the
System Committee, Training Committee, and the Compensation Committee.

Besides spending time with clients, I make time to play tennis and golf on a weekly basis and enjoy bike rides with my wife, who recently retired from teaching. We have four great adult children who are all successfully launched but for whom I still provide free planning advice and tax prep!

 

Wesley Stien,
CFP®, MBA 


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Wesley grew up in the Holston River Valley of Virginia, and it was here that his love of the outdoors took hold. He has lived most of his life in the Mid-Atlantic region and currently resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his amazing wife, Christine, eleven year-old daughter, Sadie, and trusty canine, Rodney.

Wes’ education and professional experience are a collection of two recurrent themes: intellectual challenges and helping people improve their lives. He worked as a case manager at a multi-national law firm where he assisted attorneys with front page litigation while earning his MBA. He also tutored inner-city kids in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and led troubled teens through intense personal and physical challenges across hundreds of miles of wilderness trails and rivers.

In business school, Wes was drawn to personal finance because it offered both intellectual challenges and the ability to work with people. Following graduation, Wes joined a well-known brokerage firm as a financial advisor. He later worked as a dually registered advisor at an RIA before concluding that his mindset differed fundamentally from commission based advisors and discovering fee-only financial planning.

Wes is a CFP® practitioner who holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from James Madison University, an MBA from George Mason University, and an executive certificate from Georgetown University.