About Us
Founders
Carol Anderson, M.S.
President
Carol Anderson is the founder and President of MQ Research & Education™ . She has an M.S. in Consumer Economics & Family Resource Management and a diverse background in business, education, and financial services. Since 1989, Carol has focused on the issues of financial planning education, retirement preparation, life planning, and productive aging. As a researcher, writer, and consultant, Carol has worked with a broad range of companies and non-profit organizations in designing studies, conducting analyses, and compiling research reports. In addition, Carol has written articles, developed publications, and designed educational tools, materials, and training workshops. She is a member of the Financial Planning Association,Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education, and Financial Therapy Association. When not working, Carol enjoys spending time with her family and pets, gardening, and hiking.
Amy N. Mullen, CFP®
Vice President
Amy Mullen, CFP® is Vice President of MQ Research & Education™. She frequently presents at national conferences on the benefits and effectiveness of a values-based approach to financial planning, understanding clients' financial motivations and how to guide them through change, and creating long-lasting client-planner relationships. She also focuses much of her time conducting trainings and providing individualized coaching and consulting to financial planning practitioners. Amy is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and completed an Interdisciplinary Studies Degree with a concentration in “Financial Motivation & Change” at Marylhurst University. Amy is a member of the Financial Therapy Association and Financial Planning Association. She has served on the board of the FPA of Puget Sound chapter and as a Task Force member for the 2015 National FPA Retreat. Outside of the office, Amy enjoys getting out doors, photography, live music, and cooking.
Consortium
Thom Allison, CFP®
Thom founded Allison Spielman Advisors in 1997 to offer thoughtful and effective financial planning services to smart people who plan for their financial future. His focus is on helping clients realize their life’s vision through the Financial Life Planning process. He works with each client individually to assess their risk tolerance and develop the financial strategies that best suit their needs and goals. In addition, Thom coined the term Sensible Portfolio Management TM to describe his investment philosophy which focuses on investing versus speculating. Thom is a graduate of Loyola University in Chicago and earned his MBA with a finance emphasis from the University of Wisconsin. Since 1988 he has been a Certified Financial Planner®. In addition, Thom is a past member of the board of the Financial Planning Association of Puget Sound and has served as President and Chairman.
Josh Harris, CFP®, AFC®
Derek Lawson, Ph.D., CFP®,
Derek is an Assistant Professor of Personal Financial Planning at Kansas State University and a Financial Planner at Priority Financial Partners, based in Durango, CO. His research is practitioner-focused, allowing him to combine his past and present experience as a financial planner with his research interests. Lawson's research focuses on relationship dynamics, physiological stressors, financial therapy, behavioral finance, and consumption decisions, with a primary focus on younger adults not near retirement. His work has been published in the Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, Financial Services Review, and the Journal of Financial Therapy, and he has co-authored a few book chapters. One of his research pieces, "Integrating behavioral finance, financial psychology, and financial therapy theory and techniques into the financial planning process", was recognized by the Journal of Financial Planning and the Financial Planning Association as the 2018 Montgomery-Warschauer award-winning article.
Megan McCoy, Ph.D., LMFT, CFT-I™
Megan is a Professor of Practice and the Director of the Personal Financial Planning Master’s Program at Kansas State University. Her education began in the area of marriage and family therapy but evolved into financial therapy when she began to do conjoint financial therapy sessions with financial planners. Her research has been published in a range of journals such as The Journal of Financial Therapy, The Annuals of Business Review, The Journal of Financial Planning, The Journal of Family Economic Issues, The American Journal of Family Therapy, Journal of Systemic Therapies, Journal of Couple and Family Therapy, and the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy to name a few. Dr. McCoy serves as Secretary for the board of Financial Therapy. In addition, she is the Associate Editor of Profiles and Book Reviews for the Journal of Financial Therapy.
Deanna L. Sharpe, PhD, CFP®, CRPC®, CRPS
Deanna is an associate professor in the Personal Financial Planning Department at the University of Missouri. Her research examines factors affecting later life financial and economic well-being. Work on Expenditures in Grandparent-Headed Households and the Financial Issues of Having a Child with Autism won Outstanding Paper awards. She has provided professional service to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., the Association of Financial Counseling and Planning Educators, and the American Council on Consumer Interests and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Family and Economic Issues, the Journal of Financial Planning and Counseling, and the Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Dr. Dave Yeske, CFP®
Dave is a principal of Yeske Buie, a wealth management firm with offices in San Francisco and Vienna, Va., and is a long-time leader in FPA and the profession. He holds a doctorate in finance from Golden Gate University, as well as an M.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Applied Economics from the University of San Francisco. In October 2017, Dave was awarded the prestigious P. Kemp Fain, Jr. Award, the Financial Planning profession’s lifetime achievement award. He serves as the Practitioner Editor of the Journal of Financial Planning and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Financial Planning. In addition, Dave holds an appointment as Distinguished Adjunct Professor in Golden Gate University’s Ageno School of Business, where he is director of the University’s financial planning program.
Governing Board
Marilyn Bergen
I started in Financial Planning in the mid 1980's. After working as an Independent Contractor, I founded a fee only firm, in 1996 with another planner. In 2011, we merged our firm with another firm to become Confluence Wealth Management.
Some highlights of my career include (1) my original business partner; a man of ethics, talent and concern for client satisfaction; (2) Board experience with the Oregon chapter of ICFP, one of the predecessors to FPA; (3) participation in a National Study Group with about 11 members; (4) National and local recognition in several publications as one of the best Financial Planners; (5) amazing clients; (6) the opportunity to help so many people work towards and achieve their financial goals; and (7) the ability to work with a large number of extremely talented colleagues and employees. I retired Jan. 2019.
I have one son who with his wife just had a child this year. Excitement reigns! Travel is a passion, along with socializing with friends.
Julie Davis
Julie joins us as a member of the MQ Governing Board. She has worked as a community organizer and advocate for more than 25 years. As the founding Executive Director of Basic Rights Oregon, she has worked to build a diverse, inclusive, and accepting network of activists committed to defending everyone's basic rights.
Today, Julie is a Portland realtor, committed to building strong, inclusive communities where everyone thrives. She brings heart and passion to her practice, working to help every client find their place – their home.
Annalisa Maceda
Annalisa has been in the bar and restaurant industry for twenty years. She moved to Portland six years ago to open her first restaurant with her husband, George. They’ve both been working full time at their business for the last three years, and also opened another concept inthe space six months ago.
After many years of bartending, she met Carol Anderson of Money Quotient and was inspired to pursue her CFP certification. She’s started the process and is honored to be a part of the Money Quotient board.