Join me at CGP Conference 2026

Keynote & Plenary Speakers

CGP Conference features an exceptional lineup of keynote and plenary presentations designed to inspire, educate and empower gift planning and philanthropic professionals.

Experience thought-provoking sessions addressing the most prevalent challenges and opportunities in gift planning.

In this fireside chat, executive coach, facilitator and keynote speaker Vicki Clark explores the quieter questions that shape a professional's confidence.

Drawing on her experience with leading organizations including the American Council on Gift Annuities and the National Audubon Society, hear Vicki’s practical takeaways from her unique understanding of the pressures, priorities and possibilities that shape this profession.

From imposter syndrome to leadership voice, expect a candid conversation about building your confidence and professional presence. Prepare to leave this session with the kind of insight that will inspire you for years to come.

Vicki Clark has spent more than four decades helping professionals in the nonprofit, association, and corporate sectors do the one thing that changes everything: show up with confidence in the work they were meant to do.

She is a sought-after executive coach, facilitator, and keynote speaker known for her direct, no-nonsense style and her rare ability to make a room feel simultaneously challenged and deeply supported. Her work on imposter syndrome, leadership voice, and professional presence has resonated with audiences from emerging professionals to senior executives across nearly all 50 states and internationally.

Vicki understands the world gift planning professionals inhabit. She has worked directly with the American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) and brings deep fluency in the philanthropic sector through engagements with organizations including the National Audubon Society, United Way, the Association of Junior Leagues International, Church World Service, the American Bar Association, and numerous state and local bar associations. She does not come to this work as an outsider; she comes as someone who has spent her career inside organizations like yours, coaching the people who carry them forward.

A BoardSource Certified Trainer and four-time Servant Leadership Institute keynote speaker, Vicki brings the same rigor to a three-hour workshop that she brings to a one-on-one coaching engagement: real frameworks, honest conversation, and outcomes that stick.

She meets people where they are, never gives up, and after 40-plus years, she will tell you she is still a work in progress.

Sandra Swirski’s influence on philanthropic and planned giving policy has established her as a top strategy and government affairs advisor for high-wealth philanthropists, C-Suite executives, and global nonprofit institutions. Sandra, a seasoned lawyer, award-winning advisor, and advocate, has impacted every high-profile tax bill since 1989.

Cited by the Associated Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Tax, The Center for Effective Philanthropy, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inside Philanthropy, and frequently published in Wealth Management, Sandra’s continued commitment to philanthropy, policy, and practice has earned her numerous awards and accomplishments.

The “Great Wealth Transfer” is everywhere. But much of the story people tell about it is wrong. Absurd dollar estimates. Automatic windfalls for nonprofits. Young heirs. Lasting family wealth. Decedent values preserved. But the true story is often very different. We’ll examine the data on what really happens to heirs, wealth, and giving. Whether you work with nonprofits, heirs, or families planning their estates, this session will help you replace comforting assumptions with more realistic and effective strategies.

Russell James, J.D., Ph.D., CFP® is a professor in the School of Financial Planning at Texas Tech University where he directs the graduate program in Charitable Financial Planning (planned giving). He graduated, cum laude, from the University of Missouri School of Law where he was a member of the Missouri Law Review and received the United Missouri Bank Award for Most Outstanding Work in Gift and Estate Taxation and Planning. He also holds a Ph.D. in consumer economics from the University of Missouri, where his dissertation was on charitable giving. He is a member of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP) Hall of Fame and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Counsel (ACTEC).

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