The Planned Giving Advisory Council helps SLCC students achieve their education goals and create diverse opportunities for the future. The council advises the Salt Lake Community College Foundation during planned gift acceptance and works to increase the college's capacity to solicit, secure and manage planned gifts. Members of the council are responsible for recommending policy and establishing procedures for the planned giving program. Additionally, they implement strategies to build endowment funds through a coordinated, active program of identifying, soliciting and recognizing donors.
Under the direction of the council, the Salt Lake Community College Foundation offers free public seminars and other workshops on topics such as social security, estate planning, wills, trusts, and qualified charitable distributions from IRAs. We invite you to review and register to attend our seminars here.
Council Chairman
Dirk Samson, CTFA
Vice President & Trust Officer
America First Credit Union
Dirk Samson is a vice president and trust officer with America First Credit Union. With more than 20 years of experience with trust administration, estate settlement, and investment management services, he's passionate about informing credit union members and estate planning attorneys about AFCU's notable professional executor and successor trustee services. A graduate of Grand Valley State University with a finance degree, Dirk is a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor and a member of the SLC Estate Planning Council. In addition to chairing SLCC's Planned Giving Advisory Committee, Dirk is a regular volunteer at animal sanctuaries and rescue organizations and is an avid, year-round, outdoor enthusiast.
Kathryn Carlisle-Kesling
Estate Lawyer
Holland & Hart LLP
Kate Carlisle-Kesling brings more than two decades of industry experience to assist businesses and individuals in real property law, estate planning, probate, and trust administration. She is admitted to practice law in Utah and Ohio and is a member of the Salt Lake Estate Planning Council. Kate is a frequent speaker, recently leading a six-week course on estate and disability planning at the University of Utah Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and speaking on investing in real estate using self-directed IRA's in Draper and Cleveland. Over her career she has assisted developers, builders, lenders, and title companies with real estate and construction transactions, projects, and workouts. Kate earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toledo School of Law. As a member of SLCC's Planned Giving Advisory Council, Kate is a passionate advocate for the college.
Johnny Christensen
Douglas K. Cummings
Estate Attorney
Cummings Law Firm, LLC.
Douglas K. Cummings is the founding member of Cummings Law Firm, LLC. He currently serves as Counsel for the Trustee of The Utah Pooled Trust, associated with Turn Community Services. He is prior Chairman of the Estate Planning Section of the Utah State Bar and the Salt Lake Estate Planning Council; a former member of Primary Children's Medical Center Planned Giving Committee; and has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Arc of Utah, and the Foundation for Homecare and Hospice, sponsored by Intermountain Health Care. Douglas has been selected as Utah's Legal Elite, presented by Utah Business Magazine. Prior to attending law school, Douglas was an accountant with Arthur Anderson in Washington, D.C.
Douglas' practice includes: tax and estate planning, asset protection, veteran's planning, special needs trusts, trust and estate administration, guardian/conservatorships, and elder law.
Douglas and his wife Kathy have four grown children. He enjoys politics, travel, bicycling, skiing, gardening, and photography. When it comes to travel, he hasn't been everywhere, but it's on his list.
Steve Goodwill
Goodwill Law
Steve Goodwill is the owner of Goodwill Law, a firm dedicated to providing thoughtful, comprehensive estate planning to individuals and families and legal and strategic business counsel to new and growing businesses. He is also a franchise owner with P3 Cost Analysts, a cost reduction consulting firm that has been finding and securing significant vendor expense savings for its clients for more than thirty years. For more than a decade, Steve served as a senior executive, General Counsel, and Secretary for a corporation in Salt Lake City, Utah. In this role, Steve was selected by Utah Business Magazineas "Legal Elite–In-House Counsel" for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. In 2017, Steve retired at the rank of Colonel after thirty years of service with the United States Air Force and Air Force Reserve.
Steve earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Utah College of Law and holds a Master of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University.
In addition to his activities on the SLCC Planned Giving Advisory Committee, Steve is a member of the board of the American Patriot Service Corp (APSC), a national charity started and based in Utah that assists wartime Veterans and their surviving spouses in applying for a monthly aid and attendance VA benefit earned through their service.
Steve and his wife Nicole have seven children and seven grandchildren. Together they enjoy travel, golf, and spending time with family and friends.
John Homer
For over 30 years, John has helped his clients avoid unintended consequences of their financial decisions in retirement, business, and estate planning.
John helps people make informed decisions regarding their wealth. He specializes in helping families increase the amount of assets that will be exempt from estate taxation and increasing their spendable cash flow during retirement.
John has served as president of the Salt Lake Estate Planning Council, Utah Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, and the Utah Society of Financial Service Professionals.
Stephen Mayfield
Attorney and Partner
York Howell & Guymon
Stephen Mayfield is an attorney and partner at York Howell & Guymon. He practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, business law, asset protection, and probate. Stephen's probate practice includes general probate administration, trust administration, guardianship, conservatorship and trust, and probate litigation. With licenses in Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming, Stephen assists clients in taking advantage of the various estate planning and asset protection strategies available in these states. With his LL.M. in taxation, he has vast experience in tax matters. Stephen is graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law (Illinois Institute of Technology), and holds a BA from the University of Utah.
Stephen was named as a Utah Business "Legal Elite" in Mergers & Acquisitions for 2018-2020 and is a member of the Salt Lake Estate Planning council, the Utah State Bar's Legislative Liaison Committee, and a board member of The Food & Care Coalition. He lives in American Fork, UT where his family is involved with the American Fork High School Marching Band. His personal interests include cycling, skiing and guitar.
Steven Pagoaga
Senior Investment/Portfolio Analyst
Raymond James & Associates
Steve is a financial advisor with Raymond James where he helps individuals, families, businesses and institutions build, manage, protect, and transition wealth. He specializes in education funding, estate planning strategies, and retirement planning. Steve holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Utah and worked several years as an infantry officer in the United States Army, which included deployment to Iraq before making the change to financial services. In addition to his position with Raymond James, Steve is currently a battalion commander with the Utah Army National Guard.
