Meet the GVA Team
Our breadth of knowledge and years of experience allow us to support the advisors in our network. A diverse background in finance, marketing, and technology allows us to help advisors succeed as independent practices.
The GVA Team
Since 2014, GVA has built a team of individuals focused on helping our advisors reach their goals. We work with both internal and external partners, and as GVA grows, constantly re-evaluate our team to ensure we provide superior service.
Ryan C. Todd, CPA
Ryan graduated from Villanova University with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. He also spent part of his college career studying at The London School of Economics. Ryan started his career in the financial services industry working in New York City for a large investment bank, earning his Series 7, 63, 24, and 55 licenses currently held with LPL Financial.
As a Certified Public Accountant*, Ryan offers a unique perspective on nurturing relationships between advisors and potential CPA affiliates. Ryan is the Chief Compliance Officer and heads up the supervision responsibilities for Great Valley Advisor Group.
Ryan is an avid runner and has competed in 5 marathons including the Boston marathon. Ryan, his wife Tara and three kids live in Chester Springs PA.
*Great Valley Advisor Group and LPL do not provide tax advice or services. Please consult your tax advisor regarding your specific situation.
James J. Spinelli, AIF®, MSF
James J. Spinelli began his career in technology at ANRO Inc. as a developer and later joined Comcast Corporation within their Finance department. While at Comcast, he was responsible for capital forecasting, relationship management, and financial information systems.
James attended Penn State University where he received a BS in Information Systems, a Minor in Information Technology, and a Master in Information Science (MSIS). In addition, James also holds a Master of Science in Finance (MSF) from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. While at Penn State, he was also a member of the Nittany Lion’s Varsity baseball team.
James resides in Malvern, PA with his wife Devon and their children, Kieran, Saylor, Scarlett, and Serafina. He enjoys everything “FinTech” and founded Peng-Win LLC to assist advisors with customized solutions, specifically through the AdvisorBOB© platform.
In his spare time, James enjoys spending time with his family & friends either at the beach, on the golf course, deep-sea fishing, or helping coach youth sports. He is an active member of the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities Program (RBI) and The Kyle Ambrogi Foundation.
Lee R. Johnson, Jr., CFA
Lee Johnson joined Great Valley Advisor Group in 2016. He has 14 years combined finance and investment advisory experience. Lee’s primary responsibility is to coordinate the Firm’s investment management process by building and managing a variety of customized models across the risk spectrum for clients and advisors. He focuses on bottom-up, fundamental analysis to screen and analyze best-in-class companies and managers.
Lee earned the CFA charter in 2006 and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Philadelphia. He earned an MBA with a concentration in Finance from The George Washington University, Washington, DC, where he was selected as a Business Academic All-American. Prior to his finance career, Lee served 8 years in the United States Navy where he earned the rank of Lieutenant and qualified as Engineer Officer and Officer of the Deck aboard a fast attack nuclear submarine. Lee also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Union College, Schenectady, NY. Lee is an Eagle Scout.
Lee currently serves as a member of the East Pikeland Township Open Space Committee where he helps to preserve land in the community. He also coaches youth basketball in Phoenixville and has volunteered on many non-profit organizations in the Phoenixville area.
Lee resides in Kimberton, PA with his wife Victoria and three children, twins Brendan and Madeleine, and younger brother Ethan. In his spare time, Lee enjoys reading, sailing, scuba diving and running with a local running group. He has finished the Disney and Philadelphia Marathons, countless half marathons and seven Falmouth Road Race runs in Cape Cod, MA.
Cheryl deRosa
Cheryl has extensive experience with cash management, product testing, product development and workforce training. Her main responsibilities include monitoring branch offices to ensure business is processed within FINRA & SEC guidelines. Cheryl provides training on policies, procedures and best practices to ensure business is processed smoothly. She performs periodic audits of business written by branch offices and for the RIA documenting her results.
Prior to joining our team, Cheryl spent several years in banking where she served as Vice President of Cash Management Operations leading teams that supported global sales and product suitability for Cash Managers at Fortune 500 companies. In addition, she managed a WorldLink Operation in Buffalo and US Dollar Pooling through London as well as controlled disbursements and wire transfer departments in Delaware and New York.
Cheryl has a Paralegal Certificate, a B.S. in Business and Accounting and has completed coursework toward her JD-MBA at Widener University. She holds a Certificate in Personal Nutrition, is certified as an Advanced Sports and Exercise Nutritional Advisor and is working toward a Certificate in Diet and Weight Loss.
Bryce Cleveland, CPA
Bryce is a graduate of West Chester University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting. Prior to joining Great Valley Advisor Group in December 2020, Bryce started his career as an Audit Associate at KPMG, where he also obtained his CPA license.
Within his role as Manager, Mergers and Acquisitions, Bryce is responsible for overseeing all current M&A growth opportunities for GVA.
Bryce currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his spare time, Bryce enjoys music, and grew up playing the piano, cello, guitar, and sang in his college a cappella group. He is also an avid sports fan, and loves watching or attending Sixers and Phillies games when he can.
Director, Operations and Transitions
Michelle Duff
Michelle is responsible for administering and overseeing the daily operational functions related to the firm’s Hybrid and RIA divisions. Through her excellent project management skills, Michelle helps Great Valley Advisor Group (GVA) strengthen relationships both inside and outside the firm walls to help us deliver tailored solutions to our independent advisors and advisory firms. Additionally, Michelle is part of GVA’s transition team onboarding Hybrids or IFAs and is the point of contact for the firm’s detailed and process driven New Advisor Transition Excellence program.
Michelle also supports GVA advisors with Compliance requirements, communicating alerts surrounding procedures and guidelines with audits conducted by our Broker-Dealer and the SEC. Michelle is a wealth of knowledge and is passionate about helping our advisors run a smooth practice thereby providing multiple opportunities for them to best serve their clients and operate as a fiduciary.
Prior to joining GVA, Michelle spent 16 years with U.S. Wealth Management in the Operations & Compliance department as the Director of Operations. Her responsibilities consisted of operations & compliance support, onboarding new advisors, branch exam support, insurance payouts, and office management of the corporate office.
Michelle resides in Brockton, MA with her husband Brian and their three boys, Jaydon, Joshua, Tyler, and daughter Haley. They are all kept busy at home by “Champ”, their playful and affectionate 7 year old Boxer.
Drew Nemeth
Drew is a Great Valley Advisor Compliance Supervisor. He is responsible for reviewing and maintaining oversight of all activity generated from GVA advisors and staff. He has been involved in the operations/compliance side of the financial industry since graduating from Rider University. Drew began his career with Fiserv Securities before moving to Wells Fargo and has been with LPL since 2007 and GVA since 2014. He maintains his series 6, 63, 65, 7 and 24. Drew has a robust understanding of the back office procedures of the financial industry.
In his spare time Drew enjoys spending time with his family, coaching his children’s sports teams, playing ice hockey and going to the beach.
Stefanie Dolan
Stef is a member of Great Valley Advisors’ marketing and communications team as their Content Marketing Specialist. She is responsible for reviewing, maintaining, and delivering communications generated by GVA through the appropriate channels.
Stef has been involved in marketing and advertising since graduating from Columbia University in 2006. She started her career agency-side at Ogilvy and Digitas in New York. Then, after relocating to Pennsylvania, Stef led the digital team at a medical publishing company for 8 years.
Stef lives in Berwyn, PA with her husband and their three young sons.
Virtual Chief Information Security Officer
John Araneo
John Araneo is Virtual Chief Information Security Officer of Great Valley Advisor Group, and Managing Director, Cybersecurity and General Counsel of Align. Prior to joining Align, John was a partner at a well-known investment management law firm.
Having published numerous articles on data privacy, data asset protection and other cybersecurity-related legal issues since 1996, John is an established author, a sought-after speaker, cybersecurity expert and well-known thought-leader on the legal, regulatory, governance and employment law issues related to cybersecurity, particularly in the investment management space.
Marketing Director
Camy Loucks
Camy’s background lies in Marketing and Communications for individual clients and corporate entities which has allowed her to help identify ways in which to grow a business and develop strategies to help identify and meet goals. She enjoys helping people define and refine their vision to stay on track and work towards their dream.
As the Marketing Director, Camy also helps define and deliver announcements to advisors and home office staff in addition to working on the firm’s offsite annual educational conference. She handles the development of marketing collateral, content creation and messaging for internal and external websites as well as social media platforms.
Previously, Camy spent over 10 years with U.S. Wealth Management (USWM) as their Marketing Director working with over 30 advisors around the country assisting them in their practice development and print and digital marketing efforts.
Camy grew up in Rochester, NY and graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.A. in Communications. She has spent time in Colorado teaching skiing, in Manhattan working for public relations firms, and Long Island as a publicist with Bravo and American Movie Classics cable networks before moving to Boston and working for Cablevision of Boston and USWM respectively. She resides in Mansfield, MA with her husband Jeff, two young adult kids, Sarah and James, and their Chocolate Labrador, “Hooper”.
Manager, Business Consultant
Colton Pence
Colton is a Cum Laude graduate from West Chester University with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and additional studies in Computer Science.
As Managing Partner of AdvisorBOB, Colton is responsible for overseeing the compensation of more than 1,000 advisors and 55 billion in assets. Colton has led the charge in growing AdvisorBOB’s fintech presence. AdvisorBOB has been included in Michael Kitces Financial AdvisorTech Solution Map and services multiple Forbes Top 100 Registered Investment Advisors.
With the Manager, Business Consultant role, Colton is responsible for GVA’s host of companies that utilize software to provide financial services. Colton contributes to the firm through compensation, reporting, and anything technology-related.
Colton lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania with his fiancé Kennedy and two dogs. In his spare time, Colton enjoys spending time with friends and family either on the golf course or at the beach.
Operations Associate
Tomoko DuPaul
Tomoko is responsible for billing advisory accounts managed by advisors and also handles the full array of operations tasks.
Tomoko previously worked as a New Business Analyst at Ocean State Financial Services, a Met Life Affiliated firm, where she handled all lines of business including Life Insurance, Annuities, Brokerage, and Mutual Funds. She has a B.S. in Communication from Suffolk University in Boston, MA.
Portfolio Analyst & Trader
Robert S. Schmauk Jr.
Robert is a recent Cum Laude graduate from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Minor in Economics. Before joining Valor Asset Management in June of 2019, Robert completed internships with Great Valley Advisor Group and Doylestown Wealth Management.
As a research analyst for GVA/Valor, Robert contributes to the firm’s investment management decisions by researching and analyzing potential investments and monitoring the performance of Valor’s custom models.
Robert lives in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. As an avid runner Robert enjoys running 5K’s and half marathons and has completed the Disney Marathon. In his spare time Robert also enjoys playing tennis, hockey, and spending time with friends and family.
Dana Heiserman
Dana joined Great Valley Advisor Group in 2022 with extensive client service and administrative support experience in both the technology and wealth management industries. Her “roll with the punches” attitude and “do great things every day” philosophy are backed by strong customer service skills. Dana will help lead the charge with Great Valley Insurance Brokers and ensure our advisors get the support they need to help them assist their clients.
Dana takes initiative to solve problems, responds promptly to client requests, and consistently proves her dedication by making herself available at a moment’s notice. Dana enjoys cooking, watching football, and spending time with family and friends. She also likes to travel, and get outdoors to go hiking, camping, canoeing, and fishing.
Michael Hornung
Michael is a recent graduate from Temple University’s James E Beasley School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor after studying Economics at Susquehanna University. As a Compliance Analyst for Great Valley Advisor Group, Michael helps ensure that GVA’s compliance policies are managed and executed effectively.
Michael lives in West Lawn, Pennsylvania. An avid gravel cyclist, Michael’s life is split happily between the Office and the Trail. His four cats share his passion for birdwatching.
Ivette McCartney
Ivette spent 19 years with Gaines Financial Group as the Operations Manager. Her responsibilities consisted of operations & technical support, advisors and client support, branch exam support, onboarding new advisors, advisor compensation and management of the office. She has a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL.
Ivette is proficient in both English and Spanish and resides in Boynton Beach, FL with her husband and children. The family enjoys the Florida weather spending time boating, fishing, dirt bike riding and mountain biking in their free time, and traveling during the summers visiting family & friends.
Michael J. Dedda, ChFC
Michael J. Dedda is a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and has worked in the financial planning field for over 18 years. He is also a Registered Representative with LPL Financial.
Michael earned his B.A. in Finance from Villanova University and received his ChFC certification from the American College. Michael has established himself as a trusted advisor to businesses and individuals by creating relationships to foster better outcomes for business owners and employees.
Lori McGonagle
Lori is a graduate of East Stroudsburg University where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She began her career working in the private industry as a staff accountant where she gained a wide range of accounting knowledge. Lori has since gained experience in payroll processing, payroll tax preparation, individual income, and business tax preparation.
Lori joins Great Valley Advisors as a Client Relationship Manager where she will focus on building relationships with clients to ensure that their needs are met.
Lori resides in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania with her husband Brian and four children. In her spare time, Lori enjoys spending time with her family and friends, attending her children’s sporting events, and going to the beach.
S. Jason Kell, AIF®
Jason serves as Director, Retirement Plan Specialist for GVA Retirement Consultants and partners with corporate and non-profit executives to improve and manage all facets of their retirement plans. He has provided independent advice and fiduciary guidance to corporate and non-profit employers since 2004. His entire 23 year career been exclusively focused on qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.
He assists plan sponsors in fulfilling their fiduciary duties and improving retirement plan outcomes through a focus on liability control, plan committee and employee education, cost reduction, vendor management and improvement of plan related operations.
As an Accredited Investment Fiduciary®, he possesses an extensive knowledge of the investment monitoring and management process. He is committed to being a lifelong student of the industry and pursuing positive outcomes through rigorous monitoring and service delivery to his clients.
Jason received his B.A. from the University of Delaware and enjoys coaching youth sports and spending time with his family.
Meghan Cavanaugh
Meghan Cavanaugh is an Investment Operation Specialist working on the GVA Asset Management team, Valor. She began working in the financial industry after graduating from Penn State University with a BA in Business Management in 2005. She spent the first leg of her career at a boutique investment firm based out of Radnor, PA working with both retail and institutional clients. She moved to LPL Financial in 2014 to take on an administrative and operational role. Meghan will assist the Valor team by providing support in account maintenance and routine reporting tasks.
Meghan resides in New Hope, PA with her husband and three children. The family enjoys spending time in the Outer Banks, NC and Sea Isle, NJ during the summers.
Administration & Operations
Tess Vaughan
Tess Vaughan has provided top-notch administrative and operation support in the financial services industry for over 20 years. For the past two years she has dedicated her time to the Gaines Financial Group (Boca Raton, FL), where she supported a team of 14 in-house advisors. Tess has thrived in this space starting with back-office support and growing professionally to create and deliver reports to both client and management.
Tess has lived in Boca Raton for 26 years; she enjoys endurance sports, creating resin art, and spending time with her husband and son.
Client Services Associate
Kristin Harris
Kristin Harris is responsible for the processing of all back office details with a focus on insurance. Kristin assists with opening accounts and is a direct contact for client requests and issues.
In her spare time, Kristin loves spending time with family and friends. She enjoys traveling and going to the beach.
Operations Manager
Meghan Geary
Meghan Geary has been with the company since 2009. Meghan assists with marketing initiatives, is our vendor contact, handles much of our accounting responsibilities and is responsible for all other office functions and projects. Prior to working for Great Valley Advisor Group, Meghan held project management roles with Stewart Management Company, Citigroup and also worked for 8 years at Columbia Management Group in Boston, MA in the National Accounts group.
In her spare time, Meghan loves to spend time with her husband and daughters. She enjoys going to the beach, skiing and taking family trips.
Client Services Associate
Joanne Harrison
Bio coming soon…