FORGE COMPANIES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Operations Specialist - Trading
Job Titles:
- Financial Client Associate
Erika McGrew joined Advocacy Wealth Management (AWM) in February 2020 as a Financial Consultant. She has over 10 years of experience in the financial services industry and enjoys serving as a financial advocate for her clients and the community.
Prior to joining AWM, Erika worked as an Assistant Vice President, Financial Solutions Advisor for Merrill Lynch. While there, she recommended investment portfolios that helped clients reach their retirement goals, education-funding goals, and wealth-building goals. Before Merrill, she worked for a boutique institutional investment management firm, where she managed and traded the accounts of a $250 million stock portfolio.
Erika is committed to education. She is an Adjunct Professor at Clark Atlanta University where she teaches Business Finance and Personal Finance courses. During the summer, she serves as an instructor for a non-profit named Young WallStreet Traders, which teaches high school students about financial literacy and investing.
Erika is also passionate about serving the community and giving back. She spends most of her spare time educating church groups and non-profit groups on retirement planning and wealth building. She has received several awards for her volunteer service which include: the US President's Lifetime Achievement Award for Volunteer Service; The Hope Distinguished Trailblazer Community Award; and The Yes!Atlanta Outstanding Volunteer Award, to name a few.
Erika's background includes a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance. She has been married to Londyn McGrew for nineteen years and has two sons, Londyn and Jonathan.
Greg joined Forge Consulting in 2012 as a Case Analyst, preparing quotes and illustrations as he learned about the industry and how to design suitable, comprehensive financial plans. He evolved with Forge, helping to develop a more holistic planning team with Case Design, eventually rising to the role of Case Design Manager. Greg moved to Arizona in 2014 and helped support business partnerships while managing both Case Design and Production teams.
In the spring of 2017, Greg came back to Atlanta and was promoted to Operations Manager across all three Forge Companies entities (Advocacy Trust, Advocacy Wealth Management, and Forge Consulting) later that fall. He enjoys the challenges of supporting each entity and helping clients through the life of their settlement plans.
Greg attended the University of Georgia as an Honors Student and received his bachelor's degree in Psychology in 2007. He was active with WUOG, the student run radio station, and hosted a variety of shows and served on the Board of Directors.
Outside of the office, Greg enjoys spending time with his wife and their menagerie of pets, trail running, and enjoying the live music scene in Atlanta.
John Stone joined Forge Consulting in the fall of 2010 as a member of the Case Design staff, earning valuable experience in multiple areas of settlement planning including structured settlement and traditional annuities, government benefits preservation, Medicare Set-Asides, trust planning, and life care plan analysis. In June 2015, John carried the knowledge he gained from the Case Design team to Advocacy Wealth Management, and is an Investment Advisor Representative assisting current and future clients with their post-settlement financial planning.
John graduated from The University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Risk Management and Insurance and Management Information Systems. John is a licensed Life, Accident and Sickness insurance agent in the State of Georgia, received his Certificate in Financial Planning from The University of Georgia Terry College of Business in 2014, is a Registered Investment Advisor Associate (Series 65) and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
John has been surrounded by the legal profession all his life and is the grandson of a former State of Georgia Superior Court Judge, and the son and brother of personal injury attorneys in the Atlanta area. With this unique perspective, John has witnessed the results-both positive and negative-of clients' settlement recoveries and the importance of proper advice and planning. With this experience, John brings a passion to provide clients with suitable settlement recommendations to ensure their needs and goals are met.
John currently holds the following licenses and certificates:
Life & Health Insurance agent in Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and South Carolina (2012-present)
Certificate in Financial Planning from The University of Georgia Terry College of Business Executive Program (2014)
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional (2015-present)
Investment Advisor Representative (Series 65) (2015-present)
Registered Settlement Planner designation through Texas Tech University and the Society of Settlement Planners (2018)
Society of Settlement Planners Board of Directors (2018-present)
John grew up in Blakely, Georgia, and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife Kelsey. In their spare time, they enjoy spending time with family, traveling, and Georgia Bulldog football games in the fall.
Job Titles:
- Portfolio Analyst and Liaison
Job Titles:
- Financial Client Associate
Nesha Zeigler joined Advocacy Wealth Management in November of 2017. As the company's Managing Director, she works with a small book of clients and manages the financial consultants. She brings relevant business experience and a passion to help her clients learn about investing and achieve their financial goals. Nesha has over 20 years of experience in financial services and enjoys working one-on-one to identify the specific needs of her clients.
Prior to joining Advocacy, Nesha worked for Charles Schwab for ten years as a Financial Consultant, managing a book of 300 client relationships. In that role, she gave specific investment portfolio advice and made recommendations to improve their overall financial situation with retirement planning, estate planning or mortgage products. She has also worked in large non-profit organizations as a Director of Operations, working to generate more revenue and increase efficiency.
Nesha received a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a minor in business from Florida A&M University and an Executive MBA from Georgia State University. She enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and volunteering in the community in her spare time. Nesha lives in downtown Atlanta with her two daughters, Milan and London.
Job Titles:
- Instructor of CFP® Coursework for the College of Financial Planning Online
Robert Wright, CFP® serves as a Financial Consultant with over a decade of experience in the financial planning and services industry. Robert works directly with settlement planners and families to develop comprehensive financial plans.
Prior to joining Advocacy Wealth Management in 2022, Robert served in a variety of positions at Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley as a Financial Consultant.
Robert completed his Undergraduate Degree at the University of Utah in Economics and his Master of Science in Advanced Personal Financial Planning at Kansas State University.
In addition to his formal education, Robert holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 licenses, is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, and holds Georgia Resident Life and Health Insurance.
Robert is also an Instructor of CFP® Coursework for the College of Financial Planning Online and on Campus at Kennesaw State University.
Robert is the father of three amazing children: Macie, Liam, and Charlotte; and has been husband to Priscila Moraes-Wright since 2012. He and his family love to play baseball, swim, and play at the Georgia lakes and beaches.
Robinson Martin joined Advocacy Wealth Management as an Investment Advisor Representative in December of 2018. Prior to Joining Advocacy, Robinson has a long history as an Investment Advisor. His 20-plus year work history includes 9 firms, all in the financial industry. At Charles Schwab & Company, Robinson served as an Investment Advisor for ten years and managed over $400 million in client assets. His roles involved giving specific investment portfolio advice to clients and making recommendations to improve their overall financial situation with retirement planning, estate planning, and mortgage products.
In May 2010, Robinson Martin was featured in the Bloomberg Businessweek cover article Chuck Schwab Is Worried About the Small Investors. Should We Worry Too? Robinson's experience with banks such as SunTrust Investment Services and PNC Investments afford him the experience in dealing with clients of all asset and experience levels. He holds a Georgia insurance license, Series 7, Series 24 & 8 Securities Principal license.
The son of a New York City plumber, Robinson was born and raised in Brooklyn before moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1997. Robinson has a personal interest in clients with special needs. Being a father of a daughter with special needs who has passed, he is sensitive to the feeling and needs involved in dealing with change due to a personal loss. His children now include a son, Jalen, and a 140-pound Rottweiler, Duke. Robinson is a member of Fulton County Neighborhood Planning Unit, which votes on city building projects and zoning changes in the City of Atlanta. He is also a member of Brown Mills Golf course in Atlanta. Robinson's hobbies include golf, basketball, boxing, shooting pool and trying to keep up with an active 16-year-old son.
Rush James joined the team at Advocacy Wealth Management in 2018 as an Investment Advisor Representative. Prior to joining Advocacy, he worked through the PMD program at Merrill Lynch, managing assets for small businesses as well as high net worth individuals. While at Merrill, Rush earned his series 66 and insurance license to go with the Series 7 and Series 63 he had previously earned during his time raising capital at EnTrustPermal in New York City.
Rush was born in Columbia, Missouri before moving to St. Louis and attending the St. Louis Country Day School. From there, he went on to earn a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri. After a five year career as a political consultant working on political campaigns at every level, Rush returned to the University of Missouri to earn his MBA.
The youngest of five kids with three older sisters and one older brother, Rush also has five nieces and two nephews all age 8 and under. Spending time with them is his favorite hobby. Rush has raised money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness since he was a teenager including the annual Vision Walk and Dining in the Dark events both in St. Louis and later in NYC.
Tommy Johnson brings a wealth of experience to the Advocacy team. His career spans more than 50 years and he has served in a variety of positions, beginning as the mailroom runner of his family's brokerage firm in his teenage years to CEO of his own firm. Tom joined Advocacy in early 2014 to partner with both AWM and Forge in the design of services for plaintiffs. He is a Registered Investment Advisor Associate who holds a Series 65 as well as a Georgia Resident Life & Health Insurance and Long Term Care Agent license. Tommy continues to enjoy his work with individual clients as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. Tommy lives in Atlanta with his wife, the former Wayne Dobbs Bussey, with whom he has two children, Thomas Johnson IV and Louise.
Career Highlights:
Former Director of Johnson, Lane, Space, Smith & Co., Inc., 1984-89, where he managed Institutional Equity Trading for Johnson, Lane™ as well as Corporate Fixed Income and Convertible Sales
Job Titles:
- CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER
Tim Denehy is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ who has over thirty years of experience in the trust and financial services industry. Tim works directly with injured plaintiffs and their families to develop comprehensive settlement plans designed to manage and protect a lawsuit recovery.