Our Team

Patricia M. Soldano
Founder & President, Policy and Taxation Group

Patricia M. Soldano has spent over 30 years providing family office services. She owned Cymric Family Office Services and sold to GenSpring Family Offices in January 2009, where she was Managing Director of Western Region for 5 years and then a Family Office Consultant to GenSpring until December of 2017.

Ms. Soldano is President of Family Enterprise USA; its mission is to promote the growth of generational owned family businesses in the US, and President of Policy and Taxation Group, which she formed in 1995, that works to reduce onerous tax and economic policies for successful families, family offices and family business. She is Principal Advisor to the Drucker School Global Family Business Institute, and a member of CSUF Family Business Center, as well as on Family Business editorial committee for Trust & Estate Magazine. She is on the Investment Committee, Comp Committee and Audit Committee for Alzheimer’s Orange County. Ms. Soldano received an MBA from Claremont Graduate School, The Drucker School and a BA in Business Administration from Cal State University Fullerton.

Russ Sullivan
Outside Counsel

Russ Sullivan is chair of the National Tax Policy Group at lobbying and law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, providing unparalleled insight into the legislative and regulatory risks and opportunities related to tax policy. Russ is a Capitol Hill veteran who spent 14 years with the Senate Finance Committee, including nine as staff director. He leverages his vast network and industry expertise to devise and execute complex strategies for both nonprofit and for-profit clients on a broad range of issues, including health care, pension planning, trade, economic development and tax policy.

During his time at the Senate Finance Committee, Russ worked directly on policy matters related to the estate tax. He served as chief tax counsel under Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) when the committee passed legislation repealing the estate tax in 2001. A decade later, as committee staff director, Russ worked with a bipartisan group of senators to make a reduction in the estate tax rate and an increase in the exemption amount permanent.

Over his career on Capitol Hill, Russ developed an extensive network, managing over 600 staff members and policy professionals – many of whom currently serve in senior government positions.

At Brownstein, Russ has represented a number of taxpayers who operate family-owned businesses and has advanced their interests during critical times. For example, as policy debates unfolded over the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, he worked on behalf of numerous clients to develop a robust 20% deduction for pass-through businesses to lower the effective income tax rate on entrepreneurs, farmers and ranchers, and family-owned enterprises.

Russ is passionate about fostering at-risk youth, serving as the legal or designated guardian for 22 teenagers over the past two decades. He has continually fought for an increase in the adoption tax credit.

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Brandon C. Roman
Outside Counsel

Brandon Román advises a wide array of domestic and international clients, including banks, non-bank financial institutions, financial market utilities, trade associations, and multinational corporations, on a variety of financial services and tax issues.

Brandon assists clients in developing comprehensive strategies to further their legislative and regulatory interests before Congress, relevant congressional committees, and various regulatory agencies, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Reserve, Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Department of Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), among others.

Brandon also assists various nonprofit organizations with their corporate formation, including assistance with obtaining tax-exempt status with the IRS and state-level tax regulators. He also advises nonprofit organizations, such as charities and trade associations, on corporate governance and compliance issues.

Brandon is an active member of various firm diversity initiatives for both Hispanic and LGBT attorneys. Brandon is also a member of the firm’s Recruiting Committee.

Prior to joining Squire Patton Boggs, Brandon served as a judicial intern for Chief Judge Nancy V. Alquist of the United State Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, as well as for Judge Laura Cordero of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia. During his time in law school, Brandon worked as a student-attorney in the Janet R. Spragans Tax Clinic, where he successfully represented a client before the United States Tax Court in obtaining relief. His knowledge of public policy and international affairs was strengthened during his time as a McCleary Law Fellow for the Human Rights Campaign. Brandon also spent time in El Salvador where he leveraged his fluency in Spanish to assist ALDES (La Oficina de Asistencia Legal para la Diversidad Sexual El Salvador) in organizing the country’s first conference on LGBT rights.

Brandon is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Squire Patton Boggs Foundation, which promotes the role of public service and pro bono work in the practice of law and the development of public policy.

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Charles D. (“Skip”) Fox IV
Treasurer and Assistant Secretary

Skip Fox is retired from McGuireWoods LLP and is now a Consultant to Policy and Taxation Group and Family Enterprise USA. Skip concentrated his practice in estate planning, estate administration, trust law, and charitable organizations. Skip has been on the faculty of the American Bankers Association’s National Trust School and National Graduate Trust School since 1987. He was an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University School of Law where he taught from 1983 to 2005 and has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia School of Law since 2006. He speaks extensively around the country on estate planning topics and is the co-presenter of the long-running monthly teleconference series on estate planning and fiduciary law issues sponsored by the American Bankers Association. Skip has contributed articles to numerous publications and is a regular columnist for the ABA Trust Newsletter on tax matters.

He is the author or co-author of seven books on estate planning topics. Skip is a Fellow and President-Elect of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Skip received his A.B. from Princeton, his M.A. from Yale, and his J.D. from the University of Virginia. Skip’s wife, Beth, is a retired trust officer and they have two sons, Quent and Elm.

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John Marino
Director of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development

John Marino is a Washington, DC consultant with a specialization in business development and strategic relationship building. He has extensive experience working closely with corporate leadership, aligning organizational goals, executing strategy, and driving growth. Marino has spent over 20 years in executive roles with consulting firms, government affairs companies, and nonprofit organizations. He effectively managed domestic and international clients across multiple industries, strategically positioning companies in competitive markets, creating value, and driving performance. He has helped companies navigate the public sector and collaborated with the bipartisan Italian American delegation in the United States Congress.

Marino received a Master of Business Administration at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, a Master of Arts from Fordham University in New York City, and a Bachelor of Arts from Clemson University in South Carolina.

Loren Nelson
Communications & Marketing

Loren Nelson oversees the daily communications, social media, and messaging operations of the organization.

Loren has spent over 30 years providing communications, marketing, and messaging expertise, helping companies and organization understand digital communications and media to effectively use and leverage the power of the Internet for their objectives and goals.

Loren has experience locally, statewde, and nationally in a wide range of industries including health, medical, politics, manufacturing, retail, financial, legal, restaurants, gaming, sports, water filtration, real estate, non-profit, and newly financed start-up ventures. Earliest projects were as local marketing manager overseeing all in-market expects from hiring, training, and operations. Eventually promoted into the Vice President Operations responsibile for all segment markets nationlly managing 2000+ supervisors, managers, and in-market personnel before starting his own companies.

Our Team

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