Meet the Planned Giving Team

Assistant Vice President, Development and Senior Director of Planned Giving

(650) 725-5565
kara.wertheimer@stanford.edu

Kara Wertheimer earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987 and her JD from Cornell University in 1990. She practiced corporate law at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison before joining her mother in their estate planning, probate, and trust firm of Wertheimer & Wertheimer. She was a principal of Fotenos & Suttle, P.C. after its merger with W & W and before joining Stanford’s Office of Planned Giving in 1999. Kara is a past board member of the Northern California Planned Giving Council. She is currently a member of the Charitable Trust Program Oversight Committee.

Director of Planned Giving, Medical Center Development and Deputy Director of Planned Giving

(650) 724-9447
wchou@stanford.edu

Wendy Chou joined the Office of Planned Giving in 2019 after helping donors achieve their philanthropic goals at the Oregon Community Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Prior to working in the community foundation field for eight years, she was a relationship manager at TIAA Kaspick and also held positions at the gift planning offices of Boston College and Santa Clara University. Wendy earned her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and her JD from Santa Clara University.

Philanthropic Advisor, Medical Center Development

(650) 725-5524
ckersten@stanford.edu

Carol Kersten, JD '82, earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1978 and her law degree from Stanford. She has been a part of the development operation for Stanford University Medical Center since 1983. Carol was a member of the Northern California Planned Giving Council's ethics committee and served as a youth and family volunteer and vice president of Kara, a grief support nonprofit in Palo Alto. Carol served on the board of the American Council on Gift Annuities from 2006 to 2012.

Senior Associate Director

(650) 725-4363
jonried@stanford.edu

Jonrie Dávila, Stanford AB ’81, earned her JD from UC Law San Francisco, formerly known as UC Hastings College of the Law, in 1984. She practiced law at firms in Nevada and California, including Holtzmann, Wise & Shepard in Palo Alto, then served as a fundraiser at Stanford and other universities as well as a national health charity. She returned to Stanford to join its Office of Planned Giving in 2001. Jonrie is a member of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and of the Northern California Planned Giving Council. She is a past president of the Silicon Valley Planned Giving Council. She serves as a member and past president of the board of the Curry Senior Center, which provides health and social services to unhoused and very low income senior residents of the Tenderloin neighborhood in San Francisco.

Senior Associate Director

(650) 723-4661
blakelg@stanford.edu

Blake Grossman received his BA from Indiana University, Bloomington in 2003, his JD from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2007, and his LLM from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2012. Blake practiced as a trust and estate planning attorney at Springs & Associates, P.C., in San Francisco for more than five years before joining Stanford’s Office of Planned Giving in 2013. Blake is a member of both the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and of the Northern California Planned Giving Council and has served as both an executive board member and general board member of the Northern California Planned Giving Council.

Senior Associate Director

(650) 725-9019
jeff.underwood@stanford.edu

Jeff Underwood joined the Office of Planned Giving in 2019 after working at TIAA Kaspick as a gift planning consultant and Relationship Manager for over 10 years. Prior to that, Jeff was a charitable gift planner at UC Berkeley from 2006–2008, and Director of Planned Giving at The First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1984 and his MBA from Northeastern University in 1995. Jeff served on the board of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners from 2016 to 2018, and was President of the Planned Giving Group of New England from 2004-2005. He is currently a member of Stanford’s Charitable Trust Program Oversight Committee.

Associate Director, Medical Center Development

(650) 736-3853
abigail.orozco@stanford.edu

Abigail earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri in 2013. She also earned her JD with a certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution and a Masters of Public Affairs from the University of Missouri in 2017. Abigail joined Stanford University in 2017 as a development officer at Stanford Law School and transitioned to the Office of Planned Giving in 2020. Abigail is a member of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and of the Northern California Planned Giving Council and has served on the board of multiple nonprofit organizations.

Senior Associate Director

(650) 721-1793
jclanz@stanford.edu

Julie Lanz earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1994 and her JD from the University of Washington in 2001. Prior to joining Stanford in 2021, she practiced estate planning for fifteen years, first at Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn, in Burlingame, California, and then at Lanz Legal in Menlo Park, California. She regularly taught “Estate Planning in Plain English” through Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program from 2015-2020.

Assistant Director, Medical Center Development

(650) 498-0782 
lsevier@stanford.edu

Laurel Sevier earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her JD from Santa Clara University. Prior to joining Stanford, she practiced family law for fourteen years, first at McManis Faulkner and then at her own firm of Helwick Sevier.  She also served as a fundraiser for an education foundation for several years          .

Assistant Director

(650) 497-3230 
alyssay@stanford.edu

Alyssa Yoshida earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in 2014 and her JD from UC Law San Francisco, formerly known as UC Hastings College of the Law, in 2017. Prior to joining Stanford, Alyssa practiced as an estate planning attorney for over five years at small firms in San Francisco and Millbrae.