Award of Excellence

The Professional Advisors Award of Excellence honours professionals who encourage their clients to consider charity as part of their estate or financial planning process.

They are the most ardent ambassadors and champions of the Jewish Foundation and set a proud example for other lawyers, accountants and estate planners in our community.

The professional selected for this annual award shall exemplify the highest professional standards and will have made a contribution in one or more of the following three areas:

• Contribution to his or her profession in Estate Planning for Charitable Giving
• Volunteer involvement with the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto and/or UJA Federation
• Assistance in structuring gifts to the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto

Congratulations to Jamie Golombek; the 2018 Award Recipient 

Jamie Golombek is Managing Director, Tax & Estate Planning with CIBC in Toronto.

Jamie is quoted frequently in the national media as an expert on taxation, writes a weekly column called “Tax Expert” in the National Post, has appeared as a guest on BNN, CTV News, and The National and has been a regular personal finance guest on The Marilyn Denis Show.

Jamie also teaches an MBA course in Personal Finance at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto.

Congratulations to Mark Halpern; the 2017 Award Recipient 

Mark Halpern, Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP) is widely recognized as one of Canada’s top life insurance advisors. 
 

As CEO of WEALTHinsurance.com® and illnessPROTECTION.com® Mark provides strategies using tax exempt life insurance to help business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals and high net worth families with their tax, estate planning and charitable legacy planning needs.
 

If you live in the Greater Toronto area, you’ve likely heard him on numerous radio stations educating the public about the need for insurance and other estate planning issues.
 

He is frequently quoted in consumer and financial industry media and a monthly contributor to the national TaxLetter® newsletter.
 

In his spare time, Mark is the President of Aish Hatorah Toronto and teaches leadership and business ethics courses at the University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson University. 
 

As an active member of the Professional Advisory Committee for the UJA Foundation and other non-profit boards he helps develop planned giving programs for hospitals, foundations, educational institutions and other charities.
 

Mark lives in Thornhill and has been married to Rhonda for 22 years. They are kept busy with their 5 children, 20 years of age and under.