Meet The Team
For nine years, Steve has worked as senior philanthropic planning advisor for The Salvation Army in northern Michigan. In this role, he has worked with individuals and families in developing and implementing philanthropic plans to reach their charitable giving, estate planning, and personal wealth management goals. During this time, Steve has made regular appearances on regional radio programs, at professional organization events, and service club meetings as an authority on the legal, spiritual, and philosophical aspects of legacy planning. He has also donated his time in advising regional non-profits on issues of human resources, current development and planned giving.
In addition to his work for The Salvation Army, Steve has served for ten years as a pro bono allied attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom and has been inducted into its attorney Honor Corps for outstanding service. The ADF is a non-profit legal advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all Americans can freely live out their faith, with a focus on religious liberty, protecting life, and defending the family.
Steve received his B.S. degree from Michigan State University and, while working to build a successful family business and national marketing network, earned a Juris Doctor degree at night from Wayne State University. After a sale of the business to an employee ownership group, he earned his LL.M. in environmental law and Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Utah, minoring in public administration. While teaching constitutional law for many years at both the U of Utah and Grand Valley State University, Steve received a certification in trust and estate planning from the Michigan Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Steve is one of just 1000 professionals nationwide to have earned the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) professional designation from The American College of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Jon DeLange is a nonprofit fundraising and marketing leader who has consulted with over 50 Christian organizations across North America. He leads the national direct mail program and digital supporter strategy for Summit Ministries, as well as building relational trust with several dozen of the organization’s largest donors – securing the organization’s first ever 7-figure cash gift in the fall of 2023.
Jon coaches other nonprofit fundraisers how to gain the attention and trust of their ideal supporters. You can explore his philosophy of Relationship Forward Fundraising by joining the conversation with 8900 followers on LinkedIn or listening to a recent podcast appearance.
Nicole started her professional journey as a Project Manager in the oil and gas industry for over a decade while simultaneously using her technical skills as a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and Licensed and Bonded Private Investigator to specialize in cybercrimes and locate missing people.
After moving halfway across the country to Michigan, a headhunter for Paul found her resume and reached out. A few interviews and some paperwork later, Paul offered her the job and has been his Executive Assistant ever since. Six months later, she was promoted to Director of Operations for Stewardship Planning Partners and in October 2024, she was given the honor of becoming part of the Marketing, Design, and Content Creation Team.
While loving her job and those with whom she works, she also loves using her God-given resources to volunteer her time helping individuals, organizations, and companies.
She is a proud fur-mom of her always-active West Highland Terrier who enjoys hiking, car rides, and building Lego.