Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board members are from the LGBTQ+ community. They have been essential to Community Partner Insurance Group formation and providing Leadership with their professional guidance, expertise and insights to ensure the firm’s relevance to the LGBTQ+ community.
Edward F. Feighan: Executive Advisor
Edward F. Feighan is currently chairman of Malachite Innovations, Inc., a publicly traded company developing a range of solutions to some of the environmental and operational challenges faced by many corporate entities. Mr. Feighan also currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Continental Heritage Insurance Group, a property and casualty insurance group with which he has held several operational and board roles.
Mr. Feighan has been engaged in the property and casualty insurance business for more than thirty years. He has taken multiple insurance companies public, led the efforts in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in capital, and the ultimate sale of successful insurance companies.
Prior to his career in the insurance industry, Mr. Feighan served as a Member of the United States House of Representatives for ten years for the Greater Cleveland; four years as a Cuyahoga County Commissioner; and eight years as a Member of the Ohio House of Representatives.
Congressman Feighan earned his law degree from Cleveland State University and completed undergraduate studies at Borromeo Catholic Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio and Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Daniel Budish: Gaslamp Capital – President
Daniel Budish is a historic tax credit specialist with over eleven years of experience in public finance, real estate development, and tax credit consulting. In 2015, Mr. Budish founded Gaslamp Capital, a historic tax credit investment fund and consulting company which assists developers across the country source and structure capital for their historic tax credit renovation projects.
In addition to Gaslamp Capital, Mr. Budish is co-founder of Studio West 117, a new, one-of-a-kind ecosystem being developed on the east edge of Lakewood, Ohio for the LGBTQ+ community. The project consists of the construction and renovation of over 8 properties and will be more than an $100M investment when all is completed. Studio West 117 provide brand new amenities to the community including restaurants, bars, recreation space, retail incubation space, housing, office, and a flagship LGBTQ+ health clinic and represents the frontier of 21st century inclusive urban development.
Mr. Budish’s extensive experience also includes founder and president of the MainStreet America Fund, a historic tax credit investment deal fund specializing in small tax credit transactions across the country. He was also Vice President of The Chesler Group where he was project manager of two high profile tax credit projects in the State of Ohio.
Betsy Vuillemot-Figgie: Your CFO Resource – Owner
Betsy Vuillemot-Figgie developed her financing expertise by serving key roles at National City Bank, one of the country’s largest corporate banks. From 1993-2002, she held positions in Small Business Banking, Regional Corporate Banking, Wholesale Banking, Treasury Management, and Investor Relations.
In her years of work with organizations, she noticed that non-profit organizations (NPO’s) did not have the leadership and support of a CFO in bank funding negotiations. In 2005, she founded Your CFO Resources to help bridge the gap in bank negotiations. Your CFO Resources help NPO’s, civic minded developers and other select corporations in competitive negotiations with banks.
In 2015, Betsy co-founded Studio West 117, a one-of-kind development project serving the LGBTQ+ community. The 300,000 square feet development provides a complete inclusive ecosystem from housing, sports, entertainment, and healthcare.
Betsy has received numerous community service awards including the distinguished “Triangle Award” from the YMCA of Greater Cleveland and National City’s “Excel Award” for Community Service. Betsy served as the capital campaign Chairwoman for the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland's $13.5 million renovation and expansion.
Betsy currently serves as a Trustee of the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital Foundation, and is a founding member of the Matriots, an Ohio-based PAC supporting women candidates for political office.
Gregg Calestini: InStrategy Group – President & CEO
Gregg is an insurance industry veteran with over 25 years of experience as a business and marketing strategist. Since 2000, with partners, he developed and launched two national E&S wholesalers from the ground up: AmWINS Group (largest in US) and Mercator Risk Services.
In 2008, Gregg launched InStrategy Group - a consulting and recruiting firm serving the insurance industry. InStrategy’s core business is working with Wholesale, Binding Authority, MGA, Retailer, Carrier, Insure-tech and Third-party Administrators to refocus business practices, expand and/or launch new business operations to improve performance and clear the way for sustainable growth and profit.
Gregg serves on numerous Advisory and Company Boards throughout the insurance eco-system helping groups with growth and brand strategy initiatives.