Marriage and Money: Starting Your Financial Life Together

Moderator
Capitol Correspondent and Host of Lawmakers and Lawmakers: Beyond The Dome on GPB-TV

Donna Lowry is an award-winning journalist who combines a passion for storytelling and a desire to empower others with communication and critical thinking skills surrounding political, educational, and financial  issues.

Through her firm, Donna Lowry Communications, she provides consulting, writing, and producing services for educational, media, professional, and business outlets.

Donna serves as host for several programs, including Lawmakers on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Donna is an eight-time Emmy award winner, a three-time national Gabriel Award recipient, and has garnered honors from countless organizations, including the National Association of Black Journalists, Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, Georgia Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists, Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE).

Her media peers inducted Donna into the prestigious NATAS Southeast Silver Circle to recognize her lasting contributions to the broadcast industry.

 Donna has a master's in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Bachelor's in Mass Communications and Administration and Management from Chatham University.

Her professional affiliations include the Atlanta Press Club, the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Southeastern Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS SE). 

In her 15th year as a Girl Scout Leader, Donna has led girls ranging in age from kindergarten through 12th grade. Her community service affiliations also include Magnolia (GA) Chapter of Links, Inc., and Nu Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.  

Donna and her husband, Army Major (Ret) Bennet W. Reid, Jr., are the parents of three daughters. 

Implementation Coach and Change Management Practitioner

Coach Clinton Ages is an executive coach and change management practitioner with years of experience enhancing the performance of individuals, executives, teams and organizations. His background encompasses a wide range of programs and initiatives for goal setting, individual development, team building, organizational design, and facilitation; helping individuals and teams across a wide variety of functions and industries build the skills required to positively impact performance. His purpose is helping people create meaning in their own lives and in their organizations, which results in motivated employees, customer commitment and bottom-line performance.  

Co-founder and Chief Compliance Officer of Collective Wealth Partners

Co-founder and Chief Compliance Officer of Collective Wealth Partners, Shardéa has 14 years of financial services experience in the fields of banking, investment management and insurance, all of which prepared her for a career in financial planning. Shardéa is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner, holds Series 65 and 63 FINRA registrations along with Health, Life and Accident Insurance licenses. Graduating during the Great Recession from Florida A&M University with a degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Finance, Shardéa Ages was determined to follow her passion.  

Shardéa believes that everyone deserves access to prudent financial advice regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances. Using her financial planning expertise, Mrs. Ages helps individuals and families grow, maintain and strategically leave a legacy.  She is passionate about her work and brings that zeal to developing and maintaining strong client relationships. A clear understanding of each client's unique financial situation and objectives is at the core of Shardéa's disciplined advisory process.  

Actively involved in the community, Shardéa participates in Pro-Bono financial planning workshops and speaks on panels about financial management and the importance of changing one’s mindset around money. Shardéa serves as Finance Chair of NAMI DeKalb, and is founder of Bridging Financial Gaps, a financial literacy charitable organization. 

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Shardéa lives with her husband, Clinton Ages in Atlanta, Georgia.  

Atlanta Divorce and Family Law Attorney, Collard Family Law LLC

Dennis G. Collard is an Atlanta based attorney with over 20 years of experience in the area of family law as a litigator, mediator and arbitrator. He has founded two family law boutique firms, most recently, Collard Family Law LLC.  

Dennis has served on numerous boards both within the legal field and in an advocacy role related to social issues. He regularly teaches classes for attorneys and law students and has been quoted about family law matters by CNN.com, National Public Radio, Atlanta’s 11Alive, the Fulton County Daily Report, WSB-TV and Creative Loafing. He is rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell’s peer and judicial review process. For fifteen consecutive years, he has been recognized by Atlanta Magazine as one of the top family law attorneys in Georgia (annual Super Lawyers edition).

Dennis is a registered neutral (mediator and arbitrator) with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and a certified Amicable Divorce Network lawyer, mediator and arbitrator. He also represents the interests of children as a court appointed guardian ad litem in contentious child custody litigation. He is an honors graduate of the Florida State University College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and a teaching assistant in the trial practice program. His internships emphasized trial advocacy. Before entering law school, Dennis served as a police officer.