“I love learning,” noted Carolyn DeVaughn.
“And the legal profession is, at its core, a profession of constant learning. Whether you’re learning about people and their needs, about our community, about the law itself and how to navigate it effectively, it’s all learning.”
Carolyn was born and raised in a small town outside of Rochester, New York. She first experienced Buffalo when she attended Canisius. After earning her Bachelor’s degree, she began working in human services, where she attended a meeting that changed the trajectory of her career.
“In that role, I saw a lot of the challenges some families face in their everyday lives,” Carolyn explained. “I went to a meeting with one of the families and an estate planning attorney, and she said a version of yes to all of their planning goals. Working in a role where I regularly witnessed the hardships people were facing, it was fascinating to see somebody say, ‘OK, let’s figure out how to get that to the yes,’ and that an attorney had that ability.”
Carolyn looked into law schools that same night, starting at UB Law shortly thereafter, then joining Gross Shuman P.C., where she still works today as a Shareholder Attorney.
In her role, Carolyn works with her team to help clients better understand their estate planning and business succession planning with their charitable intents.
Along the way, she was introduced to the Community Foundation at a Western New York Estate Planning Council meeting and began learning more about its role in the community to help clients achieve their charitable goals.
When Carolyn was invited to join the Community Foundation’s Professional Advisor Council, she jumped at the chance, quickly immersing herself in the opportunity. Today, she serves as its Co-Chair, alongside Dave Burgio.
The Council has allowed Carolyn to take her love of learning to another level. “I feel so connected to the community because of my role on the Council and what I learn by being a part of it,” Carolyn said. “And because you are surrounded by people who have a similar passion and care about Western New York in the same way, it means that you have a network of trusted advisors in different industries and can pick up the phone and share ideas, connect clients, continue to build into the mission, and become a better resource.”
Also making time to give back, Carolyn sits on nonprofit boards, one of which turned to the Community Foundation to establish a fund. This gave her a unique perspective from the client side. “The organization had to navigate having additional funds that needed to be donated for a cause that aligned with the organization’s mission, and we needed to stay in compliance with our corporate documents,” she explained. “Working with the Community Foundation was the easiest, most pain-free process to say, ‘We need to ensure the donation aligns with its intended purpose and need certain documents for our approval process.’ And that ultimately connects directly to achieving your clients’ goals. I wanted to be an attorney where the answer was never immediately ‘no,’ and instead focused on finding a path forward. And working with the Community Foundation to create charitable solutions is about, ‘How do we get there? Let’s figure out how to get that to a yes.’”