Out in Finance upcoming events

Retire Smart & Leave a Legacy (Wednesday, September 16, 2026)

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:30:00 GMT

Join us on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM (EDT) in NYC at Northwestern Mutual or virtually nationwide for a panel discussion on how you can retire smart and leave a legacy.

Securing your financial future requires ensuring a comfortable lifestyle for your retirement while structuring the legacy you will leave behind. This panel brings together leading financial advisors and estate planning experts to demystify the core pillars of long-term wealth management, trusts, mortgages and loans. Attendees will gain actionable insights into optimizing retirement savings vehicles, navigating mortgages and loans, and utilizing trusts to protect and seamlessly transfer assets to future generations.

Whether just beginning to map out your long-term goals or looking to refine an existing plan, this session will provide practical blueprints.

This event is free to attend, but space is limited. Please ensure you RSVP to secure your spot.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Panelists

Robert DiDiano
Managing Director, Private Banking East Regional Manager
CIBC Private Wealth

Robert DiDiano is the Private Banking East Regional Manager for CIBC Private Wealth. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the private banking platform and strategy from Boston to Atlanta. With over 30 years of experience, Robert plays an influential role in driving business impact in the region, and his team serves as a gateway to vast global capabilities to the families they serve. Robert delivers intergenerational wealth guidance to his team and to the area’s largest and most successful families, C-suite executives and prominent entrepreneurs.

Prior to joining CIBC, Robert was a market leader and then a managing director private banker at JP Morgan Private Bank, initially overseeing a relationship management team, then eventually moving into a managing director private banker role serving his direct ultra-high net worth clients in the New York marketplace. Previously, Robert served as the New York City regional managing director for Wells Fargo Private Bank. Other senior management roles include head of banking and lending at RBC Wealth Management US and head of lending at both Barclays Private Bank US and Coutts Bank London in New York City.

A graduate of Kent State University, Robert served on the board of directors for its foundation for many years. In 2020, he joined the board of the MCC Theater Company, one of New York City’s prestigious and critically acclaimed, not-for-profit Off-Broadway playhouses. Robert has been a resident of New York City for nearly 30 years and currently lives in the West Village. He enjoys taking advantage of all the city offers, especially museums, galleries, and the arts.

Lance Frank
Principal
Lance M. Frank, Esq.

Lance Frank's practice focuses on trusts and estates in New York, where helping clients leave the legacy they intend is the whole point of the work. He guides clients through the legal, tax, and often deeply personal decisions that come with planning an estate or managing wealth. For Lance, listening carefully and staying responsive matter just as much as technical skill. Every plan he builds is shaped around the person sitting across from him.

His clients span every age and wealth level — entrepreneurs, business owners, high-net-worth individuals, and families building plans across generations. He also works across borders with foreign counsel and tax professionals for clients who are dual nationals, non-U.S. persons with U.S. assets, and U.S. persons with assets abroad. Lance drafts trusts of all kinds, from GRATs to life insurance trusts, and brings a business lawyer's eye to complex or hard-to-value assets — closely held companies, real estate, art, and other unconventional assets.

He also helps clients plan ahead for the times when they may not be able to manage their own finances or make decisions about their care. His relationships with clients rarely end when a plan is signed: he's advised many of his clients for years, through marriages, divorces, business sales, and growing families, staying on as counsel to executors and trustees as their plans are administered over time.

A fourth-generation New Yorker from a family long in real estate, Lance is active in preservation efforts for the city's parks.

Oliver Han
Financial Advisor
Northwestern Mutual

Oliver Han is a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual, helping clients build holistic, tax-efficient financial plans since 2021. Fully licensed and registered, he brings a background in PR and communications to his work — pairing strategic clarity with genuine empathy to make complex decisions feel manageable.

A proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, Oliver is especially passionate about serving queer individuals and families, who often navigate unique financial questions — from legacy planning for chosen family to building wealth without a traditional roadmap.

Born and raised in China, Oliver has called New York home since 2012, where he lives with his husband and their two dogs. A five-time NYC Marathon finisher, he stays active with local LGBTQ+ sports leagues — tennis, kickball, and pickleball — and is always up for a good book.

Jaime L. Vavrek
Financial Advisor
Northwestern Mutual

Jaime is very passionate about the subject and his role – Financial Planning and Wealth Management. Every morning when he wakes up, he asks himself “What can I do better for my client’s lives today?” Being the educator that he is, he loves to help people who seek financial advice, teach them about investing and financial planning in an easy-to-understand language, and helps people to achieve their financial goals.

Jaime grew up in Connecticut. He enjoys sports, traveling and spending time with friends and family. He is a member of the New York Athletic Club and plays on the 5.0 Men’s squash team. Furthermore, Jaime roots for NY Nets, NY Rangers, NY Mets, and NY Jets.

He currently lives in Midtown Manhattan and during the holidays, you can spot him in Sarasota Florida.

Overall, he demonstrates a comprehensive solution to a large set of problems, he genuinely has an interest in people’s lives by maintaining regular communication, educating them each time they talk and making sure they are comfortable with the strategies in place.

Career Conversations with LGBTQ+ and Ally Leaders (Wednesday, September 16, 2026)

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Join us Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 6:00 PM (EDT) in Atlanta at the Distillery of Modern Art for a panel discussion featuring LGBTQ+ and ally leaders from Atlanta speaking about their career stories and the importance of allyship.

This event is free to attend, but space is limited. Please ensure you RSVP to secure your spot.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Speakers

Cassandra Childree

Eric Fladland

Lauren McConnell

Ranjana Ramchandran

Moderator

Kyle Wier
U.S. Bank

Boston Happy Hour (Thursday, September 17, 2026)

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 22:00:00 GMT

Join us Thursday, September 17, 2026 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (EDT) in Boston at Dani's Queer Bar to build your professional network of fellow LGBTQ+ and allied professionals in the financial services industry.

Designed as a safe, inclusive space primarily catering to queer, sapphic women, trans, and non-binary members of the LGBTQ+ community. It is noted as Boston's only lesbian bar and first femme-focused venue in decades.

Complimentary drinks and light bites will be provided.

This event is free to attend, but space is limited. Please ensure you RSVP to secure your spot.

We look forward to seeing you there!

LGBTQ+ Lost History - Presented by Gerber-Hart and Sponsored by Mercer (Thursday, October 22, 2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 21:00:00 GMT

Join us on Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM (CDT) in Chicago at Mercer or virtually nationwide for an evening dedicated to the stories that shaped our community.

Agenda:

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (CDT) — Reception & Networking
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM (CDT) — Program
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM (CDT) — Drinks & Networking

We would like to extend a special thank you to Mercer for sponsoring this event and for their dedicated, long-standing partnership with Out in Finance.

Chicago’s LGBTQ+ history is as vibrant as it is complex, yet many of the pivotal moments and figures that defined our movement have been overlooked or lost to time. This event invites you to journey through these "forgotten" histories—exploring the milestones, grassroots efforts, and cultural shifts in the Midwest that paved the way for the progress we see today. Understanding our shared legacy is essential to navigating our future, and we are honored to bring these stories to light in the heart of the city.

Gerber Hart will be bringing items from their archive for attendees to interact with, such as original LGBTQ travel guides for Chicago and historical books.

About Our Partner: Gerber/Hart Library and Archives

Founded in 1981, Gerber/Hart seeks to collect, preserve, and make accessible the history and culture of LGBTQ+ communities in Chicago and the Midwest to advance the goal of achieving justice and equality. They operate a free public lending library and a vast archive of primary source materials, offering a safe and welcoming atmosphere for research, exploration, and discovery. Through their exhibits and public programs, Gerber/Hart continues to center community involvement to ensure our history is celebrated and remembered.

Help us expand our reach: We encourage you to invite a coworker or friend who shares our mission and would enjoy learning about our community's rich history.

RSVP Today

This event is free to attend, but space is limited. Please RSVP as soon as possible to secure your spot.

We look forward to seeing you there!