RALPH WALTER, PhD, CFA
Senior Managing Director
Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P. 

Knox Trustee, Vice Chair for Finance

Ralph Walter currently serves on the boards of several Nonprofit institutions providing guidance on financial, investments, compliance, and strategic matters. He is on the board of his undergraduate college where serves as vice chair for finance. Since the 2007 merger of Kayne Eras non-public school into the Exceptional Children’s Foundation, he has been a member of the executive committee of the surviving organization, ECF. Prior to the merger he was the interim headmaster at Kayne Era, where he conceived, led, and managed the merger.

Other board memberships include Zócalo Public Square, a Los Angeles based forum for civil discourse, where he chairs the audit committee; Friends of CASA Los Angeles, where is treasurer; and American Friends of Wycliffe Hall Oxford University. He has just joined the board of the Fulfilment Fund and continues to serve on its audit committee.

LEAH BISHOP
Partner Loeb & Loeb LLP

Leah Bishop focuses her practice on estate and gift tax planning for high net worth individuals and closely held businesses, and in the administration of estates and trusts. Ms. Bishop also has extensive experience in the areas of charitable giving and tax exempt organizations.

Ms. Bishop's estate planning experience includes substantially all aspects of legal matters pertaining to high net worth individuals, including probate court procedures, living trusts, gift and insurance trusts, and sophisticated transfer tax techniques. Her charitable giving and exempt organizations representation involves all aspects of tax and corporate nonprofit law. Ms. Bishop represents many leading private foundations and public charities.

LEWIS SHARPSTONE, CPA
Partner - Assurance & Advisory
SingerLewak LLP

Lewis Sharpstone is a partner with SingerLewak’s Los Angeles Assurance & Advisory practice, and directs the firm-wide Nonprofit business sector. Lewis began his career with Price Waterhouse in London in 1982, joined SingerLewak in 1989 and has been a partner since 1993. To date, Lewis has conducted over 1,000 audits and currently specializes in auditing entities operating in the highly regulated audit environment of nonprofit organizations.

Lewis speaks on and has written about understanding financial statements, budgeting, business planning and avoiding business pitfalls, designing effective internal controls, fraud detection and prevention, and understanding FASB and OMB pronouncements.