MICHEAL E. MCKINNON

CCPS, Founder & President (IECA, NICCP, NACAC, NCAG, HECA, IACAC)

630-971-2300 mike@cofp.net

Mike is a native of Flora, Illinois. After leaving higher education, Mike opened McKinnon Travel Services. His group travel business allowed him to travel to Europe and the Middle East over 100 times. Mike also became part-owner of the AAA Chicago Lions football team of the Northern States League which won the 1982 championship. In addition, Mike began to buy, restructure and sell numerous pizzerias. Furthering engaging his entrepreneurial side, Mike got involved in the long distance telecommunications industry as it was just expanding. In 1996, Mike founded College Planners of America, Ltd. He brought all his hard-earned understanding of tax law to bear for parents of college-bound students.

 Mike was on the Board of Trustees of College of DuPage for 12 years, serving four years as Chairman. He is a past member of the Executive Board of the NICCP and a member of the Junior College Football Hall of Fame. He is married to the former Judy Bazelon and resides in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Mike has also been featured in Frank Bruni’s 2016 best seller, “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania.” In the author’s words: “A conversation with [Mike] McKinnon is an eye-opening, option-diversifying revelation.” (p. 144)

 “I truly have a passion in working with students and parents. I really feel their pain in trying to navigate a system that changes constantly (and with every change there seems to be a higher cost associated with it!) Nothing beats the satisfaction I feel as I see our students succeed, growing from a teen with no direction into a young, contributing adult.”

MARK NOWAK

Independent Educational Consultant College Selection & Financial Aid Specialist

630-971-2300 mark@cofp.net

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Mark first attended College of DuPage (COD) to secure his associates degree. He then headed to Elmhurst College for double majors in Marketing and Economics.

Mark’s diverse interests have led to work in publishing and the mortgage industry, plus he’s helped launch a startup. He also served as Vice Chairman for six years on COD’s Board of Trustees and has served the past seven years as Trustee for the Addison Township. As his experience in business expanded, Mark set out on a more entrepreneurial path, developing a counseling business to assist people with substance abuse issues. He offered support groups with an emphasis on self-esteem and empowerment and developed additional services whenever he found there was a need to be met.

“I saw the way my counseling clients worried, stressed and felt burdened with the prospect of paying for college. I combined my experience on the Board of Trustees at College of DuPage with my experience in the field of counseling and it naturally evolved into an interest in college planning.”

Mark’s friends consistently describe him as a passionate and caring person, driven to help others with his excellent problem-solving skills.

Mark and his wife, Kathleen, reside in Addison with their young son, Luke, and two dogs.

RICK DARVIS

CCPS, NICCP Founder, CPA

Rick is recognized as one of the leading experts in the financial planning field.  He has written several books, developed financial software, and trained financial professionals across the United States. His knowledge has enabled him to be invited to speak on the financial and business development topics to his contemporaries at state CPA and FPA conferences in over 40 states.  He has been a featured speaker at the Financial Planner Association’s Success Forum, the Northeast /Mid-Atlantic National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) regional conference, the National Employee Benefit Forum, the New York Society of CPAs Personal Financial Planning Conference, and the AICPA’s Tax Strategies for the High Income Individual Conference.  Rick has also given seminars for the University of Arizona and the New York Student Financial Aid Administrators. 

Rick’s accomplishments in the financial-planning field are:

• Co-author of Paying for College: Tax Strategies and Financial Aid, a guide published by the American Institute of CPAs on college planning for accountants and financial advisors.
• Contributing author of Personal Financial Planning, a Practitioners Publishing Company (PPC) guidebook.
• Co-author of Planning for College Costs, a Practitioners Publishing Company (PPC) guidebook on college financial planning for accountants and financial advisors.
• Author of A Roadmap to College & Retirement – Without Going Broke, a book designed to link college planning to retirement planning.

SANDI TOUROS

Operations Manager Essay, Resume & Cover Letter Specialist

Sandi is one of the most energetic and “can do” people you’ll ever meet! She holds an Associate’s degree from Triton College (where she first worked with Mike). She attended the University of Hawaii on a dance scholarship and completed her Bachelor’s degree in dance at Illinois State University.

After college, Sandi managed a large-group dental practice in the western suburbs of Chicago and served as Director of a not-for-profit arts program. She also put her interpersonal, organizational and administrative skills to work as a highly active school volunteer. She has worked with College Planners of America for over a dozen years and keeps the staff going in the right direction at the right times. Sandi’s outgoing and energetic ways are highly appreciated as a primary contact point for our students and parents. Sandi specializes in the application process and is sought out by many of our families for her help developing and completing essays, resumes and cover letters.

Sandi was raised in Westchester and has lived in the Glen Ellyn/Wheaton area for over 20 years, until recently moving downstate to care for her parents. She’s no longer behind the front desk at College Planners, but remains very active in all areas of the business.

She has two children: a daughter who graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a son who graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.