|
|
Founding Executive Director Diana F. Cantor Announces Departure
Richmond, Va. - Diana F. Cantor, a national leader in the 529 college savings industry and the founding executive director of the Virginia College Savings Plan, announced today that she is leaving the state agency that she has built - from the ground up - into the country's largest college savings program with more than 3 million accounts and $25.6 billion in assets.
"I would not leave the Virginia College Savings Plan were I not certain that our current and future account owners and beneficiaries are in strong and steady hands," Cantor, a member and past chair of the Executive Board of the national College Savings Plans Network, told the Virginia agency's Board at its meeting here today (June 28).
Having agreed 11 years ago to develop and lead Virginia's tax-free 529 college savings plan on a temporary basis as "acting director," Cantor, will remain as executive director while the Board conducts a search for her successor. Cantor was asked to head the independent state agency by then-Gov. George Allen after he signed legislation creating the program - among the earliest 529 plans in the country. Cantor has been executive director of the Virginia College Savings Plan during the administrations of Governors Allen, Gilmore, Warner and Kaine.
An attorney, certified public accountant and former New York City investment banker, Cantor, 49, departs Virginia's top-rated college savings program "to take advantage of a unique opportunity in the private financial sector," she told the Board. Though declining elaboration at this time, Cantor said her new position with New York banker Howard Milstein and his New York Private Bank & Trust will draw on her investment and financial acumen and abilities as a strategist and visionary. Cantor's new position will involve significant travel but she will maintain an office in Richmond.
Said Governor Timothy Kaine, "Diana Cantor has well served the Commonwealth of Virginia through her leadership of the Virginia College Savings Plan. She has raised awareness of the vital importance of higher education and has helped families across Virginia to plan and save for their children's future education pursuits."
Added Board Chairman Frank M. "Rusty" Conner III, "It is with great sadness that we learned of Diana Cantor's decision today. Her tremendous leadership and unwavering devotion to the Virginia College Savings Plan has been a gift of the highest public service. From Diana's countless speeches and television appearances on behalf of the Virginia College Savings Plan, she has become a familiar face and trusted spokeswoman to the hundreds of thousands of individuals and families who entrust their college savings to Virginia's 529 plans."
"The Virginia College Savings Plan," Cantor said, "is managed to the highest professional degree by its superb directors, its dedicated staff and its knowledgeable Board members.
"Our goals for the future have been well-laid and already are coming to fruition," she added. "My dreams for the Virginia College Savings Plan have been realized. My work here is fulfilled."
Last year, the Virginia College Savings Plan marked its 10th anniversary and expansion from its first 529 plan - the Virginia Prepaid Education Program (VPEP), which locks in future Virginia tuition and fee costs - to its soon-to-be-launched fourth plan - CollegeWealth, one of the nation's first multi-bank 529 plan with funds backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The Virginia College Savings Plan also offers the Virginia Education Savings Trust (VEST), in which families save tax-free for all qualified higher education expenses, and CollegeAmerica, Virginia's 529 plan partnership with the American Funds, among the oldest and largest mutual fund companies in the country.
While 49 states now offer tax-free 529 plans, the Virginia College Savings Plan is consistently ranked by Morningstar, Business Week and savingforcollege.com as among the five best 529 plans in the country, in part due to its reasonable fees and strong management.
Named for the Internal Revenue Code section governing them, 529 plans offer tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals on savings used to pay college expenses including: tuition, fees, room and board, and required computers, supplies and textbooks. Virginia also provides an annual tax deduction for state tax filers to deduct, over time, their full contributions to Virginia's 529 plans.
"Developing the Virginia College Savings Plan has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life," Cantor told the Board. "I have been fortunate to watch it grow and flourish - and to help families send their children the powerful message that higher education is not only worthy of saving for but worthy of budgeting and sacrifice. That's a legacy they will carry with them throughout their lives."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|