We caught up with Tara Allen ’86, who recently decided to support the next generation of Morgan Park Academy students and teachers by including us in her estate planning.
Q&A
What is your life like now?
I live in Montana with my family. I’m a financial advisor and certified financial planner with Edward Jones. I recently switched careers after 25 years of being an appellate attorney in California, Arizona, and Montana, during which time I had the privilege of arguing cases in state and federal courts at all levels, including the United States Supreme Court.
Being in my mid-50’s, my friends and I are starting to lose our parents and are seeing firsthand how important estate planning is for creating a meaningful legacy. While I have always intended to leave a portion of my estate to MPA, I now want to be more intentional about it. For example, prioritizing gifting otherwise taxable retirement accounts to MPA, tax-free, while maximizing non-taxable accounts to individual beneficiaries.
Why was it important for you to support the MPA mission in this way?
Morgan Park Academy had a formative role in my life. In a way, I grew up there, from grades 7-12. I met my very best, lifelong friends, each of whom are like family to me: Sarah Kim ’86, Jennifer Kraft ’86, and Roy Moncada ’85.
Teachers like Barry Kritzberg, Mark Linnerud, and Ann Brown had a huge impact. Robert and Deb Stelton showed their devotion to student travel, chaperoning us to Mexico and Spain. And of course, Tom Malcolm.
[NOTE: Allen is pictured above with Kraft, Kim, and Malcolm at the Class of 1986’s 30th reunion.]
I feel like my experience at MPA provided me with the foundation for everything I did from that point forward. I attended a large university, the University of Southern California, and Morgan Park Academy gave me the confidence to walk into any room at any time. I’ve had a lot of pretty incredible experiences in my life, but Morgan Park Academy was the very best thing that’s ever happened to me.
What is it that resonates with you about student scholarships, about making an MPA education accessible to families from a wide range of economic backgrounds?
When I was there, it seemed a lot of parents were very “white-collar” — some of the kids would come to school with a driver — and there was also a portion of us who were taking the public bus or driving beat-up cars to school. Financially, our families weren’t in the same realm. But that was the great thing about Morgan Park Academy. Nobody cared. It really was leveling. I’ll always appreciate that.
That’s the other legacy piece of why I’m doing this: I want to support student scholarships. I hope to help other familes give their children the MPA opportunity, like my parents did for me.
Including the Academy in your will or trust is an easy way to make an impact on future generations of MPA students and teachers.
For more information or to let us know that we are in your estate plans, please contact us at 773-881-6700 or advancement@morganparkacademy.org.
