karen fluharty

FOUNDER | FIGHTER | MOTHER | GENERAL PARTNER

In 2017 Karen began to look toward the future for her then 12 year old son Ryan and quickly realized that special individuals fall off what is known as “the cliff” at 21. Armed with a mother’s will and years of business acumen, Parents With A Plan was founded in 2019 with the goal of creating a scalable model that brings the private and public sectors together for real social impact and change.

As a real estate executive & entrepreneur, Karen has contributed marketing leadership to over 15 million square feet of retail real estate globally. She has a track record of creating, managing and scaling multi-million dollar companies and has found corporate and self-made success throughout her career.

A noted industry leader with more than 30 years of real estate marketing experience and the founding partner of Strategy+Style Marketing Group, she is responsible for putting brands on the map, quite literally. Currently, Karen’s work has touched more than 100 projects globally.

Previously, as Vice President of International Marketing stationed in Hong Kong and New Jersey for Chelsea Property Group/Simon, Karen pioneered Premium Outlets’ early entry into Japan, Mexico and Korea launching nearly 10 ground-up projects. With oversight of marketing strategy development, branding, net operating income metrics, organization re-alignment, and expansion and repositioning of a national portfolio of shopping centers.

JOHN KLEIN

GENERAL partner | developer

With philanthropic ties deeply rooted in Monmouth County, N.J. that benefit the residents of Red Bank, Middletown and beyond, John Klein lends his leadership and expertise to Parents With a Plan as Partner where he is leading the development, financing, construction and more.

Serving for six years as a Board member, along with three years as the President of Lunch Break, John was honored in 2021 with the Heart to Hand Award for his contribution to the organization’s growth.

In his more than 30-year professional career as a noted real estate developer and executive, John is currently Principal of International Outlet Consultants. Previously John served as Chief Executive Officer of the Premium Outlets division of Simon Property Group, the world’s largest portfolio of outlet center properties.  During his tenure, he was responsible for the successful growth of the division leading all facets of the business including leasing, development, real estate, marketing, finance, and operations. In the U.S. he was responsible for a portfolio of 81 properties containing 33 million square feet.

Fondly known to Ryan as his dear uncle, John earned his Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University and Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University.

robin l. klein

activist | arranger | auntie | GENERAL PARTNER

As a member of Parents with a Plan’s Board of Directors, Robin Klein brings enormous operational and community engagement to the organization.

In addition to work with Parents with a Plan, Robin’s activism and volunteerism speak to her passions supporting her local community and beyond; she is on the board of the Count Basie Center for the Arts and President of the Board of Trustees for Lunch Break, a non-profit community organization.

Robin is also a Trustee for Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center Foundation and President of the Board for Open Heart Yoga, a non-profit organization.

In addition, Robin is actively involved in raising funds to support the Ubumwe Community Center and School in Rwanda. She is also on the frontline in China fighting with No Dogs Left Behind.

Currently, Robin is Founder and President of Fashion Retail Group, a boutique firm offering specialized real estate services. Robin’s career spans more than four decades of experience in  development, operations, site selection, and construction. A licensed real estate broker, Robin earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in Business Administration.

Robin is known to Ryan lovingly as Auntie Robi. She and her husband John reside in Middletown, NJ with their four rescue dogs.

MARK CARTIER

Mr. Cartier graduated from Rider University in June 1984, with a B.S. in Commerce. Mark Cartier is married, and father of three; he and his wife Stephanie live in Middletown, NJ.

Mark joined Mizuho Securities USA LLC in September 2003. Mr. Cartier was a Managing Director who managed short-term trading activities and US Agency trading. Mr. Cartier was also the liaison for Mizuho Securities USA LLC with the Federal Reserve Bank and U.S. Treasury Department.

Mark spent the past fourteen years as a volunteer and coordinator for RallyCap Sports, formerly Challenged Youth Sports. Mark also served as Director of Children’s Liturgy at St. Catharine’s Church in Holmdel, for 17 years. Mark and his wife Stephanie are the co-founders of No Limits Café, a restaurant dedicated to employing and training adults with intellectual disabilities.

Dr. STEPHANIE RENYOLDS, D.O., M.D.

Stephanie is originally from South Orange and graduated cum laude from Hunter College in New York City. She studied Medicine at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and did her residency in Emergency Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. After her residency she spent two years at Queens General Hospital and taught for Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

In 2006, along with her husband and 2 children, she relocated to Monmouth County and accepted a position in the Emergency Department at Riverview Medical Center. Subsequently, she became the Chairman of Emergency Medicine and received her MBA from Monmouth University,. Stephanie is now on staff at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Ocean Medical Center, as well as teaching at Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine.

Stephanie has been an active member in her community serving on various committees and offering her services to many organizations. She has earned Physician of the Year, as well as numerous Community Volunteer Awards for her work throughout Monmouth County.

MICHAEL PARENT

As Michael is a near-lifetime Monmouth County resident. After graduating from Columbia College in 1986 with a BA in English, he embarked on a 30+ year career in investment banking, with a deep focus on technology industry corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. He took brief detours from his investment banking career to pursue his MBA at University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (1993) and graduate studies in education at Columbia’s Teachers College (2007).

Michael also worked as a volunteer corporate finance consultant in post-communist Poland (1993-1995) as part of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) MBA Enterprise Corps. Following the 2018 sale of his company Signal Hill Capital Group, where he was a shareholder and partner, to Daiwa Securities of Japan, Michael deepened his long-standing commitment to serve non-profit organizations as volunteer and board member. His current board memberships include the Count Basie Center (14 years), where he serves as vice chair of the executive committee, chair of the operations committee and past co-chair of the education committee; Trinity Church in Asbury Park where he serves as finance committee chair of a parish operating major food and social justice outreach programs, including Saturday Soup and Last Resort Pantry; the New Jersey Symphony Monmouth County Council; the Monmouth County Historical Association; and other more grass roots organizations.

By avocation Michael is a classical pianist and is passionate about bringing performing arts education and engagement to learners of all ages and backgrounds

KAREN TAYLOR-BURKE

Karen Taylor-Burke is an Audit Partner at PKF O’Connor Davies, a top 25 Accounting Firm with over 17 offices and 1500 professionals.   Committed to the Firm’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion culture, Karen has been leading the Firm’s Women’s Initiative Network since 2019 and in 2021 she was promoted to a one-year term to sit on the Firm’s Governance Committee where she identified and mentored the Firm’s future Partners, and in 2022 Karen became a voting member of the Firm’s Executive Committee.  With more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, Karen has dedicated her career to servicing clients in the Firm’s Non-Profit Practice where she delivers a wide variety of accounting, audit and advisory services to charitable organizations and Police & Fire labor unions.  Taylor-Burke’s clients consider her a trusted advisor, she works with Board members and management making recommendations to improve Internal Controls as well as providing information on Accounting Best Practices and Board Governance.  Karen loves working with Non-Profit Organizations and assisting them in advancing their mission and making positive impacts within the community.