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Care to Learn adds Monett as 27th Chapter

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Care to Learn adds Monett as 27th Chapter

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Funds for the grant came from a donation by Nadia Cavner, a strong supporter of Care to Learn, a longtime Springfield financial advisor and owner of the Nadia Cavner Group.

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This post was written by springfieldauthor on June 8th, 2016
Community leaders invited to learn about not-for-profit
Residents and Monett school district patrons interested in learning more about the Care to Learn program will have a chance to do so this week, as there will be a kickoff meeting with the Care to Learn organization at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Monett High School Performing Arts Center.

Care to Learn is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization founder by Springfield native Doug Pitt. Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, the district will implement a $15,000 grant to provide immediate funding to meet emergent needs in health, hunger and hygiene. The goal is to enable every child to be successful in school.

Care to Learn offers the mechanics of how to respond to a community need without laboring through the reinvention of a response network.

Funds for the grant came from a donation by Nadia Cavner, a strong supporter of Care to Learn, a longtime Springfield financial advisor and owner of the Nadia Cavner Group. Cavner made her gift in honor of Tristen Ferdig, the son of Gary Ferdig of Monett. The grant will require a local match, as well as additional funding for future efforts. The public meeting is being held to provide more information on how people may assist the effort.

"We hope you, or a representative from your business, will be able to attend to learn more about how we can all partner together to ensure that each student's basic needs of health, hunger, and hygiene are met on a daily basis," said Superintendent Brad Hanson, in a letter inviting community members to the event.

"There are a lot of needs in the community," said Sarah Garner, Monett Elementary School assistant principal who has been selected as coordinator to work with Care to Learn. "At certain times of the year, families experience stress. This helps. I'm so excited to be able to make a difference in the lives of children. We'll be glad to work with you and share all the success."

Interested persons are also welcome to attend the session.

The Monett Times
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
By Murray Bishoff[email protected]
http://www.monett-times.com/story/2311543.html

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Care to Learn " Care to Learn adds Monett as 27th Chapter

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This post was written by springfieldauthor on June 8th, 2016 Community leaders invited to learn about not-for-profit Residents and Monett school district patrons interested in learning more about the Care to Learn program will have a chance to do so this week, as there will be a kickoff meeting with the Care to Learn organization at 7 p.m.

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Plans to begin a Care to Learn chapter in Monett were announced this week. A $15,000 grant from financial advisor Nadia Cavner provided seed money to start the program.

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There are many paths to the top for women financial advisers. An exclusive ranking of 100 who made it, and where five see investment opportunities now. Hedging against a toppy stock market.

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NADIA CAVNER TOOK TO STOCKS EARLY in life, tending with her siblings to some small portfolios set up by their father, an oil-industry entrepreneur. "We always had that love for the market; our father would show us how to read the balance sheets and understand what a price/earnings ratio was," she recalls.

But it took more than an ardor for investing to become a financial adviser. There were few women brokers at the firm she joined, and when a post did open up, her bosses required her to get through all the...

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NADIA CAVNER TOOK TO STOCKS EARLY in life, tending with her siblings to some small portfolios set up by their father, an oil-industry entrepreneur. "We always had that love for the market; our father would show us how to read the balance sheets and understand what a price/earnings ratio was," she recalls.

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A Springfieldian and top financial advisor had money on the mind from a young age. Now she’s helping others invest (and going to her daughter’s soccer games).

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A Springfieldian and top financial advisor had money on the mind from a young age. Now she's helping others invest (and going to her daughter's soccer games).

DISCLAIMER: The information in this article was fact checked and accurate at press time, but 417 Magazine cannot guarantee its accuracy indefinitely.

(page 1 of 2)

Nadia Cavner's office is soothing. From the highly polished wood to the neatly organized layout, the atmosphere sets the tone to put one at ease.
Signs of her success are carefully placed in the waiting area: plaques noting awards won, framed certificates and news clippings highlighting her financial and philanthropic successes.

The magazines on the low coffee and occasional tables in the lobby are ones that feature Cavner. An air of competency fills the space as her staff works efficiently.

One spring morning, a client arrives before 9 a.m. After parking his truck and dusting off his cap, he walks slowly toward The Cavner Group's offices, located within a Bancorp South branch on East Sunshine street in Springfield.

He tugs at the glass doors to the building, and finding the exterior doors locked, he pauses a moment, perplexed. One of Cavner's staff quickly unlocks the exterior door and leads the client inside, offering coffee and the promise-quickly fulfilled-that he'll be able to speak to someone.

The client had popped in for just a moment; he's concerned about the fluctuating market. Reassured after a short face-to-face conversation, he once again dusts off his cap and walks back to his truck.

Beyond her financial prowess and high-profile donations, Cavner is an enigma.

Springfieldians might have seen her around town, at Greenwood Laboratory School, where her daughter Maral attends, at soccer games, at Holy Trinity Catholic church on Springfield's east side. Running through the winding roads near her home. But who is Nadia Cavner, really?

"Nadia is one of those people-she's one of the most interesting people in person that I've ever met," says longtime friend and colleague Laura Zografos-Preusser with Putnam Investments. "There is persona about her, she is passionate when she believes in something, to make it happen."

Home Away From Her Homeland

Cavner spent her childhood in an Assyrian region close to the Iran/Iraq border. War in the 1970s forced many Assyrians to consider leaving their homes to avoid the violence. Cavner and her sister were among the thousands of Assyrians who left. Her parents sensed the coming danger, and decided it would be best to move the family, rather than take their chances in an uncertain situation.

Cavner emigrated from Iran to the United States at age 14. Her parents made the decision overnight, about six months after her 16-year-old sister arrived in the U.S. Cavner, while growing up in a region dominated by multiple languages, recalls that she knew only one English word: Coca Cola.

At first the sisters stayed with family friends in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. With help from mentor students at Nolan High School in Fort Worth, as well as her family and friends, Cavner adjusted to life in the U.S.

"It was really tough the first year," she says. "I was paired up with a senior to converse and learn English. I grew up in a bilingual home.... When you are young, it is easy to learn languages."

In college at Texas Wesleyan University, Cavner faced a slightly more difficult challenge. The coursework and writing were on a different level, and listening became critical to Cavner's understanding concepts.

She recalls that a Bible class was especially difficult; essay writing did not come easily. The process of the markets, of research and finance, came easier. "I always loved the market, the theory behind it," she explains.

That love of investment and research began with lessons from her father. The oil-industry entrepreneur insisted that his children learn how to manage their money. He set up stock portfolios, taught them how to read a balance sheet and analyze price/earning ratios. Discussions around the house involved companies, research and how to correlate product with profitability. "I thought the process was fascinating," Cavner says.

From Texas to the Ozarks

While working on her master's degree at Texas Christian University, she met Brite Divinity School campus minister Howard Cavner. The melding of a Catholic and a Disciples of Christ youth minister might not seem easy, but "it has worked for us," she says.

Once married, the two decided to move back to Howard's native 417-land.

In Springfield, Cavner started as a teller at Savings of America in a temporary position; her leadership team explained that she would move into management within a few months.

However, when a financial planning and investment position opened up, Cavner saw an opportunity to take her ability to play with numbers, stocks and bonds and create a career. She approached her superiors about filling the position. They asked her to complete all the necessary exams within one month. The norm to complete the testing is six months.

Undaunted, Cavner began studying for her Series 7 financial exam, traditionally the most difficult exam. Despite being a new mother and dealing with the exhaustion motherhood entailed, Cavner delved into her study books and completed the exam.
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DISCLAIMER: The information in this article was fact checked and accurate at press time, but 417 Magazine cannot guarantee its accuracy indefinitely. (page 1 of 2) Nadia Cavner's office is soothing.