THE WOMAN BEHIND OUR FINANCIAL FIRM
DIANE JOHNSON, ESQ., J.D.*, CFP®
Diane is the owner of her own fee-based financial planning firm. Prior to establishing Blackhawk Financial Advisors, Diane served as a Director of Financial Planning for Lincoln Financial Advisors. In that role, she served as “the financial planner to the financial planners” or the brains of the financial planning department. Diane’s knowledge and expertise allowed her to help other planners behind the scenes design sophisticated financial strategies for their clients including retirement planning, investment planning, fee-based financial planning, and insurance strategies.
To date, Diane has drafted over five hundred financial plans for clients.
Before Lincoln Financial Advisors, Diane was a Commercial Investment Banking Associate for the Union Bank of California – she analyzed financial statements of small and large corporations to qualify them for loans up to $50,000,000. Diane has also held the position of Municipal Bonds Investment Analyst at Sutter Securities Incorporated. There, she analyzed all aspects of municipal bond credits to facilitate the underwriting process.
Diane earned her J.D. degree from Hastings College of the Law, her B.S. from San Jose State University, and is a member of the California Bar Association. Having the legal education, the Director-level experience, and the financial background experience truly sets her apart from the rest of the financial planners because she is able to give financial planning advice, tax planning, and estate planning analysis in far greater depth and breadth that a traditional financial planner.
Diane’s home is in Columbia, South Carolina where she loves playing chess, kickboxing, and Bikram yoga. Diane is a member of Family Bible Fellowship, The California Bar Association, the Contra Costa County Bar Association, and Alpha Kappa Sorority Inc.
*Licensed, but not practicing
LANIEE FONG, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Laniee Fong is the Operations Director at Blackhawk Financial Advisors. She lives in the Bay Area of California, serving individuals and businesses across the nation. Laniee is responsible for providing an array of business support functions for the firm across various departments.
Laniee holds a bachelor’s degree in Business with a focus in Management Information Systems from San Jose State University. Prior to joining Blackhawk Financial Advisors, she worked at Intel in Sales and Marketing, owning the backend engines of Intel’s marketing rewards program for the North America Channel customers. She thrives in creating efficiencies in both operations and administration settings.
Laniee was born and raised in the bay area and moved to the east bay after having kids. She lives in Castro Valley with her three boys, in which the younger two are twins. She enjoys cooking, reading, meditating, most activities outdoors, and spending time with family. Laniee can be reached at (925) 262-4800 or with info@blackhawkfinancialadvisors.com.
