karen fluharty

FOUNDER | FIGHTER | MOTHER | GENERAL PARTNER

In 2017 Karen began to look toward the future for her then 15-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 scalable housing model that brings the private and public sectors together for real social impact and change.

As a real estate executive and 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. Her vast experience includes 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

MANAGING partner | developer

Developer. International businessman. Philanthropist. John Klein lends his global business experience, leadership, and history of building brands and real estate sectors to multiple charities and causes, culminating in leading the development and financing of THRIVE Red Bank as Managing Partner.

His three-plus decades of business innovation and dominance in retail and real estate have built brands, properties, and even an entire category into global forces.

Over a 20-year tenure with Premium Outlets, first under the Chelsea banner then ultimately serving as CEO of the Simon Premium Outlets division upon its acquisition of Chelsea, he led the development of more 30 outlet centers totaling more than 10 million square feet, achieving the industry’s highest U.S. sales productivity across owned properties. He also oversaw the development, construction, finance, leasing, marketing, and operations of a worldwide portfolio of 81 properties comprising 33 million square feet, as well as Simon’s $2.3 billion acquisition of Prime Outlets (where earlier in his career he had been a vice president).

His involvement in the development, expansion, and management of the country’s most-visited outlet centers, including notable properties such as Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, Desert Hills Premium Outlets, Orlando Premium Outlets, and Las Vegas Premium Outlets, drove the division to new heights, including more than doubling its profits.

He also successfully oversaw Simon’s international expansion of the concept, developing and investing in 16 outlet centers across Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Canada, and Mexico and managing relationships with global firms including Mitsubishi Estate Co., Shinsegae Co., Genting Group, Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust, and Sordo Madaleno and Associates.

John has dedicated his gift for innovative management and ability to achieve significant, sustainable growth to a lifetime of service, supporting causes that benefit Monmouth County, N.J., the retail industry and beyond. He is a Past President of Lunch Break, a community organization that provides food, clothing, life skills, and fellowship to those in need in Monmouth County and has served on the Board of The Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County N.J. and the United States Travel & Tourism Advisory Board for the Department of Commerce.

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

Robin Klein brings a powerful combination of strategic development and managerial expertise, deep nonprofit leadership, and a lifelong commitment to community engagement to Parents With a Plan™. As a Founding Board Member and current Secretary of the Board, Robin plays an integral role in shaping the organization’s vision and guiding its long-term growth.  A passionate advocate and active changemaker, Robin's work reflects a deep commitment to advancing both local initiatives and global causes.

In addition to her leadership at Parents With a Plan, Robin serves on several nonprofit boards, including President of the Board for Lunch Break, a community resource center providing for those in need. She and her husband, John, were recently honored with Lunch Break’s Heart to Hand Award in recognition of their service. Robin also holds the position of Governance & HR Chair on the Executive Committee of the Count Basie Center for the Arts; is President of Open Heart Yoga, a nonprofit yoga studio, and a Trustee of the Riverview Medical Center Foundation. She contributes her insight as an Advisory Board member for 180 Turning Lives Around, among other organizations where she serves on committees and special initiatives.  Robin is also deeply dedicated to animal welfare and wildlife conservation.  Globally, she supports organizations such as Wildlife Conservation and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, and she John regularly travel to Rwanda to support the Ubumwe Community Center and School in Gisenyi.

Professionally, Robin is the Founder and President of Fashion Retail Group, a retail real estate advisory firm specializing in strategic planning and growth for many of the world’s leading brands. With decades of experience, she has leased over a million square feet of space and is recognized for her expertise in strategic market analysis, site selection, lease negotiation, asset and facilities management, revenue growth, and construction. A licensed real estate broker and Certified Shopping Center Manager (CSM), Robin was inducted into the Industry Hall of Fame in 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Utah.

Affectionately known as “Auntie Robi” to Ryan, Robin resides in Monmouth County, New Jersey, with John and their four rescue dogs, surrounded by wildlife. Together, they enjoy time with family, good friends and exploring the outdoors—often on their treasured Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

MARK CARTIER

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

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. He was also the liaison for Mizuho Securities USA LLC with the Federal Reserve Bank and the U.S. Treasury Department.

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

Dr. STEPHANIE REYNOLDS, D.O., M.D.

Stephanie is originally from South Orange, N.J. 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 at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

In 2006, along with her husband and two 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 and has earned Physician of the Year, as well as numerous Community Volunteer Awards for her work throughout Monmouth County.

MICHAEL PARENT

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 a 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, N.J. 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. 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. Karen’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.

Amanda Niederauer Lukof

CEO | Sister | Visionary

Amanda Lukof is the Co-Founder and CEO of Eleplan, an AI-powered digital care planning platform designed to make caregiving for adults, like her brother Liam, simpler, safer, and more human. Since launching Eleplan in 2023, she has been leading the development of a technology that meets caregivers where they are — building intelligent, adaptive care plans that evolve alongside the needs of both the caregiver and the person receiving care. Whether serving family caregivers managing the complexity of daily life or healthcare professionals coordinating across teams, Eleplan delivers a secure, accurate, and customizable solution that keeps everyone on the same page.

 Her path to building Eleplan is rooted in nearly a decade of legal practice and advocacy. She began her career at Mayerson & Associates, a leading special education law firm, where she worked directly with families navigating the daunting process of securing care and services for children with disabilities — coordinating due process complaints for over 100 clients, researching complex special education law, and developing a firsthand understanding of how fragmented and overwhelming care systems can be for the people who need them most. She went on to spend nearly six years as an attorney at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP, one of New Jersey's premier law firms, where she built a sophisticated litigation practice spanning securities, financial services, commercial disputes, school law, and probate — sharpening the analytical and structural thinking that now informs how she builds technology.

That combination of legal rigor and deep advocacy experience led her next to Hope Trust, where as Senior Vice President of Strategic Growth she helped scale a platform purpose-built for families navigating special needs planning. It was there that the vision for Eleplan fully crystallized — a technology solution designed not around clinical systems, but around the real, messy, human experience of caregiving.

 At Eleplan, Amanda is turning that insight into action. The platform's AI engine adapts and refines care plans in real time, learning from how users prioritize and organize their caregiving responsibilities to surface what matters most. Secure sharing features allow critical care information to move safely between family members and healthcare professionals — eliminating the fragmentation that too often puts vulnerable people at risk.

She also serves as a Strategic Advisor to the Autism Impact Fund, the investment and innovation arm of the autism community — a role that reflects Amanda's enduring commitment to the disability community and the families who support them.

Amanda Lukof brings something rare to the world of health technology: the precision of a litigator, the empathy of an advocate, and the vision of a founder who has seen firsthand what's at stake when care coordination fails. She is building Eleplan with a clear conviction — that the right technology, designed with empathy, can transform one of the most demanding human experiences into something manageable, connected, and clear.

 Amanda and her husband live in Little Silver with their two sons.

DANIELLE FIELDS

MOTHER | ADVOCATE | LEADER

Paul was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two. Determined to help Paul, she initiated early intervention services immediately after his diagnosis. Many services in California were either unavailable, despite having an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or lacked the necessary personnel.

The early strategies included enrolling Paul in early intervention, pre-K, and therapy sessions in California. However, Danielle knew that these services were insufficient, so she decided to relocate; first to Nevada then Georgia and finally in 2016 to New Jersey to secure better services for Paul.

In her dual role as a parent and advocate, Danielle learned to navigate IEP meetings effectively, understanding that they were designed to serve her son’s needs rather than those of the educational staff. She transformed fear into confidence, determined to advocate for Paul’s rights and well being.

Her advocacy journey began in Las Vegas, where she actively participated in fundraising events for Autism Speak. Her commitment to advocacy expanded through various roles, including: Establishing community outreach connections, serving as Vice President of the parent-student organization, participating in the advocacy committee to influence legislation on Capitol Hill, testifying at the Board of Education to support the School Funding Reform Act, receiving recognition for her impactful testimony.

Her dedication to Paul’s well-being and her commitment as an advocate have defined her journey as a mother.