Greater Philadelphia Area
About Us
In the Philadelphia area, we have brought together six outstanding firms as Alera Group Philadelphia. This includes Pentra, HealthFirst, Somerset Capital, Vantage Point, Perspective Financial Group and HR inTune. Recently, Lamb Benefits – Employee Benefits Division joined our team. Every owner of each firm remains an equity partner in Alera Group. Our mission is to enhance our clients’ experience in tangible and measurable ways by building on the foundation of each firm. We strive to deliver the best possible outcomes—positively impacting our employees, clients, communities and the lives of people we serve.
There is a level of excitement at Alera that our clients experience through daily interactions with our team. We care about our people, our clients, our client relationships and making a difference.
Meet Our Team
People you can count on. People you can trust.
Danielle Buchanan
Senior Vice President, Employee Benefits
Danielle joined in 2003, and serves as the Senior Vice President, Employee Benefits. She is responsible for leading continuous improvement of the firm’s operational elements impacting client service and delivery and ensuring consistency in the Alera Group client experience.
She works closely with her clients to establish strong, active relationships, and to provide proactive and consultative expertise based on each client’s unique challenges.
Favorite Book? Spring by R.H Blyth- a book of haiku
Favorite superhero? My Dad. He is brave and strong willed, family focused, and his work ethic is unmatched.
First thing you would buy if you won the lottery? A fancy new boat for my husband, Josh
Most adventurous experience? Parenting my two sons, John and Gardner
Best advice you’ve ever received? You only get to keep what you give away -T. Will
J.R. Burke
Senior Partner
J.R. Burke is the Senior Partner of Perspective Financial Group, an Alera Group Firm. An active participant in industry organizations, J.R. has led numerous continuing education sessions for PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG/Peat Marwick, The Society of Financial Service Professionals, Ernst & Young, Skadden Arps, Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz, Duane, Morris & Heckscher, the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. He was the financial planning contributing author for The Journal of the American Society of CLU & ChFC from 1985 to 1993 and is currently a member of MDRT and AALU. Since 2015 he has served as an Executive Committee Member of the Board of the Philadelphia Estate Planning Council and is President for their 2018-19 year. J.R. was picked in 2011 through 2018 as one of the Philadelphia Area’s Five Star Wealth Managers.
J.R. graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in economics and a major in insurance. He earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU®) designation prior to his graduation, and also holds the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC®) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designations and is an Accredited Estate Planner® Designee (AEP).
A resident of Berwyn, Pennsylvania, for 34 years, J.R. is married with four sons. He continues to be actively involved in his community through local and charitable organizations. J.R. currently serves as a Board member of The Elwyn Foundation, a human services organization meeting the needs of mentally, emotionally and physically challenged people; and until recently was also a Board member of The Nelson Foundation, an independent private foundation that for more than 30 years has supported a variety of programs that provide direct services to children and youth in the Philadelphia region.
Gamelle Carter-Lawson
Benefit Analyst
Gamelle serves as a Benefit Analyst. She supports Consultants in delivering comprehensive financial renewal evaluations by analyzing claim vs. funding history, forecasting plan costs and monitoring large claim exposure.
She further assists Consultants in managing the administrative complexities of their clients’ benefit programs and works toward developing seamless integration among their carriers and outside vendors.
Her project engagement approach is centered around building strong client partner relationships to deliver high quality, cost-effective and time-sensitive business outcomes.
If you were stranded on an island and could only bring one item, what would you bring? My Bible.
Favorite movie? Driving Miss Daisy
Favorite song? He Was There All the Time -Reverend James Moore
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Jerusalem
David Clark, CFP®, CRPC®
Financial Advisor
David Clark joined Perspective Financial Group, an Alera Group Company, in January 2024. He guides clients through identifying, implementing, and achieving their financial goals. David brings nearly a decade of experience in wealth management, previously working as a Private Wealth Manager for a nationally recognized Registered Investment Advisor firm. He served on the investment committee and leadership team and brings a deep understanding of all aspects of a family’s financial plan.
David graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Finance from Wilmington University. David holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM certification and the Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM (CRPC®) designation.
As resident of Wilmington, DE, David spends his free time with his wife Heather and two children. They enjoy playing, reading, and teaching their children as well as spending time with family and friends. David is also an avid sports enthusiast and musician.
Resources
Success Stories (downloads)
Captive Refesability Study for Fortune 500 Company
THE CHALLENGE Alera Group was requested to undertake a captive refeasibility study for an U.S. based multinational manufacturer of appliances with...
Enhancing a Healthcare Captive
THE CHALLENGE A non-profit multi-state health system with 35,000 employees wanted to conduct a feasibility study to determine if captive funding...
Quarry Faces Environmental Liability Query
THE CHALLENGE A large quarry operation owned a dig site that had been filled with a profusion of waste material following a mineral extraction....
An Alera Group member company based in Southern California was asked by the board of directors of a 400-unit condominium building to provide a bid...
Complicated Commercial Real Estate Portfolio
An Alera Group member company based in Southern California was retained by a commercial real estate property manager to review the insurance policies...
Persistence Secures an Infant’s Life Sustaining Treatment
An Alera Group member company that provides services focused on customized, comprehensive employee benefits, HR technology solutions, and wellness...
Start Up Benefits for a Start Up Company
Alera Group was contracted by a start-up national credit counseling company to assist with maintaining employee health benefits offerings while...
An Alera Group company that serves as a multidisciplinary employee benefits and risk management consultancy was approached by a company in the...
THE CHALLENGE Alera Group was the benefits broker for an employer that was working with two affiliated health insurance companies, “Company A”...
Our Community
Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region
For over 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region has been positively impacting children and communities in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties in PA and NJ. They don’t create potential in a child, they just foster and protect it.
Buck County Children’s Advocacy Center
The Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) provides a safe and child-friendly environment in which CAC staff, law enforcement, child welfare, prosecution, victim advocacy, medical and mental health professionals collaborate to implement effective, coordinated investigations of suspected child abuse.
With more than 2,500 reports of child abuse in Bucks County each year, the Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center provides a setting in which children can receive timely, collaborative services from agencies mandated by law to investigate reports of child abuse. The predominant approach to child abuse investigations at the Children’s Advocacy Center is the multidisciplinary team model. This approach supports enhanced communications between the various agencies that respond to allegations of child abuse.
The Bucks County Children’s Advocacy Center strives to transform the system by providing a child-friendly setting where a skilled team of professionals come together under one roof to investigate serious child abuse allegations, conduct forensic interviews to aid in the prosecution of offenders and connect children and families with therapy and victim assistance services — always keeping the best interest of the child in mind.
Eluna Network
The mission of Eluna is to support children and families impacted by grief or addiction. Their innovative resources and programs address the critical needs of children experiencing powerful, overwhelming and often confusing emotions associated with the death of someone close to them or substance abuse in their family. No child should have to face these struggles alone, and our unique programs bring kids together to ease their pain and provide the tools to help restore hope.
Children affected by grief or addiction can feel isolated and alone. Circumstance puts them at increased risk for depression, suicide, poverty, anxiety and behavior problems. Children living in a home with addiction are also at four times the risk of developing an addiction of their own. Eluna’s programs come alongside children and their families to provide vital support helping to prevent complications that arise from unaddressed childhood bereavement and to help break the cycle of addiction in the next generation.
Eluna is dedicated to energizing new research and inspiring political advocacy that will lead to higher standards of care and positive outcomes for children in the fields of bereavement and addiction prevention. By raising awareness for these issues, Eluna reduces stigmas, improves understanding, and makes healing possible for children in need.
Alfred I. du Pont Hospital / Nemours Foundation
A gift of toys, games, books, or crafts can do wonders to brighten a child’s life while they are in the hospital or clinic waiting room. The Child Life programs at Nemours offer activities designed to help children cope with their hospital stay.
Child Life specialists in the hospitals are trained to work with children who have serious illness or are recovering from surgery — often using toys, games, and crafts to allow them to express their fears and hopes and regain a sense of mastery and control.
New, cuddly stuffed animals, hand-held video games, books, and music CDs can help to pass the time and provide a distraction from the hospital routine or clinic visit.
Manna
Manna uses nutrition to improve health for people with serious illnesses who need nourishment to heal. By providing medically tailored meals and nutrition education, we empower people to improve their health and quality of life.
EXPERT EDUCATION
Events and Webinars
Employee Benefits
HIPAA Privacy and Security Overview
Join our compliance experts for an overview of HIPAA’s Privacy and Security Rules. During this webinar, we'll review the different types of entities subject to HIPAA, take an in-depth look at protected health information (PHI), individual rights under HIPAA and what to do when there is a breach of PHI.
April 11, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
Balancing Cost and Care: Could a Captive solution be the right fit for you?
In this session, our experts will discuss how Captive solutions work and what you need to consider for your own group’s needs.
April 17, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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Employee Benefits
Q2 2025 Quarterly Compliance Webinar
Alera Group's quarterly employee benefits compliance roundup will help you stay current on the latest national regulatory developments impacting employers.
May 6, 2025 at 01:00 pm CT | Virtual
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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Insights
Employee Benefits
Benchmarking’s Role in Voluntary Benefits Program Design
Alera Group’s Employee Benefits team recognizes that workforce composition varies from business to business, from industry to industry, from region to region. And, at a time when the U.S. workforce is more generationally diverse than ever before, the needs and priorities of one generation can be very different from those of another. This is where voluntary benefits — also known as supplemental, workplace or optional benefits — become so vital to an organization’s offerings strategy. Alera Group’s "Healthcare and Employee Benefits Benchmarking Reports" take an in-depth look at the benefits businesses provide, the options they offer and the strategies they use to manage costs.
March 31, 2025
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Employee Benefits
HIPAA Webinar: Required Training and Valuable Refresher
Whether meeting federal training requirements or simply refreshing their knowledge base, professionals whose role includes HIPAA administration will benefit from participating in Alera Group’s annual HIPAA Privacy and Security Overview, a one-hour webinar scheduled for Friday, April 11.
March 27, 2025
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Getting the Most From Your Voluntary Benefit Offerings
Join Alera Group on Thursday, March 20, as we present the next in our Engage series of webinars, "Maximizing Impact: The Value of Voluntary Benefits for Today’s Workforce."
March 6, 2025
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Building Connections To Support Employee Mental Health
Mental Health Awareness Month begins in May, but to emphasize mental wellbeing as a year-round priority, Alera Group is getting an early start on distributing our new Mental Health Awareness Toolkit. Designed and refined by our Wellbeing team, the Toolkit is an employer resource to help you and your employees adopt healthy activities, build social connections and erode stigmas that have long hampered discussion of mental health.
March 4, 2025
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