Celebrating the Women of Next Generation

Published on March 2, 2023

March is National Women’s History Month. This annual observance has been recognized formally in the U.S. since 1987.

At Next Generation, we have some of our own women’s history—and women to celebrate—that we’d like to share in honor of Women’s History Month. Let’s start at the top with our founder and CEO, Jaime Raskulinecz, CPM, SDIP.

Jaime is someone who has always identified gaps in the marketplace and filled it with what is needed. When she wanted to make real estate investments within her IRA but found there was a lack of professionals to help her make those transactions, she founded Next Generation Services in 2004, as an administrator of self-directed retirement plans. Over time, she recognized that also being the custodian of our clients’ assets would streamline our client service. In 2017 she launched Next Generation Trust Company to do just that.

Jaime is a long-time real estate investor who has also worked in real estate since 1994. She is a certified property manager (CPM) and CEO/principal of Rainbow Property Management, a credentialed real estate management firm. She is also a New Jersey licensed real estate broker, and a member of several national and statewide real estate organizations.

A recognized expert in the field of including alternative assets within self-directed retirement plans, Jaime believes investor education about self-direction should be shared widely. She has contributed articles to prominent real estate and investment publications, has spoken to investment groups, and has been interviewed many times on the topic; she is a frequent contributor to the Forbes Finance Council.

Jaime has earned several prestigious awards throughout her career for entrepreneurship and leadership, which you can read about in her bio on our website.

Karen Jung, CPA, SDIP, Director of Finance recently celebrated her seventh anniversary with us, having started at Next Generation in January 2016. Karen applies her extensive background in corporate finance to her supervision of our internal financial operations as well as the client-related areas of transaction billing and execution. She continually refines our accounting and reporting procedures to improve efficiency. In addition to being a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, Karen is also certified in human resource administration.

Erica Figueiredo, SDIP, Marketing Specialist started with us in July 2018 and directs many of our marketing efforts. She is most excited by marketing strategy and marketing automation, is well-trained in applications such as Salesforce and HubSpot, and holds several HubSpot Academy certifications for various marketing, sales and operational functions. Whenever you come across one of our social media posts, receive an email from Next Generation, or read one of our blog articles, know that Erica is behind those in some way. She holds a B.A. in communication studies from Kean University.

Emma Olson, SDIP, Client Service Supervisor officially joined Next Generation in August 2018. She reviews our clients’ investment documentation for compliance with IRS regulations and assists with ongoing account management. Her previous experience is in retail and banking so it’s no wonder she does so well working with individual customers and facilitating efficient transactions. Emma has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a statistics emphasis from the University of Utah and is an excellent critical thinker who can analyze different situations in a way that is useful in customer service.

Lisa DeSimone, SDIP, Client Service Associate joined the company in September 2020. She is part of the transaction team and assists with client inquiries and transaction support. Prior to coming onboard at Next Generation, Lisa worked for several years in the insurance industry in account management and compliance and has experience in office management, employee training and supervision, and client relations.

As you can see, the history of Next Generation is truly women’s history. All of us (even the guys!) are proud to celebrate these women and everyone’s contributions to the company’s success.

PS – If you are wondering about our team members who have SDIP after their names, this is the Self-Directed IRA Professional (SDIP) designation from the Retirement Industry Trust Association (RITA). This designation is awarded to employees within the industry who have been employed with their respective companies for at least 2 years, complete a pre-requisite training course, and pass the required examination, which demonstrates their IRA technical, operational, and compliance-oriented expertise.