About Us

Take Control of Your
Financial Future

We understand your needs because our interests are the same. Damefender specializes in serving professional women (and the men who love them) who are balancing multiple concerns — across work, family and outside interests.

 

Acting as a fiduciary in advisory account relationships, we always put your best interests first. To us, it is non-negotiable. It is how we operate in delivering strategies that aim to provide you with the financial future you want.

Meet the Team

What’s in a name? Damefender is a product of both what we do and the special group we serve. We see ourselves as the defenders of our clients’ futures, both men and women. 

Zahya Beall, AAMS®, CIMA®

Financial Planner

Zahya is the Founder & Owner of Damefender Financial. As a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) and Accredited Asset Management Specialist (AAMS®), her focus in partnering with you is on education. A large part of this is breaking down the confusing concepts that are pervasive in the investment and wealth management industry, and turning them into digestible takeaways that you can act on.

 

With over 20 years’ experience, she got her start in financial services in 2004 working in a financial advisor’s office to pay for college. Upon graduating University of Pennsylvania, she spent four years working inside the life insurance operation at Lincoln Financial before being recruited to work at one of the largest investment firms in the world, Legg Mason Global Asset Management (now Franklin Templeton). During almost a decade there, she served in many roles, most relevant of which as an Investment Spokesperson; conducting over 300 investment workshops for financial advisors in three years.

 

In 2018 she transitioned from coaching other financial advisors on helping their clients, to building a practice of her own. Many of the clients are female bosses both outside and inside the home, as well as the men who love them.

 

Outside of work, Zahya lives in Stamford, CT with her husband, Joel, and their little rescue dog, Bruiser.

Jacklyn Hart

Client Relationship Manager

Jacklyn joins Damefender Financial Partners as Client Relationship Manager, where she is dedicated to delivering personalized service and ensuring clients’ needs are met with unwavering support. She draws from her background in the financial services industry, working formerly for Nia Impact Capital and J O Hambro Capital Management. Jacklyn’s diverse background—which encompasses client services, operations, and compliance—makes her a versatile member of our team.

 

With nearly a decade of financial services experience, Jacklyn’s previous roles afforded the opportunity to collaborate closely with investment teams and exposed her to a myriad of market perspectives and strategies. In recent years she has focused on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, seeing it as a natural progression from her previous emphasis on international and global markets. Throughout her career, Jacklyn has closely collaborated with financial professionals, seeking ways to enhance client outcomes.

 

Jacklyn earned her B.S. from Marist College, majoring in Business Administration, Finance with a minor in Economics. Beyond her professional endeavors, she enjoys crafting, relaxing, and giving back through volunteer work. Since 2023, she has been volunteering with Bank.Green to encourage banks to become more sustainable.

Dani Kaczmarek

Associate Relationship Manager

In her role with Damefender, Dani serves as a second set of ears in client discussions. Her daily functions include preparing for client strategy sessions,  and capturing meeting follow-ups.

 

Dani also possesses a unique perspective that serves many of our clients, as she has extensive experience with divorce in Fairfield County, having navigated her own. As well, she’s been involved in post-judgement and legal negotiations. Throughout the process she’s made many contacts in the legal and financial fields, resulting in experience in Arbitration, Family Services, mental health departments, Department of Children and Families, and Guardian Ad Litem / Attorney for the Minor Child relationships. All of which helps to serve our clients moving through this challenging season of life.

 

Most recently, Dani is navigating the college admissions process as her oldest child approaches college age. She has experience applying for financial aid and navigating FAFSA rules, which continue to change.

 

Dani grew up in South Carolina and received her B.S. from the University of South Carolina in Marketing and Human Resources. She spent over five years in legal recruiting, human resources, and event planning for NYC law firms. After raising her three children in NYC, she relocated to Connecticut over 10 years ago to continue raising them and become a valuable member of each of their schools, while also volunteering her time toward her passions in education, women and children.

Meredith Haldeman

Administrative Assistant

Meredith is part of LPL Business Solutions, partnering with our advisors to provide support on administrative tasks and client management functions. Meredith has worked in the financial services industry for over six years. Prior to joining LPL in 2021, she worked at the First National Bank of Omaha.

 

Some of the functions that Meredith helps to serve the team with include preparing and processing account paperwork, overseeing reporting, maintenance, transfers, and cash management functions – such as Client RMDs, contributions, and distributions. She also assists with setup and questions surrounding the ‘AccountView’, our Online Access client accounts.

 

Meredith received a Bachelors in Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University. She enjoys reading and spending time with family in her spare time. After living in the Midwest for 15 years, Meredith and her family moved back to the East Coast to fulfill a dream of living near the ocean.

Joel Beall

Social Media & Marketing Manager

With over 15 years experience working as a writer and social media contributor for major publications including FOX Sports, the Cincinnati Enquirer and WhatIfSports.com, Joel helps to manage marketing messages for Damefender. In his role, he drives the strategy for getting important financial planning and investment topics out to clients and the public, ensuring more people benefit from this key information.

 

He is also a senior writer at Golf Digest, where he covers professional golf with a focus on longform storytelling, columns, news, investigations and in-tournament coverage.

 

Joel was born in Ohio but calls Connecticut home, where he lives with his wife Zahya and their dog Bruiser.