Our Roots

In August of 2015, a partnership formed that would eventually bring seven different career paths together. That convergence of experience, talent, and knowledge would ultimately grow to become White Pine Wealth Management, a team of professionals whose singular goal was to provide clients with an integrative plan that brought clarity and organization to their financial futures. Each member brought critical skills and perspective to the team, driven by a shared vision of what true client service should be: comprehensive, focused, responsive, and highly detailed. While the team was formed in 2015, its roots had been taking hold for decades. These roots, grounded in the idea that people need both direction and personal connection, grew into the realization of that dream. White Pine Wealth Management has been helping you get there ever since.

Our Growth: Success & Succession

Just as White Pine Wealth Management believes that planning is critical to the financial health of its clients, we also believe that planning our own futures ensures our ability to continue planning yours. We know that our clients don’t stop needing guidance the day they retire. Or the day we retire. We’ve helped you plan for the generations of your family, and we want you to know that we are also planning for the generations of the White Pine Wealth Management family. From Baby Boomers to Millennials, the intentional formation of a team that can grow with you and continue to provide the service upon which you’ve come to depend has been a driving force behind every decision we’ve made. As life moves forward and we continue to grow and change, we are actively engaged in succession planning to ensure that the guidance our clients receive will be both consistent and uninterrupted. We believe it is our responsibility to make sure that each client feels connected, engaged, and understood by every member of our team because we know you have goals that don’t end at retirement. Your goals are our compass. It is our privilege to help you get there.

Gibson Wilkes, CFP®, Managing Director, Partner

Beginning her career in 1984 at Dean Witter, Gibson has more than 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. She earned her Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) designation from the College for Financial Planning. A former board member of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Maine, Gibson supports the organization and sits on their investment committee.

Gibson, an identical twin, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She came east to attend Williams College where she was a collegiate champion in the high jump. It was there that she met Blake, her would-be husband and future business partner. They eventually ended up in Maine where they raised their two daughters. Despite their many years in the Northeast, her midwestern roots, and new granddaughter, Lucy, called her back to the west, and they now split their time between Idaho and Florida. Gibson is an avid golfer, voracious reader, doting grandmother, and is an active member in her church and her community.

Grey Terry, CFP®, Managing Director, Partner

We are proud to announce that Grey is now a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).  On March 13, 2020, after two years of preparing, and just before the pandemic shut down testing centers around the state, Grey sat for his Certified Financial Planner exam and was certified. This is a significant and important career milestone and we are tremendously proud of his hard work and determination. For more information about what it means to obtain your CFP designation, click here.

Grey grew up in the Farmington River Valley area of Connecticut. During his college years, he headed west to attend the University of Colorado. After graduating college, Grey worked in the ski industry and eventually ended up moving to San Francisco where he meet his wife, Joey, and worked for a technology company. While living in California, he transitioned into finance and worked for Morgan Stanley. After San Francisco, Grey and Joey lived in Bend Oregon. Soon after the birth of their daughter, Boden, Grey and his family made their move back east to Maine. In his free time, Grey can be found outside working around the house or spending time enjoying the great outdoors, particularly if it involves fishing or snow. Grey currently lives in Cape Elizabeth with his wife, daughter, and two dogs, Tilly and Sage.

Melissa Duffy, AIF®, Managing Director, Partner

Melissa grew up in greater Portland and journeyed to the midwest for college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Immediately upon graduation in 1995, Melissa took a job with Fidelity Investments in Boston and began her career in wealth management. Her career spans 30 years in training, compliance, marketing, and wealth management at some of the industry's best-known investment managers: Fidelity, Charles Schwab, State Street, and A.G. Edwards. In 2008 she started her own firm, a dream realized, and built her practice through the Great Recession. In 2015 after connecting and realizing the potential of shared interests with Grey Terry and Gibson Wilkes, Melissa merged her practice with theirs to form White Pine Wealth Management.

Melissa spends lots of time enjoying the outdoors with her family when she isn't working. She enjoys skiing, hiking, and mountain biking in western Maine and the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Paige E. Batchelder, CFP®, Managing Director, Partner

We are proud to announce that Paige is now a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). On September 25th, 2020, all masked up amidst the pandemic, Paige sat for the Certified Financial Planner exam and was certified. For more information about what it means to obtain your CFP® designation, click here.

Paige was born in Annapolis, MD and grew up in South Portland, Maine. She attended the University of New Hampshire where she majored in English and minored in American Studies. Ultimately graduating from the University of Southern Maine, she immediately went to work at A.G. Edwards & Sons in Portland, Maine and began working her way up in a business that valued her ability to communicate, organize, and problem-solve. In 2015, she joined Hightower and in 2020, she obtained her Certified Financial Planner designation. She lives in Gorham, Maine with her husband, Scott, and their Australian Labradoodle puppy, Hampton. She enjoys reading, travel, New England autumns, spoiling her puppy, and spending time with family.

Matthew Emery, Director of Research and Portfolio Management

Matt grew up in Auburn, Maine and, after a brief period working as an Emergency Medical Technician and making two trips to Ecuador for charity work, he began his studies at the University of Southern Maine where he majored in Accounting and Finance. After graduating, Matt worked as an accountant for a hedge fund at Stone-Coast Fund Services and then as an investment performance analyst for an institutional investment consultancy before joining White Pine.

Matt and his wife, Sarah, met each other at the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, where they both worked during their college years. They now live in Standish, Maine with their two young sons. When he’s not working or helping to take care of their boys, Matt enjoys skiing, boating, and hiking down to Sebago Lake, near his home, for a swim. Matt is also an avid reader and is especially interested in history, psychology, and, of course, investing!

Casey McClurkin, Senior Client Associate

Casey grew up in South Carolina and spent most of her adult life in Denver, Colorado where she graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a BS in Accounting. After college, she worked as a staff accountant, financial analyst, and budget analyst before moving to Maine. Once firmly planted in South Portland, where she moved to be closer to family, she started working as a client service associate (CSA) at Ameriprise in 2015. She earned her Series 7 and 66 licenses, as well as a Behavioral Financial Advisor Certification and Certified Retirement Planning Counselor. She has always been passionate about personal finance and budgeting, and after a short stint on her own working as a financial coach and writing a personal finance column for a local recovery magazine called Journey, Casey joined the White Pine Wealth Management team in the summer of 2022.

Casey enjoys exploring Maine on foot and you can find her running on one of the hundreds of trails around Cumberland County and beyond after work and on weekends. She is a creative at heart and loves to make cards, journals, watercolor paintings, and crochet projects for her friends and family. Casey lives in South Portland with her kittens Moody, Mindy, and Lulu.

Shana Bennett, Client Associate

Shana grew up in Southern Maine. She spent most of her youth in the barn, mucking stalls, riding horses, and volunteering at a therapeutic horseback riding center. Shana went on to work in insurance, then a veterinary hospital, but left it all behind to join the United States Navy. She served on active duty for four years as an Aviation Electronics Technician. When not in uniform, she could be found teaching riding lessons at a nearby therapy barn and coaching athletes at the Northeast Florida Special Olympics Equestrian Games.

After completing her enlistment, Shana returned to her roots in Maine to finish her degree and found new roots at White Pine. Shana became a first-generation college graduate when she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Southern Maine. Her passion for helping others and problem-solving led her to White Pine Wealth Management. “Financial planning is akin to working on electronics: both require a little troubleshooting, recalibration, and regular maintenance for the best results.”

Shana lives in Lisbon with her husband, Nate, son, and daughter Corey and Blake, as well as Jeune the cat and Dozer the German Shorthaired Pointer. She enjoys gardening, family time, and all things outdoors, including versatile field training with Dozer.

Natalie Munn, Client Associate

Natalie grew up in Bradford, a small, rural town in Pennsylvania. She attended the local college, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford where she majored in Business Management and Economics and minored in Marketing. Right after graduation in 2018, Natalie took a job with Northwest Bank in Warren, Pennsylvania. Here she learned the importance of financial wellness and customer service. She found a passion for helping clients reach their short and long-term goals.

Natalie and her wife, Emily, moved to Biddeford in 2022 where Natalie joined White Pine Wealth Management and Emily began medical school. She is looking forward to exploring all the state has to offer. In her free time, Natalie enjoys traveling to new places, cooking great food, and reading.

Nancy Mackin, Office Manager

Nancy grew up in Northern Maine. Nancy graduated from the University of Southern Maine focusing on business management. She left Maine in the early 80s to travel and work but settled back in Southern Maine. She started her support role in a law office focusing on civil litigation in 1988, then in 2004 joined a national law firm that started her journey in the Security and Exchange Commission regulatory and compliance world. Nancy joined Hightower as an Office Manager in 2022. She has over 30 years of experience in support roles with local, national, and international law firms.

Nancy lives in Southern Maine with her daughter and enjoys being at the beach during her free time, walking, and photographing.