Meet the Team
Cindy L Steeb
Cindy is the Founder & CEO of CLS Legacy Team where she is an advisor working with ultra-high-net-worth clients, privately held family-owned businesses, and private family trust companies, bringing creative solutions to complicated estate planning and fiduciary matters. Cindy develops trusting client relationships through her interpersonal skills, strong business judgment, and sensitive approach to family and business dynamics. She draws on her vast experience working for families who have experienced liquidity events, owned controlling interests in publicly traded companies, and operated privately held business enterprises.
An attorney by education, Cindy co-authored the Ohio Family Trust Company Act, participating in lobbying efforts to allow for both licensed and unlicensed private family trust companies in Ohio. During her career, she has formed and managed more than twenty private family trust companies in Ohio, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Delaware.
In 2024, her passion for private family trust companies led her to write a book, Preserving Multigenerational Wealth: How a Private Family Trust Company Can Promote Family Harmony & Positive Family Dynamics, which is available for purchase on Amazon. In her book, Cindy takes a unique approach to the complexities of multigenerational estate planning, offering family-business owners and their trusted advisors a roadmap to addressing family harmony and preserving the family legacy for generations to come.
Pursuing her commitment to lifelong learning, Cindy recently began working with the prestigious Case Western Reserve University Center for Family Business as an Adjunct Professor. She teaches two classes: Introduction to Family Businesses and Complexities of Family Businesses.
Cindy is an animal lover and spends her free time fostering dogs with American Brittany Rescue. She has fostered over 37 dogs during her time volunteering! She lives on an 85-acre farm in Valley City, Ohio, where she boards and provides quality care for retired senior horses. Cindy has six dogs of her own (American Brittanys and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels!), one horse, two cats, and lots of chickens.
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics with Honors & Phi Beta Kappa – College of Wooster
Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Distinction- DePaul University
Juris Doctor (JD) Magna Cum Laude – Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
Publications
Preserving Multigenerational Wealth: How a Private Family Trust Company Can Promote Family Harmony & Positive Family Dynamics – Book published in December 2023
Thinking Out of the Box About Trust Provisions and Trustee Options Considering an Ohio Family Trust Company – Probate Law Journal of Ohio, 31 No. 6 Ohio Prob. L.J. NL 8, July/August 2021
A Child Conceived After His Father’s Death: Posthumous Reproduction and Inheritance Rights: An Analysis of Ohio Statutes – 48 Clev. St. L. Rev. 137 (2000)
Bar Admissions
Florida (inactive)
Ohio
South Dakota (inactive)
Wyoming
Dresden Burkhart
Dresden is a Trust Services Coordinator with CLS Legacy Team, where she works with ultra-high-net-worth clients, privately held family-owned businesses, and private family trust companies. She works most closely with CLS Legacy Team’s family office clients, providing a range of services, from coordinating family governance to keeping families close!
Dresden has a degree in Marketing and began her career at non-profit organizations and boutique law firms in Denver, Colorado. Despite her unorthodox background, Dresden has experience in the family office and private family trust company arenas, as a fourth-generation member of a five-generation family business. She has grown up in the world of family offices and private family trust companies, giving her a unique lens through which to help her clients. Dresden even serves on her own family’s Family Council, Events Committee, and Human Capital Committee!
While Dresden is originally from Northeast Ohio, she currently resides in the suburbs of Boulder, Colorado with her husband and their beloved French Bulldog, Kirby. Dresden loves food and movies and spends as much time as possible trying new restaurants, going to the movie theater, traveling, and enjoying the beautiful Colorado weather!
Education
Bachelor of Science in Marketing with Honors – Clemson University
Tarra Pease
Tarra is a Trust Services Coordinator with CLS Legacy Team. She works with high-net-worth clients, private family trust companies, and privately held companies to bring creative solutions to complicated estate planning and fiduciary matters. Tarra works most closely with the team’s private family trust company clients, providing services ranging from trust onboarding, board meeting planning, and trust administration.
Tarra is a seasoned administrative professional with a diverse background spanning operations, recruiting, and client service. She began her career in retail management before transitioning to the recruiting industry, where she spent over two years evaluating client hiring needs, sourcing and screening candidates, and managing the recruitment process.
Returning to her hometown to be closer to family, Tarra entered the financial services industry, joining a small independent Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). There she gained experience in financial planning, investing, and client service.
Originally from Westlake, Ohio, Tarra now resides with her fiancé in North Olmsted. She is a dedicated Cleveland baseball fan and enjoys exploring the local Metroparks with her dog, Dante. Committed to community service, Tarra is a regular blood donor with an ambitious personal goal of donating 100 units by the age of 50.
Education
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology – Bowling Green State University
Susan Berkley
Susan serves as a Trust Service Coordinator for CLS Legacy Team. Susan has been in the role of Trust Service Coordinator for several years and uses her expertise to train employees and clients alike, oversee technology changes, and coordinate client onboarding and communication.
Susan is a retired mathematics teacher and brings a unique perspective from 35 years in public education and the college classroom. During Susan’s career in education, she served on many committees, was department chair, and received the OCTM area Teacher of the Year Award. She taught in numerous school districts as she accompanied her husband with job transfers around the state of Ohio finishing her public education career in the Solon City Schools. She then became an Adjunct Professor teaching mathematics at Ohio University Lancaster.
Susan resides in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and Toby, their four-legged child. Susan recently became a grandmother and spends as much time as possible with her adorable new grandbaby. In her free time, she enjoys exercise classes, long walks, and traveling as much as possible. She’s been to Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Hawaii, Iceland, and more! Her family and friends are the center of her world.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Computer Science & Education – Baldwin Wallace University
Master of Arts in Mathematics – Ohio State University
