Kathryn Aschwald

Kathryn F. Aschwald has been appraising businesses since 1984, building a four-decade career focused on Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) valuation, financial advisory services, litigation support, and transactions. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (Finance and Law), with Honors, from Portland State University in 1984. Early in her career she was a Principal at Willamette Management Associates, Inc. — a nationally known business valuation firm — where she concentrated on business appraisal and financial advisory work for ESOPs and shareholder disputes.

In 1992 she founded Columbia Financial Advisors, Inc. (CFAI), a Portland, Oregon–based valuation and financial advisory boutique, where she served as a Principal and founding shareholder/owner. CFAI specialized in ESOP-related valuations, fairness opinions, and litigation support. On February 1, 2023, the national accounting and advisory firm Weaver announced it had joined forces with CFAI to grow its national ESOP practice and expand its West Coast footprint. Aschwald and fellow CFAI founders Mary McCarter and Donna Walker transitioned to Weaver, where Aschwald is a Managing Director and remains involved as a key advisor, mentor, and on select engagements.

She is a past Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Business Valuation with the American Society of Appraisers and a past CFA charterholder. Aschwald is a frequent speaker, lecturer, instructor, and author, and has been deeply engaged in industry standard-setting: she is a past Chair and current member of The ESOP Association's Valuation Advisory Committee, and a founding member (2006–2010) of The ESOP Association's Interdisciplinary Committee on Fiduciary Issues. She has co-authored published works including *S Corporation ESOPs* (3rd and 4th editions) and contributed to numerous Valuation Advisory Committee white papers on topics such as control premiums, leveraged ESOPs, synthetic equity, post-transaction dilution, and ESOP repurchase obligations.

• No evidence of angel or venture investing was found. Aschwald's professional work is business valuation and ESOP advisory — not startup equity investing. The "Angel Investors / Seed Round / Founding Shareholder" framing in the stub traces to investor-aggregator listings (e.g., Foundersuite) that appear to have misclassified her. "Founding Shareholder" most plausibly refers to her founding ownership stake in Columbia Financial Advisors, Inc., not to angel deals.
• Her actual area of expertise: valuing privately held companies, especially in the context of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) — including transaction fairness, financial advisory to trustees, and litigation/dispute support.
• Where she adds value: ESOP feasibility and transaction structuring, valuation of synthetic equity and preference shares, control-premium and dilution analysis, and repurchase-obligation studies.
• If you are a founder seeking growth or angel capital, she is unlikely to be a check-writer; she is a relevant expert if you are exploring employee ownership / ESOP transitions or need an independent business valuation.