Meet the Team
Our team members share an unwavering commitment to service excellence. We work as a collaborative team, utilizing our diverse skills as attorneys, a CPA, Chartered Financial Analyst, and investment specialists.
Amanda Vaught, MA, JD
FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND CO-FOUNDER
-
Amanda brings an analytical lens to financial advising. She initially trained as a chemist, and her time spent in the Ph.D. program at Columbia University helped to refine her ability to strip away the outer layers of what’s going on and look at the fundamental reasons for the way things happen. She brings that same critical thinking to the financial world, another world full of jargon that outsiders can’t understand. Amanda loves to distill that complexity to make it understandable to her clients.
While Amanda found science incredibly thrilling, she also wished to spend her career helping people. After leaving graduate school, she thought law school would be her ticket and pursued a career as a patent attorney. Working with inventors and new technologies was intellectually exhilarating, but in 2009 the Great Recession brought down her law firm and forced Amanda to rethink her legal career. How could some mortgage-backed securities affect someone else’s life path in such a profound way? This was a question Amanda grappled with for a long time, and eventually led her to pivoting her legal career into working on securities litigation. After learning enough on the legal side, and getting too much experience with long hours at big New York City law firms, she decided enough was enough. She noticed that the interests of regular people were largely absent in the machinations of big bank security litigation. She thought these regular people needed an advocate more than the big banks did and that her talents could be better put to use in a different field.
Since 2017, Amanda switched careers to work as a financial advisor and hasn’t looked back. She’s happy to have more math in her life, and embraces the privilege of being able to help ‘regular people’ navigate the complex world of investing.
After hours, you can find Amanda playing with her two young daughters, watching her husband cook dinner, or training in her Brooklyn neighborhood for her next race.
Danielle Woods, Attorney
FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND CO-FOUNDER
-
Danielle was instrumental in the growth of her previous firm where she wore many hats over the course of 20 years, including Director, Institutional Portfolio Manager, Senior Financial Advisor, and Chief Compliance Officer. Danielle co-founded Propel Financial Advisors in 2018. To more effectively provide comprehensive financial planning, she co-founded the CPA firm DW Agosto Tax Planning, LLC, with Emily Agosto in 2016. Danielle believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is the best way to educate and to serve clients whose financial needs span many disciplines.
Danielle earned her Series 65 Investment Advisor Representative designation in 2001. She has been a licensed attorney in Illinois since 2002 and in Tennessee since 2008. Danielle currently serves as the Chairperson for her local anti-substance abuse coalition Be Aware Blount, which focuses on preventing substance abuse by children.
Danielle is originally from Chicagoland, but she has called East Tennessee home since 2006. She lives with her husband and two crazy boys about 20 minutes from the beautiful Smoky Mountain National Park. She is an avid reader, gardener, and world traveler.
Emily Agosto, CPA
FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND CO-FOUNDER
-
Previously she worked for more than 8 years with the investment firm, Mitchell Vaught & Taylor, Inc., rising in responsibility to act as the firm’s Chief Financial Officer. She was in charge of handling the firm’s internal budget and books as well as institutional client financial reporting. Emily's experience includes working with municipal finance directors, treasurers and auditors and assisting the firm’s portfolio managers with client transactional needs and reporting. She co-founded Propel Financial Advisors in 2018 where she works directly with clients on financial planning, research, and education.
As a CPA, she works extensively on tax, accounting and financial reporting. To more effectively provide comprehensive financial planning to clients, she co-founded DW Agosto Tax Planning, LLC with Danielle Woods in 2016.
Emily lives in Chicago with her husband where they are both actively involved in music.
David Vaught, CFA
FINANCIAL ADVISOR AND CO-FOUNDER
-
David has enjoyed an extensive career in law, finance, and public service. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served in the 82nd Airborne Division. He received his J.D. degree cum laude from Southern Illinois University School of Law. He has completed course work and a thesis on tax accounting for the DePaul University College of Law, Master of Law in Taxation Program. David received his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1994, while working on the Illinois Treasurer’s $5 billion portfolio. He has worked with investment clients for over 20 years, much of it with the investment advisory firm, Mitchell, Vaught & Taylor, Inc, which he founded in 1996, and now with Propel Financial Advisors that he co-founded in 2018.
From 2009-2012, he served as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget through four Illinois budgets. His responsibilities included balancing the Illinois budget in the state’s fiscal crisis while also issuing Illinois bonds. He worked with major underwriters and in answering questions from rating agencies and other investors to successfully issue billions in bonds during the worst recession in decades. He also served as the Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in 2012. He served for four years as Chairman of the Illinois Procurement Policy Board. He has also served in fiduciary capacities as a trustee of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, and the Illinois Finance Authority. He has been elected three times to two different public school boards, last serving at Naperville District 203.
He is a private pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He has flown safely as a pilot for over 50 years and is a member of the Naperville Businessmen’s Flying Club. He spends much of his time traveling the country with his four adult children and their growing families.
What Drives us
Propel Financial Advisors was founded with a vision to provide personalized financial guidance that empowers individuals, families, and businesses to achieve financial independence. With years of experience in the financial industry, our firm is committed to offering expert advice, innovative solutions, and a client-centric approach.
-
Empower and educate people to make the best financial decisions for themselves, acting in clients' best interests as fiduciaries.
-
We envision a world where everyone has access to expert financial guidance and the tools needed to secure their financial future.
This is why we offer inclusive financial services with a focus on tailored portfolios that incorporate the individual's values and needs.
-
Inclusivity: We believe in providing inclusive financial services that cater to the diverse needs of our clients.
Fiduciary Commitment: We adhere to the highest standards of fiduciary duty, always acting in the best interests of our clients.
Transparency: We maintain open and honest communication, ensuring that our clients are fully informed at every step.
Empowerment: We empower our clients through education, support, and personalized guidance.