Our Team

John Burke owns and manages Burke Financial Strategies. In 2015 and 2016, The Financial Times listed him as one of the top 400 advisors in the country.* He has been a practicing financial advisor since 1984 and during his extensive career has helped thousands of clients with financial planning and investment management. John is also a well-respected strategist; his research was published in the July 2010 and June 2016 issue of the Journal of Financial Planning. He has appeared numerous times on CNBC and Fox Business News and has been quoted in numerous financial publications. John’s career began at Merrill Lynch, where he was hired as a financial advisor in December 1983 after completing the firm’s Donald Regan program for financial planning. He then joined Smith Barney and later Morgan Stanley. Since joining Raymond James, he has been named to the firm’s Leaders Council** four times and, most recently, was named to the prestigious 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, & 2016 Chairman’s Council.** John received his undergraduate degree in finance from Lehigh University. He went on to earn the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification from the College for Financial Planning in 1992, and also earned his master’s degree in financial planning from the same institution in 2003. In addition to Burke Financial Strategies, John owns the Academy for Continuing Professional Education, which provides continuing education classes for accountants in central New Jersey. He is also an active member of his community and church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Westfield, New Jersey, where he has served as treasurer. And, along with his wife Diane, John proudly supports Children’s International, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Good Shepard Home of Cameroon, NY City Relief Bus and Community Foodbank of New Jersey. John and Diane have three young adults.

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Steve is a registered representative and financial advisor. He is also the Chief Financial Officer at Burke Financial Strategies. Steve is responsible for managing client accounts, including financial planning and investment management. Steve graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Economics. He then earned his MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh. Steve obtained his CPA certification while working for Price Waterhouse, an original “big eight” accounting firm. He received the prestigious J.H. Cohn Award for outstanding performance on the CPA exam in the fall of 1987. Over the past 20 years, Steve has served as President and/or Chief Financial Officer of medium-sized, highly successful companies in the manufacturing, retail/distribution and real estate industries. Steve has had a lifelong passion for planning and investing. Throughout his career, he has consistently provided financial, investment and estate planning advice to closely held business owners, as well as to professional colleagues, family and friends. Steve adds a wealth of business experience and financial expertise to our team. Steve lives in Westfield, NJ with his wife, Claire, and their five children. He is an active member of the Westfield community and Holy Trinity R.C. Church, where he serves as Athletic Director of the parish basketball program. Steve also serves on the board of the Union County CYO Basketball League.

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Diane Burke is a registered representative and financial advisor. She is part of the Client Service team.

Diane graduated from the State University from New York with a concentration in Marketing.

After spending seven years in retail management and buying for major department stores, she worked for 10 years as vice president of a packaging supplies company. This was followed by eight years at Computer Associates (CA), an IT management and software company. Her last position with CA was as Mid-Atlantic Director of Client Relations. In this position, she worked with Fortune 100 companies to help with problem-solving issues and ensure client retention and satisfaction. She brings many years of successful client-relationship building and business development to our team.

Diane is married to John Burke, who owns and manages Burke Financial Strategies. Together they have three children. With her husband John, Diane proudly supports Children’s International, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Good Shepard Home of Cameroon and The NJ Relief Bus.

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Chris graduated Seton Hall University with a BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences, with minors in Social Work and Political Science. He completed the Financial Planning certificate program at Fairley Dickinson University and earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation.

For almost 20 years, he has been advising clients and other advisors on ways of efficiently addressing risks to the financial well being of clients. In addition to acting as a financial advisor, Chris has served as Director of Financial Planning for a nationally-recognized life insurance company and an Assistant Vice-President of Retirement Plans at a global wealth management firm.

Chris lives in Clinton Township, NJ with his wife, Deirdre, and his son.

Chris is a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale, NJ. He is a member of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Hunterdon County, an Irish-American fraternal organization that serves the local community through initiatives such as volunteerism, charitable donations, and scholarships.

Chris enjoys singing and playing guitar and piano and is intensely interested in Irish traditional folk music and the history that inspired it. He has also developed an interest in running and enjoys running 5k races.

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Melissa Montalvo serves as a Financial Advisor for the firm. She is passionate about helping motivate individuals to make wise financial and investment decisions, so they can live with purpose and give in abundance now and in years to come. She started her career on Wall Street as an operations analyst for Perella Weinberg Partners Asset Management in New York City where she learned from well-respected Portfolio Managers and Investment Bankers.

Melissa then joined Fidelity Investments so that she could move to the client-facing side of the business. While working for this large retail investment firm, she helped hundreds of clients save and invest through personal investment accounts and workplace savings plans. Her desire has always been to build long-term relationships, earn high customer loyalty, and provide professional investment and financial guidance. In her 10 years with Fidelity, she advanced to become a financial advisor covering clients with almost $400 million in investments and provided financial planning to over 400 families.

Melissa graduated from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics majoring in Finance and minoring in Real Estate.  She has also earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation.

Melissa resides in Cranford, where she is an active member at CrossFit KOA and FAITH RX’D. She was a collegiate Division 1 Student Athlete, and is an avid half marathon runner. Combining her faith and fitness, she pursues a lifestyle characterized by intensive exercise and sound nutrition. Over the years, she has given back to the community as a high school mentor through Young Life, and as a soccer coach. She is an original Circle of Hope Member of Imagine which provides free, year-round grief support for children, families and communities. As a member of Renaissance Church in Summit, she volunteers and advocates for World Vision and Women’s Small Groups. In her free time she will walk around the greatest city in the world while visiting her brother and wife in NYC and along the beautiful jersey shore, where her parents reside.

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John received his BS degree in accounting from Drexel University and an MBA from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. He then completed the Financial Planning Certificate Program at Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.

John’s experience includes working as a fund auditor, a fringe benefits manager, and as a financial planner since 1999, most recently at an independent firm similar to Burke Financial Strategies.

John currently holds securities and insurance licenses, but his passion is for financial planning. He is excited about joining our team and looks forward to helping clients prepare for their financial futures.

He resides in Morris Plains, New Jersey with his wife Tara and two sons, Sean and Brian.

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Melissa Cipolletta serves as the team’s operations manager and brings 17 years of experience in the financial world to this position. Melissa was previously affiliated with Midwood Securities, Inc., Freehold, New Jersey, where she was a sales trader assistant and registered options principal. In those positions she maintained client contacts and records, executed trades, worked with clearing firms to ensure trade settlement, assisted the operations department and supervised options trading. Prior to that, she was affiliated with Oppenheimer & Co. in New York City and First Fidelity Bank. Melissa is a registered representative and holds several key licenses that add value to the team’s operations. She graduated from William Paterson University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in finance. Currently, she lives in Monroe Township with her husband – who also hails from a long career in finance – and their two children.

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