Tama Brooks Klosek: The Advisor Who Gives as She Guides

Tama Brooks Klosek, the Managing Member at Klosek & Associates, has a tax practice that involves both the domestic and international aspects of estate planning, family wealth transfer, and tax-exempt organizations. Klosek began her legal career with Vinson & Elkins and eventually formed Klosek & Associates PLLC in 2013.  In addition to her legal practice, Tama is a Managing Partner in a national life settlements originations firm, Treyled Life Settlements LLC, where she works to assist high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients of Treyled Life Settlements to efficiently exit life insurance policies that are no longer wanted, needed, or advisable. Klosek became aware of Greater Houston Community Foundation (Foundation) during its early days shortly after Steve Maislin became the President and CEO. Since then, her relationship with the Foundation has evolved personally and professionally.

Professional Ties with Greater Houston Community Foundation

As a tax lawyer, Klosek has partnered with the Foundation in various ways over the years, including serving as a strategic thought-partner with the Foundation as a member of its Advisor Outreach Committee. This Advisor Outreach Committee collaborates closely with the Foundation to advance its mission, elevates the Foundation as the partner of choice for philanthropists and private wealth professionals, and promotes philanthropy as a vital component of advisory practices while increasing awareness of community needs in Greater Houston.

• Selling Business Interest: She described how a client selling their business wanted to donate 10% of the business interests to various charities. The client and Klosek partnered with the Foundation to ensure that the interest in the business was transferred to a newly established donor advised fund in advance of the sale, allowing her client to support their preferred faith-based community assistance charities and obtain a full fair market value charitable deduction, while avoiding capital gains taxes on the business interest donated. 
• Private Foundations: Klosek spoke about a private foundation client she represents, with a specific issue area and mission type they were looking to support. By linking her client to the Foundation, the Foundation was able to connect her client to other donors with a similar focus on this specific issue area. Klosek shared, “The donor community at the Foundation is fantastic—it is easy to feel a little isolated at times or not know where to start when giving back. The Foundation helps foster peer-connection through philanthropy.”

When talking about which clients she introduces to the Foundation, she stated, “Most community-minded clients want to do more with their philanthropy. If there is a client that only has four organizations they care about, that is fine. But if you have a client who wants to learn more about the various organizations across Houston, who wants to go deeper with their philanthropy, Greater Houston Community Foundation is the solution.”

Many of her clients with young children also want to organize their philanthropy and find ways to involve their children. This is when Klosek can speak to her experience as a Greater Houston Community Foundation fundholder.

Leading by Example

Since 2012, Tama and her husband John have had a donor advised fund at the Foundation. Klosek stated, “I encourage all professional advisors to open a fund at the Foundation! As advisors, we all can give and support causes we care about. Once I established my fund, I learned more deeply about Houston’s philanthropic landscape and was able to get my family involved.”

Klosek grew up with parents and grandparents who consistently uplifted their communities, however they could. Klosek’s grandparents were immigrants and relied heavily on their community to make it when they arrived in the United States with few resources and limited English.

Historically, Klosek and her husband’s giving has been centered on educational institutions that impact them and their family, as well as faith-based organizations. Today, their philanthropic priority is uplifting and protecting the Jewish community following October 7, 2023. This issue area has always been something she has been passionate about, but today it is her family’s number one focus and a critical priority within their philanthropy.

“They say you should always put your own oxygen mask on before helping others. That is how I view this shift in our family’s philanthropy—my community, my faith, is in a state of dire need. We are focused on supporting education and awareness of the Jewish faith and also supporting the people who protect Houston’s Jewish community.”

She supports several faith-based organizations, including American Friends of Magen David Adom, Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Congregation Emanu El, Holocaust Museum Houston, Jewish Community Center of the South Bay, Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, The Irvin M. Shlenker School of Congregation Beth Israel, and The Shul of Bellaire Chabad Lubavitch. In honor of her 25^th reunion at Harvard Law School, which she co-chaired, Klosek granted to the Harvard Hillel to provide critical support for Jewish law students during this tumultuous time.

The role of athletics is another area that Kloseks are passionate about, inspired by her husband’s time as a high school and college athlete. Klosek, a mother of three boys, shared, “Organized sports for boys are confidence builders and a great way to build community among young boys.” After tragically losing her father-in-law, Dr. Richard C. Klosek, the Kloseks helped to establish an annual college scholarship for a senior football player at Wayne Valley High School, where her husband graduated and was inducted into the football hall of fame. This scholarship program has been running for 20 years within the Passaic County Chapter of the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, and this year, her oldest son, Jack, who is a junior at Columbia, will present this scholarship award and has been elected to the Passaic County Chapter Board of Directors. 

Klosek also noted that a couple of years ago, when Ivy League sports were at a standstill, her husband, John, reached out to Columbia University’s head baseball coach. John inquired about ways he and Tama, who met at Columbia as undergraduates, could support the team during the pandemic. Coach Boretti informed them of a specific tool, Trackman, that the team wanted to implement to help develop their players. John agreed to fund the purchase of Trackman for the team, and after using this tool for one season, the Columbia baseball team became Ivy League champions, making it to the Men’s College World Series tournament. Coach Boretti kindly acknowledged the Kloseks’ donation to the entire athletic program and families. Klosek highlighted this story, saying, “It is so important to ask the people working at these organizations, who provide in-person support, exactly what they need for success. We should not assume we know what an organization needs to succeed, but ask them!”

Klosek revealed a few ways she has helped instill the love of giving back in her three boys. Specifically, her middle son, Richie, participated in the Family Giving Circle, a learning opportunity for families and youth to learn, volunteer, and grant together in Greater Houston. Richie served on the Youth Leadership Team for Family Giving Circle, which helped him gain exposure to many of Houston’s needs. Richie, who has been keenly aware of and concerned by the unhoused population of Houston, helped to influence this group to support that specific issue area. Klosek reflected, “It is programming like this [Family Giving Circle] that places Greater Houston Community Foundation apart and places them in a unique position compared to other larger, national philanthropic partners.”

In addition, this past year, Klosek started allocating from their Family Fund at the Foundation a certain amount annually for her older two sons to make recommendations on which nonprofit organizations to support. She remarked that they need to have a strong “why,” and if there is no organization they are truly passionate about in one year, they can defer their donation to the next.

Philanthropy at the Roots

Klosek expressed how she has had incredible opportunities to help run, govern and advise tax-exempt organizations. She gives a lot of credit to her dear friend and mentor, Yolanda Knull, a partner at Yetterberg, Deery, Knull, LLP, stating, “Yolanda helped to raise and shape me into the lawyer I am today. Yolanda helped me develop and learn my craft.” She also attributes her vast knowledge of the charitable organization tax side to Todd Greenwalt, a partner at Bracewell.

Klosek closed with, “Our entire country is transformed by philanthropy. The City of Houston is fantastic because of philanthropy—think of our medical center, museums, and so much more. Giving back is so important because philanthropic institutions have a role to be responsive to the world’s ever-changing needs.”

As an advisor guiding your clients to optimize their charitable efforts, we are committed to bringing their philanthropic vision and goals to life. Contact Andrea Mayes, Senior Director of Charitable Solutions, to learn how we can partner with you to help you achieve your client’s philanthropic goals. 

More Helpful Articles by Greater Houston Community Foundation:

• Deepening Impact: Philanthropy Through Community Foundations
• Emerging Philanthropic Trends for Women & Wealth: Professional Advisor Event
• How Charitable Giving Can Enhance Your Legacy Planning
• Retaining Clients Through Generational Connections

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