As a teenager, Redlands attorney Paul Shimoff worked across the street from a cement plant, where trucks rolled out each day painted bright pink with a simple message: “Find a need and fill it.” “Those words stuck with me,” says Shimoff, whose practice focuses on taxation, trusts and estates, and corporate and business law.
Today, that philosophy shapes how he advises clients on charitable giving. Shimoff helps individuals and families align their philanthropic goals with long-term financial and estate planning, creating legacies with IECF to strengthen the communities they call home.
As an IECF Professional Advisor Champion, Shimoff encourages clients to consider local philanthropy whenever it aligns with their goals. He values IECF as a trusted partner that offers the expertise, flexibility, and stewardship needed to help donors make a lasting difference throughout the Inland Empire.
“IECF knows what they’re doing, and they do it well,” he says. Shimoff’s confidence in the Foundation began more than two decades ago when donor advised funds first caught his attention. Curious about how they worked, he established one himself. “I really liked it,” he says. “It performed exactly as advertised.”
Since then, he has recommended donor advised funds to many clients because they simplify charitable giving while offering the flexibility to support causes over time. For Shimoff, partnering with IECF allows him to do more than help clients achieve their charitable objectives. It connects them to opportunities that strengthen the Inland Empire and helps build a lasting culture of local philanthropy.
More than 20 years after first working with IECF, Shimoff still values the foundation’s professionalism, community knowledge, and commitment to serving the region. In many ways, he says, IECF reflects the lesson that first inspired him decades ago: find a need and fill it. As IECF celebrates its 85th anniversary with the theme “Here for Good,” Shimoff explains his enduring partnership simply: “I’m here for good because IECF meets my clients’ needs.”
PAC Champions are recognized for their commitment to the Foundation and the region. To become a Champion, an advisor establishes an endowment or a fund in their own name or in the name of their family, or refers a client who then establishes an endowment or fund at Inland Empire Community Foundation. Learn more by visiting iegives.org/advisors/.
This story originally appeared in our 2025/2026 Annual Report.
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