Short Hills Market Office

As the Market Executive for Northern New Jersey, Scott’s only goal is to serve others. One of Scott’s guiding principles is “I work for you.” With a servant leadership style, Scott’s focus for his advisors is to enhance efficiencies in advisory practices in support of client service, solutions, and growth. The management team shares the servant leadership vision. His team consists of members from a broad array of financial service experience from sales, service, risk and management.

Scott returned to Morgan Stanley in 2019, most recently leading the Downtown Los Angeles and Manhattan Beach market. Prior to his return, Scott held various leadership roles at prominent wealth management firms across the country, from Tampa, Florida to Boulder, Colorado. Scott’s vast experience has brought him from coast to middle America to coast, ultimately allowing him to leverage his diverse background in support of your business.

Personally, coming to Northern New Jersey is a return home. Not only did Scott grow up in Basking Ridge, this is a homecoming for his wife of over 30 years, Lee. They have two daughters Casey and Bailey. In Scott’s free time, he has previously served on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research foundation (JDRF) in support of his daughter Bailey. Scott is also an accomplished cyclist and tri-athlete. He has participated in over 100 triathlons and the prestigious Ironman races. Scott brings the same passion, endurance, and commitment he has for his family and races to people and businesses he serves.

Richard Less is the Managing Director, Market Manager for the Paramus North branch here at Morgan Stanley. Rich uses a customized, 5 Star Model approach to help Financial Advisors structure their practice. Rich helps the advisors in his Market obtain new business by utilizing the discovery process, developing a business plan for the individuals and teams, keeping a consistent client service model, and showing the advisors' investment experience. With regards to the Standard of Care for the clients, Rich and his team stress goal setting, customizing investment plans, consistent review and monitoring, the adaption of modern/digital contacts- Morgan Stanley Online, E-Signatures and E-Authorization, and Email campaigns.

Rich is passionate about the opportunity to provide each Financial Advisor the proper resources to ensure the clients are receiving the best advice and service, which should lead to further growth of the advisors' respective practices. Rich's main goals within his team is to have the best Financial Advisors in his demographic. Advisors that embrace technology, holistic financial planning, exemplify the highest standard of care such that they are the best equipped to handle the solutions to the most sophisticated financial issues that our clients may present, are pivotal in operating a successful branch. Rich and his team strive to have strong camaraderie amongst the employees and clients.

Rich attended Villanova University, where he obtained a BS in Finance. From there, he began in the financial services industry as a Financial Advisor in 1989 for Morgan Stanley. Since then, Rich has held the titles of Branch Manager, Complex Manager, Divisional Business Development Manager, and a Regional Director. In his free time, Rich enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, traveling, and is a member of the Upper Montclair Country Club.

Danielle, a seasoned financial professional with over two decades of experience, leads the Paramus, New Jersey market with a service-oriented philosophy that extends beyond clients to encompass the well-being of advisors. Her approach goes beyond conventional business planning, as she and her team actively engage with Financial Advisors (FAs) based on their preferences and needs.

Graduating from Hofstra University with a bachelor's degree in International Business, Danielle's journey in financial services began while still in college. Her commitment to continuous learning led her to pursue an MBA in Finance. Early in her career, she embraced the dynamic nature of the industry, starting as a Sales Assistant at Dean Witter and later advancing to a management role at UBS.

Danielle's extensive experience in Regional management provided her with a unique perspective on the firm-wide tools and expertise available to FAs. Joining Morgan Stanley as a Regional Business Service Officer, she dedicated over 12 years to this role before assuming the position of Manager of the Paramus Branch in the Northern New Jersey Market in 2020.

Beyond the financial world, Danielle's passion for empowering young women led her to serve on the board of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey. She believes in the organization's mission to cultivate leadership skills, viewing it as a harmonious effort alongside the Branch's, Market's, and Firm's initiatives to enhance diversity within the Financial Advisor population.

Outside the office, Danielle enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and balancing her professional acumen with a commitment to making a positive impact both within the financial realm and the broader community.

Rhonda began her financial services career in 1998 with a boutique investment firm in New York, before moving to Orlando, Florida in 2000 to work with Bank of America Investments. After growing her own successful practice based around Family Wealth Planning, she felt driven to pass on the fruits of her entrepreneurial efforts to others. In 2006 she moved into management with Smith Barney, becoming Associate Market Manager for its Harrisburg, PA Market. Since joining Morgan Stanley in 2009 Rhonda has held several managerial positions, including Associate Market Manager, Market Business Development Manager and Sub-Market Manager. Since 2012 she has been Manager of the Little Falls Branch.

Rhonda is devoted to her family and to her community. She is active with the Father English Center which helps the hungry and homeless in the Patterson, New Jersey area, and with Oasis, which provides a safe haven for women and children. Rhonda is dedicated to providing mentoring to the next generation and believes in growing her team from a cultural as well as numbers perspective. She has been a leader on Morgan Stanley’s national and regional Diversity Councils

Sophia Gilkes currently serves as the Market Business Service Officer in the Northern New Jersey Market at Morgan Stanley. Her responsibilities include increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the complex. Additionally, she leads a Service and Business management team supporting Financial Advisors and Support Professionals.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the finance industry and almost 15 years in leadership, Sophia has a strong foundation and brand for herself within this field. Her career started at UBS in Tampa, Florida in 2003 she quickly progressed and later accepted a role as a Recruit Onboarding Specialist in New York, which brought her back to home to Westchester, NY. In this position, she led training sessions and helped management teams successfully transition Ultra High Net Worth advisors along the East Coast. In 2012, Sophia joined Morgan Stanley as an Associate Vice President and Business Service Manager covering the now Soundview.

Sophia received her BA in finance from University of Tampa and most recently, she obtained an Executive MBA from Fordham University where she graduated in 22 months Summa Cum Laude. Remarkably, she began the program just six weeks after giving birth to twin girls and while being a dedicated mother to a 7-year-old and a wife. Sophia is known for her active involvement in her community, Sophia strongly believes in helping others achieve success. "The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first,” and because of this belief Sophia serves as a mentor with Girls Inc.is a member of the National Diversity and Inclusion Council at Morgan Stanley, active volunteer with Feeding Westchester and has served as the co-Director of a youth outreach program called "MindShapers" a program that sought to provide mentorship and help to youth from underserved communities achieve secondary education.

Don Janevski is a Private Banker serving Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management offices in New Jersey.

Don began his career in financial services in 2003, and joined Morgan Stanley in 2015 as an Associate Private Banker. Prior to joining the firm he was a Mortgage Loan Consultant and a Mortgage Product Specialist with Silver Financial Capital Group, as well as a Branch Manager with First Lenders Mortgage.

Don received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Marketing and Management from Montclair State University. He and his family live in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Don donates his time as a Fair Lawn youth sports coach. Outside of the office, Don enjoys spending time with family and friends, exercising and painting.

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Kim Bucello joins us from the Midtown North Market as their Associate Market Manager. Prior to this role, she most recently held the Regional Manager Associate role on our Northeast Regional team where she was strategically assigned to Markets to execute on key business initiatives, proactively identifying impactful trends to the business, and potential areas of growth.

Kim joined the firm in 2013 in Private Wealth Management, as the Head of Professional Development for Ultra High Net Worth Advisors. In 2016, she moved to the Leadership Development team where she took on an expanded role and was responsible for the design, development, and implementation of leadership development programs for Field Managers. Kim successfully executed several programs, most notably, the Leadership Academy in partnership with the Thayer Leader Development Group (TLDG) out of West Point.

Kim began her career in Wealth Management. She spent 15 years at Lehman Brothers and Barclays in a wide array of field facing roles, such as a CSA on an UHNW team, the Training Manager for the New York Branch, and the Complex Business Service Manager for the New York Wealth Management office.

Kim graduated from Binghamton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. She resides in New Jersey with her husband, Todd, two daughters: Ashley and Emma, and their four-legged friend, Brody.

Tia Herrera, M.Sc. is a seasoned financial services professional with extensive experience across wealth management, private banking, and market leadership support. She currently serves as Market Administrator for the Northern New Jersey Wealth Management Market at Morgan Stanley, where she plays a key role in supporting market strategy, operational excellence, and advisor success across the platform. In her current role, Tia partners closely with market leadership, branch management, and cross-functional teams to drive consistency, efficiency, and effective execution across the market. She supports key initiatives related to business management, communications, risk awareness, and administrative oversight—helping ensure the market is well positioned to serve clients and advisors at the highest level.

Prior to stepping into the Market Administrator role, Knetia served as an Associate Private Banker at Morgan Stanley, where she worked directly with Financial Advisors to deliver customized cash management and lending solutions for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients. In that role, she was recognized for her strong execution, strategic problem-solving, and ability to act as a trusted subject matter expert across private banking products and services.

Before joining Morgan Stanley, Tia spent several years at JPMorgan Chase, advancing through roles including Private Client Banker, Relationship Banker, and Personal Banker. She managed significant client portfolios, provided concierge-level service to affluent households, and delivered personalized, advice-based solutions while maintaining rigorous regulatory and risk standards. Tia began her career at Capital One Bank, where she built a strong foundation in customer experience, operational excellence, and relationship development across both consumer and small business clients.

She holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics from Southern New Hampshire University and a Bachelor of Science in Banking and Finance from the University of the West Indies. Tia maintains FINRA registrations including Series 7, SIE/Series 6, and Series 63, along with Life Insurance licensing and NMLS registration.

Tia brings a unique combination of frontline client experience and market-level leadership support, enabling her to approach wealth management with both strategic insight and a strong execution mindset.