CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Announces New Diversity Advisory Group

New Research, Diversity Summit on Group’s Agenda in 2018

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning announced today that it has formed a new Diversity Advisory Group to provide guidance and expertise in the development of diversity and inclusion initiatives that will increase the racial and ethnic diversity in the financial planning profession.

Currently, based on self-reported data, CFP Board estimates that there are roughly 1,200 African-American and 1,500 Latino or Hispanic CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. Together this represents less than 3.5 percent of all CFP® professionals. (Note: CFP Board recently began requesting this demographic information in connection with the Center’s diversity initiative and will continue to update it.) The Center for Financial Planning seeks to address this challenge by launching research-based initiatives and forming partnerships to foster a more diverse financial planner workforce. The Diversity Advisory Group will provide critical input to assist the Center in implementing its diversity agenda. 

“With the growing consumer demand for financial advice, it is imperative that we work toward increasing the ranks of financial planning professionals who can meet the needs of an increasingly diverse American public,” said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, Executive Director, CFP Board Center for Financial Planning. “The Diversity Advisory Group is comprised of some of the brightest and most knowledgeable minds in the areas of diversity and inclusion, academic research and financial planning, and will guide the Center in forming actionable, research-based solutions.”

As part of its work, the group will review findings of a comprehensive study that identifies the barriers to racial and ethnic diversity in the financial planner workforce. Subsequently, the group will provide expert input for a thought leadership paper that will recommend solutions for increasing diversity among financial planners. The paper will be discussed at a diversity summit to be held by the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning in New York City on October 23, 2018.

Members of the Diversity Advisory Group include experts in diversity and inclusion, representatives from financial services firms and academia, and CFP® professionals:

• Cy Richardson, Senior Vice President, National Urban League (Chair)
• Louis Barajas, CFP®, Founder, Financial Advisor & Author, Louis Barajas, Inc.
• Danielle Beyer, Interim Chief Executive Officer, New America Alliance
• Lazetta Rainey Braxton, CFP®, past President, Association of African American Financial Advisors; founder, Financial Fountains
• Catalina Camoscio, Vice President of Recruiting & Development, Prudential Insurance Company of America
• Marguerita Cheng, CFP®,Chief Executive Officer, Blue Ocean Global Wealth
• Rianka Dorsainvil, CFP®, Founder and President, Your Greatest Contribution; “I Am a CFP® Pro” campaign spokeswoman
• Roberto Fernandez, Professor of Organization Studies, MIT Sloan School of Management
• Jamie-Clare Flaherty, Director, Strategic Initiatives, The Obama Foundation
• Kate Healy, Managing Director, Generation Next, TD Ameritrade Institutional
• Gerald Loftin, CFP®, President, Association of African American Financial Advisors
• Phuong Luong, CFP®, Financial Planner, Just Wealth, LLC
• Jorge Quezada, Director of Leadership Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Northwestern Mutual
• Gary Rozier, Senior Vice President of Institutional Marketing & Client Services, Ariel Investments
• Leslie Tabor, Managing Director, Schwab Advisor Services Business Consulting & Education, Charles Schwab
• Kara Underwood, Head of Wealth Management, Diversity & Inclusion, Morgan Stanley
• Jocelyn Wright, CFP®, State Farm® Chair in Women and Financial Services and Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at The American College of Financial Services

“The Center is bringing a rigorous, research-to-action-to-results approach to a systemic problem,” said Cy Richardson, Senior Vice President, National Urban League and Chair of the Diversity Advisory Group. “I am pleased to work with the Center for Financial Planning to lead the Diversity Advisory Group in shaping new initiatives that can have a profound impact on communities of color.”