Distinguished Speakers to Appear at First-Ever CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Diversity Summit

Diversity Summit Will Culminate with Research-Based Recommendations and Commitments to Increase Racial and Ethnic Diversity within the Financial Planning Profession

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning today released the agenda for the first-ever Diversity Summit in New York City on October 23, 2018. Speakers and participants on the agenda include leaders of financial services firms and industry organizations, current and prospective financial planners, and individuals with expertise in diversity and inclusion. 

“Two years ago, the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning launched with a bold mission – to create a more diverse and sustainable financial planning profession so that all Americans have access to competent and ethical financial planning advice,” said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, Executive Director of the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning. “As consumer demand for financial planning grows, it is imperative we expand and diversify the ranks of CFP® professionals who can meet the needs of our increasingly diverse U.S. population. The Diversity Summit aims to bring together leaders and influencers to address this challenge and commit to actions to advance diversity and inclusion in the financial planning profession.” 

The agenda includes keynote presentations from distinguished speakers, personal reflections from black and Latino CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals on barriers and opportunities for people of color in the profession, best practices from practitioners in the field, and facilitated breakout groups. Summit speakers and participants include:

• Carla Harris, Vice Chairman, Wealth Management, Morgan Stanley
• Andy Sieg, Head of Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch
• John Rogers, Founder, CEO and CIO, Ariel Investments
• Hon. Henry Cisneros, Partner, Siebert Cisneros Shank & Co.
• Frank Dobbin, Professor of Sociology, Harvard University
• Tom Nally, President, TD Ameritrade Institutional
• Rianka Dorsainvil, CFP®, Founder and President, Your Greatest Contribution; “I Am a CFP® Pro” campaign spokeswoman
• Phuong Luong, CFP®, Founder and Financial Planner, Just Wealth, LLC
• Louis Barajas, CFP®, Founder, Louis Barajas, Inc.
• Marc Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League

Based on self-reported data provided to CFP Board, less than 3.5 percent of all 81,000 CFP® professionals in the United States are black or Latino, which is significantly less than the representation of blacks and Latinos in the U.S. population. During the Summit, the Center will release a thought leadership paper that highlights findings from a comprehensive research study on the underrepresentation of blacks and Latinos in the financial planner workforce and offers research-based solutions to create a more diverse and inclusive profession. Developed by the Center, in consultation with its Diversity Advisory Group, this research is the first step in the Center’s ongoing effort to build a more inclusive workforce.

“One of the goals of our first-ever Diversity Summit is to inspire commitment and action from participants to affect change,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “The influential individuals on our agenda and the research-based recommendations in our thought leadership paper are intended to grow the ranks and diversity of the financial planning profession.”

The Summit and research are key elements in the Center’s diversity initiative, one of the three core pillars of the Center’s work, alongside developing the workforce of the future and increasing the academic rigor of the discipline of financial planning through research. Findings from the racial diversity research will provide the foundation for future Center programs to address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the workforce.  

The Summit is made possible with the support from Signature Sponsors Merrill Lynch, the Charles Schwab Foundation and Fiserv; Major Sponsor Prudential; as well as the Center’s Lead Founding Sponsor TD Ameritrade Institutional and the Center’s Founding Sponsor Northwestern Mutual.