Each year CFP Board holds a Firm Meeting with representatives of financial service firms that employ or contract with CFP® certificants. This interaction provides firm representatives with insights into the CFP® certification process and furthers CFP Board's ongoing efforts to assess the requirements for CFP® certification to make sure they are set in a way that protects the public.

CFP Board’s 2008 Firm Meeting took place Friday, December 5, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) at the Westin City Center, Washington, DC.

This year’s meeting included a keynote presentation by Harvey L. Pitt, CEO of Kalorama Partners, LLC and former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who shared thoughts on the current and future regulatory framework for the financial services industry, including the increasing awareness of the value of a fiduciary duty. The meeting also featured updates on the global growth of the CFP® certification from Noel Maye, CEO of Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd., which owns the CFP® certification marks outside the U.S.

The meeting also featured a session with CFP Board’s executive staff focused on different aspects of CFP Board’s operations, including marketing and communications, certification and education, and CFP Board’s ethical standards and professional review activities. The 2008 Firm Meeting covered a wide range of topics and provided the chance to explore new ideas for ways CFP Board can work together with firms that support CFP® certificants.

Harvey L. Pitt
CEO, Kalorama Partners, LLC
Harvey L. Pitt is the Chief Executive Officer of the global business consulting firm, Kalorama Partners, LLC. Prior to founding Kalorama Partners, Mr. Pitt was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the twenty-sixth Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. In that role, from 2001 until 2003, he oversaw the SEC’s response to the market disruptions resulting from the terrorist attacks of 9/11, created the SEC’s real time enforcement program, and led the Commission’s adoption of dozens of rules in response to the corporate and accounting crises generated by the excesses of the 1990s. For nearly a quarter of a century before becoming the Commission’s Chairman, Mr. Pitt was a senior corporate partner in the international law firm, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He holds a J.D. degree from St. John’s University School of Law (1968), and his B.A. is from the City University of New York (Brooklyn College) (1965). He was awarded an honorary LL.D. by St. John’s University School of Law in June 2002 and was given the Brooklyn College President’s Medal of Distinction in 2003.

Noel Maye, CAE
CEO, Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd.
Noel Maye is Chief Executive Officer of Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd., a nonprofit association that benefits the global community by establishing, upholding and promoting worldwide professional standards in financial planning. Previously, Mr. Maye was Senior Vice President with Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. During his nine-year tenure with CFP Board, he oversaw the International, Legal, Consumer & Public Affairs, and Communications Departments, and served as corporate spokesperson. Prior to joining CFP Board, he was an Associate with Ogilvy, Adams & Rhinehart, a New York-based public relations firm, where he specialized in working with financial services clients including Chemical Bank, Financial Guarantee Insurance Company and CFP Board. Born and raised in Ireland, Mr. Maye holds an undergraduate degree in electronic engineering from Trinity College Dublin and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP®
2009 Chair, CFP Board’s Board of Directors
A CFP® certificant since 1982, Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff is president of Capelli Financial Services, Inc., in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. She previously was senior vice president and private banking manager at Citizens Bank in Michigan and Illinois. She also managed Forest Financial Corporation in Chicago, Ill. Her professional affiliations have included the CFP Board’s Board of Practice Standards, the national Chapter Advisory Council of the former IAFP, and the Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. Advisory Board. She served as Chair of the Ethics Task Force that developed CFP Board’s updated Standards of Professional Conduct, which has an effective date of July 1, 2008 and an implementation date of January 1, 2009. Ms. Dimitroff has appeared regularly on television and radio. Worth magazine has identified her since 1994 as one of the nation’s top financial advisers, and she has appeared on Bloomberg Press’s top 55 practicing financial advisors and Money magazine’s top 200 financial planners. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University, respectively.

Robert J. Glovsky, J.D., LL.M., ChFC, CLU, CFP, CFP®
2009 Chair-Elect, CFP Board’s Board of Directors
Bob Glovsky is president of Mintz Levin Financial Advisors, LLC, which provides wealth management and investment advisory services to individuals and families. He is director of Boston University’s Program for Financial Planners and has chaired CFP Board’s Board of Examiners. He is a lecturer, teacher and speaker on financial planning topics and helped develop a financial planning software product. Mutual Fund magazine’s “Nation’s Top 100 Financial Planners” and Worth magazine’s “Best Financial Advisors in the Country” have featured Glovsky, who hosts his own show on Business Radio. He has appeared on CNBC and New England television channels and has been a professional advisor to the Boston Herald Money Manager column and a contributor to the Boston Business Journal and Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly. The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Business Week, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald regularly quote him. His community service includes the B’Nai B’rith Sports Lodge, the Spinazzola Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League Executive Committee (New England region). He was graduated from Dartmouth College and earned his J.D. and a master’s in taxation from Boston University School of Law.

Kevin R. Keller, CAE
CEO, Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.
Kevin Keller joined CFP Board in May 2007 after serving 16 years with the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), a membership organization for the finance profession that provides products, education and training for treasury and corporate finance. At AFP, he held the position of senior vice president and chief operating officer for the prior seven years and had management responsibility for programs and services for the 16,000-member organization. He led the organization's strategic planning process and enhanced and grew the Certified Treasury Professional credential. He has held senior staff positions at several associations and earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential in 2000. He holds a B.S. in agriculture and an M.S., both from Ohio State University. At CFP Board, Kevin has led the organization’s efforts to position itself to more effectively advance its mission to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning. His accomplishments include the successful move of CFP Board’s headquarters from Denver, Colo. to Washington, D.C.

Carol Lee Roberts, CFP®
Managing Director, Examinations and Education, CFP Board
Carol Lee Roberts has been Managing Director of Examinations and Education at CFP Board since November 5, 2007. In her role with CFP Board, Ms. Roberts directs the examination and education components of CFP® certification, which is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. She provides oversight to CFP Board's development of the rigorous CFP® Certification Examination and to the development and support of the more than 330 financial planning education programs in the U.S. that have registered with CFP Board to prepare financial planners for CFP® certification. Ms. Roberts brings to CFP Board a professional background that encompasses both the practice of financial planning and the administration of financial planning education programs. After working at Merrill Lynch for more than 16 years in a variety of capacities, Ms. Roberts served six years at DePaul University, where she has acted as Program Manger of its Financial Planning Certificate Program and a Director of DePaul’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education. In addition to being a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, she is also a Certified Financial Divorce Practitioner and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois and a Master of Arts in Applied Professional Studies with a focus in Financial Planning from DePaul.

Michael P. Shaw, Esq.
Managing Director, Professional Review and Legal, CFP Board
Michael Shaw joined CFP Board in August 2007, and he coordinates the professional review department’s work with CFP Board’s Disciplinary and Ethics Commission to ensure that CFP Board’s disciplinary process upholds the integrity of the CFP® certification, as well as working to protect the organization’s intellectual property. Mr. Shaw comes to CFP Board from NASD (now known as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or FINRA), where he held positions of progressive responsibility, including an appointment as Senior Counsel in the Office of Regulatory Policy. He holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from Marquette University and a law degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. He is licensed to practice law in the state of Maryland and holds a Series 7 securities license, is a chartered financial consultant (ChFC), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and a Certified Regulatory Compliance Professional (CRCP).

Asha P. Williams, Ph.D.
Managing Director, Communications and Marketing, CFP Board
Asha Williams joined CFP Board in October 2007. At CFP Board, Ms. Williams works to enhance public awareness of the value of financial planning and CFP® certification through integrated communications and marketing strategies. Key to that work is establishing effective working relationships with organizations whose missions are aligned with CFP Board. She brings more than 20 years of high-level experience in the marketing field, including recent service as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Society of Financial Service Professionals. Ms. Williams’ career includes serving at MONY Financial Services and Beacon Corporate Benefit Services, where she developed the company’s strategic business plan, and led the marketing and communications campaigns. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Xavier’s College in Bombay, a Master’s degree in Psychology from Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from New York University.