Conference

5th Annual Diversity Summit and Virtual Career Fair

IMPACT – Advancing DEI in the Financial Planning Profession

October 27 - 28, 2022

The 6th Annual Diversity Summit was held on November 9, in person, focused on actionable solutions to advance diversity in financial planning.

CFP Board also hosted a Virtual Diversity Career Fair on November 8 connecting employers with qualified candidates, including current and aspiring CFP® professionals, with special focus on women and people of color.

summit agenda:

The 2022 Diversity Summit is designed to address the Center of Financial Planning’s vision of ensuring that every American has access to competent and ethical financial planning advice. The Summit brings together leaders from financial services firms, academic institutions and think tanks to discuss and showcase initiatives and best practices that advance diversity and inclusion in the financial planner workforce. Invited speakers and moderators include leaders from Charles Schwab Foundation and Schwab Advisor Services, Merrill Lynch, and Milken Institute. Attendees will leave with an enhanced understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion including how they can transform their behaviors and their workplaces to contribute to the achievement of the Center’s vision.

8:00 - 8:30 am	Breakfast & Networking Reception
8:30 - 8:40 am	Welcome Kevin Keller, CAE, CFP Board CEO Kate Healy, Managing Director, CFP Board Center for Financial Planning
8:40 - 8:45 am	Introduction to CFP Board Chair Bob Glovsky, CFP®, Advisory Council Chair, CFP Board Center for Financial Planning
8:45-9:00 am	Closing the Wealth Gap - A Personal Narrative* Kamila Elliott, CFP®, CFP Board Chair & CEO and Founder, Collective Wealth Partners
9:00 - 9:20 am	Overview of the Racial & Gender Diversity Research & Initiatives for the Center for Financial Planning + Current Research on the Future of Financial Planner Provide an overview of the 2022 thought leadership paper of the metrics, research and best practices that firms, academics, leaders and professionals should be embedding across the profession to advance diversity (the people), equity (the systems), and inclusion (the climate/environment). Michael Kothakota, Ph.D., CFP®, Head of Research, CFP Board Amy Storey, Special Project Leader, CFP Board Future Financial Planner
9:20 - 9:25 am	Introduction to Opening Keynote
9:25 - 9:50 am	Opening Keynote A discussion on what the financial planning profession will look like in 5 to 10 years for consumers, financial advisors, academics, students, executive leaders, and leaders including its implications for diversity, equity and inclusion. Arlan Hamilton, Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital Soledad O’Brien, CEO, SO’B Productions, Journalist, Producer and Philanthropist
9:50 – 10:00 am	Visioning Working Groups Launch Leslie Tabor, Director, Advisor Services Business Consulting & Education, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
10:00 - 10:15 am	Transition to Breakout Groups
10:15 - 10:50 am	Breakout Groups These interactive moderated sessions will invite attendees to share what they expect and/or hope that the financial planning profession looks like in three to five years and engage with each other. How might we design a financial planning profession for the next five years that embeds diversity, equity and inclusion? How would the profession look, feel, sound and be experienced differently with diversity, equity and inclusion practices deeply embedded from education through to executive leadership?
10:50 -11:00 am	Transition to Main Session
12:00 – 12:15 pm	Impact of the Center for Financial Planning Show the impact of the Center for Financial Planning with a focus on scholarships and use of financial resources to transform the field. Presenters: Bob Glovsky, CFP® and Karen Schaffer, CFP®
11:15 - 12:15 pm	Executive & DEI Practitioner Roundtable A roundtable with executive leaders and DEI practitioners to highlight the system changes, best practices and innovations in DEI that they have been implementing successfully coupled with identifying challenges that have yet to be fully addressed with financial planners, customers, academics, etc. while allowing for questions from the audience. Moderator Kate Healy, Managing Director, Center for Financial Planning Speakers Audra Bohannon, Senior Client Partner, Korn Ferry Crystal Hardie Langston, Principal, Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Community Stewardship, Vanguard Blair Smith, Senior Director, Center for Financial Markets, Milken Institute
12:15 - 1:15 pm	Networking Lunch & Book Signing Provide people with the opportunity to connect and build relationships.
1:15 - 2:15 pm	Concurrent Sessions Sponsors develop and share insights on the future of work, the future of the financial planning profession, and how they are addressing the changes since the pandemic and what they are expecting for the future of diversity, equity and inclusion work. Protecting the Generational Wealth of Diverse Communities The pandemic coupled with record inflation are continuing to have major negative impacts on the economy. Of course, some of these trends are not new and financial crises over the past few years have been so impactful that those repercussions are still affecting financial decision making today. This session will explore how economic downturns have affected communities, particularly communities of color, and how financial planners have strived to limit the consequences of those effects. Attendees will learn more about how the financial field has been impacted in the past few years due to these conflating factors and what lessons we can learn from it. Filling in the gaps: The innovators leading the charge for more inclusivity in financial planning This session is an overview of some of the start-ups and niche initiatives that are addressing gaps in the financial planning landscape and making an impact. These innovators are leading the charge to make the financial planning profession more diverse, equitable and inclusive. What lessons can be learned from these efforts and what gaps still remain? RIA Growth Trends The pandemic, rising inflation and the great resignation have affected economic growth. This concurrent session will explore how wealth trends have been affected by current global events and how RIAs have managed to continue to use expertise to meet the demands of consumers amid these exacerbating circumstances. Speakers will also share what they anticipate 2023 trends to be in the RIA space.
2:15 - 2:30 pm	Transition from Concurrent Sessions // Break
2:30 - 3:00 pm	Fireside Chat – Impact Matters – From the First Black CFP® professional to first Black Board Chair – what the Journey tells us about the future Moderator: Kevin Keller, CAE, CFP Board CEO Speakers: Kamila Elliott, CFP®, CFP Board Chair LeCount R. Davis, Sr. CFP®
3:00 – 3:30 pm	Synthesis of Breakout Groups Identify the consistent themes from the breakout groups
3:30 - 4:00 pm	*CFP® Pro Talks* Professionals of color share career experience and describe challenges and opportunities as people of color in the profession. These eight minute “TED Talk” like presentations are opportunities for speakers to share what this means to them in the field given their personal experience and for 2022 focus on what they hope the progression will look, feel and be to make the next generation better. This will compel the audience to have a deeper emotional feeling, connection, and realization for what it means to be a person of color in this field. Moderator - Marguerita Cheng, CFP®, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Ocean Global Wealth Jamil Ahmed, CFP® Sheila C. Lawrence, CFP® Thao Truong, CFP®
4:00 – 4:15 pm	Break
4:15 - 4:20 pm	Council recognitions and Introduction to Closing Keynote Speaker: Daniel Moisand, CFP®, CFP Board Chair-Elect
4:20 - 4:40 pm	Closing Keynote Speaker: Lindsay Hans, Division Executive, Mid Atlantic Division, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Highlight opportunities for the financial planning profession to deepen its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion both internally with staff, building and developing the academic pipeline, and the customers.
4:40 - 5:00 pm	Closing Remarks Highlight the day’s events. Share deep appreciation for all the participants and staff who worked on the 5th Diversity Summit. Cy Richardson, Diversity Advisory Council Chair, CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Kate Healy, Managing Director, CFP Board Center for Financial Planning

Learn more about the Center for Financial Planning's diversity initiatives.

For information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Dan Limbago, Institutional Giving Officer, CFP Board Center For Financial Planning, [email protected] or 202-864-5250.

Further details, speakers and an agenda for the event will be posted here when available.