NAPFA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is the country’s leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.

Through its long-range planning process, NAPFA identified encouraging and promoting inclusivity in the field as a strategic imperative for the association. This led to the creation of the Diversity & Inclusion Initiative and the formation of a steering committee to steward any associated activities.

This Initiative operates under the following directives.

Mission

Create and innovate a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the financial planning profession.

Vision

Our mission is to be a beacon for DEI within the financial planning profession by building and strengthening relationships between industry professionals and the diverse populations.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs

Committee

NAPFA has a committee dedicated to fulfilling the mission and vision of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative. For more information about the Committee, please visit this page. Review the DEI Committee Volunteer Guidelines here.

NAPFA DEI Training and Certificate Program

The NAPFA DEI Training and Certificate program aims to provide NAPFA members and other financial advisors resources and education around four specific DEI topics—culture, hiring practices, people, and inclusion. Learn more about the program here.

Congratulations to those who have completed the program! View a list of individuals here.

Scholarship Program

The DEI initiative now sponsors several merit-based Diversity Scholarships for both NAPFA members and non-members to:

• Attend a NAPFA National Conference (two are held per year, spring and fall):
• Take the CFP exam or a CFP review course

For more information on the scholarship program, please visit this page.

NAPFA DEI Initiative Facebook Group

This group is a virtual community dedicated to cultivating DEI within the financial planning profession. If you'd like to become a member and become part of this conversation, please visit the group here.

Webinars

• How Implicit Bias Impacts Conflict, and What You Can Do About It, Kwame Christian
• The Importance of Gender and Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Your Firm, Meredith Jones

Mentorship

The goal of the DEI Initiative Mentoring Program is to provide underrepresented members in NAPFA a structured opportunity to advance in their careers with the help of a mentor/mentee relationship.

Objectives:

• To create a welcoming environment for NAPFA members from under-represented populations to foster professional relationships
• To maintain a supportive space where NAPFA members can share challenges and strategies to address those obstacles within a mentoring framework
• To help NAPFA members improve the financial planning profession through our community while embracing our differences throughout the process
• Connecting members based on the differences that ultimately make us stronger, to create a more inclusive and diverse profession
• To empower and encourage NAPFA members to strive for excellence

Learn More

NAPFA DEI Training and Certificate Program

The NAPFA DEI Training and Certificate program aims to provide NAPFA members and other financial advisors resources and education around four specific DEI topics—culture, hiring practices, people, and inclusion.

This program was designed by financial advisors for financial advisors and was created so that participants could have a deeper understanding of how they can contribute to growing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial planning profession.

Articles

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities – December 3
• NAPFA DEI Interview with Shalmali Kulkarni about Diwali
• National Coming Out Day
• Navigating the Jewish High Holidays: Insights for Financial Advisors
• Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Conversation with John Eing
• April is Autism Awareness Month
• My Jewish Learning: Passover 2023
• 6 Retirement Saving Tips That Women Should Implement Now
• Making DEIB Priority in the Financial Services Industry
• Chinese New Year

Honoring Diversity Through Food

The NAPFA DE&I committee is excited to present recipes and meal ideas to celebrate various cultures and faiths. The goal of this project is to encourage and promote inclusivity within the industry, and to highlight the unique and diverse backgrounds of current and future financial planning clients we wish to serve. The recipes are not only delicious but they serve to educate about the traditions and origins of diverse celebrations and observances in the U.S. and around the world. Follow NAPFA on to get weekly updates.

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Resources

NAPFA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit

The Initiative has compiled a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Toolkit, a resource meant to help NAPFA members and their firms make meaningful change in the DEI space. While conversations and education around DEI is a crucial step to improving understanding, it's clear that without action, true progress cannot be achieved. This toolkit has both a written guide and a series of videos designed to help NAPFA members take action and access resources. To read more about it and access the written guide and video components, visit this page.

Many organizations continue to do the important work of diversifying the financial planning profession and making it a more inclusive community for everyone. NAPFA encourages you to explore some of the programs and resources that other groups are doing.

Center for Financial Planning

As consumer demand for financial advice grows, it is imperative that the financial planning profession work toward expanding and diversifying the ranks of financial planning professionals who can meet the needs of increasingly diverse consumers. However, based on self-reported data provided to CFP Board, less than 3.5 percent of all 82,000 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.

To address this challenge and its root causes, the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning commissioned a comprehensive research study in 2017 to identify the barriers to racial and ethnic diversity in the financial planning profession. To review this research click here.

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning encourages firm leaders and CFP® professionals to read Financial Planning Career Paths: Building More Sustainable and Successful Businesses and share it within your networks. The guide is designed to help employers attract and develop talented professionals while giving financial planners a roadmap for navigating their own financial planning careers. Establishing and communicating clear career paths is crucial to helping today’s professionals achieve their full potential and to attracting the next generation of talent our profession needs. Download the guide here.

Association of African American Advisors

The Association of African American Advisors (AAAA) vision is to be the leading organization for African American financial advisors by promoting meaningful networks among peers, sponsors and affiliated professionals. With a commitment to learning, business development, outreach, and support, our members are empowered to advance themselves and the financial planning profession. To learn more, please click here.

Financial Literacy Resources for Black and African American Students

BestColleges has created a comprehensive resource guide on financial literacy for Black students. The guide provides information on budgeting, saving, and investing, as well as resources for scholarships and grants specifically for Black students. BestCollege believes that this information is crucial for empowering Black and African American students to take control of their financial futures. Learn more