The CFP Board elected Terri Kallsen as its 2026 board chairwoman, the organization announced Wednesday.
The organization, which is responsible for conferring the CFP certification and establishing professional standards, elects a new chair every year. Elizabeth Miller,
Kallsen is a senior operating partner at Austin, Texas-based Rise Growth Partners, a new firm founded by Joe Duran that provides support and growth capital for middle-market RIAs. She joined the CFP Board as a director in 2022 and is currently chair of the finance and investment committee. Prior to that role, she served as chair of the audit committee and was a member of the governance committee.
"Terri's extensive experience and unwavering dedication to the financial planning profession make her an outstanding choice for this role," said Matthew Boersen, chair of the board of directors, in a
Before joining Rise Growth Partners, Kallsen was chief operating officer at Wealth Enhancement Group. Prior to that role, she was executive vice president of investor services at Charles Schwab. She has also served as executive vice president of First Command Financial Services, senior vice president of USAA and vice president of product management at Thrivent.
In an interview with Financial Planning, Kallsen referenced the CFP Board's five-year strategic plan and said she is looking forward to increasing awareness of the CFP, continuing certifications and standards of professionalism, improving regulatory engagement, and creating a diverse workforce.
"My role is to continue to help facilitate that, to listen and to help navigate through the various constituents that we work with: CFPs, advisors, our regulators and overall clients to make sure we're continuing to go in the right direction," she said.
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Kallsen's 30 years of experience in the industry across firms of different sizes and functions has given her a familiarity with the nuances of larger banks, as well as with smaller RIAs, mergers and acquisitions and the use of technology in the profession.
"I've seen a lot of change and change for the good, but the CFP is really the cornerstone of continuing to have the fiduciary standard front and center and serving more clients," she said.
Kallsen said her work with military service members and their families was the first time she was able to see how CFPs could use technology to improve client experience.
"With our military, which is so important right now, we've been able to improve access to competent and ethical financial planning by leveraging the CFP and leveraging technology together," said Kallsen. "That will help me in my role as chair, because that's where the hockey puck is going. It's the integration of high tech and high touch as well as artificial intelligence."
While on the CFP Board's board of directors, Kallsen has been part of efforts to increase the number of financial advisors with CFPs and to diversify the backgrounds of advisors who receive CFPs across gender and race.
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"I'm very proud that we're increasing the amount of diversity," Kallsen said. "It's not just to hit a number. It means that clients want to be able to choose the type of CFP they have, be it if it's a man or a woman or an ethnically diverse CFP, we're continuing to see the increase in our CFPs of various backgrounds and various perspectives, which is good for the client at the end of the day."
Kallsen emphasized the value in communicating the importance of the CFP to more advisors, pointing out the benefits to their client relations and to the industry as a whole. Kallsen said she views the recruitment of young people, mid-career changers and
"In the end, we are in this to be able to help clients make better financial decisions so they achieve their goals. And I can't think of a more worthy profession than that," Kallsen said.
