It was too rare of an occurrence.
The American College of Financial Services’ Conference of African-American Financial Professionals, for the first time on Aug. 7, hosted three African-American presidents of financial services associations on the stage together.
African-Americans are woefully underrepresented in financial services, but we returned from the conference energized and reinvigorated.
Why?
Because what we saw and learned there can help financial advisors and the industry at large.
The event brought together in Washington a record 630 financial professionals from all over the country as well as the three of us: Frank Paré, President of the Financial Planning Association (FPA); Angela Ribuffo, President, Women in Insurance and Financial Services (WIFS) and Elvin Turner, President-Elect of the Society of Financial Professionals (The Society of FSP). Through the seminars, breaks and lunches we became convinced that the key is engagement.
First, it is not enough to just join an association; members must be engaged. Dare to volunteer.
It will be from the involved African-American financial professionals who volunteer that we will find the future leaders of our associations.
Second, as member associations, it is critical that we consistently demonstrate to all our members and potential members that our associations are an open community that welcomes and celebrates diversity and inclusion. At WIFS and FPA our membership is comprised primarily of women in financial services and CFP professionals, respectively. The Society of FSP’s membership includes credentialed professionals in various disciplines. We all value collaborative relationships within financial services. In addition, we know that diversity and inclusion of all people will only strengthen our ability to close the wealth gap not just among African-Americans but of all diversity segments.
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Each association has viewed diversity and inclusion through its unique perspective. FPA is addressing the issue of the low number of African-American CFP professionals through its support of the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning. According to the CFP Board of Standards, there are approximately 1,200 African-American CFP professionals out of roughly 81,000 CFP professionals. That equates to approximately 1.5%. The CFP Board, through its Center for Financial Planning, has a stated goal to increase the number by 50% over the next five years and will be hosting its first annual Diversity Summit in New York on October 23, 2018.
WIFS is committed to increasing the number of women of all diverse backgrounds into our profession. The industry has not significantly increased the number of women in our profession for many decades to include African-American women. To decrease the wealth gap for African-American families, many run by single African-American mothers, we need to have financial professionals that look like them, understand their culture and challenges.
The Society of FSP is spearheading a broad industry pilot project creating a pipeline for African-American professionals that carries them from high school into their first industry jobs. It’s a bold vision. This is the beginning of an industrywide recruitment, enrichment and mentoring program that will bring large number of Afro-American students into different jobs in the financial services community.
Of course, we acknowledged that the opportunity for change will require many years and the commitment of many others.
But we're excited because our visions are converging. By working together we are achieving our association goals while moving the entire industry forward in this important area.
We invite you to join us in making a difference. Dare to volunteer.
