Amy Brotka of West Seneca, N.Y., worked in banking investment for 20 years, then her job disappeared in 2012 because the bank was dissolved.

This gave her a chance to step back and rethink her career. She decided she wanted to be a certified financial planner and open her own RIA. She is on the way to achieving that goal, in part, because of the Milton Stern Scholars Fund Scholarship that she was awarded through the Center for Financial Planning.

In fact, the CCertified Financial Planner Board of Standard is hoping that there are many more just like Brotka ready to jump at the chance to be an advisor.

At 49, Brotka is an example of the kinds of people—women, minorities, young people—that the CFP Board and its affiliate, the Center for Financial Planning, say they are trying to draw into the financial profession.

“I don’t know why more women are not financial advisors—they are wired correctly to do the job and it fits with their values,” says Brotka.

Brotka, who has a personal consulting and financial planning firm, ValuVize, and hopes to sit for the CFP exam in November to earn her CFP designation, plans to mentor young women and encourage them to become financial advisors and CFPs.

“I’d like to see the CFP designation become as well known as the CPA designation,” Brotka says.

Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, executive director of the Center for Financial Planning, agrees with that assessment. “If a person wants an accountant, he or she looks for a CPA. If you want a financial advisor, you should look for a CFP,” she says.

The center and CFP Board are not only trying to raise the awareness of the CFP mark among the public; they also have launched a number of programs and administer two scholarships to bring in more women, young people and minorities into the profession.

According to a 2016 Cerulli Associates study, 41 percent of advisors are 55 or older, while only 26 percent are younger than 45 years old. The percentage of women CFPs has held steady at about 23 percent for years, and the percentage of people of color is even lower than that. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 6 percent of advisors are African American and only 7 percent are Latino.

Meanwhile, the need for advisors is expected to increase at a greater rate than for other professions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The demand for financial advisors is expected to increase 27 percent by 2022. But there are concerns there may not be enough advisors to meet the demand: Cerulli & Associates says 25 percent of advisors plan to retire or leave the industry within the next 10 years, and for every eight advisors who retire, only three are trained to replace them.

The tide may be shifting a little. The CFP Board’s March 2017 exam had its largest attendance since November 2011, and the top 20 financial firms have all added more CFP professionals to their ranks, according to Joe Maugeri, managing director at the CFP Board.

The pool of candidates also has become more diverse. In 2016, there were more initial certifications among women than ever. In March, women made up a record-breaking 30 percent of exam takers.

In addition to the Milton Stern scholarship, the Center for Financial Planning administers the The Deena Jo Heide-Diesslin Foundation Challenge Match Scholarship, which is awarded to individuals in underrepresented populations within the financial planning profession in terms of gender, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

The center also sponsors other diversity programs that Mohrman-Gillis says are beginning to show results:

• The “I am a CFP Pro” campaign began in April and is an educational program to draw young people and women into the profession.

• There are 400 WIN (Women’s Initiative) Advocates, who are CFP’s who work in their communities to show others that a career in financial planning can be a rewarding career for women.

• Under the WIN to WIN Mentoring Program more than 600 female candidates for CFP certification are in mentoring relationships with CFP professionals, who help them manage the certification process.

• CFP Board also created the WIN Council, comprised of experts in the areas of women’s issues, diversity and recruitment, as well as leaders from financial planning and advisory firms and CFP Board-registered programs, to advise and assist in the development of initiatives to increase the number of women entering the financial planning profession.

• Recently, the Financial Planning Re-Entry Initiative was launched. It is aimed at women who have left the workforce and want to come back. The program supports financial services firms in establishing re-entry internships.

• The center has partnered with women’s advocacy organization Rock the Street, Wall Street; the National Coalition of Girls Schools; the Forte Foundation; and Invest in Girls to inspire and educate girls about the career opportunities in financial planning.

• Eleanor Blayney was recently appointed special advisor on gender diversity by the center.

The partnerships CFP Board and the Center for Financial Planning are creating “will help us make the biggest impact on the profession,” Mohrman-Gillis says.

“Our programs and initiatives are guided by research. There are barriers to entering the profession and barriers to success, but I am confidant we are planting the seeds that will bear fruit,” she says.