The CFP Board’s Center for Financial Planning has created a $5,000 scholarship for women working to earn the CFP designation, the board announced today.
The scholarship was created to mark the 10th anniversary of the board’s Women’s Initiative (WIN). It will be funded through a $250,000 endowment created from donations by CFP professionals and supporters. It will be known as the WIN Endowed Scholarship.
WIN was created in 2013 to support efforts to increase the number of women CFP professionals. The WIN scholarship is designed to support the next generation of women CFP professionals who are committed to the practice of financial planning.
“By becoming financial planners, women can empower themselves and other women to take control of their finances and achieve financial independence. They can help educate women about financial literacy, investment strategies and retirement planning, which can be particularly valuable in a society where women often face financial challenges and inequalities,” CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller said in a statement. “The WIN Endowed Scholarship program will help to ensure that talented and motivated women have the support they need to pursue a career in financial planning and earn their CFP certification.”
Winners can use the scholarship to help pay for undergraduate-level or CFP certificate-level study. At a time when women make up over half of the U.S. population, only 23.6% of all CFP certificants are women, according to the center.
“Welcoming more women into the financial planning profession is good for women, good for the profession and good for business,” Nancy Kistner, founding chair of the WIN Council said in a statement.
Since its inception, WIN has hosted numerous events, conducted research on the status of women in the financial planning profession and published several reports, including the Women’s Initiative Study. The WIN Endowed Scholarship program is the second endowed scholarship offered by CFP Board, following last year’s creation of the LeCount R. Davis CFP Scholarship, which honors the first black CFP professional.
Additional information on the WIN Endowed Scholarship is available at CFP.net/Scholarships. Individuals and firms interested in supporting the endowed scholarship should contact Institutional Giving Officer Dan Limbago at [email protected].