The Financial Planning Association is expanding its membership services, including its recruitment drives, with the hiring of Leslie Whittet as chief membership experience officer, the organization announced today.
Whittet has held executive leadership positions for nearly two decades with the Association for Corporate Growth, an organization for professionals in the areas of mergers, acquisitions and corporate growth, where she served as senior vice president of chapter operations.
As FPA’s chief membership experience officer, Whittet will head the membership staff and will have the responsibility for membership strategy and operations efforts, and ensuring that membership recruitment, engagement, and retention goals are met throughout the organization. In addition, she will be responsible for FPA’s overall membership strategy, budget management, and daily operation of the membership experience department, which includes member engagement, chapter engagement, member services, and learning and instructional design, the FPA said.
While at the Association for Corporate Growth, she led the strategic operations of the global network of chapters, focusing on enhancing the value of membership through chapter affiliation. She oversaw a 33% expansion of chapter revenue, created new chapter development protocols, diversified membership, launched programs to cultivate growth, improved membership retention rates, and transformed the association’s relationship with chapters, the FPA said.
“We are focused on doing what is necessary to grow our membership, and that starts with ensuring every member has a wonderful experience at FPA no matter where and how they are plugging into the Association,” FPA CEO Patrick Mahoney said in a statement. “FPA has seen its fair share of challenges when it comes to membership experience, engagement, recruitment, and retention—all challenges we are addressing head-on in the months ahead."
Whittet said in a statement, “FPA is positioned for amazing growth and I am thrilled to be a part of the team that will help transform the organization for the benefit of all members."