PridePlanners, the professional organization representing financial advisors who work with the LGBTQ community, has become part of the Financial Planning Association to promote further diversity in the association, the FPA announced Wednesday.
FPA and PridePlanners have collaborated over the years to provide education and support to financial planners who serve, or are interested in serving, the financial needs of LGBTQ Americans. With an eye on further bolstering the support former PridePlanners members need to fulfill their roles as financial planning professionals, the integration with the FPA is the result of PridePlanners’ dissolution as a separate legal entity, the FPA said in a written statement.
“The growing diversity of the American public and of the financial planning profession requires us all to be vigilant in preparing ourselves as financial planners to serve the unique needs this diversity presents. That is especially true of LGBTQ Americans and the unique financial challenges they face,” said FPA President Frank Paré.
Members of the former PridePlanners will continue to serve on the FPA’s Diversity Committee, as they have since 2010, to help develop strategies to provide a welcoming environment for financial planners of diverse backgrounds into the FPA and the greater financial planning profession, the FPA said.
PridePlanners was founded in 1999 by Dr. Sharon Rich, Debra Neiman and Sandra Reynolds to meet the needs of their LGBTQ and non-traditional family clients. Since its founding, the organization has grown to include members from across the country and has been led by a board of directors that has spearheaded efforts to provide financial planners with national and local learning and networking opportunities, the FPA said.
The integration of PridePlanners with the FPA will help “forge a profession that serves the needs of all Americans, no matter their race, creed, religion or sexual orientation. There is power in financial planning and I know this integration with PridePlanners will not only prepare practitioners, but also open the doors for more Americans to get the financial planning guidance they need,” said FPA Executive Director and CEO Lauren M. Schadle.