Eleanor Blayney

Member, Women’s Initiative (WIN)
Advisory Council 


CFP Board Center for Financial Planning 

Washington, D.C. 



1. Business leaders must hire for potential, not just experience. It’s a vicious cycle: Women lack experience, because there aren’t enough professional women. Broaden your reach and look elsewhere for other important skills that are markers of business success.

2. Recognize that diversity–gender, racial and generational–is becoming a business imperative. There is huge untapped wealth held by women and eventually by millennials, two markets somewhat distrustful of financial advisors. To earn that trust, make sure your staff is representative of the clients you seek to serve.

3. Realize that gender diversity and inclusion are not just a compliance or legal issue. Take it out of the human resources category and make it a top-of-house priority—measurable and compensable at all levels of management.

Lazetta Rainey Braxton

Founder and CEO, Financial Fountains LLC

Catonsville, Md.