DENVER (August 17, 2021) — The country’s rapidly changing demographics have many organizations and leaders asking themselves what exactly they need to do to attract the next generation of talent and serve the next generation of clients. In response, the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is proud to announce a partnership with the Denver-based Latino Leadership Institute (LLI) to offer FPA members access to LLI’s Insight to Inclusive Leadership program.
“FPA is committed to helping make our Association – and the greater financial planning community – more inclusive of professionals of diverse backgrounds. But that means all of us as individual professionals need to know what we can do to be part of that important work,” says FPA President Skip Schweiss, CFP®, AIF®. “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to partner with our friends at LLI to bring their unique badge program to the financial planning community, which is open to all financial planners of all backgrounds.”
LLI made a name for itself by training Latino leaders for management and C-level positions but has specialized in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training for major corporations and government organizations since 2018, when they were approached to design such a program by a number of their partners.
“Approximately 92% of America’s population growth is attributed to the Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) community, and in order to continue to have economic vitality, companies must understand the market of the future,” says LLI CEO/President Joelle Martinez. “Our work was created as a collaborative effort to solve the problem of why current DEI efforts haven’t led to the results that we’ve hoped for.”
Insight to Inclusive Leadership is conducted in six virtual 90-minute modules. Its format is rooted in neuroscience and self-awareness, and its cohort format allows for deep connections between participants.
The LLI team partnered with Dr. Stefanie Johnson of the University of Colorado, author of the book Inclusify, to develop a proprietary self-assessment for the program. Participants will receive an electronic badge to put on their LinkedIn profiles upon program completion. In this way, a badge is more versatile than a certificate since it communicates a planner’s commitment as a professional to be a leader in the DEI financial planning space.
“The badge tells other people about the journey that you’re on, the commitment to DEI that you have as a business owner and as a financial leader,” Martinez said. “It gives you a competitive advantage to say that this is something that you have done for yourself, your business, for your employees, and your clients.”
FPA will host an Impact Session with LLI on September 8 at 2:00 p.m. ET. FPA members can register for the session on the FPA website. From there, members can register to be part of the inaugural cohort, which will be capped at 30 participants. The inaugural cohort will begin this fall.
“Partnering with LLI to bring FPA members Insight to Inclusive Leadership is part of a suite of programs and efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in the financial planning profession,” added FPA CEO Patrick D. Mahoney.
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About the Financial Planning Association
The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is the principal membership organization for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professionals, educators, financial services professionals and students who are committed to elevating the profession that transforms lives through the power of financial planning. With a focus on the practice, business and profession of financial planning, FPA advances financial planning practitioners through every phase of their careers, from novice to master to leader of the profession. Learn more about FPA at financialplanningassociation.org and follow on Twitter at twitter.com/fpassociation.
About the Latino Leadership Institute
Founded in 2014, the Latino Leadership Institute (LLI) is a nonprofit organization honoring the heritage of leadership and advancing Latino and BIPOC professionals to positions of influence. LLI provides diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming to organizational leaders across all industries. To learn more about how LLI drives meaningful change, visit latinoslead.org.