CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Establishes Eleanor Blayney Gender Diversity Challenge Fund

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eleanor Blayney, CFP® has established the Eleanor Blayney Gender Diversity Fund with a matching $100,000 gift to support the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning as she concludes her role as CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Special Adviser on Gender Diversity.

"For me, becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and helping people has been more than just a job – it has been a passion and one of the best life decisions I have ever made. I want to see more women in the financial planning profession," said Blayney. "This gift will support the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning's gender diversity initiatives and I challenge you to join me by investing in a future with more women CFP® professionals."

Since its launch by CFP Board in 2013, Blayney has been a guiding force behind the Center's "Women's Initiative" (WIN), which seeks to address the shortage of women in the financial planning profession. On behalf of the WIN Advisory Panel – comprising women professional leaders in financial services and diversity experts – Blayney authored Making More Room for Women in the Financial Planning Profession, a 2014 thought leadership paper. Blayney has also spearheaded or facilitated numerous partnerships and programs, including WIN Advocates, the WIN-to-WIN Mentorship Program, the Financial Planner Re-Entry Initiative and the "I Am a CFP® Pro" campaign. Previously, Blayney served as CFP Board's Consumer Advocate working to educate the public about the CFP® certification, working with a CFP® professional and the value of financial planning.

"We are very grateful to Eleanor for her service to both CFP Board and its Center for Financial Planning," said CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Executive Director Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis. "In addition to her passionate support for CFP® certification, she has been a tireless advocate for women in the financial planning profession. Eleanor continues to inspire and challenge us with this Fund, which will help ensure that the Center continues to advance her trailblazing work."

For more information or to donate to the Eleanor Blayney Gender Diversity Challenge Fund, visit www.youcaring.com/EleanorChallenge.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP® professionals and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.  CFP Board currently authorizes nearly 80,000 individuals to use these marks in the U.S.

ABOUT the CFP BOARD CENTER FOR FINANCIAL PLANNING

The CFP Board Center for Financial Planning seeks to create a more diverse and sustainable financial planning profession so that every American has access to competent and ethical financial planning advice.  The Center brings together CFP® professionals, firms, educators, researchers and experts to address profession-wide challenges in the areas of diversity and workforce development, and to build an academic home that offers opportunities for conducting and publishing new research that adds to the financial planning body of knowledge. More about the Center and its initiatives can be found at www.CenterforFinancialPlanning.org.

SOURCE CFP Board Center for Financial Planning