Diversity Task Force unveiled

The Financial Planning Association's Diversity Task Force has created a scholarship program to help increase involvement among groups that are underrepresented in the financial industry. The program, which was announced at the Denver-based FPA's annual conference in Boston on Saturday, aims to “increase professional opportunities for the widest spectrum of people so that all may join and thrive in the financial planning profession.” The program will defray the cost of conference registration fees; pay for room and board at conferences; pay for up to $500 for travel to a conference site; and provide a year of paid membership to the FPA. The scholarship is available to financial services students and professionals who are raising awareness of the profession in diverse communities, serving diverse communities with financial planning and increasing professional opportunities for diverse communities within the financial planning profession. In turn, scholarship recipients will be required to attend conference sessions and participate in their local FPA chapter events during the year of free membership. “The scholarship program can help people build relationships and create an environment that tends to the needs of those communities,” Nick Nicolette, chairman of the FPA board of directors, said in a statement.