CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Announces First Endowed Scholarship Honoring First Black CFP® Professional, LeCount R. Davis, CFP®

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CFP Board Center for Financial Planning ("Center") announced today the creation of its first endowed scholarship program honoring the first Black CFP^® professional, LeCount R. Davis, CFP^®. Created to support the next generation of diverse CFP^® professionals, the LeCount R. Davis, CFP^® Scholarship program will assist qualified Black or African American students and professionals who are committed to attaining CFP^® certification and to the practice of financial planning.

An advisor for more than 50 years, LeCount Davis is the first Black person to earn the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^™ designation, becoming a CFP^® professional in 1978. He had already established his own consulting firm in 1970, specializing in tax planning, small business management, financial planning, financial management and investment consulting. During his long career, Davis's client portfolio included national organizations, international labor unions, pension funds, individuals, small businesses, religious organizations, investment clubs and other entities.

In 2001, Davis founded the Association of African American Financial Advisors, whose mission is to expand the community of successful Black financial professionals. To further inspire and prepare the next generation of financial planners, he published his autobiography in 2020: "One Step Back – Two Steps Forward: The Dance of My Ultimate Plan." The LeCount R. Davis, CFP^® Scholarship program is yet another step forward in helping Davis fulfill his lifelong mission of diversifying the financial planning profession.

The scholarship will award up to $5,000 per student seeking to complete an undergraduate-level or a certificate-level CFP Board Registered Program, based on demonstrated merit and financial need. Upon completing the required education coursework, scholarship recipients will be eligible to take the CFP^® exam and pursue the next steps to attain CFP^® certification. 

"Everyone can benefit from financial planning," said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. "If we're going to serve the entire country, we need to look more like the clients that CFP^® professionals serve. This scholarship in honor of LeCount Davis, CFP^® supports both his mission and ours — creating a more diverse and sustainable financial planning profession."

"I've enjoyed a rewarding career as a financial planner since achieving CFP^® certification, and I believe financial planning is the solution to many of the socioeconomic problems in our community," said Davis. "It all starts with the knowledge of finance, and this scholarship will help students and young professionals see that you don't have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to make it in this world."

Further information about the LeCount R. Davis, CFP^® Scholarship will be available at CFP.net/Scholarships. Individuals and firms interested in supporting the endowed scholarship should contact Institutional Giving Officer Dan Limbago at [email protected] or 202-864-5250.

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.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board sets standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CFP^® certification – one of the most respected certifications in financial services – so that the public has access to and benefits from competent and ethical financial planning. CFP Board, along with its Center for Financial Planning, is committed to increasing the public's awareness of CFP^® certification and access to a diverse, ethical and competent financial planning workforce. Widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planning, CFP^® certification is held by nearly 93,000 people in the United States.

SOURCE Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.