Financial Planning Association's Annual Conference Earns Choir Certification™ for Diverse Speaker Lineup

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Feb 21, 2023, 09:00 ET

The Choir Certification™ is the financial industry's first-ever benchmarking platform and conference diversity certification created to amplify the voices of underrepresented experts on conference stages.

DENVER, Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®), the leading professional membership association for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, is pleased to announce the FPA Annual Conference 2022 earned the Choir Certification™ for its diverse and inclusive lineup of speakers on stage.

Choir's proprietary algorithm uses hundreds of data points to measure the prominence and visibility of people of color, women, and non-binary people on conference stages. Using seven key visibility factors, Choir quantifies how representative a conference's speaker lineup is compared to the U.S. population; this is ultimately quantified as the Choir Score™. Conferences with a score of 60 or higher, and which also meet the Choir Pledge criteria, qualify for certification.

FPA Annual Conference 2022 earned a Choir Score that resulted in earning the Choir Certification. FPA ensured that stages featured a wide variety of races, genders, and backgrounds, then worked with Choir to complete this rigorous assessment of speaker visibility, representation, and diversity. FPA's application for Choir Certification was sponsored by Finance of America Reverse, which shares FPA's commitment to building a more diverse, welcoming profession.

"FPA is honored to have earned this prestigious certification from Choir in recognition of our commitment to embracing diverse voices in the financial planning profession and making FPA Annual Conference a powerful platform where diverse groups of participants are prominently seen and heard," says Patrick D. Mahoney, FPA chief executive officer. "We are always looking to make our Association a welcoming community of professionals of all backgrounds and this certification affirms we are on the right track to living into this important objective."

FPA's diversity and inclusion efforts are led by a volunteer Diversity and Inclusion Committee that works to advance the Association's commitment to diversity. Their work, and that of the Association, is guided by the FPA Diversity and Inclusion Vision Statement: Diversity is an integral part of our culture and identity. Inclusion is the way we treat and perceive all individuals and differences. We strive to create an inclusive culture where diversity is seen as a value for the association to elevate the profession that transforms lives through the power of financial planning.

"For many years, the financial industry has listened to the same voices and perspectives conference after conference," said Sonya Dreizler, co-founder of Choir. "Events that showcase the expert voices of women, people of color, and especially women of color are not only more interesting – they directly impact the distribution of power in financial services by expanding who we view as authorities and leaders. We appreciate FPA's commitment to creating a safe and inclusive event where many different and powerful voices are heard."

For more information on FPA's diversity and inclusion efforts, visit financialplanningassociation.org. For more information or to apply to become a Choir Certified Conference, visit www.hellochoir.com.

About the Financial Planning Association

The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is the leading membership organization and trade association for Certified Financial Planner^TM professionals and those engaged in the financial planning process. FPA is the CFP® professional's partner in planning by helping them realize their vision of professional fulfillment through practice support, learning, advocacy, and networking. Learn more about FPA at financialplanningassociation.org and on Twitter at twitter.com/fpassociation.

About Choir

Choir, LLC ("Choir") is a diversity-tech platform focused on amplifying the voices of people of color, women, and non-binary professionals on conference stages and in the media. Creator of the Choir Certification™ and Choir Score™, the company aims to make conferences more representative of the U.S. population by helping organizations identify and reach clear and actionable speaker diversity benchmarks, and match with expert speakers from historically underrepresented backgrounds. A full list of Choir Certified Conferences is available at hellochoir.com. The company is based in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

SOURCE Financial Planning Association