Shortly before its annual Vision conference, the Association of African American Financial Advisors dropped the "interim" label from CEO Sheena Gray's title.
The organization, which has more than 2,000 members and
In the below conversation with Financial Planning Chief Correspondent Tobias Salinger, Gray discussed what attendees can look forward to at the conference, how Quad-A is changing from a volunteer-led to an employee-led organization and her view of the future of diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the profession.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Financial Planning: What should Quad-A members and the professional community of financial advisors know about your plans for the organization?
Sheena Gray: Our theme for the 2024 Vision Conference is "elevate," and that's what we plan to do from the membership experience to the partnership experience. I've had the pleasure over the last four years of being a partner at a large firm, and that gave me the ability to see some opportunities for Quad-A. I'm excited to help build a team that we're able to implement some new ways that we could elevate the client experience.
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FP: What are some of the most exciting panel discussions and other events planned for the Vision conference?
SG: I'm really excited about this year's "Spirit of the Vision" awardee. This individual I've had the opportunity to work with is doing amazing things in the diverse advisor community and the advisor community overall. So I think that is probably the most exciting part of the conference piece for me.
As far as panels, I'm excited that this year we had our recent
FP: Quad-A is such a great place for financial advisor networking, for people to advance in the profession and for the industry at large to get involved with the mission of supporting and advancing Black or African American advisors in the industry. How can this profession ensure that the percentage of certified financial planners who are Black or African American keeps rising far above its present level of 2%?
SG: I think it needs to start at an earlier level of engagement. And so one of the things that I'm excited about is our [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] engagement that we have begun this past quarter.
So at the conference this year you'll see us highlighting our pilot internship programs with advisors who are working at our partner firms in the wealth management space, so that they could be introduced to more CFPs who look like them and they could also get training and certifications to help them in the financial industry.
One of our priorities for 2024 is to make the advisor role sexy again. When we talk to our student base, we are really trying to fully immerse them with the experience — not just sharing with them about the role, but actually putting them in contact at the firms and offering internships. So a lot of our partners are working with us — strategic partners, as well as our corporate partners — to see how we could leverage some of the pipeline of talent that we have from our HBCUs locally in D.C.
And then I think that our relationship with the CFP Board is stronger this year. What they've started to do is share with us all of their CFPs who are diverse, who have recently gotten their CFP, and we've started to celebrate them in our internal channels. I reach out to them. Our teams reach out to them, and actually we've started to organically form a network of CFPs, and that badge of honor that you have for getting the CFP, but then knowing that you have a village around you at an organization where the founder
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FP: Diversity, equity and inclusion have become politicized in recent years to the point that many companies and universities are ending DEI programs. What do you think is the future role of the letters "DEI" in wealth management?
SG: I think the future is still bright. DEI — I don't think it's going anywhere soon. It's not about the letters, but it's about doing the work. And I'm excited that the partners that we work with are very laser-focused, not just for this year, not just previous years, but for years beyond, to continue to do the work. They partner with Quad-A — I think that says enough — the partnerships have stayed strong. They remain consistent, and the partners that we work with have shared that it's still a business priority for them.
FP: What else would you like to say to Quad-A members and financial advisors across the industry about Quad-A's work, the upcoming conference or anything else that's top of mind right now?
SG: If you're not a member, you're missing out on a really premier organization. We're really looking to expand our global influence for 2024. If you are a member of Quad-A, look to continue to see us as we grow and build our team and move from a volunteer-led organization to an employee-led organization where our focus is still diversity. That's still top of mind for us in the profession — developing our advisors — but we're really focusing on advocacy and building a global reach.
I think it's important that Quad-A took the step to place a woman in this seat as the first CEO of the organization. The wealth management industry is male-dominated, and we have worked so many years to change that, and we are continually making that a priority. But I think it speaks to the values of the organization that they were comfortable placing this in a woman's hands as a leader.
