CFP Board Center for Financial Planning has launched a campaignto attract younger and more diverse individuals to the industry.Called I am a CFP Pro, the campaign is accessible online andfeatures a diverse group of young people telling their storiesabout how and why they joined the profession and invites others todo the same.

It was introduced at the National Press Club in Washington, withexecutives of the CFP Board Center and three young planners, nowfeatured on the website, discussing how they came to be certifiedfinancial planners. Aspiring and current CFP professionals as wellas college students and professors are encouraged to check out thewebsite, said Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis, executive director of the CFPBoard.

“The financial planner workforce needs to better reflect thepopulation it serves, and this campaign is designed to get careersin financial planning on the radar screens of students andmillennials who may not have considered it previously,” said CFPBoard CEO Kevin R. Keller in a statement.

There are currently more financial planners over 70 than under30, and nearly 20% are approaching retirement, according to theCFP. In addition, women account for less than one-quarter offinancial planners and minorities even less than that.

“The profession is not on track to meet the population it servesgoing forward,” said Blaine Akin, chair of the CFP's Board ofDirectors, at the press club event. The profession needs to “createa more diverse and sustainable profession so that every Americanhas access.”

The CFP Board has been trying. In 2013 the CFP Board introducedits Women's Initiative, called WIN, to address the “femininefamine” in financial planning, and last June it started aWIN-to-WIN program to connect women wanting CFP certification withmentors who can assist them through the process.

Two of the three young financial planners at the press eventlaunching the new campaign were women and each had founded theirown firms geared to millennials.

The new campaign aims to address these challenges by dispellingcommon misperceptions and highlighting the many benefits of acareer as a financial planner, including the ability to make adifference in peoples' lives, work-life balance and the opportunityfor career and financial growth.

Rianka Dorsainvil founded Your Greatest Contribution (YGC), avirtual comprehensive financial planning firm serving entrepreneursand professionals in their 20s, 30s and 40s that communicates withclients online. But she also mentioned that her very first clientswere a 60-year-old couple who hired her because, the husband toldher, the couple's tax advisor and had planner had passed away sothey wanted an advisor who could outlive them and pass on knowledgeto their children.

Brittney Castro founded Financially Wise Women, a LosAngeles-based financial planning firm focused on millennials andcharging an annual retainer rather than an AUM-based fee becausemany haven't yet accumulated a lot of assets.

The sole male in the group, Justin Sullivan, an investmentadvisor and vice president at a wealth management company, alsotalked about his focus on attracting millennial clients as a memberof a club in Atlanta geared to millennials.

All three highlighted how the profession allows them to make adifference in people's lives while maintaining their own work-lifebalance – which is also a focus of the campaign.