CFP scholarships offer up to $5,000 to women career-changers

Cary Carbonaro and the CFP Board announced the Cary Carbonaro Women & Wealth Scholarship earlier this month. The program will provide awards of up to $5,000 to women switching careers into financial advising. Twenty scholarships will be distributed over five years to applicants who demonstrate financial need.

Applications are open through Sept. 30 and recipients will be announced in December. Eligible applicants must identify as career-changers and have never worked in the financial services industry. Candidates must hold an undergraduate degree and be enrolled in a certificate-level CFP Board Registered Program. Applicants may not have completed six or more courses at the time of application; recipients who have not yet enrolled must start a certificate program within three months of receiving an award.

The application requires an essay describing financial need and proof that the applicant meets the career-changer definition. A scholarship panel will review submissions and select winners based on the program criteria. All eligible applicants will receive a copy of Carbonaro’s book, Women and Wealth: A Playbook to Empower Clients and Unlock Their Fortune.

Carbonaro, a managing wealth advisor at Ashton Thomas Private Wealth and a CFP Board ambassador, identified a gap in funding for career-changers pursuing CFP credentials and helped design the scholarship to fill that gap. She described career-changers as bringing life experience to advising work and said existing scholarships tended to target students rather than midcareer entrants.

The scholarship follows industry data showing women make up 24% of CFP professionals. A 2019 survey found nearly three-quarters of women were interested in changing careers, and 16% said lack of money prevented them from doing so. Among women who moved into financial services, common motivations included better work-life balance, improved financial security, renewed passion and greater job stability. The CFP Board reported that providing clearer information about the profession increased interest among women from 71% to 89%.

Organizers expect the awards to help professionals such as teachers and nonprofit workers who want to retrain for advising roles but face financial barriers. Recipients will be required to enroll in a CFP Board Registered Program and proceed toward certification under program rules.