Women’s Alliance launches Future Advisor Circle

The Women’s Alliance of Financial Advisors has launched the Future Advisor Circle and the Big Sis Career Navigator to mentor students and professionals changing careers who want to enter financial planning. A pilot session earlier this year attracted more than 100 participants, and formal mentor pairings are scheduled to begin this fall. The program is free for students and costs $75 a year for other professionals.

The Future Advisor Circle will add matched mentorships, group conversations and practical career guidance to the Alliance’s existing one-on-one support. Organizers expect the combined offerings to reach roughly 200 current and aspiring professionals once the Big Sis mentorships begin. The Alliance has about 600 members after doubling its size in two years and plans to expand its regional presence from nine satellite extensions to 16 by 2028.

The program responds in part to the low share of women among certified financial planners: fewer than a quarter of CFPs are female. The Alliance developed the Future Advisor Circle to broaden networks for women who are underrepresented, provide targeted career guidance and address factors that contribute to early-career departures.

CEO Stephanie Gularte noted, “We really seek to move the future advisors from point A to point B in getting them closer to where they want to be in their career path.” Board member Laura Webb recalled attending a conference that reinforced the importance of community in helping newcomers decide whether to enter or remain in the profession.

Webb described a former advisor who left the industry after struggling as the only woman in her branch office and said the Alliance intends the new program to give early-career women options and a place to discuss workplace concerns. “The energy is so wonderful and so high,” she added when describing the conference experience that influenced the program design.

At a recent panel, vice president and wealth management advisor Kate Shannon framed mentoring as a way to support other advisors’ careers and long-term client work, asking, “How can I champion somebody else’s life, somebody else’s legacy?” Nicole James Gilchrist, managing counsel in wealth and investment management, pointed to network introductions as a source of learning opportunities and emphasized the need for time commitment from both mentors and mentees. “Time is precious, and we don’t have a lot of it,” she said. “When you decide to be a mentor, or if you want to be a mentee, make sure that people are committed to the time investment that it takes.”

Program leaders say the Future Advisor Circle will combine short-term career coaching with longer-term mentor relationships, pairing one-on-one mentorships with peer groups and larger networking events. The Alliance describes the Big Sis model as a confidential setting where early-career women can raise questions about firm culture, what to ask employers and how to evaluate career options with mentors who have direct industry experience.

Organizers plan to recruit volunteer mentors from the Alliance membership and to roll out the formal mentorship matches in the fall. Enrollment details and the regional expansion timeline were provided by Alliance leadership as the group prepares to scale the program over the next few years.