Elissa is the new Chair of the Foundation for Financial Planning

Elissa has been honored by the Foundation for Financial Planning (FFP) by officially becoming the Chair of the Foundation for 2013 after serving as Chair-elect for 2012.

“We are about helping people in need take control of their financial lives through pro bono advice and financial skills education.” –Foundation for Financial Planning

The Foundation makes grants to organizations that deliver pro-bono financial planning services to those who would not otherwise have access to it. In addition to reaching the broader underrepresented market, the Foundation puts particular emphasis on providing outreach to military personnel and their families, and to high schools and youth organizations. The organizations typically sponsored, utilize financial planning practitioners who aim to provide unbiased advice to provide financial life skills education or in a time of crisis/disaster.

“We were invited to make a presentation on financial planning to wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A volunteer financial planner, who is also a graduate of the Naval Academy made a PowerPoint presentation, prepared through a grant from the Foundation for Financial Planning, to a group of wounded soldiers–several young married couples, a soldier who lost a leg and the husband of a soldier who lost both her legs. The session focused on goal setting, spending plans, savings plans, insurance, and other financial planning topics. The attendees were very pleased to learn this information and appreciated the fact that they were not being sold products or services.” -Director of the National Financial Planning Support Center

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable foundation with headquarters in Georgia (www.foundation-finplan.org). The endowment created by the Board of Trustees includes $13.3+ million in investments, $2.52 million in unconditional promises to give, with 51 major corporate donors, and just under 15,000 individual donors. Since 1998, the Foundation has awarded 140 grants totaling more than $4.6 million to qualified organizations in the U.S. The efforts of over 7,600 financial planner volunteers have provided nearly $18,000,000 (estimated value) in contributed services. Organizations that have been part of this mission include:

• American Red Cross, Southern Arizona
• Better Business Bureau Military Line
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Center for American Indian Economic Development
• Center for Women and Families
• Kentucky Domestic Violence Association
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
• Teen Financial Life Skills Education Program – Money Matters, Budgeting Matters, Credit Matters, Investing Matters
• United Way of the Bay Area

Visit the Foundation’s website for information on how you can contribute to making a difference in the financial lives of others.