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The CFP Board’s new Board Chair and the Financial Planning Association’s new president started their new terms at the beginning of the year.
Terri Kallsen began her term on Jan. 1 as the CFP Board’s 2026 Chair (having been tapped as chair-elect in 2024). She will lead the board through the succession process for current CEO Kevin Keller, who will retire in April after leading the organization for nearly two decades.
“My first priority as Chair is to lead a rigorous CEO succession process that ensures continuity and stability for our organization,” Kallsen said. “This is more than just a leadership transition; it’s a decision that will shape the future of financial planning and determine how effectively we serve the public for decades to come.”
Kallsen is a managing partner and head of partnerships at Rise Growth Partners, the RIA investing company launched by former United Capital CEO Joe Duran. Previously, she served as the chief operating officer at Wealth Enhancement and as executive vice president of investor services at Charles Schwab, overseeing 7,000 employees and $1.6 trillion in managed assets.
Kallsen also cited artificial intelligence, ethics and the quality of financial planning as focus points during her tenure. Last year, the Board formulated an AI Working Group to investigate how the technology is changing the financial planning profession (the group included participants from LPL Financial, Ernst & Young, Orion, Fidelity and Edward Jones, among others).
At that time, the Board also announced that Barry Gersten would be the Board’s Head Technology Officer, following stints running his own practice and serving as chief technology officer for the American Nurses Association.
Earlier in the year, the CFP Board unveiled an AI-backed exam preparation tool for advisors preparing to sit for the CFP designation test. Last February, the Board released a Generative AI Ethics Guide to help advisors use generative AI in their practices while adhering to ethical standards.
Keller will step down on April 30, and the Board is searching both internally and externally for the organization’s next CEO. Since Keller took the top spot in 2007, the Board moved its headquarters from Denver to Washington, D.C., and revised its sanctions, procedural guidelines and standards (including the establishment of a fiduciary standard for CFP professionals).
Some of those changes followed a 2019 Wall Street Journal investigation that found the Board had failed to vet the regulatory, disciplinary and criminal histories of thousands of CFP professionals.
Meanwhile, at the FPA, Dan Galli also began his term as president of the organization for 2026 on Jan. 1 (the group serves as the leading trade association for CFP professionals).
Galli began his professional career as a teacher at Hatherly School in Massachusetts before transitioning to financial planning and founding Daniel J. Galli & Associates. He also worked as an adjunct instructor in financial planning courses at Northeastern University and Boston University.
“When we think about next-generation financial planners, they’re not only those fresh out of college but professionals like me who came to love serving people while bettering their financial lives after following a different job path,” Galli said.
Galli will work alongside FPA CEO Dennis Moore, who formally became the firm’s CEO last October. Moore had served as interim CEO since former FPA CEO Patrick Mahoney died in February 2024 after “a long and brave battle with cancer.” Moore was previously the organization’s chief operating officer.
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