CFP Board Elects Two New Directors

October 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT

CFP Board today announced that its Board of Directors has elected two new members: Nicole Iannarone, J.D. and Chad Soukup, CFP^®, CPA, CFA^®. The Board of Directors is the policymaking and oversight body of CFP Board of Standards and CFP Board Center for Financial Planning and acts on behalf of CFP^® professionals and the public to advance the profession.

“It’s a privilege to welcome Nicole and Chad to our Board of Directors,” said CFP Board Chair-Elect Terri Kallsen, CFP^®. “They bring rich experience in the financial services ecosystem and a devotion to promoting ethical standards. I am eager to work alongside them to advance the financial planning profession and serve the public.”

In preparation for selecting candidates for its next class of Board Directors, the Board’s Nominating Committee conducted a detailed gap analysis to identify professional experiences, skills and business model knowledge that would best complement the current directors — advancing CFP Board’s mission and driving its strategic priorities forward. While most Board members hold CFP^®certification and have senior-level industry experience, CFP Board’s bylaws require at least two members to represent the public. These public members bring external expertise to ensure diverse perspectives. Based on this analysis, the committee identified giving Board member selection priority to the following:

A public member with federal or state financial regulatory background.

A CFP^® professional from an RIA with an active CPA license.

After reviewing more than 75 applications for the two available Board seats, the Nominating Committee prioritized candidates whose professional experiences, skills and business model expertise aligned with the stated priorities. Guided by the Nominating Committee’s recommendation, the Board elected the following two new members:

Nicole Iannarone, J.D., the newly elected public member of the Board, is a lawyer with deep understanding and expertise in the cross section of financial regulatory law and the teaching of financial compliance, regulation and ethics at the university level. Nicole is an Associate Professor of Law at Drexel University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law focusing on retail investor issues. She is the immediate past Chair of FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee. She founded the Investor Advocacy Clinic at Georgia State University College of Law where she oversaw students’ representation of consumer investors with small claims in FINRA arbitration. Nicole has deep experience serving in leadership roles within nonprofit Boards and Committees including as President of the Atlanta Bar Association and Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Professionalism Committee. She has served as a public member of CFP Board’s Public Policy Council since 2020. Nicole holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.S. in History from Brenau Women’s College.

Chad Soukup, CFP^®, CPA, CFA^®, is an experienced financial advisor with a focus on strategic wealth management and holistic financial planning for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families. He specializes in multigenerational wealth planning, developing comprehensive income and estate tax strategies, and helping families navigate the sale of their privately held business. Chad is a Partner and Equity Owner at JVL Wealth Strategies, where he serves as a lead client-facing advisor as well as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. His career began at National RIA Plante Moran Financial Advisors, where he served as an advisor to affluent families, executives, successful professionals and business owners. At Plante Moran, Chad also served on the firm’s Investment Research Committee and participated on multiple teams that evaluated strategic software decisions and technology implementation plans for the practice. Along with his CFP^® certification and CFA^® charter, Chad holds an active CPA license in the state of Michigan. He earned his B.B.A. in Accounting and an M.B.A. with an emphasis on Accounting & Finance, both from Grand Valley State University.

On December 31, 2025, the term of Current Board Chair Liz Miller, CFP^®, CFA^® will expire. On January 1, Terri Kallsen, CFP^® will take the reins as Board Chair and Martin Seay, Ph.D., CFP^®will become Board Chair-Elect.

“We are grateful to Liz for her enthusiastic service on the Board of Directors,” said Kallsen. “Her guidance and dedication to representing CFP Board, CFP^® professionals and the public will leave a lasting impact.”

The new Board members’ three-year terms begin on January 1, 2026, and end on December 31, 2028. This year’s class will be the fifth Board class eligible to be reelected by the Board for a second three-year term. With the two new members elected this month, the Board in 2026 will comprise 13 voting members (nine CFP^® professionals and four professionals without CFP^® certification — three of whom are public members). The CFP Board CEO is a nonvoting member, bringing the total number of Board members to 14.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public’s benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® certification — widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners — so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP^® certification is held by more than 106,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession’s body of knowledge.