The CFP Board announced that its Board of Directors has elected three new members. 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.
The new members are Evelyn Zohlen, CFP®, Drew McMorrow, CFP® and Zar Toolan. Their role will be to act on behalf of the public, CFP® professionals and other stakeholders to further the missions of CFP Board of Standards and CFP Board Center for Financial Planning.
“Welcoming Evelyn, Drew and Zar to the Board of Directors is a genuine privilege,” said CFP Board Chair-Elect Martin Seay, Ph.D., CFP®. “They bring a wealth of experience, valuable perspectives and a shared dedication to the financial planning profession. I look forward to working with each of them to advance CFP® certification and provide more Americans with access to ethical, competent financial advice.”
The three were elected following an analysis by the Board’s Nominating Committee that identified three recruitment priorities to ensure that the Board has the diversity of experience, viewpoints and representation necessary for good governance: a client-facing CFP® practitioner, a CFP® professional in an RIA leadership role, and a technology professional with expertise in artificial intelligence.
The Board detailed the backgrounds and credentials of the new members:
- Evelyn M. Zohlen, MBA, CFP® is Regional Director and Senior Wealth Advisor at Apella Wealth, where she leads the firm’s Southwest Region while continuing to serve financial planning clients. She founded Inspired Financial in 2003 and served as CEO until the firm’s acquisition by Apella Wealth in 2023. Zohlen has also been an active volunteer leader, serving as President-Elect, President, and Chairman of the Financial Planning Association and currently serves on the Directors & Officers Committee and Executive Committee of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra.Earlier in her career, Zohlen served as a Relationship Manager at The Vanguard Group, advising institutional retirement plan clients with assets ranging from $175 million to $500 million.
- Drew McMorrow, MBA, CFP® is President & CEO of Ballentine Partners, an independent multi-family office serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families and family offices in the United States and internationally. He leads the firm’s strategy and operations while advising multi-generational families on complex wealth management matters, including investments, estate and tax planning, philanthropy, family governance and multigenerational wealth. Calling on a background in business consulting and management, Drew frequently advises families with significant business ownership as issues of strategy and governance intersect with planning issues.
- Zar Toolan, MBA is CEO of Archevia Advisors, a data and AI advisory firm serving wealthtech companies, financial planning firms and startups. Drawing on more than two decades of leadership in financial services, Toolan advises Fortune 500 organizations on AI strategy, enterprise transformation, data governance and responsible AI adoption. In earlier roles, Toolan served as Chief Data & AI Officer and Head of Wealth Platforms at Edward Jones, where he built and led the enterprise data, AI, and knowledge management strategy and launched the firm’s first GenAI and Agentic AI capabilities.
The term of current Board Chair Terri Kallsen, CFP® will expire Dec.31. On January 1, Martin Seay, Ph.D., CFP® will assume the role of Board Chair, and Richard Shaw, MBA, CFP® will become Board Chair-Elect.
The new Board members’ three-year terms begin on January 1, 2027, and end on December 31, 2029. With the three new members, the Board in 2027 will comprise 15 voting members (10 CFP® professionals and 5 non-CFP® professionals — three of whom are public members). CFP Board CEO K. Dane Snowden will continue as a nonvoting member, bringing the total number of Board members to 16.
Hyman Cotter PC represents advisors, brokers and other financial professional in all matters involving the CFP Board, including CFP Board investigations. Headquartered in Chicago, our securities attorneys represent clients nationwide. For more information relating to CFP Board investigations and discipline or other matters, contact Hyman Cotter at (833) 665-0784 or through our online contact form for a free consultation.
