The founder of the AAAA Foundation, LeCount R. Davis, Sr. earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional designation granted by the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado, becoming the first African-American to earn the designation. He is a licensee of the Certified Planner Board of Standards.

LeCount has spent his career focused on creating pathways for African-Americans in financial planning and serving communities of color. For over six years, he published a quarterly financial education newsletter, “Finance and the African-American Family.”

LeCount has Bachelors and Masters degrees in Accounting and additional training and extensive experience in accounting, tax planning, financial planning, and financial management and investment consulting. His experience in both the public and private sectors includes several years as a Senior Consultant with a Washington, D.C., CPA firm.

He also served as Assistant Director of Finance for an international labor organization, concentrating in the Caribbean and South America. He’s appeared on many television shows as the financial expert, discussing financial planning and advisory issues.

In 1970, LeCount established his own consulting firm specializing in tax planning, small business management, financial planning, financial management and investment consulting. His personal client portfolio includes national organizations, international labor unions, pension funds, individuals, small businesses, religious organizations, investment clubs and other entities. He has served as a lecturer in Accounting at Howard University, in Washington, D.C., and in Financial Management in Howard’s School of Continuing Education. He hosted the financial show Common Cents for the Howard University station.

“My mission in life has been to help my people handle money well so as to be able to create and transfer wealth.”

– LeCount R. Davis, MBA, CFP®

Lazetta Rainey Braxton MBA, CFP®, co-founder and co-CEO of 2050 Wealth Partners, is on a mission to bring solid financial advice to every person. She focuses on creating a safe place for clients to realize their goals and dreams through the wise use of financial resources in a no-shame zone.

Recognized for her leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and dedication to the financial planning profession, Lazetta was named one of Investment News’ Inaugural Women to Watch and Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion recipients. She also received the Association of African American Financial Advisors’ Leadership Legacy Award and the Heart of Financial Planning award from the Financial Planning Association.

Lazetta has appeared on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, Nightly Business Report, and CNBC’s Closing Bell. She is a member of the CNBC Digital Financial Advisor Council and a contributor on Wealth Management to the WSJ Experts blog.

Her latest endeavor was to join strengths with advisor Rianka R. Dorsainvil, CFP® to create 2050 Wealth Partners, a firm dedicated to making great advice available to a wider audience. With a special emphasis on first generation wealth-builders and young professionals, they hope to “truly change the world – one financial plan at a time.”

“You have to show people and teach people cultural competency. Even if you show them that, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to be received. That’s why I always tell firm leaders that you are your best marketing, your people are, we can’t do that for you. You’ve got to do the work.”

– Lazetta Rainey Braxton, MBA, CFP®

Faith, family, community, and profession are core values that guide Dr. Preston Cherry in his mission to better his clients’ lives through sound financial coaching. He works with clients to achieve what he calls Life Money Balance™ aspirations, in which their values drive their money instead of the other way around.

He currently serves on boards whose missions represent his values. He’s a Board member on the Financial Therapy Association, the Association of African American Financial Advisors Foundation, and the Texas Tech Personal Financial Planning Alumni Board. He recently served two terms on the FPA® National Conference Task Force, and he actively served on the Boards of Lubbock Habitat for Humanity and the 100 Black Men of West Texas.

With a driving commitment to education and lifelong learning, Preston is a professor of finance at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and an Executive Business Coach for Carson Group. He teaches graduate and undergraduate level fundamentals of financial planning courses, and across all financial planning modules of the CFP® exam review, as well as mentoring students.

His degrees include an MS and Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning from Texas Tech University and a BBA in Finance from Prairie View A&M University.

“Our finances, our emotions, they’re tied to our work. They’re tied to our experiences. They’re tied to our practices, our behaviors, our blood, sweat and tears. So it’s really not even the dollars and cents of it. It’s the emotions tied to it. Are you open to healing those practices and living healthier in your money life and your personal life as well?”

– Preston D. Cherry, Ph.D., CFP®

Walter is the Chief Operating Officer of MarketCounsel, a premier business and regulatory consulting firm focused exclusively on the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) sector. He also directs and coordinates the content for MarketCounsel, as well as speaking regularly at industry events.

After a long and decorated career as an advisor, Walter is committed to developing the profession by serving on several boards and initiatives in the advisory space. From philanthropic concerns to community organizations like the AAAA Foundation, Walter has offered wisdom and support to young professionals and causes close to his heart.

Walter is also a prolific, published author, speaker and subject matter expert. His articles and insights have been featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Social Justice Investor, FinancialPlanning.com, WealthManagement.com and several academic conferences.

“The ultimate competitive advantage in life and in your career is the ability to become. In the end, it matters less what I am than what I can be. What drives me to the latter, hopefully, is an intrinsic sense of wanting to live the best life.”

– Walter K. Booker

You can find Trudy sitting with finance students at Texas Tech, talking through their vision and dreams for the future. Her commitment to mentoring is the position she describes as the “most impactful” of a varied and accomplished career.

In her position as a VP and Senior Wealth Manager for the Dallas office of Goldman Sachs, Trudy counsels clients on investment opportunities in alignment with the client's needs, goals and tolerance for risk. She feels that financial care is not only her profession – but her calling, as well as mentoring and shaping young students who are looking to a career in finance.

She brings over a decade of financial services experience in wealth management, insurance underwriting and public accounting to the table, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science in Accountancy from the University of North Texas. She has also earned CPA/PFS and CFP® designations.

Trudy served as the 2006 President of the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter of the FPA and as one of three co-founders of the FPA Diversity Committee. Within her local community, Trudy has served on the Parkland Foundation Planned Giving Council, the Greater Dallas Business Ethics Awards Steering Committee and as a Board Director for the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas.

“First, there's awareness, then there's exposure, and finally there's the opportunity. And that's how we make this profession better.”

– Trudy R. Turner, CPA/PFS, CFP®