Christopher Jackson Awarded LearnLux CFP® Opportunity Scholarship

LearnLux, the leading provider of trusted workplace financial wellbeing, is proud to announce the 2026 CFP^® Exam Opportunity Scholarship winner, Christopher Jackson.

This scholarship program aims to empower underrepresented individuals from any socioeconomic background who aspire to earn their Certified Financial Planner^® certification. The program is designed to increase the diversity of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability within the financial planning profession and the financial wellbeing space as a whole.  

Promoting Diversity in the Financial Wellbeing Industry

In 2025, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) reported another record year of growth and diversity among CFP® professionals. The total number of CFP® professionals reached an all-time high of 107,529, a 4.3% increase over 2024.

The class of 2025 welcomed 6,709 new CFP^® professionals, the most ever in a single year, with 3,964 of them under age 35. It was also the most diverse class in CFP Board history. The total number of racially and ethnically diverse professionals rose to 11,195, now 10.4% of all CFP^® professionals, after growing 9.3% over the prior year. Women made gains too, with 1,694 earning certification in 2025 and the total reaching a record 25,601, or 23.8% of all CFP^® professionals.

Initiatives like the LearnLux CFP^® Exam Opportunity Scholarship support this work, helping more candidates from all backgrounds earn certification. A larger and more diverse pool of highly credentialed, ethical financial planners helps employers and employees reach their financial wellbeing goals, and meets growing demand for trusted financial guidance.

About The LearnLux CFP® Opportunity Scholarship

The LearnLux CFP^® Exam Opportunity Scholarship is awarded annually and supports recipients to sit for the CFP^® exam within 18 months. Recipients join a growing network of LearnLux financial planner professionals and fellow awardees who are making their mark in the financial wellbeing industry.

“We believe it’s our responsibility to foster greater belonging and representation within the financial wellbeing industry,” says Rebecca Liebman, CEO and Co-Founder of LearnLux. “As diversity in the profession continues to grow, we’re proud to contribute through the LearnLux CFP^® Exam Opportunity Scholarship. This year, we’re thrilled to support an exceptional recipient whose work reflects excellence, community impact, and a commitment to inclusion in financial planning.”

To celebrate this year’s scholarship winner, we spoke with Christopher to learn about his aspirations, career so far, and what winning the scholarship means to him.  

Christopher, congrats on being the 2026 recipient of the LearnLux CFP^® Exam Opportunity Scholarship. Tell us a bit about yourself, and your career so far.

"I work daily with first-generation, low-to-moderate income, and minority families making six-figure college decisions without professional guidance. I have helped hundreds of families save tens of thousands. My FAFSA and CFO parent workshops reach 100-plus families per semester. My tools are designed for 10,000-plus families annually. My goal is to help one million families graduate debt-free. 

Teaching full-time, building a business, studying for the CFP^®, raising kids, some days I wonder if it's too much. But then I think about the families who thought college meant $100k in debt until we optimized their FAFSA strategy. The students who graduated with money in the bank. The first-generation families who now understand that financial planning is not just for wealthy people."

How will the LearnLux CFP^® Opportunity Scholarship support you in your career endeavors?

"Right now, I'm “the teacher who knows about money.” With the CFP® certification, I become "the Certified Financial Planner^® professional specializing in college financing for working families." That distinction transforms everything: workshop proposals get approved, parents trust the strategies, and partnership doors open.

Winning the LearnLux CFP^® Exam Scholarship eliminates my biggest challenge in earning the CFP^® credential: affording it. The exam costs $2,000-3,000 for registration, materials, and prep resources, a large expense on a teacher's salary, especially while building FinLit Garden at night and on weekends.

That same $2,000-3,000 represents months of savings and an impossible choice. It's either the exam or keeping my tools running: the FAFSA chatbot families rely on, the marketing needed to reach more students, or the award letter comparison system I'm developing. This scholarship means I don't have to choose between earning the credential and serving families right now.

It means I can keep both plates spinning, exam prep and business, without dropping either one. It accelerates my journey from educator to Certified Financial Planner^® professional, serving the communities that traditional financial planning has left behind.

This scholarship represents validation that serving underserved families through unconventional delivery deserves support. LearnLux recognizes that financial planning needs to meet families where they are, not where advisors wish they were."

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Congratulations, Christopher! To learn more or apply for the LearnLux CFP^® Opportunity Scholarship, visit https://info.learnlux.com/apply-for-the-learnlux-cfp-scholarship.

To learn more about the CFP^® Board's certification process, visit: https://www.cfp.net/get-certified/certification-process

About

LearnLux is the leading global workplace financial wellbeing provider that blends 1:1 guidance from Certified Financial Planner^® professionals with best-in-class money management tools. LearnLux's award-winning program equips employees with a financial plan to guide them through decision points like budgeting, paying down debt, electing benefits, understanding equity compensation, starting a family, buying a home, saving for retirement, and more. Advanced reporting keeps our partners in the know, and drives results like reduction in financial stress, increased productivity, reduced employee turnover, greater use of pretax products, on-time retirement, and healthcare savings. LearnLux members feel great about their money, allowing their work and wellbeing to thrive. Learn more at learnlux.com.