800.875.1760
Purpose
The Board of Advisors Policy (the Policy) for IDFA sets out the approach to ensure a diverse Board of Advisors. This policy helps to ensure that the Board of Advisors represents the majority of the CDFA candidate’s backgrounds. The Board of Advisors is the final authority on certification requirements, disciplinary action, and the strategic goals of IDFA. IDFA staff cannot waive eligibility requirements or change certification requirements without Board of Advisors' approval. The Board of Advisors is a self-perpetuating body.
Responsibilities
- Establish and review the certification requirements including prerequisites.
- Approve educational materials prepared by external consultants
- Establish and review the Code of Ethics
- Final authority on all disciplinary measures.
- Establish and review recertification requirements.
- Assist in planning and presenting the annual conference.
- Final authority on complaints or exception requests from candidates and certificants.
- Provide oversight on exam development and delivery.
- Call for Job Task analysis at a minimum of every seven years.
Each will be reviewed at a minimum of once every three years and the Chair will appoint one Board member to lead a Task Force reviewing the standard(s). In addition, the BofA will be the final decision on all requests for exceptions and disciplinary appeals.
In addition, the BofA will participate in quarterly calls to review the strategic plans for IDFA and the CDFA designation. During the quarterly calls, the BofA will also hear any appeals escalated from the Ethics Steering Committee, requests for exceptions to the experience requirement, and concerns regarding the staff implementation of the policies and procedures. During the fourth quarter BofA call, the election for the new class and new Chair of the BOA will take place.
For information about the Board selection process, please see the Board of Advisors Nomination and Selection Policy.
Chair
Nancy Hetrick CDFA®,MAFF®,AWMA® is the founder and CEO of Smarter Divorce Solutions LLC, and the Divorce Financial Planner Training Center.
As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and forensic specialist, she assists divorcing clients by providing the financial expertise necessary to ensure the best possible outcomes. For financially complex cases, her team ensures all of the puzzle pieces are clearly identified and all strategies for division are explored.
She has over 20 years of experience in both investment management and financial planning and has specialized in divorce since 2011.
Nancy has become a nationally known trainer for Divorce Financial Planners and offers continuing education and intensive advanced training for CDFA® holders through www.DivorceFinancialTraining.com.
She is the author of “Divorce Financial Planning; Building a Successful Niche Business”, Divorce Is Not For Dummies; How To Cover Your Assets and the co-author of The Stress-Free Divorce, Volume 2.
Third Year Members
Denise French is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) and Founder of Divorce Strategies Group, a Divorce Financial Planning, Financial Expert and Mediation firm located in The Woodlands, TX. Denise is also a Master Analyst in Financial Forensics (MAFF ®), a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA ®), a Collaborative Law Financial Expert, holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®) designation and is a Credentialed Advanced Mediator under the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. Depending on the facts of each case, Denise works directly with clients in either the role of a financial neutral or a financial advisor advocating for one party. No matter how they divorce, Denise’s goal is to help clients walk through the process without catastrophic loss to their estate and with the ability to co-parent afterward intact. In addition to working directly with divorcing clients, Denise and her team of accountants assist Attorneys by providing forensic accounting, business valuation, general financial services, and expert testimony in trial. She and her team have worked on hundreds of cases throughout Montgomery County, Harris County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, Hays County and Travis County in Texas as well as various neutral services throughout the country. In addition, Denise is a fee-based Investment Advisor Representative with French Financial Group under the umbrella of Belpointe Wealth Management. Denise helps clients with post-divorce transition management, including the transfer of assets post-divorce, investment management and financial planning. Denise began her career in the financial services industry in 1996 with AIM Management (now INVESCO) and has held various roles in advising clients on investment strategy and portfolio construction since that time. She now focuses her investment management practice on the divorce financial planning niche and has done so since she started her own firm in 2012. More information can be found regarding the services provided by Denise French and her team at www.DivorceStrategiesGroup.com and www.French.Financial.
From a young age Alyssa has had a passion for finance, starting work at the family practice, Feldmeyer Financial Group, at the age of 15. After finishing both a BSBA in International Business and a BA in Spanish Language from The Ohio State University, Alyssa decided to break away from the family practice and venture into the corporate world. Years later, after starting a family of her own, Alyssa decided to rejoin the family practice. Since 2018, she has been exclusively handling all divorce cases for the practice, and in 2020 she spearheaded the creation of Ben and Alyssa’s divorce consulting company, Alternative Divorce Solutions, to separate the financial planning practice and the divorce consulting work.
Second Year Members
Andrew Hatherley is the founder and CEO of Wiser Divorce Solutions, LLC and Transcend Retirement, LLC and the host of The Gray Divorce Podcast.
Andrew founded Wiser Divorce Solutions in 2017. After going through his own divorce, Andrew decided to help others avoid the financial and emotional stress so common to the process. Andrew earned the designation Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® and is trained in both divorce mediation and Collaborative Divorce. In 2022, Andrew started The Gray Divorce Podcast, which is focused on mid-late life divorcees. Andrew also founded the Wiser Divorce Workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the workshop, Andrew and other divorce professionals educate people about the legal, financial, and emotional aspects of divorce.
Andrew has over 25 years’ experience in investment management and financial planning and has earned the designation Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor®. He has also studied with leaders in the field of humanistic and positive psychology. He is a strong advocate for the role creativity can play in growing personally after trauma.
Through his investment advisory firm Transcend Retirement, he helps people with the financial transition after divorce. Andrew believes in the concept of financial life planning and seeks to help his clients build the financial foundation for a meaningful life after divorce. Andrew believes that money should not be an end, instead it is a tool used to live a life of contentment and purpose.
Andrew has a Master of Business Administration from McGill University and ESADE. He has lived and worked in five countries and speaks Spanish. Andrew loves to write, travel, play pickleball and tennis and discuss classic movies with fellow film buffs.
First Year Members
Jason prides himself on investing the time and attention to become a complete financial partner to his clients. He takes a holistic, personalized approach to financial well-being, providing his clients the tailored guidance and advice necessary to invest based on their needs, help secure their futures, and achieve their goals.
Jason graduated from Ball State University in 1999 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and received his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in 2002. After graduating, Jason specialized in providing high-level tax and financial solutions with a national accounting firm where he advised individuals, families, and companies for 10 years. During his time there, he co-founded the financial services division of the firm for the Indianapolis area, helping to build the division from the ground up.
From there, Jason went on to serve as a financial advisor at a nationally recognized brokerage firm for 7 years. During this time, he received his Certified Divorce Financial Analyst license (CDFA®). The insight and expertise he gained during that process is critical to the advocacy he provides clients going through divorce.
Today Jason is actively engaged in helping the legal community understand the financial needs of their clients, especially those navigating the complexities of divorce. He is a regular speaker at the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum and the Indianapolis Bar Association.
Jason – a life-long resident of Indiana – is originally from Terre Haute and now resides in Fishers with his wife, Melissa, and their two daughters, Grace and Macy. He is an avid Indianapolis Colts fan and enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf.
Sam established Coastal Divorce Advisors to provide clients with the support and guidance they need to make smart, unemotional financial decisions as they navigate the often overwhelming divorce process. Prior to founding the firm, Sam was a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in New York City, where he developed financial plans, asset allocation models, and appropriate investment strategies for high-net-worth clients.
Born and raised in Savannah, Sam graduated from St. Andrew’s on the Marsh. He received a BA in Spanish from Furman University, in Greenville, South Carolina, and an MBA, with a dual concentration in finance and management, from Fordham University in New York City.
Sam also earned both the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA™) designations as well as holds life, health and accident life insurance licenses. He is a member of the CFA Institute, the Atlanta Society of Financial and Investment Professionals (ASFIP), the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA) and the Association of Divorce Financial Planners (ADFP).
Sam frequently testifies as an expert witness in divorce cases, having testified in over 30 bench and jury trials.
After spending 16 years in New York City, he returned to Savannah with his wife and their two young sons in 2015. Sam enjoys running and biking, and completed the NYC Marathon in 2004. He is also proficient in Spanish.
