Our Roots
About Us
The Association for Wholesaling Diversity (AWD) began as a like-minded cohort of African-American External Wholesalers in the financial services industry. Originally called 'Black External Wholesalers', the organization primarily utilized word-of-mouth & the business networking platform LinkedIn to identify financial services industry external wholesalers who were also black; in order to network, share universal best practices & sales ideas, assist black internal wholesalers in their efforts to become external wholesalers and educate black youth about the career opportunities in our niche within the financial services industry.
What We Do: A Brief Snapshot
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AWD formally trains & mentors black college students in preparation for careers in wholesaling.
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AWD subsidizes the costs of members' professional resume review, interview prep & career coaching.
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AWD provides need-based scholarships for members earning their professional designations.
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AWD provides an instant industry-wide community to black wholesalers & black individuals adjacent to wholesaling,
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AWD members know they are NOT alone in this business.
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AWD speaks to black college students nationwide about wholesaling as a career choice.
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AWD collects & distributes financial services wholesaling job opportunities to candidates & students nationwide.
Our Vision
A financial services industry wholesaler workforce that reflects the 12.4% African-American demographic of the United States. AWD values and supports diversity in all respects while focusing primarily on African-Americans financial professionals.
Our Mission
To facilitate exponential growth in the number of African-American financial services industry external wholesalers, all of whom are exceptional at their craft and leaders in their respective organizations.
To mentor African-American internal wholesalers aspiring to become external wholesalers, and external wholesalers aspiring to become managers and leaders of distribution.
To recruit African-American college students into the financial services wholesaling industry, retain them by providing a framework for them to engage with--and observe excellence from--peers and leaders who look like them.
To recognize the accomplishments of and leverage the expertise of African-American wholesalers within our network to achieve our stated goals.
Our Strategy
AWD provides outreach to predominantly African-American communities in order to educate members of these communities about career opportunities in our industry, in an effort to increase the number of African-American applicants in our industry.
AWD actively partners with financial services firms who recognize the need to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion within their organizations.
AWD provides mentoring, resume review, business plan refinement, interview preparation, and career counseling to African-American internal wholesalers seeking to become exceptional external wholesalers.
The Association for Wholesaling Diversity (AWD) rests on four pillars:
Community: Most financial services wholesaling firms employ a relatively small number of black wholesalers (fewer than 1% across the entire industry according to LIMRA). AWD represents a safe space for black wholesalers (wholesalers, strategic accounts, advanced markets, from top managers to entry-level interns in each) to engage with each other, from across the industry--all channels, all products, all firms, all regions, all levels of experience. AWD also builds & maintains relationships with black financial services employees who do not wholesale, but are adjacent to wholesaling (e.g. - trainers, compliance professionals, marketing professionals, product analysts, portfolio managers, etc.).
Development: AWD provides an array of resources to our members as they continue to hone their skills and master their craft. Workshops, Symposiums, Roundtables, Conference Calls and One-on-Ones are all provided to members--at no cost--to aid in their ongoing professional wholesaler enrichment and development.
Advancement: Through partnerships with our corporate sponsors and select recruiting firms, AWD facilitates connections between financial services wholesaling employers and diverse candidates at all levels to foster member mobility up the sales vertical.
Recruiting: Through partnerships with academic institutions and black student leadership groups at those institutions, AWD educates black students at the university, college, and high school levels about financial services wholesaling as a career choice. We also, provide students who engage with us direct contacts to our corporate sponsors and their ongoing efforts to recruit diverse entry-level talent.
To potential sponsors and partners, if you have a recruiting need, AWD can help by sharing your job opportunities with our members via an array of communication forums (LinkedIn, Slack, GroupMe, the members-only portion of our Website and our weekly email distribution list).
Our members are black financial services wholesaling professionals serving all channels, all lines of business, all regions of the United States of America, from many financial services firms, at all levels of wholesaling (from interns to heads of distribution) and adjacent to wholesaling (compliance, training, product analysis, portfolio management, etc.). We are the only organization of our kind on Earth.