Leveraging financial skills
The center leverages the skills and talents of students, faculty, staff and community members to address the growing concern of financial literacy by:
- Promoting financial wellness and financial planning throughout the greater Kalamazoo community through workshops, seminars, summer camps and research.
- Fostering and enhancing the financial literacy of area high school students, college students and southwest Michigan communities.
- Providing financial coaching to students prior to key financial decisions via a network of experienced practitioners and student interns.
- Conducting and publishing research related to the impact of financial literacy and planning education initiatives.
- Stimulating collaboration between financial planning practitioners and departmental faculty.
The Sanford Center for Financial Planning and Wellness is the culmination of Todd Sanford's vision. We are honored to be able to partner with him to realize the center’s goals. Its impact in terms of personal financial coaching as well as recruiting talented students into the profession will make a difference for individuals, families and the industry in substantial ways. We are extremely grateful to Todd for his meaningful gift that so perfectly captures what higher education is all about.
Meet Todd Sanford
In 2018, a multi-million-dollar gift by alumnus Todd Sanford established the Western Michigan University Center for Financial Planning and Wellness, which serves students and community members in a variety of ways.
One of those ways is through financial coaching where trained students provide financial advice and resources to fellow students and community members, under the supervision of experienced financial planners and faculty.
The center also seeks to build the financial planning talent pipeline by engaging students in WMU's personal financial planning major. The financial planning industry has a couple of significant issues facing its future—a shortage of qualified employees and a need for a more diverse workforce, including women and individuals of color. Those are areas where the center will have a significant impact through student outreach.
Sanford's vision is to develop a resource center that provides an integrated approach to personal finance and financial health in the region, with the goal of one day becoming a national model.
Sanford has been honored on Barron's Top Advisor List on multiple occasions, the Financial Times 400 List as a Top Advisor, and Forbes Magazine's State-by-State List of Top Advisors. He has also been recognized as a Top 10 Financial Advisor at Raymond James for more than a decade, out of more than 8,100 advisors. Additionally, Sanford earned an honorable mention for the Catalyst Award in the 2020 Invest in Others Awards. A WMU Bronco at heart, he bleeds brown and gold. He has had a 35-year affiliation with WMU, including his time as a finance student in the 1980s, a stint as an adjunct professor in finance, and now as an advisor to a variety of campus programs, as well as the new center. He has received the Department of Finance and Commercial Law Outstanding Alumni Award and the Haworth College of Business Outstanding Service Award.
Invest in the center
With your support, Western Michigan University's Sanford Center for Financial Planning and Wellness will:
- Promote financial wellness and planning in the greater Kalamazoo community through workshops, seminars, summer camps and research.
- Foster financial literacy for area high school students, college students and southwest Michigan communities.
- Provide financial coaching to students prior to key financial decisions via a network of experienced practitioners and student interns.
- Stimulate collaboration between financial planning practitioners and departmental faculty.
