Christina Lynn, Ph.D., CFP^®, CDFA^®, AFC^®

Designations and licenses

Christina is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, an Accredited Financial Counselor® and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®.

Experience and education

Christina leads an enterprise-wide professional development academy for financial professionals across wealth management, institutional advising, investment banking, tax and trust services. Her work focuses on behavioral science, adult learning and evidence-based communication. She is particularly passionate about motivational interviewing, an evidence-based approach to communication that helps financial professionals build trust, navigate difficult conversations, work through resistance and defensiveness and facilitate behavior change.

At Mariner Academy, Christina is integrating these ideas into the way financial professionals are trained across the firm. She leads the Academy’s curriculum design, capability standards, assessment and certification approach, technology and artificial intelligence strategy, and the measurement of how effectively professionals apply what they learn.

She holds a Ph.D. in personal financial planning from Kansas State University and is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers. Her research has been published in Financial Planning Review and other peer-reviewed financial planning journals, and she was a co-recipient of the 2024 AFCPE Outstanding Symposium Research Paper Award.

Personal interests

Christina’s goal is to help financial professionals have better conversations, create better client experiences and develop the skills that will continue to matter in an increasingly AI-driven profession.

Christina’s Office

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization’s initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.

*The Outstanding Symposium Research Paper Award was issued on November 22, 2024, by the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education® (AFCPE), an independent nonprofit organization, for work evaluated during the 2024 award year. The award is given annually based on a committee-reviewed, competitive assessment of research quality, innovation, and practical application with emphasis on relevance to household and consumer finance. This award is unrelated to investment performance. No compensation was provided in exchange for receiving this award. This award is not indicative of future performance, nor does it guarantee of future results. For additional information, visit www.afcpe.org.