Brooke Stephens

Financial Planner and Author

Brooke Stephens, a 20-year veteran of Wall Street, started her career as an international trade officer in West Africa with Chase and was a senior investment consultant for Citicorp Investment Services in New York.  

Ms. Stephens has been a certified financial planner, a stockbroker, an insurance agent and a registered investment advisor in Brooklyn, New York. She completed her studies in marketing and finance at Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, has a B.A. degree from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and an M.A. from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Ms. Stephens is the author of “Talking Dollars and Making Sense: A Wealth-Building Guide for African-Americans,” published in 1996, has became a bestseller among business books and continues to sell successfully on Amazon.com and specialty bookstores targeted at the African-American market; “Wealth Happens One Day At A Time: 365 Days to a Brighter Financial Future” and “The Brooke Stephens Wealth-Building Journal.”

She has been featured in Reader's Digest, Money, The Washington Post, Working Woman, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and USA Today, which described her most recent book as the best new money book to help you turn your financial life around. She has also written for Black Enterprise, Essence, Self and MS magazines. Among the web sites where you can find her advice are BET.COM and Working Woman Online.

Over the past few years, Brooke has appeared as a regular guest on many nationally syndicated radio shows and television programs, including CNBC's "Power Lunch," CNN-FN's "it's Only Money," and CNN's "Your Money with Stuart Varney." For two years she was the weekly personal finance expert on FX Cable's morning show, "Breakfast Time." She is now a regular personal finance commentator on NPR's "The Tavis Smiley Show," PBS's "Nightly Business Report" and the Bloomberg "Morning Report."

Ms. Stephens was first listed in Who's Who In Finance and Industry in 1986, and was on the Board of Directors of the New York Society of Certified Financial Planners. She is currently on the Advisory Board for Girls, Inc. and chairs their Economic Literacy Committee. She has taught financial seminars for organizations like the American Management Association and the Institute for International Research, among others.  

Currently, Ms. Stephens is conducting workshops sponsored by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Office of Financial empowerment, as well as workshops for military families and veterans around the country.