D.A. Abrams, CAE

David Anthony (D.A.) Abrams is the Chief Operating Officer at Groundswell. In his role, D.A. is responsible for people & culture, market development & deployment, finance & accounting, legal, and overall operations.

Prior to joining the Groundswell team, D.A. served as the Managing Director for the CFP Board (Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc.) Center for Financial Planning. While in the role, D.A. was responsible for cultivating a quality workforce fostering a more diverse financial planner workforce reflective of the changing U.S. demographics and elevating the discipline of financial planning to increase the stature and recognition of financial planning faculty and educational programs and provide practitioners with cutting-edge knowledge to thrive while providing outstanding service to clients. 

D.A. is the immediate past Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the United States Tennis Association (USTA), a position he assumed in February 2012 and concluded prior to joining the CFP Board. During his 26 years with the USTA, D.A. served as the Executive Director and Chief Staff Executive for the Association’s USTA Eastern and USTA Missouri Valley section offices.  

Additionally, D.A. served as the staff member of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Hispanic Engagement Advisory Group, and National Committee Appointment Process, and he was the chair of the D&I Advisory Group at the USTA. He was also the chair of the USTA’s Accreditation Review Committee.

D.A. currently serves as the Vice President of the Millersville University Foundation, which operates with total assets exceeding $80 million and manages an endowment portfolio of over 1,100 scholarship and program accounts. He is the immediate Past Chairman and President of the Black Tennis Hall of Fame, the National Association of Asian American Professionals Board of Directors (Treasurer), and he is a former President of the Diversity & Inclusion Sports Consortium.

D.A. played collegiate tennis at Millersville University in Pennsylvania where he earned his undergraduate degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting. Subsequently, he earned a master’s degree from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minnesota. D.A. earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential in 2010.