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(BALTIMORE – September 26, 2022) – The featured guest on Doni Glover Show is Sharif J. Small who will discuss his upcoming wealth summit at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. This annual event for Small has become a staple in Baltimore. Be sure to tune in to tomorrow’s show LIVE at 9 am EST on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, & Twitter:
Who is Sharif?
Sharif J. Small’s personal background starts with him and his twin brother being raised by a single father in the Park Heights area of Baltimore. They have a loving and caring father who kept them away from all the drugs, violence, and gang activity within the neighborhood. Instead, their father encouraged them to play various sports growing up. These sports activities played a big part in shaping the two brothers. Sports helped save their lives. More importantly to Sharif, their father also introduced them to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, at a very early age.
Sharif has worked in the accounting and financial service industry for over 15 years. He began his career as a Financial Advisor for MassMutual Financial Group and he also worked his father’s tax practice. While at MassMutual, he obtained the Life & Health, Series 6, 63, 65, and Life/Health insurance licenses. Also, Sharif has over 12 years of bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll experience performing contracting projects for Accountemps (A Robert Half Company) and Accountants International working with small businesses, non-profit organizations, and corporations.
He started his own tax accounting and financial planning practice in 2005 called S.J.S. Financial Firm to focus more on providing accounting and financial planning services to small businesses and families. In 2008, Sharif established a 501©3 non-profit organization called Financial Empowerment Movement, Inc. to improve the social economics, poverty, and inequity issues by providing better financial education, access to needed financial resources, and pro bono financial planning services to empower low-income families, local minority communities, young people and military veterans to make better financial decisions to achieve financial success.
In 2011, he partnered with the Mayor’s Office and the City of Baltimore to coordinate and host the inaugural Baltimore Financial Planning Day, an annual event that provides free financial literacy workshops and counseling sessions to low-income families, young people, and minorities in the Baltimore area which is now called the Youth & Family Financial Empowerment Event.
Sharif became a Financial Planning Counselor Contractor for Serco, Inc. in 2013 as part of a mobile transition team for the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP) to provide financial planning workshops and individual financial counseling sessions tailored to meet the needs of transitioning Soldiers and Family Members prior to their separation from the Active Army or Reserve Components Military service at Ft. Meade, MD Military Base.
Then, in 2014, he created the Wealth Diversity Summit to focus on disparities and issues that have widened the wealth gap among minorities hosted at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.
Sharif’s educational background includes an A.A. in Business Administration from Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), a B.S. in Accounting with a Concentration in Personal Financial Planning from Towson University, and a Master of Science in Taxation from American University. Also, Sharif has obtained the Accredited Financial Counselor Designation (AFC®) from the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education.
Also, Sharif has been actively involved in various professional and community organizations such as Financial Empowerment Committee Chair, Greater Baltimore Urban League; Community Service Committee, National Association of Black Accountants, Baltimore Chapter; Pro Bono/Financial Literacy Committee Chair, Financial Planning Association of MD Chapter; National Board Member, African American Association of Financial Advisors; and VP of Finance, National Association of African American Human Resources.
Sharif’s mission in life is to be a blessing to others and to do God’s will by financially educating and empowering those less fortunate and the next generation for years to come. He said, “The blessing is in the giving and not the receiving. So, to help my hometown residents and others to build a solid financial foundation is a blessing in itself.”
