Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) M.P.S. in Wealth Management program has announced the newest recipients of the Wealth Management Advancing Opportunity Fellowship: Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn and Khionne Awer.
The fellowship supports students who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing excellence in wealth management through leadership, education, professional achievement, and service to clients and communities. This year’s recipients bring distinct but complementary perspectives to the program. Fairfield-Sonn is an early-career financial consultant focused on fiduciary guidance, disciplined planning, and long-term client relationships. Awer is a seasoned advisor whose work centers on communication, trust, mentorship, and multigenerational planning.
Together, their experiences reflect the evolving demands of the wealth management profession, where technical expertise must be paired with empathy, ethical responsibility, and the ability to guide individuals and families through complex decisions.
Fairfield-Sonn has spent more than five years in the wealth management industry, progressing from workplace planning associate to financial consultant. In his current role, he advises hundreds of households and works with clients navigating retirement planning, investment strategy, liquidity events, concentrated equity positions, and complex wealth transfers.
His commitment to professional development has defined his career. Fairfield-Sonn earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation within two years of entering the industry and the Chartered Financial Consultant® designation shortly afterward. He plans to continue building his expertise by pursuing the Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designation after completing the M.P.S. in Wealth Management program.
For Fairfield-Sonn, wealth management is grounded in trust, accountability, and long-term relationships. His work with clients has reinforced his belief that financial advising requires both technical precision and a deep sense of fiduciary responsibility.
That combination of technical depth and client-centered practice is part of what drew Fairfield-Sonn to Columbia SPS. The M.P.S. in Wealth Management combines advanced theory with problem-based learning rooted in real-world client challenges, with courses taught by scholar-practitioners who bring their industry experience into the classroom. For Fairfield-Sonn, that approach offered an opportunity to deepen his expertise while continuing to develop the judgment required to advise clients through complex financial decisions.
“Wealth management is ultimately about the governance of assets, of trust, and of legacy,” Fairfield-Sonn said. “My career thus far has been a deliberate progression toward mastering that responsibility.”
At Columbia, Fairfield-Sonn hopes to deepen his understanding of advanced portfolio theory, alternative investments, behavioral finance, legacy planning, risk mitigation, tax-efficient asset location, and wealth preservation strategies. He also hopes to contribute to the learning environment by drawing on his experience as both an advisor and former collegiate athlete, helping create a collaborative environment where students can learn from one another and work toward shared goals.
Fairfield-Sonn said he sees the fellowship not only as an opportunity to advance his own education but also as a responsibility to give back.
“I want the donors, many of whom are alumni of the program, to know that I’m going to seize every opportunity while I’m here in this program,” Fairfield-Sonn said. “After I graduate, I look to contribute back and pay that forward to the next generation.”
Awer brings more than 16 years of wealth management experience to the program. Over the course of his career, he has worked with clients across a wide range of backgrounds, wealth levels and life stages, helping families navigate retirement, inheritance, business transitions, and family decision-making.
His approach to wealth management emphasizes the intersection of technical strategy and human behavior. Markets change, technology evolves, and tax laws shift, but Awer believes trust remains central to effective advising. His work has focused not only on helping families build financial plans, but also on helping them communicate about values, responsibility, and long-term goals.
Awer has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and Certified Private Wealth Advisor® designations and was named to Forbes’ 2025 Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list. He has also contributed to educational and professional conversations on generational wealth, financial planning and financial empowerment, including participation in a panel hosted by the Executive Leadership Council.
That experience reinforced one of the central themes of Awer’s work: effective wealth management is not only about selecting the right tools or strategies. It is also about helping families develop shared understanding.
“Effective wealth management depends as much on communication and psychology as it does on strategy,” Awer said.
That emphasis on both the technical and human dimensions of advising is part of what drew Awer to Columbia SPS. The M.P.S. in Wealth Management pairs advanced financial planning with areas such as financial psychology, behavioral finance and client communication, using problem-based learning to connect those subjects to real-world client challenges. For Awer, the program offered an opportunity to build on his professional experience while examining more deeply how clients make decisions and how advisors can guide families through complex financial conversations.
Awer was also drawn to the professional community surrounding the program. Columbia’s collaborative learning environment brings experienced students together with scholar-practitioner faculty and other industry professionals, creating opportunities to exchange perspectives across different areas of wealth management. At Columbia, Awer hopes to contribute a practitioner’s perspective to curriculum discussions around behavioral finance, financial psychology, client trust, industry incentives and the future of wealth management. He is especially interested in multigenerational planning, financial education, and helping families prepare for complexity across generations.
Awer said the fellowship can extend beyond one student’s education by strengthening the work advisors do in their communities.
“The generous contribution really pays a dividend with a multiplier effect,” Awer said. “Allowing me to be in the program helps me support people in my community with financial literacy. When someone is able to create financial stability, they can take that financial comfort and spread it to their family and their family’s family.”
Both recipients see the Wealth Management Advancing Opportunity Fellowship as a way to deepen their technical knowledge while expanding their impact as leaders in the field. For Fairfield-Sonn, the fellowship will help accelerate his professional growth and support his goal of becoming a mentor to other students and future wealth management professionals. For Awer, the fellowship represents an opportunity to strengthen his ability to serve clients while contributing to a more thoughtful and inclusive wealth management profession.
Their selection reflects the fellowship’s broader purpose: to support professionals who are prepared to lead with technical excellence, ethical responsibility and a commitment to expanding opportunity within wealth management.
Through the M.P.S. in Wealth Management program, Fairfield-Sonn and Awer will join a community of students, faculty, and industry leaders examining the future of financial advising, from portfolio management and tax strategy to behavioral finance, client communication, and legacy planning.
As the wealth management industry continues to evolve, the newest fellowship recipients demonstrate the kind of leadership the field increasingly requires: rigorous, client-centered, collaborative, and grounded in the belief that financial advice can shape not only portfolios but futures.
About the Program
Columbia University’s Master of Professional Studies in Wealth Management program is a 16-month online program with asynchronous instruction designed to accommodate working professionals. It is taught by distinguished faculty with deep applied experience in their respective fields. Additionally, it is also a CFP Board Registered Program designed to help students meet the educational requirement for CFP® certification.
About the Fellowship
The Wealth Management Advancing Opportunity Fellowship supports students in Columbia University’s M.P.S. in Wealth Management program who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing excellence, leadership and opportunity in the wealth management field.
