Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), the retail wealth management affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group (NYSE:LNC), today announced the appointment of Nicole Spinelli as director of The WISE Group (Women Inspiring, Supporting, and Educating), a new enterprise-wide initiative designed to better support the unique needs of female financial advisors and clients.

In her role, Spinelli will provide overall strategic leadership for WISE initiatives to drive the group’s core objectives, which center on inspiring women to pursue opportunities in financial services in order to increase the overall number of female advisors within the industry; supporting LFN female advisors in the growth and development of their practice through strategic partnerships and mentoring; and educating female clients on the importance of comprehensive financial planning so they are better prepared to take charge of their financial lives. Spinelli will report to John DiMonda, senior vice president and head of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation, and will work in close partnership with Chris Flint, senior vice president and head of Lincoln Financial Securities Corporation.

The appointment of Spinelli comes just weeks after The WISE Group held its inaugural annual meeting, joined by nearly 100 female advisors across LFN. During the event, which covered practice management strategies and industry trends, WISE announced the appointment of its 2015 board members consisting of vice president and chief counsel of Lincoln Financial Group Distribution, Carrie Chelko; managing director of Lincoln Financial Advisors, Celeste Gurulé; and LFN affiliated advisors: Linda Corujo Ramsey, Cindy Deavel, Karen DeRose, S. Diane Davis, Dawn Gordon, Kelly Kennedy, Elizabeth Liechty, Dianna Parker, Lucila Williams, and Bridget Yeung.

“Many women find themselves isolated or without the necessary resources to help them succeed in the advisory industry,” said DeRose, founding member and chairman of The WISE Group. “WISE’s programs, events, and platforms will help foster greater interaction and support among female advisors to help address these issues. Empowering and growing our network of female advisors will have an extremely positive effect for our clients and our overall business.”

“The WISE Group began as a grassroots initiative of our top female advisors and has since gained the full support and focus of leadership across the enterprise,” said David S. Berkowitz, president of LFN. “Nicole’s appointment underscores our ongoing commitment to the development of our advisors. With fourteen years of experience in building educational programs and coaching female financial advisors, Nicole will be a tremendous asset to WISE and to Lincoln as an organization.”

Spinelli joined Lincoln from Raymond James Financial, St. Petersburg, Fla., where she held various roles with the Network for Women Advisors beginning in 2001. From 2010 – 2015, she served as the vice president and director for the Network of Women Advisors, focusing on growth through the retention of current advisors, education of advisors to support their practice growth and development, and attraction of new advisors to the firm through recruitment.

About Lincoln Financial Network

Lincoln Financial Network is the marketing name for the retail sales and financial planning affiliates of Lincoln Financial Group and includes Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. and Lincoln Financial Securities Corporation, both members of FINRA and SIPC. Consisting of approximately 8,000 representatives, agents, and full-service financial planners throughout the United States, Lincoln Financial Network professionals can offer financial planning and advisory services, retirement services, life products, annuities, investments, and trust services to affluent individuals, business owners, and families.

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group provides advice and solutions that help empower Americans to take charge of their financial lives with confidence and optimism. Today, more than 17 million customers trust our retirement, insurance and wealth protection expertise to help address their lifestyle, savings and income goals, as well as to guard against long-term care expenses. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) and its affiliates. The company had $218 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2014. Learn more at: www.LincolnFinancial.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter (@lincolnfingroup), LinkedIn and YouTube. To sign up for email alerts, please visit our Newsroom at http://newsroom.lfg.com.