Scott Kahan, the president of the New York-based firm Financial Asset Management Corporation, recalled arriving in San Diego for the Financial Planning Association’s annual conference on Sept. 10, 2001. He awoke the following morning to watch in horror as the 9/11 terrorist attacks unfolded thousands of miles away.

Kahan grew up in Yonkers and went to college at Syracuse University before starting his practice in 1986, with offices in New York City and in Chappaqua, about 35 miles north of Manhattan.

“I was stuck in San Diego for a few days there because I couldn’t get home,” he told Wealth Management, reminiscing that his two children were still young at the time. “Here we are in San Diego, watching from the base, the planes shooting out on a beautiful sunny day because nobody knew what was going to happen.”

Kahan quickly realized many people would need financial assistance in the aftermath, and his work in the years that followed for victims’ families helped them navigate complicated realities while instilling in him a passion for pro bono work that continues to this day.

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In the weeks after the attacks, Congress created the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund to financially compensate victims of the attacks and their families, in addition to other monies organized by private organizations and New York City.

Families needed help navigating the compensation requirements, and Kahan saw attorneys and others charging large fees for assistance, which he found unethical. He helped organize pro bono work through the FPA in New York and Washington, D.C., working with Trial Lawyers Care, an attorneys’ group established to provide pro bono services to victims’ families.

Kahan recalled the confusing paths victims’ families needed to take to assert their right to compensation (and in determining how much one should receive); additionally, many 9/11 victims died without wills, making estate planning difficult to navigate.

Being from New York, Kahan said the work hit him personally; living in Chappaqua and traveling into the city, he remembered the daily reminder of the attacks in walls plastered with “Missing” photos of those who’d been lost in the attacks. When dealing with victims’ families, the emotional rawness could be bracing; Kahan recollected working with a woman with little financial background, who was now trying to understand what to do after her son had died in the attacks.

“It’s unimaginable to some degree,” he said. “I mean, it’s unbelievable that it’s 25 years ago, but yeah, it’s unimaginable now, just thinking about it and watching it.”

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Other advisors were also taking action, according to a 2021 testimonial by Mark Johannessen on the Foundation for Financial Planning website. Johannsen is a D.C.-based advisor who’s worked with 9/11 families. According to the site, he began crafting ideas for FPA pro bono planning during a nationally televised broadcast raising money for victims.

“Given the large number of CFP professionals offering pro bono guidance today, it is hard to believe that prior to 9/11, pro bono financial planning was merely an aspiration,” he wrote. “Pro bono had been recognized as an important service provided by traditional professions but hadn’t yet emerged for financial planning for several reasons, including a lack of public awareness of financial planning and trust in the financial services industry overall.”

After the FPA crafted a plan to help families, the newly established FFP pitched in to purchase full-page ads in both The New York Times and The Washington Post announcing the FPA’s pro bono plans to assist 9/11 victims and families.

“On reflection, our profession’s desire to help produced an unintentional outcome,” he wrote. “The pro bono program surrounding 9/11 generated further legitimacy of the Financial Planning Profession in the eyes of the public, policy makers, and other public advocacy groups, and helped foster the tremendous growth and recognition that exists today.”

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Kahan said that the challenges for victims and families have changed, with the greatest threat now being health issues for those in the area or who came to New Yorkers’ aid after the attacks

This year, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum announced an additional moment of silence would be added to annual commemoration ceremonies to honor those who have died from the health effects of the attack. It’s estimated that 400,000 people were exposed to toxic air, physical injury and emotionally stressful conditions, and about 9,400 have died, according to ABC News.

The work Kahan accomplished in 2002 spurred his continued involvement in pro bono efforts; he’s been on the FFP’s board for about a decade (and has served as its chair). He’s stayed involved with the FPA’s pro bono chapter, and still participates in financial planning seminars focused on pro bono planning.

But he also said financial planning’s emphasis on pro bono work has shifted in the decades afterward, with the FFP providing support for people facing numerous difficult circumstances, from extended military deployments to domestic violence. Meanwhile, larger firms and corporations are joining the effort, with Kahan noting that recent studies indicate that younger professionals entering the industry want companies to offer pro bono opportunities.

“We’re a young profession,” he said. “And pro bono has to be a part of it, without a doubt.”