Chelsea Ransom-Cooper ’15 chairs the Whitman School of Management’s Young Whitman Advisory Council and was honored by the University with the 2025 Generation Orange Award.
For Chelsea Ransom-Cooper ’15, building wealth isn’t just about numbers—it’s about rewriting the rules for who gets to succeed. As co-founder and chief financial planning officer of Zenith Wealth Partners, the Philadelphia-based firm she launched in 2020, Ransom-Cooper is committed to helping women and people of color secure their financial futures. “We’ve been able to grow a team that is inspired by our mission of providing high quality, relatable financial advice, but is also built around a vision that your background need not predetermine the level of success that you can have when it comes to wealth building in this country,” she says.
Ransom-Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management and minored in information management and technology at the School of Information Studies. Initially uncertain as a young Black woman entering the finance world, she quickly recognized the opportunity to make a difference. “Today, there’s so much wealth being transitioned to women and people of color,” she says. “It’s critical they have advisors who truly understand them and their goals.”
Ransom-Cooper has also set her sights on making the financial planning profession more accessible, especially for women of color. She created a next-generation wealth platform for advisors from traditionally underrepresented groups to help them manage back-office responsibilities, such as finance, accounting, human resources and information technology operations. In 2023, Investment News recognized her accomplishments, naming her to its 40 Under 40 list of leading financial advisors. “That’s my new big goal, to help other advisors focus on growing their clients,” she told the publication.
Supporting the Next Generation
Ransom-Cooper’s impact extends far beyond her clients. As chair of the Young Whitman Advisory Council, she plays an active role in shaping the future of her alma mater by mentoring students, strengthening alumni engagement and organizing events that build community. Her dedication to giving back earned her the 2025 Generation Orange Award, recognizing her professional success, community leadership and unwavering commitment to Syracuse University. “It’s important to me because I remember what it meant when Whitman alumni returned to share their experiences,” she says. “Their presence helped shape my own journey—and now I’m proud to do the same for others.”
Ransom-Cooper, co-founder and chief financial planning officer of Zenith Wealth Partners, visits with Sahitya Sampathkumar ’25, a finance and public relations major who served as a marketing and communications intern with Zenith in 2022.
Embracing Education
Ransom-Cooper still draws on class lessons, including applying SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis from a strategic management course and implementing insights from a managerial accounting course she took with Whitman professor Joyce Zadzilka G’96. “She challenged me to think about accounting as a tool when you’re creating a business that I still use to this day whenever we’re thinking about our own finances at Zenith,” she says.
Cooper and Sampathkumar discuss their Syracuse experiences at the Whitman School of Management.
Following graduation, Ransom-Cooper worked at EY as a business advisory consultant for two years and then joined BakerAvenue Wealth Management, where she served as a wealth advisory manager for three years before launching Zenith. Along the way, she has pursued educational opportunities to advance herself professionally. Through New York University, she gained a certificate in financial planning that prepared her to earn credentials as a certified financial planner. She also enrolled in a Yale School of Management executive education program that led to her becoming a certified private wealth advisor.
Her advice to students today? Plan boldly—and practically.
“Build your network, understand financial basics and manage your student loans smartly,” Ransom-Cooper says. “Create a budget and start thinking about the next chapter. The more you learn now, the easier life will be later.”
