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the problem:
More than 2/3 of young adults in the United States lack basic financial knowledge . These 40 million youth without financial literacy are 40% less likely to open savings accounts, spend 50% more on credit card fees , and are 30% less likely to save for retirement . To make matters worse, financial education courses are required for graduation in only 13 of 15 states. As such, the average American citizen’s financial livelihood is expected to decline.
Urban youth are particularly at-risk because they lack access to proper financial services and exposure to financial knowledge via family and peers . Inadequate public education and twice-national-average unemployment rates exacerbate urban youth’s financial illiteracy, entrenching them in a vicious cycle of poverty. This cycle of poverty denies urban youth adequate resources to become financially capable, income-generating adults.
vital stats:
people impacted:
2,000
people involved:
250
why it's important:
If you walk a few blocks away from the University of Chicago, you’ll see boarded up buildings and abandoned cars, currency exchanges and liquor stores. In my freshman year of college, a few friends and I thought it odd that there were no groups giving the neighboring communities what they needed to pick themselves up by their financial bootstraps during a time of economic recession. Nobody was teaching urban youth not to cash checks at currency exchanges, not to take payday advances, how banks work, or the power of compound interest. It seemed like an obvious need, but as we looked into who might be doing something similar, we couldn’t find anyone. So we mobilized and started teaching basic economics and personal finance workshops in the local high schools. We dressed dry financial and business concepts in engaging pop-culture examples that both college students and high school students enjoy talking about: Oprah, Jay Z, Kim Kardashian, and Steve Jobs. The result? Students’ eyes lit up and they started paying attention. Here were some goofy college students coming in, replacing their boring old teacher for an hour a week to sit down and talk about money, music, and sports – how could kids not be engaged?
And something else happened: close mentor-mentee relationships formed. As students worked together to organize their personal finances, build entrepreneurial ventures, and set goals (many times for the first time ever), lives were changed. Many of our students had never had anything asked of them by society, their teachers, or their parents. They’d just been dismissed as “urban” or “low-income” or “minority” rather than being recognized as “human.” We were going into classrooms, inspiring students to shatter their lowered expectations, be proactive and successful, and achieve things they’d never considered possible before. And we also showed them that they weren’t alone as they leapt into an uncertain future: they had peers and mentors who would help them get there.
For our students, we’re the first opportunity they’d had to realize their potential, change their thinking to a mode of self-reliance, set for them a high bar with real expectations, and put the trust and faith in them to execute. For others, we’re a pathway to prosperity, offering college guidance, seed funding, and professional exposure. For our mentors, this became a vehicle for rapid personal development in leadership, business acumen, public speaking, and community service.
the plan of action:
Over the last three years, the Moneythink movement has impacted 1,700 low-income high school students through 17 college chapters and 300 trained mentors. We have raised $15,000 and have:
1. Designed educational curricula. Moneythink has designed two curricula with 10-modules each: 1) Financial Literacy and 2) Entrepreneurship Education. Each curriculum incorporates relatable examples from pop-culture, sports, new technologies, and current events, to engage and motivate urban high school students. Initial versions have been tested in the classroom and revised multiple times based on classroom feedback.
2. Developed the capacity of college chapters. Moneythink has developed processes and materials to recruit college leaders, who subsequently select and train Moneythink mentors. College leaders are currently equipped with The Moneythink Briefcase, which provides directions and insights on organizing and running a college chapter.
3. Supported the Chicago Moneythink program. Moneythink has directly supported the aggressive expansion of operations at the University of Chicago into 7 classrooms, rigorously training 24-mentors and teaching 280-students per year. Moneythink has also helped connect students to an eco-system of resources: field trips to community banks, the annual Moneythink Young Entrepreneurs Conference at UChicago, and an externship at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City.
4. Managed a national network of committed college leaders. Moneythink has supported communication between chapter leaders on 17 campuses nationwide through web hosting, webinars, and social media campaigns. Moneythink has also partnered with the local press to increase the organization’s visibility in each local community. Specific data for the number of college mentors and high school students impacted by these scout chapters will be known in March 2012.
Moneythink is looking to transition into a professional nonprofit organization that will teach in 500 classrooms per semester, impacting 20,000 students per year by 2016.
Phase 1: Chicago Operations, 2012-2013
Moneythink plans to first refocus on its core operations in Chicago. In the 2012-2013 school year, Moneythink aims to develop organizational depth, investing in staff and resources to support the growth of the Moneythink-Chicago program into 2 chapters (University of Chicago and Northwestern University), teaching in 30 classrooms, and impacting 1200 students per year. In addition, Moneythink plans to further develop its eco-system of external opportunities, events, and resources to enhance the Moneythink classroom experience. Finally, Moneythink plans to rigorously collect and analyze data about the effects of the Moneythink program on mentors and students. This data, will in turn, help quantify social impact, improve educational programs, and guide further expansion.
Phase 2: National Expansion, 2013-2016
Starting Fall 2013, Moneythink plans to scale its operations to other urban centers. This expansion will be guided by organizational insights and impact metrics collected from the Chicago program. In order to prepare for national expansion, Moneythink will devote additional resources in 2012 to organizing and training the Moneythink student leaders at its 17 campus chapters. This will include hosting the first annual Moneythink National Leadership Institute in Chicago in summer 2012. Moneythink will initially work with its 17 campus chapters to collect research, develop local partnerships, and establish a corps of trained Moneythink mentors in each urban center. This groundwork will provide a foundation to expand into new classrooms, develop local ecosystems of resources, and invest in organizational leadership. Moneythink plans to pursue an aggressive growth strategy aiming to double the number of additional classroom programs each year.
how you can get involved:
n/a
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