President George W. Bush is flanked by members of his Advisory Council on Financial Literacy Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008, as he announces its establishment during a statement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. White House photo by Shealah Craighead.

Contact: Jim Hedemark
401.385.9411 | email

National Jump$tart Coalition Executive Director Appointed to President’s Council on Financial Literacy

RI Jump$tart Coalition and State Leaders Applaud President Bush’s Creation of the Council

January 22, 2008 – Yesterday, President Bush signed an executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy.  Sixteen members, including several national Jump$tart Coalition board members and partners, were named to the Council at a ceremony at the White House that was also attended by Cabinet Secretaries Henry M. Paulson, Jr. (Treasury), Alphonso Jackson (Housing and Urban Development), and Anna Escobedo Cabral (Treasurer of the U.S.).

The President’s comments and additional information including a video can be found here.

According to the executive order, the council will “help keep America competitive and assist the American people in understanding and addressing financial matters...”  Its duties, among others, will include, to:

• Improve financial education efforts for youth in school and for adults in the workplace;
• Promote effective access to financial services, especially for those without access to such services;
• Establish effective measures of national financial literacy;
• Conduct research on financial knowledge, including the collection of data on the extent of financial knowledge of individuals; and
• Strengthen and coordinate public and private sector financial education programs.

Jim Hedemark, Executive Director of the RI Jump$tart Coalition states, “As we strive to increase the personal financial education of the youth of Rhode Island, we are pleased that this issue has risen to capture the attention of the President.  We look forward to the President’s and the Council’s leadership in this policy area and are grateful that national Jump$tart Coalition Executive Director, Laura Levine and several Jump$tart national board members and partners have been appointed to serve.”

Jump$tart Coalition national board members and partners appointed to the council include: Ted Beck, President and CEO, National Endowment for Financial Education; Robert Duvall, President and CEO, National Council on Economic Education; Charles Schwab (appointed chairman of the council), Charles Schwab & Company, Inc.; John Bryant (appointed vice chairman of the council), chairman and founder, Operation HOPE, Inc.; David Mancl, Wisconsin State Jump$tart Coalition, Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions; and Ted Daniels, Society for Financial Education and Personal Development.

Rhode Island General Treasurer Caprio joins in applauding the President’s action, “Debt levels among young Americans are rising because now, more than ever, they are being targeted as consumers.  I hope this Council will be part of a sustained federal effort to make sure young people are being given the tools they need to make responsible financial decisions.”

RI Senator Daniel Issa and Representative Raymond Church state, “Financial literacy is indeed one of the most important issues in our nation.  This fact is underscored by the President’s formation of his advisory council.  We are especially concerned with the financial education of our youth as upon high school graduation they enter the most dynamic and challenging financial marketplace our nation has ever known.”  Issa and Church are Co-Chairs of the Joint Legislative Commission to Study Youth Financial Education in Rhode Island Middle and High Schools.

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