FIRST NEW ENGLAND YOUTH FINANCIAL EDUCATION FORUM A SUCCESS
Advocates organize regional advisory board to increase financial literacy education for New England students
BOSTON, MA – Youth financial literacy advocates recently participated in the first New England Youth Financial Education Forum, from October 27-29, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
More than 40 youth financial literacy professionals – hailing from youth financial literacy coalitions, state and federal government, non-profit organizations, financial service corporations, and schools – discussed how best to increase personal financial education in K-12 schools throughout the region.
At the conclusion of the forum, attendees made a commitment to form an advisory board (under the auspices of the Boston Fed) that will aggressively promote financial literacy education for all New England students. The board agreed that none of the New England states currently are providing adequate personal financial education in schools and that a coordinated regional effort is needed to bring more attention to the policy area.
A keynote speaker at the forum, Dan Iannicola, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education, United States Department of the Treasury, described the current American economic situation as a “national teachable moment.” Regarding the work of the Forum attendees, he stated, “I applaud your efforts in addressing youth financial education throughout New England and look forward to the outcomes of your efforts.”
Jim Hedemark, executive director of the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition, noted, “While there is little disagreement among education policy makers regarding the need for personal financial education of our youth, there is little time dedicated to the subject matter in the school day for the vast majority of New England students. This must change if we are to prepare our next generation of adults to participate in today’s turbulent, dynamic and increasingly complex personal financial marketplace.”
Hedemark, along with Scott Guild, director of economic education at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, were key organizers of the forum. “It’s critical that we continue to advocate for best-practice programming in our schools based on standards,” said Guild, “and devise a coordinated system of measurement that will allow us to track our progress.”
The newly formed advisory board will discuss strategic planning issues when it next meets in January 2009.
The following individuals represented Rhode Island at the Forum:
- Prof. Paul Maloney, Chair of the Finance Department, Providence College
- Charles Kelley, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority
- Gail Mance-Rios, Deputy Director of the RI Higher Education Assistance Authority
- Peter Kerwin, Chief of Program Development, RI Higher Education Assistance Authority
- Laurie, Mockler, Business Teacher at Pilgrim High School
The Forum was organized by representatives from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Boston office, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Treasury Office of Financial Education, the Massachusetts Office of the Treasurer, and the New England Jump$tart Coalition.
The Forum was made possible thanks to funding from Citi and the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE), with additional support from the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), Visa, and Topics Education.
The Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition (founded in 2004) is an organization of dozens of Ocean State and New England region businesses, community organizations, educational institutions, government agencies and officers. The coalition¹s mission is “to increase the financial literacy of individuals in Rhode Island.” The coalition¹s website is www.rijumpstart.org
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