Member of President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy to visit Rhode Island

Coalition Celebrates 5 Years in RI

May 18, 2009, Rhode Island – Laura Levine of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and national executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy will visit schools, mark the fifth anniversary of the Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition and preview upcoming initiatives of the President’s Council.

RI Jump$tart Coalition President, Charles Kelley states, “We are honored that Laura will help us celebrate the partnerships and progress of our past five years, underscore the financial literacy ‘call to action’ of today’s troubled economy, and share a national vision for the personal financial futures of our students.”

Ms. Levine will deliver a keynote address to Coalition partners at the Roger Williams Park Casino between 3:30 and 5:00 PM on May 18th, providing an overview of President’s Council work to date and previewing upcoming national initiatives.

RI Jump$tart Coalition executive director Jim Hedemark says, “We are proud that our national director chairs the President’s Council’s Youth Committee and of the straightforward advice the Council has provided the President.”

The fifteen-member Council, chaired by Charles Schwab, issued its first report to the President this past January.The Council’s first recommendation states, “The United States Congress and state legislatures mandate financial education in all schools for students in kindergarten through grade 12.”

Unlike other states, Rhode Island has no such mandate and despite a General Assembly Joint Resolution (2008 - S3056) and (2008 - H8332) passed last year, “Urging [the Department of Education] creation of a task force to develop a statewide strategy, action plan, and marketing plan for increasing middle and high school students’ knowledge of personal financial literacy,” no task force has been formed by the department.

Ms. Levine will visit two out of the ten high schools participating in the RI Jump$tart Coalition’s year-long Youth Personal Financial Education Expansion Project (RIFI).The program’s purpose is to increase the quantity and quality of youth personal financial education in the schools.

Between 11 a.m. and Noon, Ms. Levine will visit North Providence High School in North Providence and speak to Jacqueline Hilton’s class.Ms. Hilton is the RIFI team leader at the school.Ms. Levine will praise the school for being one of only a handful of schools in Rhode Island requiring personal financial education for students.All juniors at the school take a course that emphasizes personal finance.

Between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., Ms. Levine will visit Central High School in Providence, and speak to Joyce DiBattista’s accounting class.Ms. DiBattista is the RIFI team leader at the school.Ms. Levine will praise the school for implementing a new money management course next fall.

Bio of Laura Levine

Executive Director
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy

Laura Levine has devoted her career to helping people of all ages better understand financial services through marketing and outreach, communications, and most recently, through education.In 2004, she became only the second executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a Washington DC-based coalition of more than 180 national partners and 48 affiliated state coalitions, which share a commitment to “financial smarts for students” in kindergarten through college.

Laura began her career with Vista Federal Credit Union at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA, and served as Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the California Credit Union League.She relocated to become a credentialed, Capitol Hill correspondent for a credit union trade publication before moving into the securities industry.Laura served as Director of Editorial Services for the National Association of Securities Dealers (now FINRA) and, later, as Director of Education and Information for the NASD Office of Individual Investor Services. From 1999-2004, Laura was Director of the NASDAQ Educational Foundation.

Since taking over at Jump$tart, Laura has continued raise awareness about financial literacy through presentations and the media, while growing the coalition at both the state and national levels. Laura has served on a number of boards and committees, including the Industry Advisory Committee for DC Public Schools.She was recently named to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy by President George W. Bush and chairs the Council’s Youth Committee.A native of Los Angeles, Laura holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California and is a graduate of the Western CUNA Management School.She does not consider herself a financial expert, but rather, a staunch advocate for financial education and information.

About the RI Jump$tart Coalition

The Rhode Island Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy is a nonprofit organization incorporated in May of 2004 with dozens of academic, business and civic sector partners who support increased youth personal financial education in the Ocean State.The Rhode Island Coalition is an affiliate partner of the national Jump$tart Coalition.

Coalition research conducted in 2008 reveals that only 5% of Rhode Island high school students take at least a semester-long course dedicated to personal financial education each school year.The national Jump$tart Coalition financial literacy survey reveals that high school seniors in Rhode Island on average answer just 48% of personal financial literacy questions correctly.

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