Community Champion: Kristina Ickes

I didn’t begin in finance because I loved numbers; I began because I watched my family lose everything in the 1987 Savings and Loan crisis. As a child, I saw fear replace certainty, and I learned that financial hardship doesn’t just empty accounts – it steals confidence and stability. No one stepped in to guide us, so I taught myself. I became determined to understand how money works, and later to make sure others never had to learn by living through loss. I studied economic collapses and capital markets as well as economic philosophy. 

My determination grew stronger after a moment I will never forget. A close friend arrived at my office with investment statements clutched in shaking hands – money her mother had worked a lifetime to leave her. She dropped to the floor, crying, scattering pages across the carpet as she realized she had panicked during the 2008 crisis and locked in devastating losses. The room was quiet except for the sound of papers sliding under her fingers. She whispered, “I didn’t know what to do.” She hadn’t known I could help her until it was too late. That day changed my work forever. Financial knowledge is not optional. It is protection.

Since then, my career in public policy, capital management, financial planning, and education has been centered on one core mission: reducing financial risk in people’s lives before crisis forces them to make irreversible decisions. As a parent, steward of complex estates, and someone who understands the long view – from raising children to caring for property and horses – I know that financial choices ripple across generations.

Working with the NHFEC allows me to bring this purpose to a wider community as an advocate. This campaign enables proactive financial education that gives people clarity early enough to protect their futures. Financial literacy should not rely on luck or desperate timing. My commitment through NHFEC is simple: help people gain the knowledge they need before they need it most.