Last summer, in partnership with DreamYard, I was able to put together a financial literacy and education program for adolescents and young adults starting at age 16. The participants were working as interns through the NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Approximately 160 participants received up to four hours of education and guidance focusing on making smart financial decisions. They were exposed to concepts such as budgeting basics, cultivating smart shoppers, financial psychology, allocations, financial goals, financial institutions options, investing, credit, etc. As part of their process, participants had the opportunity to watch videos related to financial concepts and were also asked to work in small groups to apply the knowledge they were acquiring. At the beginning and end (sometimes midway through) the sessions, they were given knowledge check-ins. These consisted of games such as kahoot, Venn diagrams and menti meters. They were also provided with pre- and post-program surveys to test their knowledge and progress with the program. Finally, participants were provided a digital guide to support the knowledge acquired and to provide them the opportunity to continue their learning. In the end, they provided great feedback and appeared to have not only enjoyed the experience but also gained valuable information from the experience.

In my opinion, one of the biggest accomplishments of my program has been normalizing financial conversations within underserved communities. Typically, there is a cultural stigma that may be attached to being comfortable with money conversations. My program allows participants to not only understand their relationship with money but to also feel comfortable creating realistic goals that may deviate from what they have been accustomed to learning, whether directly or indirectly.

Haizel McIntyre