Taylor Shenberger – Financial Educator & Financial Literacy Advocate

Personal Notes

Everything is an investment. From the food we put into our bodies to the car we choose to drive, each choice that we make is the commitment of our resources to some cause. As a financial educator, my mission is to demonstrate that we can stop wasting our precious resources on things that don’t really matter to us and start putting them towards things that align with our values and passions. Each new purchase is an investment; do we really want to invest twenty percent of our income towards looking fashionable for strangers or getting that morning caffeine rush?

Bio

Ms. Taylor Shenberger is an an NFEC certified financial education instructor, and began her career in financial education as a financial aid assistant at York College of Pennsylvania. As a financial aid assistant, she provided assistance to both parents and students as they maneuvered the confusing realm of scholarships, grants, and loans. As a student herself with a few years of credit building under her belt, she enjoyed encouraging other students to build their credit by opening a credit card account and paying the balance in full every month.

Upon graduating college, Taylor worked as an education consultant for the Truancy Prevention Initiative of the United Way of York County. She was given the opportunity to teach students in the Youth Court Alliance program about financial aid, planning for college, and financial responsibility. The most rewarding part of this job was encouraging students to pursue their passions and goals by making a plan and taking those first steps.

After making her first major investment blunder by rushing into a semester of law school in Miami, Taylor returned to her roots as a financial educator and became the first Financial Education Specialist for the International Rescue Committee in Miami, Florida. There, she laid down the foundation for a basic financial literacy class for new immigrants and refugees. In this position, it was imperative to be sensitive to the unique needs of immigrants and refugees, who have little understanding of the financial institutions in the U.S. It was the goal of the Economic Empowerment Team to start new Americans off on the right foot financially as they began building new lives in a strange place.

Currently, Taylor is the Education Coordinator for the Salvation Army in Dallas, Texas. She teaches a six week financial education course for students who have lost their homes, or who are at-risk of losing them. Inspired by the NFEC curriculum, the topics covered are financial psychology, budgeting, banking, credit, skills and income, insurance, wills and estates, and investments. Taylor also provides one-on-one financial counseling sessions to any clients at the social services center.

As a lifelong learner for all financial topics, Taylor’s principle goal is to remain immersed in personal finance to stay on top of the game and provide students with the latest, most relevant information. Her commitment to financial education is evident, and her enthusiasm permeates through each part of her presentations and sessions. Her belief is that money shouldn’t control our lives; we should make our money work for us.