Q: What experiences or influences have shaped your passion for financial and economic education?
A combination of my work experience where I have entrepreneurs who make millions selling their business alongside couples who spent below their means and became multi-millionaires. Contrasting that with hearing/seeing the horror stories in articles and talk radio where 50% of families can’t cover a $1,000 emergency and the families that get in over their heads with car payments and credit cards and end up spending 2-3x the cost of the items in interest expenses as they pay off the purchase. If I can help just 1 or 2 kids and their future families avoid that negative scenario at each event, it was well worth my time.
Q: How does participating in ACEE programs allow you to make a meaningful impact?
I’ve been able to get in front of early elementary students via the EconReads program to expose them to a financial concept in a gentle approach to get them thinking in a slightly different way. I’ve also been in classrooms as part of the Stock Market Game to discuss investing and provide some insight around potential careers in finance. Lastly, helping the middle and high school students walk through the budgeting decisions in our Financial Fitness in Action program hopefully prepares the students to make more informed decisions around starting to save for future purchases, emergencies, and/or retirement and how those priorities interact with their other current spending choices.
Q: What makes ACEE significant to you and your commitment to empowering students and communities?
The ability to interact with the student population directly and our breadth of programs provides me hope that we are giving the students, their families, and surrounding communities some of the tools necessary to improve their stories and set them on the right path for a stronger financial future.
