Highlighting People: Real Impact

At a coffee shop my friend curiously asked me, “Jay, what are your favorite movies of all-time?” With a smile on my face, I quickly replied, “Braveheart, Gladiator and most recently, The Help.”  Wanting to know more, my friend asked, “Wow Jay, what about these movies captivates you?” After a taking a moment to think, I answered, “I love these movies because they are stories of resilience. Where people face strong hardships and someone rises up, inspiring others and eventually overcoming those hardships.

Reflecting on this conversation, I see parallels between the themes of my favorite movies and the financial literacy issues of today. Specifically, many people are facing financial hardships, but at the same time, there are organizations, including Credit Unions who are rising up to combat these financial literacy issues at the state and national level.  

Here are some organizations making a real impact:
Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) brings together pioneering municipal governments from across the country that have begun to use their power and positions to advance innovative financial empowerment initiatives. Already, their members have made tangible and measurable commitments to supporting financial empowerment programming in their cities, and are now joining together to both teach and learn from one another. By working with key partners in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, CFE also leverages its members’ collective power to advance the financial empowerment agenda on a state and national level.

Housing Hope – College of Hope impacts low-income families teaching them how to be self-sufficient by offering educational programs that help individuals develop practical life skills and empower them to take action for their own future.

Jump$tart is a coalition—an organization of organizations that share an interest in advancing financial literacy among students in pre-kindergarten through college. Today, Jump$tart is a partnership of about 150 national organizations and entities from the corporate, non-profit, academic, government and other sectors.

brass|MAGAZINE is a lifestyle money magazine written for young adults, by young adults about the money side of life™. With a mission to make money interesting, simple and relevant, brass covers fundamental money issues that apply to young adults and features up-and-coming young adults making a difference. Delivered quarterly to over half a million readers, brass|MAGAZINE is distributed to young adult account holders.

BizKid$ is an educational television show that teaches financial education and entrepreneurship to middle school and high school audiences. It uses sketch comedy and young actors to explain basic economic concepts. Its motto is "Where kids teach kids about business.”

After seeing the impact of these organizations, my hope is that our industry will continue to rise higher in our intensity and creativity of bringing financial education to those who are in need of it. This truly is an opportune time for Credit Unions to show the world who we really are.

Thanks again for following the blogs.

All the best to you,

Jay