As we embark on an advocacy strategy that you will see unfold in the weeks and months, I become more convinced everyday that there is a groundswell of grassroots support for making financial education as much a part of K-12 as the three Rs. I also am beginning to recognize the gaping hole that exists for financial programs targeting underserved populations.   This kind of fits the innovation model described in this Clay Christensen Harvard Business Review article where a disrupter targets markets that aren’t being served adequately today. As the list below shows, there seems to be a shortage of financial education providers customizing their product offering to adequately meet the needs of specific populations.

In the last few days alone, NGPF has received unsolicited inquiries from individuals serving diverse populations who are interested in expanding financial capability:

• A social worker who wants to develop educational programs for migrant workers
• A counselor in the probation office concerned that the “out of custody” young people she works with lack the most basic financial skills
• A concerned parent asking how the curriculum for the Living Skills course at the local high school can go from no discussion of money or finances to making it a majority of the course
• A leader at a foster youth organization looking to embed financial education to help them as they become emancipated
• A lifelong financial aid administrator interested in creating a summer camp infused with financial education
• A non-profit leader looking to embed financial education into a four year summer program targeting young people who will be first in their family to graduate from college
• A teacher working with highly functioning autism spectrum students who sees financial skills as key to independent living

Our product roadmap just got longer (I assure you Jessica that the one semester course will take priority!) and our team is incredibly excited as we empathize with these individuals and organizations to meet the educational needs of their populations. We love the social justice component of this work and recognize the incredible importance of expanding financial capability with underserved populations. Look for more developments on this in the months ahead as we share what we learn in building out programs to serve these groups.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.