Fraternity-Testvériség, 2006 (84. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2006-07-01 / 3. szám
HRFA hosts the teachers of the EDUCATED CONSUMER PROJECT HRFA hosted the training session for teachers from the Educated Consumer Project (“ECP”) who will provide youths in low- and moderate-income (“LMI'’) areas in the United States with a comprehensive financial education program. Exposure to this program will help teens in LMI areas realize their full potential: to be empowered managers of their personal finances, informed and aware of traps that may impede their earnings and well-versed in financial products that can aid in their success. THE ECP’s mission is to address the disparity in consumer finance knowledge possessed by young people in the United States, as correlated with their household income. Recent studies show that there is a large rift between what youths in LMI versus non-LMI areas know about their personal finances. This knowledge gap explains LMI individuals' higher bankruptcy rates, lower savings rates, and greater probabilities of paying usurious interest rates on loans. Results from a recent survey of high school seniors in the United States conducted by Dr. Lewis Mandell, Professor of Finance and Managerial Economics at SUNY Buffalo, indicate the need for financial education within this population. Offering a financial toolkit to high school students in LMI areas will help close the aforementioned gap and support healthy financial practices, as these youths move into adulthood. Pilot Program: ECP has been working closely with the staff of Learning Enterprises (“LE”), a DC-based non-profit organization to implement its Pilot Program ECP benefits from the adoption of LE’s model for using volunteer instructors to teach its financial education materials to DC-area high school students. ECP’s volunteers will complete a series of training sessions in preparation for their teaching assignments. During the training, ECP will facilitate brief lectures by a teacher from a local DC high school to talk about the challenges of educating students from LMI families. The curriculum will be taught over an 8-10 week period with sessions - involving class participation from all students - each week for 60-90 minutes. The subject matter for each week’s discussion will vary, with topics ranging from banking and credit cards to student loans. Board of Directors: Dan Cohen - Associate, Mark Cohen & Co., Executive Search Joseph Firschein- Director, American Communities Fund, Fannie Mae Jonathan Kivell - Founder, Educated Consumer Project Dave Platte - Commander, US Navy Adam Tolnay - Founder, Learning Enterprises Keith Robinson - Deputy Director, Lockheed Martin Dan@ecponline.org Joseph@ecponline.org Jonathan@ecponline.org David@ecponline.org Adam@ecponline.org Keith@ecponline.org ECP would like to thank the Hungarian Reformed Federation of America (www.hrfa.org) for the use of its premises during its Financial Literacy Program training sessions. HRFA is a non-profit fraternal insurance company that uses its funds for American and Hungarian charities and cultural events Page 26 Fraternity - Testvériség
