NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Knowledge Bank celebrated financial literacy month by hosting its annual Young Money Matters Summits, April 4, 2017 at the Nashville Public Library downtown location. The program, took place from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, educating high school students, 9th -12th graders financially and helping them achieve their financial goals.
Courtney Hale, who serves as Executive Director of Knowledge Bank, believes that sound money management is a core life skill and deserves just as much attention as college preparedness, career planning and creating a healthy lifestyle.
“I believe that the character of a society is determined by how it treats its youth, so I recognized that we have a responsibility and a huge opportunity to insure our young people are prepared to manage their lives after high school,” explained Hale. “Our focus is to improve financial literacy because we feel like that’s a critical component to youth development.”
When Hale learned of Tennessee being ranked as the 38th state for the economic well-being of children he founded Knowledge Bank, a 501c3 organization committed to improving the financial literacy of youth. His organization continues to help young people learn the importance of understanding their personal finances.
A variety of workshop and breakout sessions was offered at the Young Money Matters Summit including:
- THE PAYCHECKS AND PLAYCHECKS: where student got hands-on experience on managing household budget
- #MONEYFIT: where student learned core behaviors for being financially responsible which included earning potentials, creating financial plans, saving and giving.
- #OWNMORE: that enlightened students on the difference between asset and liability and net worth calculations.
- CAREER AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PANEL: where successful professionals and business owners shared their paths to success.
The Young Money Matters Summit also unveiled a new resource guide for all the attendees to help them create their own capability initiatives aimed at empowering, understanding, and addressing financial matters at a young age.
The day ended with a fun and interactive Financial Empowerment Tournament which allowed attendees to test their knowledge in a series of financial games allowing them the opportunity to win prizes.
While Hale felt this year’s event was successful he hopes that the students walk away knowing that financial literacy is about more than just money. “It’s about having hope, it about dignity, it’s about pride, and responsibility,” said Hale. “So we wanted to create an atmosphere, or create a platform where we can make finical education more usable for young people.”
