A recent McKinsey study revealed that the racial wealth gap is widening, and that families of color continue to face inequities and discrimination as they pursue financial security. In her latest blog post, SecureFutures President and CEO Brenda Campbell invites our partners in the banking and financial services industries into conversation about how what we've learned from teens can help build a system that works for everyone.

One of our newest partners, Literacy Lab, engages young men of color as early childhood educators through their Leading Men Fellowship. Learn more about their work, and why financial literacy is an important component of the personal and professional development they offer their Fellows.

Sometimes it's important to step back from the day-to-day activities of our mission and take some time to reflect on why and how we do the work of teen financial empowerment and capability. Recently, as part of the implementation of our strategic plan, our team engaged in a process of identifying the core values that drive us at SecureFutures, and how we can more effectively exemplify those values with each other, with our stakeholders, and most importantly, with the teens we serve. We invite you to read the values statement we created together, and share your own thoughts about how these values can inform the work we are doing together.

Since the official roll-out of our statewide Money Path expansion last month, we've more than doubled the number of teens accessing the app this school year, for a total of 3,988 teens in 2020-2021 so far! Take a look at our new map tracker showing where Money Path is being used throughout Wisconsin.

As we continue connecting teens and coaches in a virtual setting, we're especially grateful for the 21 site partners and 55 volunteers who will be participating in the Money Coach program this semester. New site partners include La Follette, Obama, Audubon, and Kingdom Prep. 20 of our volunteers have experience with Money Coach, but 35 are joining us for the first time this semester - thank you for showing up for teens in this unusual and sometimes challenging environment!

As we pass the halfway point of our program and fiscal year, we wanted to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of our Board of Directors and Advisory Council. We're so grateful for the gift of your time, expertise, and passion for the work of teen financial capability. Thank you for your dedication! See the full list of our Board and Advisory Council members here.

We are honored to count the CFA Society of Wisconsin among our corporate and foundation supporters. Thank you for investing back into the community by supporting teen financial literacy!