Financial Education at the City of Seattle reaches over 100 employees

On September 12, 2007, Financial Education at BCC and the City of Seattle partnered for a trailblazing first employee training session on financial education. Classes were fully registered in the two days with waiting lists for each of the three sessions. We worked with enthusiastic groups of over 100 enthusiastic City of Seattle employees in interactive sessions to learn about money management, investments and credit.

Thanks to the forward-thinking employee benefits department including Florence Katz, Carolyn Trapp and Zone Montoya for their tremendous help in mounting these sessions.

For copies of Leslie Lum's slides, click here.

Alice Jenkins, Molly Blume and Margie Biliske compare notes as trainers for the City of Seattle

City of Seattle employees were receptive to Financial Education.

First Draft of College Curriculum in Financial Education is completed on July 1, 2007

Since March 2007, Molly Blume and Alice Jenkins have been working furiously (24/7) to write the open access curriculum for our financial education effort. In may, they were joined by Margie Bliske, who brings valuable CPA experience to the team, and Helen Lawrence who contributed astute copyediting.

We are thrilled that the Seattle Times will be publishing elements of the curriculum in a 16-page insert aimed at college students on November 7.

Along with our team, several ESL/ABE instructors (many of whom have extensive experience in business) have created custom activities from the curriculum for their students.

Curriculum will be tested with students for the rest of 2007 with targeted publication in early 2008. Educators who want review copies of the curriculum, please contact Leslie Lum llum@bellevuecollege.edu for with "Preview FE Curriculum" in your subject line.

Northwest Regional Conference on Reaching Unbanked People on March 27, 2007 and Asian Roundtable on Financial Education, March 28, 2007

Alice Jenkins facilitated a session on youth at the Northwest Regional Conference on Reaching Unbanked People on March 27, 2007 in Seattle. The conference was attended by over 250 financial enterprises (with keynote Washington Mutual CEO Kerry Killinger) and people who work with low-income and immigrant populations representing a true public-private partnership to stop the high fees that low-income and immigrant folks face with lack of financial education and fringe financial services.

Leslie Lum convened a roundtable with the Asian community on March 28, 2007 at the request of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Education Dan Iannicola, Jr. US Department of Treasury. This was the first roundtable with the Asian community that the Treasury department has convened and valuable information was given about cultural sensitivity in assisting populations (e.g. taboos about talking about death, the protection of younger generation, religious objection to earning interest, etc.) with the financial future. It was also brought out that there is significant isolation because of limited English language and the lack of translation of educational materials. The Treasury department plans to incorporate these issues into a national report that will be disseminated throughout the country.

OCA/JACL investor education event draws over 80 people - March 17, 2007

Leslie Lum talks to a packed room of over 80 people at "Tips on managing your money, creating wealth and securing your retirement," cosponsored by the Organization of Chinese Americans, State Farm, the Japanese American Citizens' League, the National Association of Asian American Professionals, the Department of Financial Institutions and Financial Education at BCC. Certified Public Accountant, Jean Chou was on hand to talk about the tax consequences of investing and made available 15 minutes free tax consulting to all those who attended.

For a copy of the presentation, click here.

Training in the community - Unity Church of God in Christ - January 25, 2007

Molly Blume, Pastor Hicks, Leslie Lum and Alice Jenkins at the successful first session of a series on getting smart about money. About 25 people attended a session on investing where they had a chance to preview an upcoming broadcast of Money Track, the PBS series and discuss six steps to successful investing.

Financial Education at BCC was happy to be presenting to such a gracious audience and looks forward to the monthly series which will run until June. Many thanks to Pastor Hicks, who reinforced our message with his closing remarks and, to our delight, is an alumni of BCC.

Tacoma Community College to teach 400 first-year students how to get smart about their money

Dr. Dave Howard (above left), Theo Mungen (above right), James Mendoza (below left) and Jennifer LeMay (below right) are taking on the task of educating all their incoming first-year students with money management and investment curriculum. TCC is the trailblazer in being the first community college to incorporate financial education in HD101, their course for all first-year students. They expect to help 400 students get smart about their money this coming fall 2007.

BCC First Year Experience incorporates session on financial education

BCC offered its first First Year Experience this year. Students went through training on how to study and use the rich resources of the campus. Some students came to a special session on financial education. Why? The number one stressor for college students is finances. Thanks to Multicultural Services for asking us to participate. Students had a great time playing the credit game devised by the clever accountants at the Washington Society of CPAs.

Next up a financial education session with BCC's ASG (student government).

Creating a network of financial educators across the state proceeds at warp speed

The main objective of the IPT grant is to create a network of objective financial educators across the state who will in turn incorporate financial education into their institutions. This has allowed BCC to connect with passionate and innovative faculty throughout the system.

Butch Rich and Diana Osborne of Spokane Community College have already mounted classes in investing in their college and community. Jackie Franklin of Spokane Falls Community College has developed curriculum for the community. James Mendoza, Theophilus Mungen, David Howard and Jennifer LeMay of Tacoma Community College will be using curriculum in their First-Year experience.

 Rosemary Sanchez-Allen, Chair of Accounting at Heritage University (who already has a student-run program to teach tax preparation to 600 migrant and immigrant workers) will be incorporating investing when she provides workshops for what to do with tax refunds. She will also incorporate investor education into Communications 105, a course that has to be taken by every student at Heritage. Cruz Gonzalez of Columbia Basin was looking for curriculum to incorporate in their innovative and effective First-Year Experience.

Kathleen Rathburn of Seattle South has recruited all the ESL/ABE instructors to learn and integrate the money management into their curriculum. Bill Reed of Everett is developing investor education for the community. Kathy Payant of Skagit College will be working with small businesses. Green River Community College will be developing courses for their community. Anthony Newton of Highline will be incorporating investor education into their programs.

Martin Cordell, Chief of Enforcement (left) with Scott Kinney (right) Director of Communication with Alicia Haus.

The DFI has been a tremendous partner in helping Financial Education at BCC make a quantum leap in achieving our mission.

The considerable expertise and resources of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has been a huge boost to the rapid-speed start-up of Financial Education at BCC. In particular, Scott Kinney, Director of Communications has been incredibly generous with his advice and counsel on how to plan and execute huge and effective events, deal with the media and communicate our message including the creating great brand "Get Smart about Your Money"  and the series of fabulous posters that speak directly to the target audience.

Financial Education at BCC events have been over-subscribed with packed rooms. Participant evaluations have been high. Scott has consistently included us in partnerships and collaborative efforts that put us in contact with the AARP, numerous credit unions and financial institutions across the state, JumpStart Washington (of which he is president) and the Treasury department. This has allowed us to link Spokane credit unions with Spokane Falls and Spokane Community College and Washington Asset-Building Coalitions with Tacoma Community College.

Financial Education at BCC Kickoff draws over 500 students and community members - January 19, 2007

On January 19, 2007, about 500 students, BCC employees and people from the community attended the events around the kickoff of the Financial Education at BCC including over 100 students who packed a panel discussion with Don Blandin and Carmen Aguiar moderated by Bryan Imanishi and Ronnie Fontenot. The Washington State of Financial Institutions and the Investor Protection Trust who sponsored the festivities and did so much to publicize it through print and radio ads. In the packed forum on savings and investing survival skills, Don Blandin and Carmen Aguiar shared how they started  from modest backgrounds and in families who were not knowledgeable about investing. They gave extremely helpful hints on how to establish good financial behaviors from the start.

Immediately following this, BECU gave a presentation on how to manage credit. Throughout the two and a half hour event, students streamed to the booths provided by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, BECU, Puget Sound Better Investing, the Attorney General's office, the Department of Financial Institutions, and the Washington Society of CPAs where they were able to gather financial educational material.

Thanks to the Washington Department of Financial Institutions and the incredible Scott Kinney whose passion and and formidable project management skills made this phenomenal event possible. DFI designed and provided the great t-shirts, the eye-catching print ads, scripted the radio ads, and provided a comprehensive media kit. They brought us to another level with their professionalism. Thanks to Don Blandin for his big hairy audacious goals and to the IPT for the 400 cookies that were enjoyed by participants. Thanks to Carmen Aguiar for her generosity with her time and her incredible heart.

For more on the kickoff, click here.

50 BCC employees are trained on investing intelligently at workplace session

The Center for Financial Education kicked off its first employee training session as part of the Classified Employees' Professional Development Day at Bellevue Community College. Approximately 50 people attended a 90-minute session on Personal Investing in an Uncertain Future modeled after the IPT library program on November 10, 2006. Participants found the training very helpful to their personal circumstances.

Financial Education at BCC participates in the Financial Literacy Public Private Partnership

The Center for Financial Education at Bellevue Community College participates in the Financial Literacy Public Private Partnership (FLPPP) . This partnership has the mission of spreading financial literacy in Washington state with initial efforts targeted at the K-12 system. Leslie Lum has spoken to key legislators as a financial education expert. FLPPP has already provided teaching training throughout the state and working on a mandate for including it in K-12 standards and assessments.

Participation in this partnership has given Financial Education at BCC the chance to work with experts at the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and understand K-12 EALRs (learning standards) and assessments. We have had the pleasure of working with influential legislators Representative Sharon Tomiko-Santos and Senator Karen Keiser.