Written By: Rachael DeLeon, Executive Director

Collaboration: At the Heart of Lasting Impact

April is Financial Literacy Month, a time where government, schools, organizations, and individuals collectively amplify the important need for financial education.

It’s a time where we celebrate the work that is being in our field and amplify the resources that are available. But in the midst of these conversations, it also shines important light on the gaps that exist. Gaps in access and opportunity.

How do we begin to close these gaps? It begins with collaboration. Among individuals, organizations, and government.

This past week, I was in Washington, DC for the annual Jump$tart Coalition partner meeting and awards ceremony. The theme for the week was: “Inform. Inspire. Ignite,” but the underlying thread was collaboration. A word that is at the heart of AFCPE – the very fabric that we were built upon.

On the plane ride back to Ohio, I thought of this picture – feeling thankful to catch up with the amazing women in it, but more importantly, I thought of the incredible partnerships that this image represents.  From right to left:

Tiffany Murray, Rachael DeLeon, Christine Kieffer, and Una Daniels-Edwards at Jump$tart Coalition event.

  • Una Daniels-Edwards, Vice President, SFEPD – The Society for Financial Education & Professional Development (SFEPD) has an incredible program that trains college students to teach their peers about financial education. The program works with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and their Student Ambassadors gain their core financial knowledge by going through AFCPE’s Money Management Essentials.
  • Christine Keiffer, Sr. Director, FINRA Foundation –The FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship program has made an incredible impact over the last 19 years – not only for the financial wellbeing of the military community, but also in the lives of the military spouses who have had the opportunity to earn their AFC®.
  • Tiffany Murray, Managing Director, SFEPD – Tiffany has partnered with AFCPE during her time at Texas Tech’s Red to Black Peer Financial Coaching program, and at SFEPD, but over the last couple of years she has also generously given her time and talents to capture the voices of our field for the AFCPE Archives Project.

Below are a few more recent AFCPE collaborations that are creating positive impact within our field, and that may benefit your work as well:

Veterans Benefits Banking Program: The program is a collaboration of partners – started by the Association of Military Banks of America (AMBA) with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), with funding from Wells Fargo Foundation, to help Veterans, VA beneficiaries and caregivers achieve greater financial independence and resiliency.

AFCPE is providing pro-bono financial counseling, along with partners like NFCC and VetCents. Help share this important opportunity – let Veterans in your community know about the opportunity to meet with an AFC®!

Financial Inclusion Essentials – This course was developed in partnership with National Disability Institute, and is designed to help you better serve people with disabilities and their families. It was recently refreshed thanks to generous funding from JPMorgan Chase, making it a more impactful course for various types of learners.

Interested in learning how this course might benefit you and your work? Join our info session on April 23 at 2 PM ET.

Capacity Building Group Scholarships – Coming this June, we will have scholarship opportunities available for nonprofit organizations who are interested in certifying and training their financial coaches. The capacity building model begins with Money Management Essentials and then allows the organization to determine who will apply for an AFC® scholarship in the fall of 2024.  Sign up for our interest list here.

FPA Connect Webinars – AFCPE has a long-standing partnership with the Financial Planning Association (FPA). We collaborate monthly to deliver professional development webinars to both the AFCPE and FPA communities.

AFCPE Symposium – Collaborations and partnership are incubated at the AFCPE Symposium – in breakout sessions, meet-ups, and in the side conversations that happen organically in the halls between sessions. The Symposium is where you expand your knowledge, grow your network, and gain new ideas and opportunities to advance your work and the impact you are making in the lives of others.

As the month comes to a close, I encourage you to take some time to celebrate the work that you are doing and the impact (no matter how great or small) that you are making in the lives of the people you serve.

But I also extend a challenge: Think about how you might expand that impact by collaborating with another person or organization in your community.

In the words of Hellen Keller, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

SETTING THE STANDARD,

Rachael

Comments are closed.