April 3, 2025 • 18 mins
April is Financial Literacy Month, a time when bankers think creatively about how to engage young people on topics of financial wellness. Citi’s Michelle A. Thornhill and Roads to Success’s Bashan Fernandez for a discussion of Citi’s approach to making financial knowledge fun and engaging. In this episode — sponsored by Intrafi’s Banking with Interest — they discuss several innovative approaches, including:
- Citi’s financial empowerment workshop for New York City middle schoolers, to be held on Teach Children to Save Day on April 22 at Citi Field in partnership with the New York Mets and several youth-serving nonprofits.
- Citi’s work with IlluminArt to produce Sami the Squirrel and the Great Acorn Adventure, a live play about financial literacy for elementary-age students.
- How Roads to Success uses budget scenario games and financial escape rooms to integrate fun into financial learning.
- Free tools from the ABA Foundation, including newly updated Teach Children to Save lesson plans, to help banks deliver engaging financial education in April and all year long.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Michelle A. Thornhill (00:02):
for over 20 years now, Citi has participated in
the Teach Children to Save campaign,which provides an opportunity for
Citi colleagues to get out in theircommunities, to leverage our nonprofit
partners to participate in afterschoolprograms where we are empowering
(00:25):
the next generation with essentialfinancial skills for a stronger future.
Evan Sparks (00:36):
From the American Bankers Association, this is
the ABA Banking Journal podcast.
Welcome back.
I'm Evan Sparks.
Today's episode is presented byIntrafi's Banking with Interest podcast.
It is now April.
And as bankers know, April meansit is financial literacy month.
And we are going to dig deep on thattopic today with what with two, with, with
(00:56):
a great banker and a partner and, and,and someone who works alongside banks.
The alongside the banking industry todeli help, help deliver and promote.
And and enhance financialliteracy in communities.
And so I'm really delighted to welcomeMichelle A Thornhill who is head of
Community Relations at Citi CommunityInvesting and Development to the podcast.
(01:17):
Hi Michelle.
Michelle A. Thornhill (01:18):
Hi Evan.
Thanks for having me.
Evan Sparks (01:21):
And we're also delighted to have Bashan Fernandez.
He's Chief Program Officer atRoads to Success in New York City.
Bashan, welcome to the show.
Bashan Fernandez (01:28):
Thank you, Evan, for having me to be here.
Evan Sparks (01:31):
Well, I know Michelle, first of all, I'm really glad you're
here because you are chair of the ABAfoundation and we are so delighted
to have you your, your expertise,not only from Citi, but also from
working with the ABA Foundation.
We are now in year 28 of Teach Childrento Save, which is a our flagship financial
education program for for young people.
(01:53):
That happen takes place in thespring, Teach Children to Save Day
is later in April, and banks canget more information about this.
And this is a program, a resourcethat's open to all banks to get
financial education lessons.
We are, we have.
Revamped a lot of these lessons rewritten.
A lot of them brought them up to datebecause, you know, as you know the
way that kids engage with money andsave today is a lot different from
(02:16):
the way it was in 1997 or even 2017.
So we are really, so we, soit's, so we keep these lessons
fresh at the ABA foundation.
And Michelle, we appreciate yourleadership in helping the ABA foundation
to to deliver great results and greatresources for bankers of all sizes.
Thank you.
So I wa I'd love it.
I'd, I'd love to kind of diginto a little bit more about
(02:38):
Teach Children to Save here.
You have Citi is one of our isone of our banks that works with
us on Teach Children to Save.
And Michelle, I'd just love to turnit over to you to talk a little
bit more about your experience andCiti's experience as a, as a Teach
Children to Save a ABAnk and howit's wor been involved in your, how
this resource has been involved inyour bank's community engagement.
Michelle A. Thornhill (02:59):
Perfect.
Thanks Evan.
And I have to say that April isactually one of my favorite times
of the year, and that is becauseit is Teach Children to Save month.
It is financial literacy month and Ithink for over 20 years now, Citi has
participated in the Teach Children to Savecampaign, which provides an opportunity
(03:25):
for Citi colleagues to get out in theircommunities, to leverage our nonprofit
partners to participate in afterschoolprograms where we are empowering
the next generation with essentialfinancial skills for a stronger future.
We know that many of theseskills often are not taught.
(03:46):
At home, oftentimes they're noteven learned until you experience
it, them as an as an adult.
And so the opportunity for Citi colleaguesto leverage their knowledge and banking
expertise as volunteers to come up withimmersive financial education experiences
(04:07):
that equips students and young peoplewith essential financial skills.
It's something that we look forward toevery year whether that is being engaged
in New York which is our headquartermarket, and leveraging our partners like
the New York Mets or our sponsorshipwith the New York Mets, where we're able
(04:30):
to host students at the New York Mets.
To whether it is working withorganizations in LA and DC and South
Florida, really all across the country.
It is something that we takeparticular pride in during the month
of April, but certainly somethingthat we do throughout the year.
Evan Sparks (04:53):
So you talked about the New York Mets, and I know,
and, and I know, you know, and,and you talked about immersive
experiences, which is pretty cool.
I, I, I've been part of some, you know,experiences going into the classroom with
Teach Children to Save, but can you talka little bit more about what an immersive
experience involved and, and an immersiveexperience with the, with the New York
Mets looks like for Teach Childrento Save at, at, at, at Citi Field?
Michelle A. Thornhill (05:15):
Yeah, so this is actually our second year.
But this year on April the 22nd.
We've collaborated with the New YorkMets and Citi will host 120 middle
school students that are servedby New York City based nonprofit,
nonprofit organizations for a financialempowerment workshop at Citi Field.
(05:40):
All in celebration of TeachChildren to Save the campaign
and financial literacy month.
There actually will be Citi volunteersthat will talk to students about topics
such as budgeting and saving, andthey'll be joined by a member of the
Mets organization who will discuss theircareer journey following the workshop,
(06:04):
which is maybe often with the studentsthey're probably most excited about.
They'll also get to stay and watch theMets take on the Philadelphia Phillies.
And so what also makes this particularday special is it not only brings our city
colleagues, it not only leverage leveragesour sponsorship of the New York Mets,
(06:29):
but it brings together, together severalof our nonprofit partners, so Queens
Community house, the YMCA of GreaterNew York, and Roads to Success, which is
joined with me here on the call today.
Evan Sparks (06:44):
Yeah.
Let's do, let's turn themicrophone over to, to Bashan now.
And I'd love to you, I'd love it if youcould just tell our listeners a little
more about Roads to Success, what youdo and how you, how your organization
intersects with financial education.
Bashan Fernandez (06:57):
Absolutely.
And thank you again for having me, Evan.
So at Roads to Success, we're, are youserving nonprofit, organ, nonprofit
organization, helping young peopleages four to 24 discover their
potential, pursue their passions, andopen the door to brighter futures.
We were founded in 2001, only servingroughly a few hundred students
throughout the New York City area.
(07:18):
But we've since expanded to nowserve over 7,000 youth annually.
Our approach encompasses academic support,social emotional learning, workforce skill
development, wellness, college and careerexploration, and financial literacy,
with a mission to empower all youngpeople to take control of their future.
(07:40):
At Roads to Success, we understandthat early adult financial
decisions can have lifelong con,lifelong consequences, right?
So in our mission to empower, inspireyoung people to take growth their
future, it's essential that weequip them with the tools to manage
their money effectively, right?
So our hope is that with the knowledgegain from our financial education
(08:01):
programs and initiatives, we'reable to help our youth that live in
communities of promise avoid the cycleof debt, economic insecurity, right.
That many of theirfamilies currently face.
Evan Sparks (08:14):
That cycle is, is so important to, to break early on and
to help people, you know, get somehands-on experience of what you know.
What is kind of a, cansometimes be dry subject matter.
Right.
And I, I think, you know, I have togive credit to my ABA colleagues on the
foundation for helping to kind of reallydevelop fresh ways of talking about this.
(08:38):
But it can be sometimes a littledry talking about budgeting.
I. To have these kind oftalks with my own kids.
I'm curious, Michelle, and, and Bashan,where are you seeing, how are you seeing
creative ways of innovative ways reallyof getting kids, young people to engage
with this financial, with the, withthe financial literacy subject matter.
(09:00):
I'd love it.
Love to get, get a sense of how you're,how you're doing that beyond just the
immersive experience of getting to goto city field, which is pretty cool.
What's the what, what, what elseare you seeing in terms of how
best to how, what bankers can learnabout how to engage in innovative
ways with, with young people today?
Michelle A. Thornhill (09:17):
So thanks Evan and I can give you at least one example.
Well, let me first say, thecontent that is provided by
the ABA Foundation is amazing.
It makes it easy to, for us to engageour city colleagues, to go out into
their communities and to leveragethe modules that are available
(09:38):
to then use their creativity.
To come up with ways todeliver that content.
And so one example of that is one ofthe market managers on my team actually
partnered with the Illumina productions.
They are a nonprofit production company.
(10:00):
They created a lively interactive play forchildren called Sammy the Squirrel, that
teaches the important financial educationconcepts and captures the imaginations
of young students across New York City.
So thinking about topics such asbudgeting, saving, investing, and
(10:22):
patch, packaging it in a fun waythat gets kids even more expired.
What I like about this particular playis that it follows a squirrel and her
forest friends make key decisions onhow to put their money or their acorns
to use, whether they should spend it,save it, or invest it for the long term.
(10:49):
And so we believe that reallycombining financial education with fun.
Is really what makes these topics stick.
Bashan Fernandez (10:59):
Mm-hmm.
Evan Sparks (11:02):
Yeah.
Bashan, what's your perspective onkind of how, how, how young people
in road in programs like Roadsto Success are, are best engaging
with financial education material?
Bashan Fernandez (11:11):
Yeah, that's a great question.
But I agree with Michelle as well.
I believe that the current curriculum.
Right.
And what we utilize and, and withCiti, when we engage in a lot of the
opportunities, it's already, it'salready interesting and engaging
for the youth, especially that don'treceive that kind of education or
opportunity during the school day.
(11:31):
Right.
So we do a lot of work whenwe push into schools, they're
excited about the opportunityto do something separate, right.
Of what they're typically learning.
But outside of that, when we expandedto some of our afterschool programs,
to community programs or, you know,even weekend programs we do have to
be a little bit more creative, right?
Because kids are usually comingto these spaces to engage in
like recreation and play, right?
(11:52):
But we know how important theinformation is to get to them.
So we'll do things likegamify the learning, right?
So we'll do like budget scenario gameswhere we give students maybe like
a fixed income and have them makechoices as it relates to like ramp.
Or entertainment or theirneeds versus their wants.
Right?
And it's like, you only have thisamount of money, what are you gonna do?
Right?
Are you gonna buy thosepair Jordans, right.
(12:14):
Or are you just gonna buy a pair ofsneakers that you need to get through,
you know, to get you from home to schooland to, and any other place you need to
get to as opposed to spending all yourmoney on that expensive sneaker, right.
As just an, as an example.
So I think using like real worldexperiences, things that, what
their lives, what they reallyexperience in their lives, in
their day to day is one way.
(12:35):
We've also done interesting thingslike financial escape rooms, right?
Where like students have to solve puzzlepuzzles related to budgeting or credit
or saving to escape the room, right?
So that we can kind of like, again, gamifythe learning, get them excited about.
Some of the information, but in ways thatthey wouldn't necessarily expect, right?
It wouldn't be just a typical workshopor a classroom activity, but we're
(12:58):
really trying to, to meet them wherethey're at in terms of the expectation
to have some kind of recreation andplaying fun while learning the material.
Evan Sparks (13:05):
That's fantastic.
I love, I love the ideaof the escape room.
And, and of course, you know, I, I,as I, as you're talking about Air
Jordans, it's just you know, I'm like,I, I look at my kids and how, how.
How often I have to replace theirshoes because their feet are growing
so much and I'm like, there's no wayyou're getting Air Jordan's because
you know, there is absolutely,absolutely no way I can afford to put
(13:26):
that much money into sneakers for you.
So the I wanna take a quick moment hereand thank our sponsor for this episode.
This episode is presentedby banking with interest.
A podcast from Intrafi featuringin-depth analysis and insight into the
policy changes reshaping the bankingindustry with insightful interviews and
previews of pending policy challenges.
The podcast is an essentiallisten for anyone connected to
(13:46):
the financial services industry.
Banking with Interest is hostedby Rob Blackwell, an award-winning
former journalist with more than twodecades of experience as an expert.
On Financial Services policy, whois now the Chief Content Officer and
head of External Affairs at Intrafi.
You can learn more with about the BankingWith Interest podcast at Intrafi website.
That's I-N-T-R-A-F i.com, or on any ofyour favorite podcast apps or platforms.
(14:10):
And now back to the AB eight BankingJournal podcast, conversation
with Michelle and Bashan.
You know, as you, you think about you,you've got, you know, you talked about
Sammy, the squirrel, the, the, thisinnovative play you talked about, the
city field event, you know, not allbanks are gonna be able to deliver a big
event at a at a major league ballpark.
But what's, what are some, what's someadvice that you might have for a smaller
(14:31):
bank in terms of thinking creativelyand leveraging the resources that are
available to them and in their communityto deliver innovative financial education
solutions that match the scale of that,of that local bank and local community?
Michelle A. Thornhill (14:44):
No, I think that's a great question and I
think the first is to leverage.
The ABA foundation content for anyof the campaigns that they administer
and the modules are relevant.
The opportunity to be creative.
I would encourage banks to leverage thespace that they have, you know, if there
(15:07):
is an opportunity to bring studentsinto branches to give them a tour.
Most kids don't grow up saying,I wanna be a banker, or I
wanna be in financial services.
There are so many careersin financial services.
So hopefully through what we'redoing, we're also inspiring the
(15:28):
next generation of bankers, right?
Certainly from being a teller.
But you could be an engineer, youcould be in marketing, you could be a
technology, you can be an investment bank.
There are so many career opportunities.
So I think for banksis leverage the space.
The content first, leverage the space.
You have, leverage your partners,your nonprofit partners.
(15:53):
They're always looking for individualswho are willing to give their time to
come in and teach to their students.
Leverage after schoolprograms, churches, synagogues.
This content can be delivered anywhereand is applicable to everyone.
So that's what I would say.
(16:14):
You don't have to build something todeliver the content you need willing
people who are willing to sow theirtime and their talent in the community.
Bashan Fernandez (16:27):
Michelle, if I can jump in and just piggyback off
that, that that same sentiment.
As a community-based organization, we arealways looking right for opportunities
to bring this kind of informationto our youth and their families.
For instance, we host an event calledthe the Success Summit each year where we
already have 1200 high school and youngadult youth coming into a college campus.
(16:48):
So it's an event that we already drove,that we already have a space, right?
That's has a lot of opportunity tohave a captive audience that if you're
interested, you can just reach outto your community based organization,
see what kind of events they'realready hosting, and then just kind
of like collaborate right with themto bring this information into the
space because we're always looking.
For opportunities to engage and getthis information to our youth and
(17:10):
families who we know desperately needit, even if they don't know they do.
Evan Sparks (17:15):
Great.
Well I want to, I want to thank youboth for your time today for sharing
about your exciting event coming upon April 22nd at Citi Field and the
other, in the other insights that youwere able to share and ideas that you
were, were, you were able to spread.
And and I know the Mets are off to a kindof two, two start here, so, you know.
Go mets unless they're facingthe nationals, of course.
But hope that you guys have a greatgame against the Phillies on the 22nd.
(17:39):
And and thank you so much for yourpartnership with the ABA Foundation and
for for sharing your insights today.
We really appreciate it.
Thanks for having us.
Bashan Fernandez (17:49):
Thank you again, Evan,
Evan Sparks (17:50):
for
Bashan Fernandez (17:50):
having us Been a pleasure.
Evan Sparks (17:52):
For our listeners, you can find this in previous episodes
at aba.com/banking journal podcast.
You can also find us on any of yourfavorite podcast apps or platforms.
We want to say give a special thanksagain to the Banking with Interest
podcast from Intrafi for sponsoringthis month's worth of episodes.
You can find all the informationabout Teach Children to Save and
the other programs from the ABAFoundation at aba.com/foundation.
(18:14):
We'll be back with you again very soon.
for over 20 years now, Citi has participated in
the Teach Children to Save campaign,which provides an opportunity for
Citi colleagues to get out in theircommunities, to leverage our nonprofit
partners to participate in afterschoolprograms where we are empowering
(00:25):
the next generation with essentialfinancial skills for a stronger future.
Evan Sparks (00:36):
From the American Bankers Association, this is
the ABA Banking Journal podcast.
Welcome back.
I'm Evan Sparks.
Today's episode is presented byIntrafi's Banking with Interest podcast.
It is now April.
And as bankers know, April meansit is financial literacy month.
And we are going to dig deep on thattopic today with what with two, with, with
(00:56):
a great banker and a partner and, and,and someone who works alongside banks.
The alongside the banking industry todeli help, help deliver and promote.
And and enhance financialliteracy in communities.
And so I'm really delighted to welcomeMichelle A Thornhill who is head of
Community Relations at Citi CommunityInvesting and Development to the podcast.
(01:17):
Hi Michelle.
Michelle A. Thornhill (01:18):
Hi Evan.
Thanks for having me.
Evan Sparks (01:21):
And we're also delighted to have Bashan Fernandez.
He's Chief Program Officer atRoads to Success in New York City.
Bashan, welcome to the show.
Bashan Fernandez (01:28):
Thank you, Evan, for having me to be here.
Evan Sparks (01:31):
Well, I know Michelle, first of all, I'm really glad you're
here because you are chair of the ABAfoundation and we are so delighted
to have you your, your expertise,not only from Citi, but also from
working with the ABA Foundation.
We are now in year 28 of Teach Childrento Save, which is a our flagship financial
education program for for young people.
(01:53):
That happen takes place in thespring, Teach Children to Save Day
is later in April, and banks canget more information about this.
And this is a program, a resourcethat's open to all banks to get
financial education lessons.
We are, we have.
Revamped a lot of these lessons rewritten.
A lot of them brought them up to datebecause, you know, as you know the
way that kids engage with money andsave today is a lot different from
(02:16):
the way it was in 1997 or even 2017.
So we are really, so we, soit's, so we keep these lessons
fresh at the ABA foundation.
And Michelle, we appreciate yourleadership in helping the ABA foundation
to to deliver great results and greatresources for bankers of all sizes.
Thank you.
So I wa I'd love it.
I'd, I'd love to kind of diginto a little bit more about
(02:38):
Teach Children to Save here.
You have Citi is one of our isone of our banks that works with
us on Teach Children to Save.
And Michelle, I'd just love to turnit over to you to talk a little
bit more about your experience andCiti's experience as a, as a Teach
Children to Save a ABAnk and howit's wor been involved in your, how
this resource has been involved inyour bank's community engagement.
Michelle A. Thornhill (02:59):
Perfect.
Thanks Evan.
And I have to say that April isactually one of my favorite times
of the year, and that is becauseit is Teach Children to Save month.
It is financial literacy month and Ithink for over 20 years now, Citi has
participated in the Teach Children to Savecampaign, which provides an opportunity
(03:25):
for Citi colleagues to get out in theircommunities, to leverage our nonprofit
partners to participate in afterschoolprograms where we are empowering
the next generation with essentialfinancial skills for a stronger future.
We know that many of theseskills often are not taught.
(03:46):
At home, oftentimes they're noteven learned until you experience
it, them as an as an adult.
And so the opportunity for Citi colleaguesto leverage their knowledge and banking
expertise as volunteers to come up withimmersive financial education experiences
(04:07):
that equips students and young peoplewith essential financial skills.
It's something that we look forward toevery year whether that is being engaged
in New York which is our headquartermarket, and leveraging our partners like
the New York Mets or our sponsorshipwith the New York Mets, where we're able
(04:30):
to host students at the New York Mets.
To whether it is working withorganizations in LA and DC and South
Florida, really all across the country.
It is something that we takeparticular pride in during the month
of April, but certainly somethingthat we do throughout the year.
Evan Sparks (04:53):
So you talked about the New York Mets, and I know,
and, and I know, you know, and,and you talked about immersive
experiences, which is pretty cool.
I, I, I've been part of some, you know,experiences going into the classroom with
Teach Children to Save, but can you talka little bit more about what an immersive
experience involved and, and an immersiveexperience with the, with the New York
Mets looks like for Teach Childrento Save at, at, at, at Citi Field?
Michelle A. Thornhill (05:15):
Yeah, so this is actually our second year.
But this year on April the 22nd.
We've collaborated with the New YorkMets and Citi will host 120 middle
school students that are servedby New York City based nonprofit,
nonprofit organizations for a financialempowerment workshop at Citi Field.
(05:40):
All in celebration of TeachChildren to Save the campaign
and financial literacy month.
There actually will be Citi volunteersthat will talk to students about topics
such as budgeting and saving, andthey'll be joined by a member of the
Mets organization who will discuss theircareer journey following the workshop,
(06:04):
which is maybe often with the studentsthey're probably most excited about.
They'll also get to stay and watch theMets take on the Philadelphia Phillies.
And so what also makes this particularday special is it not only brings our city
colleagues, it not only leverage leveragesour sponsorship of the New York Mets,
(06:29):
but it brings together, together severalof our nonprofit partners, so Queens
Community house, the YMCA of GreaterNew York, and Roads to Success, which is
joined with me here on the call today.
Evan Sparks (06:44):
Yeah.
Let's do, let's turn themicrophone over to, to Bashan now.
And I'd love to you, I'd love it if youcould just tell our listeners a little
more about Roads to Success, what youdo and how you, how your organization
intersects with financial education.
Bashan Fernandez (06:57):
Absolutely.
And thank you again for having me, Evan.
So at Roads to Success, we're, are youserving nonprofit, organ, nonprofit
organization, helping young peopleages four to 24 discover their
potential, pursue their passions, andopen the door to brighter futures.
We were founded in 2001, only servingroughly a few hundred students
throughout the New York City area.
(07:18):
But we've since expanded to nowserve over 7,000 youth annually.
Our approach encompasses academic support,social emotional learning, workforce skill
development, wellness, college and careerexploration, and financial literacy,
with a mission to empower all youngpeople to take control of their future.
(07:40):
At Roads to Success, we understandthat early adult financial
decisions can have lifelong con,lifelong consequences, right?
So in our mission to empower, inspireyoung people to take growth their
future, it's essential that weequip them with the tools to manage
their money effectively, right?
So our hope is that with the knowledgegain from our financial education
(08:01):
programs and initiatives, we'reable to help our youth that live in
communities of promise avoid the cycleof debt, economic insecurity, right.
That many of theirfamilies currently face.
Evan Sparks (08:14):
That cycle is, is so important to, to break early on and
to help people, you know, get somehands-on experience of what you know.
What is kind of a, cansometimes be dry subject matter.
Right.
And I, I think, you know, I have togive credit to my ABA colleagues on the
foundation for helping to kind of reallydevelop fresh ways of talking about this.
(08:38):
But it can be sometimes a littledry talking about budgeting.
I. To have these kind oftalks with my own kids.
I'm curious, Michelle, and, and Bashan,where are you seeing, how are you seeing
creative ways of innovative ways reallyof getting kids, young people to engage
with this financial, with the, withthe financial literacy subject matter.
(09:00):
I'd love it.
Love to get, get a sense of how you're,how you're doing that beyond just the
immersive experience of getting to goto city field, which is pretty cool.
What's the what, what, what elseare you seeing in terms of how
best to how, what bankers can learnabout how to engage in innovative
ways with, with young people today?
Michelle A. Thornhill (09:17):
So thanks Evan and I can give you at least one example.
Well, let me first say, thecontent that is provided by
the ABA Foundation is amazing.
It makes it easy to, for us to engageour city colleagues, to go out into
their communities and to leveragethe modules that are available
(09:38):
to then use their creativity.
To come up with ways todeliver that content.
And so one example of that is one ofthe market managers on my team actually
partnered with the Illumina productions.
They are a nonprofit production company.
(10:00):
They created a lively interactive play forchildren called Sammy the Squirrel, that
teaches the important financial educationconcepts and captures the imaginations
of young students across New York City.
So thinking about topics such asbudgeting, saving, investing, and
(10:22):
patch, packaging it in a fun waythat gets kids even more expired.
What I like about this particular playis that it follows a squirrel and her
forest friends make key decisions onhow to put their money or their acorns
to use, whether they should spend it,save it, or invest it for the long term.
(10:49):
And so we believe that reallycombining financial education with fun.
Is really what makes these topics stick.
Bashan Fernandez (10:59):
Mm-hmm.
Evan Sparks (11:02):
Yeah.
Bashan, what's your perspective onkind of how, how, how young people
in road in programs like Roadsto Success are, are best engaging
with financial education material?
Bashan Fernandez (11:11):
Yeah, that's a great question.
But I agree with Michelle as well.
I believe that the current curriculum.
Right.
And what we utilize and, and withCiti, when we engage in a lot of the
opportunities, it's already, it'salready interesting and engaging
for the youth, especially that don'treceive that kind of education or
opportunity during the school day.
(11:31):
Right.
So we do a lot of work whenwe push into schools, they're
excited about the opportunityto do something separate, right.
Of what they're typically learning.
But outside of that, when we expandedto some of our afterschool programs,
to community programs or, you know,even weekend programs we do have to
be a little bit more creative, right?
Because kids are usually comingto these spaces to engage in
like recreation and play, right?
(11:52):
But we know how important theinformation is to get to them.
So we'll do things likegamify the learning, right?
So we'll do like budget scenario gameswhere we give students maybe like
a fixed income and have them makechoices as it relates to like ramp.
Or entertainment or theirneeds versus their wants.
Right?
And it's like, you only have thisamount of money, what are you gonna do?
Right?
Are you gonna buy thosepair Jordans, right.
(12:14):
Or are you just gonna buy a pair ofsneakers that you need to get through,
you know, to get you from home to schooland to, and any other place you need to
get to as opposed to spending all yourmoney on that expensive sneaker, right.
As just an, as an example.
So I think using like real worldexperiences, things that, what
their lives, what they reallyexperience in their lives, in
their day to day is one way.
(12:35):
We've also done interesting thingslike financial escape rooms, right?
Where like students have to solve puzzlepuzzles related to budgeting or credit
or saving to escape the room, right?
So that we can kind of like, again, gamifythe learning, get them excited about.
Some of the information, but in ways thatthey wouldn't necessarily expect, right?
It wouldn't be just a typical workshopor a classroom activity, but we're
(12:58):
really trying to, to meet them wherethey're at in terms of the expectation
to have some kind of recreation andplaying fun while learning the material.
Evan Sparks (13:05):
That's fantastic.
I love, I love the ideaof the escape room.
And, and of course, you know, I, I,as I, as you're talking about Air
Jordans, it's just you know, I'm like,I, I look at my kids and how, how.
How often I have to replace theirshoes because their feet are growing
so much and I'm like, there's no wayyou're getting Air Jordan's because
you know, there is absolutely,absolutely no way I can afford to put
(13:26):
that much money into sneakers for you.
So the I wanna take a quick moment hereand thank our sponsor for this episode.
This episode is presentedby banking with interest.
A podcast from Intrafi featuringin-depth analysis and insight into the
policy changes reshaping the bankingindustry with insightful interviews and
previews of pending policy challenges.
The podcast is an essentiallisten for anyone connected to
(13:46):
the financial services industry.
Banking with Interest is hostedby Rob Blackwell, an award-winning
former journalist with more than twodecades of experience as an expert.
On Financial Services policy, whois now the Chief Content Officer and
head of External Affairs at Intrafi.
You can learn more with about the BankingWith Interest podcast at Intrafi website.
That's I-N-T-R-A-F i.com, or on any ofyour favorite podcast apps or platforms.
(14:10):
And now back to the AB eight BankingJournal podcast, conversation
with Michelle and Bashan.
You know, as you, you think about you,you've got, you know, you talked about
Sammy, the squirrel, the, the, thisinnovative play you talked about, the
city field event, you know, not allbanks are gonna be able to deliver a big
event at a at a major league ballpark.
But what's, what are some, what's someadvice that you might have for a smaller
(14:31):
bank in terms of thinking creativelyand leveraging the resources that are
available to them and in their communityto deliver innovative financial education
solutions that match the scale of that,of that local bank and local community?
Michelle A. Thornhill (14:44):
No, I think that's a great question and I
think the first is to leverage.
The ABA foundation content for anyof the campaigns that they administer
and the modules are relevant.
The opportunity to be creative.
I would encourage banks to leverage thespace that they have, you know, if there
(15:07):
is an opportunity to bring studentsinto branches to give them a tour.
Most kids don't grow up saying,I wanna be a banker, or I
wanna be in financial services.
There are so many careersin financial services.
So hopefully through what we'redoing, we're also inspiring the
(15:28):
next generation of bankers, right?
Certainly from being a teller.
But you could be an engineer, youcould be in marketing, you could be a
technology, you can be an investment bank.
There are so many career opportunities.
So I think for banksis leverage the space.
The content first, leverage the space.
You have, leverage your partners,your nonprofit partners.
(15:53):
They're always looking for individualswho are willing to give their time to
come in and teach to their students.
Leverage after schoolprograms, churches, synagogues.
This content can be delivered anywhereand is applicable to everyone.
So that's what I would say.
(16:14):
You don't have to build something todeliver the content you need willing
people who are willing to sow theirtime and their talent in the community.
Bashan Fernandez (16:27):
Michelle, if I can jump in and just piggyback off
that, that that same sentiment.
As a community-based organization, we arealways looking right for opportunities
to bring this kind of informationto our youth and their families.
For instance, we host an event calledthe the Success Summit each year where we
already have 1200 high school and youngadult youth coming into a college campus.
(16:48):
So it's an event that we already drove,that we already have a space, right?
That's has a lot of opportunity tohave a captive audience that if you're
interested, you can just reach outto your community based organization,
see what kind of events they'realready hosting, and then just kind
of like collaborate right with themto bring this information into the
space because we're always looking.
For opportunities to engage and getthis information to our youth and
(17:10):
families who we know desperately needit, even if they don't know they do.
Evan Sparks (17:15):
Great.
Well I want to, I want to thank youboth for your time today for sharing
about your exciting event coming upon April 22nd at Citi Field and the
other, in the other insights that youwere able to share and ideas that you
were, were, you were able to spread.
And and I know the Mets are off to a kindof two, two start here, so, you know.
Go mets unless they're facingthe nationals, of course.
But hope that you guys have a greatgame against the Phillies on the 22nd.
(17:39):
And and thank you so much for yourpartnership with the ABA Foundation and
for for sharing your insights today.
We really appreciate it.
Thanks for having us.
Bashan Fernandez (17:49):
Thank you again, Evan,
Evan Sparks (17:50):
for
Bashan Fernandez (17:50):
having us Been a pleasure.
Evan Sparks (17:52):
For our listeners, you can find this in previous episodes
at aba.com/banking journal podcast.
You can also find us on any of yourfavorite podcast apps or platforms.
We want to say give a special thanksagain to the Banking with Interest
podcast from Intrafi for sponsoringthis month's worth of episodes.
You can find all the informationabout Teach Children to Save and
the other programs from the ABAFoundation at aba.com/foundation.
(18:14):
We'll be back with you again very soon.
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