The Power of Financial Literacy

By Laura C. Olson, CPA

Our chapter will team up with the Silicon Valley San Jose Chapter and the Santa Clara County Estate Planning Council June 8 to present our Ninth Annual Estate Planning Symposium. I look forward to learning how to deal with uncertainty over the estate tax. Please join me at this event.

Financial literacy is an important initiative that CalCPA has championed over the last few years. Chapter board member Brian Sullivan is working to bring this initiative to our local high schools through a Hillsdale High School microlending project. This program is a collaborative effort among CalCPA, the San Mateo Union High School District, San Mateo Rotary, community businesses and local banks. The program aims to reach our youth and use the microcredit experience as a learning laboratory. The program is designed so that presenters can introduce financial literacy concepts and, at the same time, incorporate a discussion of the importance of ending extreme poverty and foster an understanding of the significance of the UN Millennium Goals.

The project began in 2008 at Hillsdale High in San Mateo with a group of nine students who were devoted to making a difference in the world. After learning that nearly half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day, these inspired students decided to create a club committed to informing their community about the needs of people in developing countries, the power of microloans to help them, and, ultimately, financing microloans to empower women and transform communities. The original nine students raised enough money to individually sponsor a woman each (which included a microcredit loan, business mentorship, financial literacy training and vocational training) in Guatemala. In April 2009, the students took a trip to the region to see their efforts at work.

Greg Lance, the students’ devoted leader and teacher, led the program. It is worth mentioning that Lance was named California Educator of the Year, in part for his dedication to this amazing group of students. CalCPA, Rotary and local banks would like to work together to expand this program to other local high schools. Please contact Brian Sullivan if you would like to be part of this incredible effort.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 at 12:44 pm and is filed under President's Message. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.